Finlo AI<\/a>, at Web Summit Vancouver, running May 11 to 14.<\/p>\nSidi is believed to be among the youngest founders ever invited to participate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so shocking being able to now interact with the real world and businesses at such a young age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sidi explained to Peace Arch News that this global conference is often described by Forbes as \u201cthe best technology conference on the planet,\u201d drawing tens of thousands of attendees from around the world, including founders, investors and industry leaders.<\/p>\n
Finlo AI is an artificial-intelligence-powered financial intelligence platform designed to help startups and small-to-medium-sized businesses better understand their finances. It\u2019s designed to integrate with existing accounting software such as QuickBooks, Xero, Wave and Soho then transform complex financial data into clear, actionable insight.<\/p>\n
\u201cFinlo is essentially an AI-powered chief financial officer for startups and small businesses,\u201d said Sidi.<\/p>\n
The idea for Finlo began in the summer of 2024, when Sidi met co-founder and chief financial officer Evelyn Jimenez at a camp. The two bonded over a shared passion for economics and finance, which led them to begin developing the concept through a startup accelerator before officially launching the company in May 2025.<\/p>\n
Now, a full year later, the youth-led team of 10 is preparing to present on a global level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built Finlo because we saw too many promising businesses struggle with financial visibility,\u201d Sidi explained. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t need a six-figure hire to understand your own numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidi shared that being selected for Web Summit came as a surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting much from the interview process,\u201d he said. \u201cFinding out we got in was super shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each startup selected for the conference will be featured for one day in the exhibition hall, with Finlo AI set to present on May 12.<\/p>\n
While he\u2019s excited, Sidi admits the opportunity comes with some pressures such as balancing school responsibilities, preparing for the event and coordinating with team members joining him at the Vancouver Summit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very big opportunity for us to be there and exhibit,\u201d explained Sidi. \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re really excited for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Sidi hopes to continue growing Finlo beyond secondary school and hopes to get it into the global market.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s current goal is to reach 300 businesses in Vancouver by the end of 2026, expand to 1,000 the following year, and scale up to 10,000 businesses within five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just really special that we have a big group of people who are willing to work on Finlo and help grow it towards a shared mission,\u201d shared Sidi.<\/p>\n
As Web Summit returns to Vancouver, Sidi and his team are preparing to represent their youth-led company and share it with a global audience.<\/p>\n
Learn more about Web Summit Vancouver at vancouver.websummit.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Surrey student among youngest founders invited to Web Summit Vancouver Published 10:25 am Wednesday, May 6, 2026 A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652201,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-652200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}