Terms of use

General

By using our website and the services offered by Wayblaze or its agents, affiliates, employees, consultants, officers, and directors (collectively, “Wayblaze,” “we,” or “us”), you’re agreeing to these legally binding Terms and Conditions. You’re also agreeing to our Privacy Policy and any other rules outlined on our site. We reserve the right to change these terms from time to time and if you use our website after a change, that means you accept the new terms.

Creating an account or profile

To create an account or profile with Wayblaze, you must be 19 years or older. You can browse our site without creating an account but if you want to comment on a project or idea, follow a project or idea, you need to set up an account and create a password. You are responsible for your account and all your activity related to it. The information related to your profile needs to be accurate and should not impersonate another person. When signing up for a Wayblaze account you must agree to receive occasional updates and news from Wayblaze. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Creating and managing projects on Wayblaze

If you create a project, you are essentially inviting potential funders to form a contract with you. This contract commits you to implement the project in the way that you said you would and to give the funder any rewards or recognition that you have offered them in return for their financial contribution. We want to make it clear that Wayblaze is not part of that contract – that contract is between you and the funders and only when you have satisfied your obligations to your funders are you released from the contract. If you are not able to complete the project or do not provide the expect rewards, you may be exposed to legal action by the backers.

Backing a project

Here are some important conditions that apply when you back a project.  We have two broad types of projects:  Those with a minimum threshold amount and those with no minimum.  We also have two general methods of payment: payment by credit-card (almost all campaigns) or payment by Interac e-transfer (selected campaigns).     Each of the four scenarios is described below.

Projects with a minimum threshold where payment is made by credit card:  When you make a contribution, we will pre-authorize your credit card for the exact amount you pledged to contribute. If the project reaches the minimum funding amount required to proceed, then your credit card will be charged. If it does not reach the minimum by the fundraising deadline, then the campaign will have failed and the pre-authorization amount will be cancelled. You can cancel or change your pledge amount up until the time that the funding goal has been reached and your credit card has been charged by contacting Wayblaze. If you want a refund after your credit card has been charged, you will need to discuss that directly with the project proponent. Wayblaze does not offer refunds once funding payments have been processed.

Projects with a minimum threshold where payment is made by e-transfer: Almost all debt and equity campaigns will be run this way. You will be asked to make a non-binding pledge to contribute to the project and to complete the risk acknowledgement if it is a debt or equity campaign.  If, and only if,  the project reaches the minimum funding threshold, then you will be asked to make your payment by logging in to your on-line banking service and making an e-transfer or bank transfer. For debt and equity projects, you have 48 hours to change your mind and request a full refund. Wayblaze does not offer refunds after the 48 hour grace period.

For projects with NO minimum threshold where payment is made by credit card: When you make a contribution, your credit card will be immediately charged and the funds will be forwarded by the third party payment processor to the party raising the funds.  There is no opportunity for a refund once the payment has been processed.

For projects with NO minimum threshold where payment is made by e-transfer: Once you decide to make a contribution, you will be asked to make your payment by logging in to your on-line banking service and making an e-transfer or bank transfer.  You have 48 hours to change your mind and request a full refund by contacting Wayblaze.  The funds will be transferred to the project proponent less a 2.5% administration fee.

Receiving rewards

If the project proponent has offered a reward associated with a funding contribution, the project proponent must provide that reward within the timeframe in which they have agreed to provide it. However, the timeframe should be considered an estimate as it could change for various reasons. We ask proponents to pick deadlines that they feel they can meet and to communicate any deviations in the timing of the reward fulfilment to funders as soon as they know about them. In some cases, the proponent may need more information from the funder in order to fulfil a reward (e.g. such as a T-shirt size) and such information is only sent out after the funding contribution has been made.

Receipt and processing of payments

Wayblaze uses two primary methods of receiving and processing payments, depending on the type of campaign:  credit card payments and Interac e-Transfer payments.

For campaigns where backers can pay by credit card, those payments will be processed through a third party payment processing company, Stripe, which pre-authorizes and process online payments. If you create a project on Wayblaze where backers provide a credit card payment,  you will need to read and understand Stripe’s own Terms of Use and their updated Privacy Policy by clicking the following links: Stripe Connected Account Agreement and Stripe Privacy Policy. By agreeing to the Wayblaze Terms of Use also means you have agreed to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement.  Wayblaze does not hold any funds on behalf of any project proponent.

If a project has minimum funding goal all backer contributions are held as pre-authorized pledges until the minimum funding goal is reached.  If the minimum funding goal is not reached the credit card pre-authorization is removed.  If the minimum funding goal is reached, the pledged amounts are processed and the payment processing fees and the Wayblaze commission (if applicable) are deducted.  If a project does not have a minimum funding goal, any backer contributions for that project are processed immediately by the third party processor and the funds are forward to the proponent less the payment processing fees and the the Wayblaze commission (if applicable).

The payment processing fees are typically 3.4% plus $0.30 per transaction.   In some cases, we may not be able to successfully process a payment (e.g. if a credit card expires) so the amount of funds paid out may be less than the difference between the pledged amounts less payment fees and commissions. In the event that a funder disputes a charge to their credit card, we will try to resolve the matter with the credit card issuer. However, if the resolution of the dispute is that the money has to be returned to the funder, then the project proponent will agree to refund that amount to Wayblaze. We strongly advise proponents not to expend more money than they have collected or are sure that they will collect on a particular project.

For campaigns where backers can pay by Interac e-Transfer, the funds will be held in a special Wayblaze account specific to the project and then forwarded to the project proponent.  Note that all debt and equity campaigns will have a minimum funding goal such that backers will only be asked to make a payment pledge (not an actual payment) until such time as the total amount of pledges exceeds the minimum threshold amount.  At that time, backers/ purchasers will be asked to make their payment by interac e-transfer.  Depending on their financial institution backers/purchasers may pay a small transaction fee to make their payment and those small fees will be paid by the backers/purchases.  The deposited funds are received in a bank account that is separate from the operating accounts for Wayblaze.  The received funds are then transferred to the campaign proponent less any administration or commission fees, if applicable.  On 0% commission projects, a 2.5% administration fee is charged on Interac E-transfer payments.  In the event there are any amendments to the issuer’s offering document (From 45-110F1), an updated offering document will attached to the payment request notification email.

Our commission structure

Our commission is 0% for donations projects, and for rewards projects run by non-profits organizations (instead we rely on the generosity of backers to provide a tip).  For rewards projects run by for-profit entities or for debt or equity projects we charge a 5% commission.

Payment withdrawal period

Limitations on our role

Wayblaze is strictly a platform to enable community members to find out about and potentially fund projects in their community. While we approve projects to be posted on the site in terms of whether they meet our general suitability criteria, we make no claims about the technical, logistical, or financial viability of a project. As a result, we are not liable for any damages or losses related to the use of our site.

When you use our website and our services, you release Wayblaze from any and all claims, damages, and demands arising out of or in any way related to disputes between the users of our site. Any information that you access or action that you undertake through Wayblaze is at your own risk and you are solely responsible for any resulting damage or loss to any party. We offer no warranties, express or implied, and our website is provided entirely on “as is” and “as available” basis. Furthermore, when you use the services or a third party, such as a payment processor, you agree to the terms and conditions of that third party.

For the debt and equity projects (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec and New Brunswick only), Wayblaze relies on the new national start-up crowdfunding registration and prospectus exemption available under National Instrument 45-110.  Under these exemptions, project owners can raise up to $500,000 CAD twice per year. Funders can invest up to $2,500 CAD per project or up to $10,000 per project if they receive advice from a Registered Investment Dealer and that Dealer deems the investment acceptable for the funder.   Wayblaze does not provide any advice or make any claims about the suitability or financial merits of the debt or equity projects presented on our platform.

Insolvency

In the event that Wayblaze becomes insolvent or discontinues operations, it will adhere to the following policies and procedures to notify both project proponents and backers/investors.

• If there are any active campaigns, Wayblaze will wait until the completion of those campaigns before discontinuing operations.
• If for some reason, Wayblaze cannot wait until all campaigns are complete, the campaigns will be stopped and any pre-authorized pledges will be removed.
• For debt or equity campaigns, the project proponents will be expected to honour the terms of the debt or equity offering regardless if the campaign was stopped.  If they are not prepared to honour the terms of their offering, they will agree to refund the moneys to the investors/lenders.
• Once there are no active campaigns, Wayblaze will shut down the website so that new new campaigns can be launched.

It is important to note that Wayblaze never holds any funds in trust for any project proponent or backer.

Accessing your intellectual property

When you submit or upload any information or images to our website, that content remains your property and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the authority and the legal right to put that information on our site. By using Wayblaze, you are agreeing that we, or parties acting on our behalf, can use that information on the site or in communications about Wayblaze without any restrictions or fees (e.g. copyrights, licenses, trademarks, royalties, and so on). You also give us the right to edit or reformat it. You indemnify us against all claims related to the use of any information or images you put on our site and if a third party requires a licensing or royalty fee to be paid, then it is your responsibility to pay it. Finally, you agree that if there are any mistakes in the content that you provide, that you will not hold Wayblaze liable for those mistakes.

Deleting your account

At any time, you can delete your Wayblaze account. However, if you do so, all of the content that you added to the site as comments or fundable projects will still remain on the site and Wayblaze will continue to be able to use that content.

Using our intellectual property

Wayblaze holds certain copyrights, trademarks and rights and, by using our website and our services, you agree to respect that intellectual property and to not use it any way that infringes on those copyrights, trademarks and rights without our express written permission. In particular, you agree not to use our intellectual property for any commercial purpose nor to change or create derivative works of the website.

Respecting our rights

We reserve the right to make decisions that allow us to operate our business in an effective manner. These rights include the following:

• The right to unilaterally decide which individuals and organizations can use our site
• The right to approve which projects or project ideas can be posted on our site as well as the right to remove or suspend them once approved
• The right to make changes in the way our site our service work without notice
• The right not to give any reason for taking the above actions

Limitations on our liability and indemnification

By using our site, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Wayblaze and its affiliates, employees, consultants, officers, and directors, contractors and agents against any and all claims, causes of action, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees and costs) and all amounts paid in settlement arising from or relating to use of our website and services, breach of these Terms or violation of any laws. Wayblaze may assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter for which Users have agreed to indemnify Wayblaze and you agree to assist and cooperate with Wayblaze in the defence or settlement of any such matters.

In no event will Wayblaze be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, consequential, special, or exemplary damages of any kind, including the conduct of any third party on our website. In no event shall Wayblaze’s liability for direct damages be in excess of one hundred Canadian dollars ($100.00) in the aggregate.

Resolving disputes

Wayblaze is chartered in British Columbia and therefore any disputes arising out of the use of our website or our services need to be resolved according to the laws and regulations of British Columbia.

Other points related to our terms of use

The above terms and use represent our entire agreement with you and these terms supersede all other communications regarding our terms of use. If any part of our terms and conditions are found to be illegal under the law, then only those illegal terms will be eliminated and the remaining terms will remain fully in force. These terms of use are personal to you and cannot be assigned or transferred without our express written consent. Wayblaze reserves the right to assign or transfer its rights and obligations without your consent.