Company: Medicard Finance Inc.
Company Description: Medicard is Canada’s leading provider of unsecured financing for consumers for medical, dental and veterinary procedures. Founded in 1996 by Ann Kaplan, the Company has offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, over 50 employees and is servicing over 800medical practices though-out the country.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Consumer Products –11 to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Ann Kaplan, President & CEO

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated entrepreneur since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

Recognizing that the government was cutting back on health insurance coverage, Ann Kaplan founded a Company in 1995 to help those who needed an alternate means to pay for medical procedures. She founded Medicard (now iFinance Canada) to provide unsecured consumer loans to individuals seeking treatment.

At the time Ann was a single mother with little means to support herself, let alone offer money to others. However, she did not let that deter her and set out to raise money to support her business plan. Her vision was initially a difficult sell, but in 1996 one of Canada’s leading banks provided a line of credit for $5m and she was, as they say, “in business”.

In the first year Ann loaned $1m dollars to individuals seeking medical treatments, by the fourteenth month the demand had grown like a snowball rolling downhill…not only had the Government cut back, but it was the beginning of the cosmetic enhancement boom. Fast forward seventeen years: over $240,000,000 in revenue later – she has achieved her goal to lead Canada in small ticket consumer lending, she has also brought in investors; in the last two years alone raising $132m in institutional financing.

Her efforts have not gone unrecognized, Ann has received the Ernst and Young Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award, The Peak Award of Excellence in Finance, and The Canadian Mompreneur Award. She has also been recognized eight times in the top 100 Companies for Growth in Canada (Profit Magazine Award) and Six Times in the Top 100 Women. Ann is also currently recognized twice as one of Canada’s top most influential women; however, her achievements do not stop at Awards.

Although Ann was very business running a corporation, she managed to have four more children and continue some personal pursuits. Ann hosted three national television shows (currently: www.cosmeticTv.com) and is a recognized public speaker motivating women entrepreneurs. She has written four books (one of which was picked up as a gift for celebrities at the Emmy’s and The Toronto Film Festival and one which she donated the proceeds to The Aids Committee of Toronto and the Elton John Aids Foundation). Ann she has also completed her MBA, MSc, a degree in Corporate Governance and is writing her Doctoral Theses’ on Spirituality in Business and an Empirical Analysis of Consumer Defaults, developing an Algorithm that can be used as a loan default predictor. She sits on the committee representing All-Schools at the University of Reading and shares a seat as a representative for the doctoral programmes at Henley Business School in England.

Ann Kaplan is an entrepreneur, but more passionately a mother and daughter (she looks after her disabled mother) which she views as a blessing. She balances her time between family and office. She enjoys cooking, writing and fishing (yes fishing) where she finds frustration each time she hands the rod to her children to reel in the catch. She also enjoys writing and has recently started her own piece in the Huffington Post.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated entrepreneur (up to 100 words):

Ann Kaplan is the CEO of iFinance Canada (parent to Medicard, Petcard and Dentalcard). She is the recipient of many awards: Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year; Peak Award of Excellence; Stevie Award for Women in Business/International; Mompreneur of The Year, 8X Canada’s Profit 100; 6X Canadian W100; One of Canada’s most inspirational women, top three Female Leaders and Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

Ms. Kaplan has a MBA, MSc, a Corporate Governance Designation (ICD.d) and is completing her PhD Thesis in Business and Doctor of Business at Henley University. She has written four books and resides in Toronto.