#VF2018 promises to be a comprehensive overview of emerging technologies and alternative financing options

• The #VF2018 Conference features blockchain, AI, fintech, funding innovations, and alternative finance options for investors and businesses.
• This year’s theme, CONVERGE, engages participants and builds bridges across the most disruptive emerging technologies.
• Immersive educational content, over 50 speakers, and a multitude of networking and partnership opportunities.

The 2018 VanFUNDING Conference comes at a perfect time for investors and enthusiasts alike to dive into the vast world of fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence, digital banking, and much more. Held at Parq Vancouver from November 29-30, this event promises to be the epitome of innovation and knowledge.

Emerging, Disruptive Technologies

The world is undergoing a period of unprecedented change, especially when it comes to emerging technologies in the financial realm. For instance, AI has been adopted into various industries where it powers chatbots and self-driven vehicles, and digital commerce has been at the forefront of eliminating the need for paper. Most importantly, blockchain’s momentum is not slowing down anytime soon and its capabilities for revolutionizing the financial industry go beyond merely eliminating the “middleman.”

This is why the VanFUNDING 2018 Vancouver Conference comes at a perfect time for investors and capital market participants to learn more about these burgeoning technologies, which together make up the future of finance and other key industries in the modern world.

Apart from the major news about blockchain, the advancement of AI projects has been paramount in efforts to further automate work processes and mitigate human error and oversight. With the power to improve fraud detection, enhance financial management, and generate unique trading strategies through historical data observation, the potential is limitless.

As NCFA CEO, Craig Asano states, “We are witnessing unprecedented change that is already affecting our daily lives — how we interact with financial services, generate digital wealth, invest, evaluate, consume, vote, store, transfer, and purchase anything of value.” With this in mind, it is clear that the need for comprehensive, educational fintech events has never been higher.

In order to provide a holistic analysis of these emergent technologies, #VF2018 will boast workshops, presentations, and mentorship opportunities to encompass the breadth and depth of knowledge these essential topics necessitate. The focus of the conference will be to provide immersive educational content, highlighted by over 50 expert speakers and abundant networking possibilities for attendees, while also providing a pitching platform for emerging players to connect with investors and scale their profile.

Building Bridges

In addition to helping companies understand the best practices of raising capital in public and private markets, the conference will also build bridges between these technologies that are empowering our markets. For instance, what are the key connections between blockchain and AI? How can FinTech utilize blockchain to overhaul obsolete banking systems? How can blockchain make our payments and wealth more secure? What are the technical impediments to mass adoption? These are just a few of the pertinent questions #VF2018 will set out to address.

Moreover, the past year has been especially saturated with news about blockchain’s capabilities and its potential to vastly alter traditional financial ecosystems. The technology has shown immense potential to push us closer towards a utopian financial world, but as Toufi Saliba, CEO of Toda, notes, “The global penetration of [this technology] is less than 0.2 per cent, of which, the vast majority of blockchains are scams.” While individuals should remain cautious about fraudulent businesses that have arisen from people looking to cash in on the hype, Saliba explains that the next wave of blockchain adoption and utilization will be “like a tsunami, [where] you can partake in what's yet to be the most disruptive technology in human history, or ignore it and get disrupted."

To echo and expand on Saliba’s thoughts, over 1,200 blockchain patent applications were filed in 2017, up from 594 in 2016 — many of these applications were submitted by blue-chip financial institutions like Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and others.

What’s Next

Overall, #VF2018 is set up to be a tremendously apropos event for the modern world. The global fintech realm continues to experience disruption on a daily basis via modern technologies such as blockchain and AI. The innovations of today could become antiquated as soon as tomorrow, given the rate at which these technologies are evolving. As such, the demand for immersive, educational content that examines these emerging technologies and their future outlook has skyrocketed. Events such as #VF2018 are essentially acting as a portal into the future, where attendees can stay ahead of the curve to pragmatically anticipate what tomorrow will bring.

To get tickets to this event, click here.