Jennifer Cameron, INVRS CEO Has A Vision To Create A Trillion Dollars Of Wealth In A Generation

Jennifer Cameron, CEO INVRS Jennifer Cameron, the Co founder and CEO of INVRS , stands at the forefront of innovative financial education, developing a platform that provides the tools and knowledge to enable smarter investment decisions. We follow Cameron in her remarkable journey, from her childhood struggles to her challenges as Co founder HyperWALLET, which was acquired by Paypal in 2018 for $400 million and ultimately shaping her new venture INVRS into a gamified investment education platform.

This is a story of resilience. Cameron emerges not only as a successful businesswoman but also as a passionate advocate for financial literacy. Cameron was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, moved multiple times before finally settling in Ancaster, Ontario. The transition was particularly challenging, with Cameron struggling in second grade to make friends.

The childhood sense of belonging had faded, and Cameron faced a lack of confidence, feeling like an outsider. She continues, “Our middle school had a tough reputation. I didn't think it would be too bad because I thought I would be invisible, probably because of my experience in grade two. It turned out to be quite the opposite.

I was a target for a group of terrifying grade eight girls. "Freak" was the most common label that was applied to me, but there was also "weirdo", "scrag", "slut" and "skank". I didn't know how to cope with this. I played hooky for week; I tried to run away; I refused to go to school; I thought I'd get into drugs; I planned to commit suicide.” Amidst the challenges, her school's vice principal intervened, and the librarian provided some solace, recommending "The Outsiders" by S.E.

Hinton. Since then, the library has become one of her favourite places. Growing up in the 1980s was a wild time that included drugs and alcohol and some mischief. Despite this, Cameron excelled academically, especially in math and science. She eventually landed at the University of Toronto for Business Commerce.

Cameron maintained good grades but her excessive drinking remained a coping mechanism to hide her shame of not fitting in. Things began to change, however, “I had an accident one night coming home from the bar. I hopped up on a railing that blocked off an eight foot drop. I went over backwards but ...

a bag of garbage at the bottom of the stairs broke my fall, though I did sustain a crushed vertebra. That accident was a wakeup call...” Cameron eventually graduated with a double specialist in economics and commerce, and briefly considered academia but ultimately pursued a career in finance on Bay Street.

Breaking into the finance industry was challenging but she eventually landed a job as a broker's assistant. After some time on Bay Street, she did some travelling before settling in Vancouver, working for a sports betting startup where she supervised the operations and customer service. After a few years, some members of the team decided to leave and establish their own company.

Lisa Shields and Cameron became the co founders of hyperWALLET, with Shields serving as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Cameron as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), along with five other founding team members. hyperWALLET 's initial goal was to enable online cash transactions, a solution ahead of its time at the turn of the century.

Over the years, it evolved into a payment company and was eventually acquired by PayPal for $400 million in 2018 . Her experiences at hyperWALLET were challenging: “The early days of hyperWALLET were tough. We founded the company in early 2000, just as the icy winds of the dot com bust started to blow.

We raised $400K before investments dried up. But like all startups, we needed more funds. It's hard to raise money at the best of times, it was horrible in the early aughts if you were a tech company and even more difficult if you were a women founded tech company.” The period was stressful, causing strain between Shields and Cameron.

Shields had more work experience and held a Masters’ degree from MIT in aeronautical engineering. This was well received. Meanwhile, people began questioning Cameron’s credibility. She reflects, “People really liked her [Shields]. On the other hand, I was hearing that I had no credibility. People I met for the first time were rude.

Those with whom I had a business relationship had become harsh and belittling. At the time, we were trying to raise money and the principal of our prospective investor told me no one was out to assassinate my character, something I had never alluded to... It felt like grade seven again and I eventually left the company.

It was a hard decision, but I had to be pragmatic– sometimes when you enter the ring you take a beating. What happens next is what counts. The experience drove me to close the credibility gap, because I knew once I licked my wounds, I would want to get back in the ring again.” Returning to Ontario, Cameron became a parent to twins in 2004.

Balancing motherhood, Cameron pursued her CPA designation which she received in 2013 and completed her CFA in 2021. In 2010, Cameron began working part time on what would later become INVRS. The inception of INVRS happened while Cameron was pursuing her CPA. She explains, “There was a course on whether financial statements mattered.

It questioned whether you could extract actionable information from them to make investment decisions. The course described two models that were developed in academia, published, peer reviewed and demonstrated to be effective in finding Alpha (defined as extraordinary or unexpected returns). Because I had a background and interest in investing, these models fascinated me.

However, building them was difficult. They required a lot of input and calculations. I realized to use them properly you needed software. There was no software for building investment models. The first iteration of INVRS, which was started in 2010, was a tool to build investment models using financial statement and market inputs.” Entrepreneurship had always been a dream for Cameron, inspired by her roots.

“I observed my father and grandfather in their businesses. My friend and I silk screened t shirts and sold them when we were in high school. I baked scones for British people when I was travelling. I co founded hyperWALLET based on an idea I had for cash on the internet. And now INVRS seeks to make young people more financially literate by giving them tools, games and education to become smart investors.” Cameron started INVRS to create a powerful tool for retail investors.

Originally, the tool would build investment models without the time consuming requirements to delve into financial statements and build fragile models in excel. That changed. "As we evolved, we realized the tool that was really needed was knowledge– knowledge about investing. However, investing is a complex subject, so we need a way to make it accessible to anyone and to make people more resilient to fraud.” In early 2023, Cameron and the team began laying the foundation for their gamified investment education platform.

Insights gathered through testing and conversations revealed a strong interest in game like elements. Also, concerns about lack of investment literacy were prevalent in the market. So, they combined gamification with education and introduced "Motion to Invest" enabling users to create investment proposals subject to peer voting; They also added games like "FinTrivia" and "FinSearch," as well as investment competitions.

Cameron believes that pivoting is vital to any business, adding ‘It's like tacking as you travel across the sea; you know your goal, but to get there, you must adjust your sails to catch the wind. The wind is attention and interest.” The results were outstanding: Traction numbers have shown consistent growth since the substantial rollout of gamification in the summer 2023.

October experienced a surge of signups by 97% month over month, with monthly active users (MAU) growing by 138% over 3 months. This is only the beginning. Over the coming decade, Cameron aims to be the top investment community on the internet because it offers more than a platform to talk about stocks, "Through our games, education and tools, we help people on their journey to becoming savvy investors.

We will establish partnerships with financial institutions, who understand that an educated investor is a better client and that encouraging people to over trade is a mistake. Our vision is to create an additional trillion dollars of wealth in a generation.” Cameron continues to be inspired by some incredible women she’s met along the way: “Lisa Shields, my co founder in hyperWALLET, is a brilliant woman, and a master of business.

Joanne Fedeyko, the founder of the Canadian Women's Network and Connection Silicon Valley is an extraordinary connector. Audie McCarthy, former president and CEO of Mohawk College Enterprise, is one of the greatest examples I have of emotional intelligence. I've also met a lot of wonderful female entrepreneurs whom I absolutely love: Kristine Beese ( Untangle Money ) supports other entrepreneurs, opens her network at the drop of a hat and is an empathetic listener when business gets tough.

Thyagi DeLanerolle ( OOt Social Health ) doesn’t just bang off a five second email when you ask for help. She jumps on the phone, listens, connects and says all the right things to give me heart.” Jennifer Cameron’s advice to future female entrepreneurs? “Be kind to one another and support each other.

When you take a beating, learn from it. Adjust your strategy, fill in the gaps, and get back in the ring.” As Jennifer Cameron propels INVRS into the future, her journey serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs. From facing adversity in her early years to adapting from personal and business setbacks, Cameron's story resonates with determination and resilience towards her broader mission of making a lasting financial impact.

In her words, “Being a leader is tough. You have to give courage when you feel none; you have to listen actively; you have to be curious, and you have to have faith in yourself. I don’t find any of that easy. But I do know I am improving as a leader. I know I’m better than I was when I started hyperWALLET...

I can evaluate my decisions objectively. Sometimes, I kick myself over those decisions, but I know others were correct. Those help build my confidence. Confidence is a good thing for women to nurture in themselves. We need more of it.”.