{"id":11755,"date":"2026-03-11T19:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755"},"modified":"2026-03-11T19:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T18:17:17","slug":"anusha-shaikh-fintech-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755","title":{"rendered":"Anusha Shaikh: Boldly Building a FinTech Network from Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Anusha<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

University classrooms are increasingly becoming places where business ideas turn into real ventures. For Anusha Shaikh, a third-year supply chain management student at the Haskayne School of Business in Canada, that opportunity led to the creation of FinTech Calgary<\/a>. Fintech Calgary is a student-led organisation that connects fintech companies with industry partners and potential clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her journey reflects a growing trend of students using university resources to test and build real businesses before graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning Ideas into Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While studying entrepreneurship courses at Haskayne, Shaikh worked on projects that required students to develop practical solutions to real problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one class, her team created a prototype called SmartCheck, a system inspired by RFID technology that could help universities track student attendance more efficiently. The project helped her learn how to turn ideas into workable solutions and present them clearly in a business setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the classroom, Shaikh was already working on something bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building a Fintech Network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shaikh founded FinTech Calgary to help financial technology startups gain more visibility and connect with key stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation supports fintech companies through networking events, digital promotion, and industry discussions. One of its early initiatives was a business-to-business program that allows fintech companies to present their products directly to potential enterprise buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through webinars, demos, and panel discussions, startups are able to showcase their solutions and generate new business opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overcoming the Student Barrier<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Starting the organisation was not without challenges. One of the biggest hurdles was being taken seriously as an undergraduate founder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To overcome this, Shaikh focused on preparation and delivering real value through the organisation\u2019s activities. By formally registering the association, building partnerships, and creating structured programs, FinTech Calgary gradually gained credibility within the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding Opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the organisation grew, it began attracting international attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaikh was invited to attend the Dubai FinTech Summit<\/a>, where she gained exposure to global conversations around financial innovation and collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FinTech Calgary has also formed a partnership with APIX, a Singapore-based platform that connects financial institutions with fintech solutions. This partnership helps member companies access international competitions, hackathons, and industry opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaikh believes student founders should not wait for the \u201cperfect moment\u201d before acting on their ideas. Sometimes, simply starting is what turns a small concept into something much bigger.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University classrooms are increasingly becoming places where business ideas turn into real ventures. For Anusha…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,24],"tags":[515,517,467,224,102],"class_list":["post-11755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student-entrepreneurs","category-tech-zone","tag-tech-startup","tag-student-startup","tag-student-innovation","tag-student-entrepreneur","tag-fintech-startups"],"aioseo_notices":[],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[15],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":true,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"\nAnusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"767\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"358\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Becca Bankole\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Becca Bankole\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Becca Bankole\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1\"},\"headline\":\"Anusha Shaikh: Boldly Building a FinTech Network from Campus\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755\"},\"wordCount\":387,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/IMG_0862-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"tech startup\",\"student startup\",\"student innovation\",\"Student entrepreneur\",\"fintech startups\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Student Entrepreneurs\",\"Tech Zone\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755\",\"name\":\"Anusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/IMG_0862-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1\"},\"description\":\"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/IMG_0862-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/IMG_0862-1.jpg\",\"width\":767,\"height\":358},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?p=11755#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Anusha Shaikh: Boldly Building a FinTech Network from Campus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"inspiring you to become who you know you can be\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1\",\"name\":\"Becca Bankole\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Becca Bankole\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thestudententrepreneur.org\\\/?author=15\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Anusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network","description":"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Anusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network","og_description":"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.","og_url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755","article_published_time":"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":767,"height":358,"url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Becca Bankole","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Becca Bankole","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755"},"author":{"name":"Becca Bankole","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1"},"headline":"Anusha Shaikh: Boldly Building a FinTech Network from Campus","datePublished":"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755"},"wordCount":387,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg","keywords":["tech startup","student startup","student innovation","Student entrepreneur","fintech startups"],"articleSection":["Student Entrepreneurs","Tech Zone"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755","url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755","name":"Anusha Shaikh builds FinTech Calgary Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-11T18:17:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T18:17:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1"},"description":"Anusha Shaikh, a student at the Hakayne School of Business, founded FinTech Calgary to connect fintech startups with industry partners.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0862-1.jpg","width":767,"height":358},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?p=11755#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anusha Shaikh: Boldly Building a FinTech Network from Campus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/","name":"","description":"inspiring you to become who you know you can be","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/#\/schema\/person\/de727077e40489606ec2b0ca556dbdf1","name":"Becca Bankole","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/de583cb602e7076d391307a507c21f6fd4a8e201b6e98fa8abc8e34a57ff2538?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Becca Bankole"},"url":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?author=15"}]}},"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder.png",1920,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-300x169.png",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-768x432.png",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-1024x576.png",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-1536x864.png",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder.png",1920,1080,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-1024x576.png",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-540x340.png",540,340,true],"menu-24x24":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-24x14.png",24,14,true],"menu-36x36":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-36x20.png",36,20,true],"menu-48x48":["https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/nc-efi-placeholder-48x27.png",48,27,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Becca Bankole","author_link":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?author=15"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?cat=50\" rel=\"category\">Student Entrepreneurs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/?cat=24\" rel=\"category\">Tech Zone<\/a>","tag_info":"Tech Zone","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11758,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11755\/revisions\/11758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thestudententrepreneur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}