BcBUsiness.ca april 2016 BCBusiness 65
THE STORY: Daniel Eberhard
started his career going up
against bigger companies. In
2010, the then-Mount Royal
University student helped build
Kineticor Renewables Inc., a
Saskatchewan wind farm com-
pany he and partner Andrew
Plaunt began as a class project;
they sold in 2011 to renewable
ener±y giant Algonquin Power
& Utilities Corp. After a celebra-
tory backpacking trip to Asia,
Eberhard decided to take on
Canada's bank giants by starting
Koho Financial Inc. in 2014.
Koho does away with the bank
fees most users pay by provid-
ing them a free, prepaid Visa
card and mobile software to do
many of their transactions such
as taking direct deposits, pay-
ing bills and making electronic
transfers. Koho is not a bank but
has partnered with Vancouver-
based Peoples Trust Company
to hold clients' money while
Koho handles the user interface;
Koho earns money by taking a
portion of the interchange fee
that merchants pay to process
credit card transactions.
MARKERS OF SUCCESS: Koho
has raised $1 million from seed
round investors. Last year,
Eberhard received the
NASDAQ
FinTech Innovation Award for
best nancial technolo±y com-
pany. —D.H.
n
daniel eberhard
ceo, Koho Financial inc.
age: 29
What motivational
quote gets you going?
"that is the great fallacy; the
wisdom of old men. they do
not grow wise. they grow
careful"–Ernest Hemingway
