Author: David Penn

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: DataDock Solutions

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: DataDock Solutions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DataDock Solutions, FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

DataDock Solutions empowers its clients to make better decisions about what customers they trade with and where they allocate their risk wallet.

Features

  • Delivers data analytics, advanced metrics, and rich visuals
  • Helps make rigorous, consistent, and precise decisions
  • Provides 90% of the functionality with less than 10% of the cost, and delivers in weeks not years

Why it’s great
Trading revenue is like a soup that has already been cooked: you can’t take the ingredients back out. DataDock uses powerful simulations to provide the next best thing: a recipe book and a taste test.

Presenters

Kumaran Vijayakumar, CEO and Co-founder
Vijayakumar was global head of equity derivatives and convertibles at BofA. He led the build-out of equities trading at MF Global, and traded exotics/index options at Goldman Sachs and Citi. He has a BS from UC Berkeley, and an MBA from Wharton. Vijayakumar is also a CFA.
LinkedIn.

Thomas Wadsworth, COO and Co-founder
Wadsworth was formerly senior derivatives trader (MD) at Goldman Sachs, focused on single stock options, cross-asset opportunities and technology projects. He co-headed single stock volatility trading at BofA. Wadsworth earned a BE from Vanderbilt University.

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Ziggurat

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Ziggurat
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek, Ziggurat

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

Ziggurat is building an AI trading assistant for short term trading and execution for active investors in the stock market. The solution provides seamless, end-to-end, unlimited trades with real-time monitoring features.

Features

  • Search engine for finding the best opportunities
  • Future prediction for getting heads up for different stocks on the next trading day
  • Real-time position tracking for alerting and monitoring

Why it’s great
Ziggurat’s live AI trading assistant provides seamless, unlimited free trades.

Presenter

Sia Nazari, Founder and CEO
Nazari is formerly a scientist at UC Berkeley, and Berkeley Lab. He has experience as an investment advisor at Morgan Stanley, and a background in physics and finance. He is passionate about trading and financial markets.
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Enigma

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Enigma
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Enigma, FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

Enigma delivers trusted, linked SMB intelligence from over 100 data sources, enabling you to create products and optimize workflows that capture the small commercial market.

Features

By leveraging Enigma’s data you can:

  • Develop new products that meet SMB needs
  • Drive hyper-targeted, high-performing marketing campaigns
  • Verify and serve SMBs you previously couldn’t

Why it’s great
Enigma’s API injects trusted SMB data into key workflows, and lets you unlock the 30+ million U.S. SMBs that need your products, services, and financing.

Presenters

Craig Danton, VP, Data and Strategy
Danton oversees data and strategy at Enigma. A former BuroHappold engineer, he holds a Harvard Business School MBA and a BS from Columbia University.
LinkedIn

Chris Abiaad, Product Lead, Commercial Intelligence
Abiaad runs Enigma’s commercial intelligence product. He received an MBA from Cornell Tech, ran a startup, and worked in financial services technology strategy at Accenture.
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: doxo

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: doxo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Doxo, FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

doxo, the all-in-one web and mobile bill payment service, is partnering with Plaid to help prevent bank overdrafts when paying bills to over 45,000 billers.

Features

  • Consumers pay over $30 billion each year in overdraft fees
  • Seeing bank balance when paying bills results in fewer overdrafts
  • When information is transparent, consumers win

Why it’s great
Overdraft protection is another doxo feature reducing bill pay hassles for millions of users, and bringing these new benefits to the billers they pay.

Presenters

Steve Shivers, Co-founder and CEO
Shivers is co-founder and CEO of doxo, the all-in-one billpay service. Prior to founding doxo, Shivers held senior roles with OpenMarket, QPass, and Infospace.
LinkedIn

Jim Kreyenhagen, VP of Marketing and Consumer Services
Kreyenhagen is the VP of Marketing and Consumer Services at doxo, the all-in-one billpay service. He previously managed and grew web properties at Allrecipes, BookRags, and InfoSpace (HowStuffWorks).
LinkedIn

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OutSystems Brings Benefits of Low-Code Dev to U.K.’s Biggest Manufacturers

OutSystems Brings Benefits of Low-Code Dev to U.K.’s Biggest Manufacturers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Outsystems

On the heels of being named one of the most valuable tech companies in Europe by Silicon Republic, low-code development platform OutSystems has announced that it is partnering with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). The two companies will work together to bring the benefits of low-code app development to some of the largest manufacturers in the U.K.

Pointing to “pent up demand” among manufacturers looking to leverage new technologies and channels, OutSystems VP for the U.K. and Ireland Nick Pike blamed “slow processes and legacy systems” for holding the sector back.

“As a result, development teams are seeking ways to innovate faster, and drive digital transformation projects forward quickly, without being encumbered by traditional environments and ways of working,” Pike explained.

Working with OutSystems, he said, would enable these developers to build enterprise-grade solutions for the web, mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as for manufacturing execution systems (MES) and even to accelerate legacy modernization.

“Bringing OutSystems’ low-code platform to organizations within the MTC provides this sector with a great opportunity to develop applications in a faster and more cost-effective way,” Pike said.

Founded in 2010, the Manufacturing Technology Centre is an independent research and technology organization (RTO) with more than 700 employees. The innovation hub provides integrated manufacturing system solutions to enterprises throughout the industry, ranging from automotive and aerospace firms to electronics and defense.

As part of the Centre, OutSystems will be able to commission its own fully-funded projects. The company will also innovate as part of the MTC’s Core Research Program, an annual collaborative research effort worth more than £2m+. Membership in the MTC will also position OutSystems to pursue major R&D opportunities in the U.K. manufacturing sector and beyond.

“It’s fantastic to have OutSystems join the MTC,” the organization’s Chief Digital Engineer Craig Stevens said. “As a global leader in low-code rapid application development, its knowledge and experience will only benefit out wider partner network. We look forward to further strengthening this relationship in the future.”

OutSystems demonstrated its low-code development platform at our developers conference, FinDEVr New York, in 2017. At the event, Nuno Silveira and Joao Miranda of European retail bank BPI showed how they leveraged OutSystems’ technology to complete a digital transformation that included overhauls of the bank’s mobile, internet, and contact center solutions.

Earlier this year, OutSystems was recognized by TrustRadius for its achievements as a low-code development platform, the third year in a row the company has been so honored. OutSystems was featured by Gartner Peer Insights late last year, earning Customers’ Choice recognition in both Mobile Application Development and Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform as a Service categories.

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Xignite Teams Up with StockCharts.com

Xignite Teams Up with StockCharts.com
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Xignite

Financial market data cloud company Xignite has partnered with financial charting and technical analysis platform, StockCharts.com. The collaboration will enable the popular online destination for traders and investors to significantly increase its market reach around the world, as well as boost StockCharts.com’s ability to offer more data – including data on international markets.

“StockCharts’ innovative charting solutions are now powered by Xignite REST APIs,” Stephane Dubois, CEO and founder of Xignite said. “(These APISs) harmoniously integrate multiple types of stock price data into their app.” Dubois also highlighted the fact that the company will benefit from having its market data hosted in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. “Xignite has freed StockCharts from the constraints of hardware and software, allowing them to deliver spectacular financial charts to millions of users each month,” he said.

Founded in 1999 by Chip Anderson, an early Microsoft developer, StockCharts.com has since grown into one of the more widely used technical analysis platforms for retail traders and investors. With more than 1.5 million active monthly users globally, StockCharts.com celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this month. The company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington.

Xignite has more than 1,000 clients in financial services and serves more than 250 billion client API calls each month. The company offers 45 web services and more than 1,000 APIs to innovative fintechs like Betterment, Motif Investing, Robinhood, and Yodlee, as well as FIs like Charles Schwab and TIAA.

Named “one of the ten coolest brands in banking,” Xignite has been featured twice in the Forbes FinTech 50. Last year, the company was highlighted by Inc. Magazine in its look at 6 Fintechs Disrupting the Industry, along with fellow Finovate alums, Dwolla, Plaid, and Fidor Bank.

Xignite demonstrated its CloudAdd-in at FinovateAsia 2017. The solution enables the world’s more than 1.2 billion Excel users to access Xignite’s wealth of financial market data – including streaming data – via API and incorporate it directly into their spreadsheets. The San Mateo, California-based company was founded in 2006.

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Virtual Card Platform Extend Raises $11 Million

Virtual Card Platform Extend Raises $11 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Extend, Funding

Virtual credit card issuance platform Extend has secured $11 million in Series A funding ahead of the company’s Finovate debut next month in San Francisco. The round, led by Point72 Ventures and FinTech Collective, featured participation from Reciprocal Ventures and strategic partner City National Bank.

The funding takes Extend’s total capital to $14 million. The company said in a statement that the financing will enable it to launch new features for both its app and API, pursue partnerships, and add talent to its engineering, marketing, and operations teams.

“Extend allows banks to keep up with the fast pace of the evolving payment landscape,” company CEO Andrew Jamison said. “Our cutting-edge capabilities sit seamlessly on top of existing bank card platforms, eliminating traditional technical hurdles to deployment.”

Extend offers two primary solutions: an app for businesses that enable them to provide their workers with a secure payment option in the form of a virtual card, and a set of APIs that incumbents and startups can use to better leverage virtual credit cards. The company’s virtual card payment option is a boon for businesses engaged in microservices or the gig economy. And Extend’s partnerships with card issuers – the company has integrated with both Mastercard and Visa – empowers those firms to provide a variety of advanced virtual card capabilities to their customers.

“We lead the way for future financial innovation by serving as the layer between fintech startups and financial institutions,” Jamison said. “(This enables) them to better integrate their services for the mutual benefit of their customers.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York City, Extend will demonstrate its platform next month in San Francisco at FinovateSpring. To see the company demo its technology live, visit our FinovateSpring registration page and pick up your ticket today.

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African Unicorn Jumia Opens on NYSE; UAE’s Finablr Eyes $200M IPO

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Fiserv, microblink, Turnkey Lender

Finovate Global is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based payments company Finablr prepares for a $200 million IPO.
  • Emirates NBD launches its WhatsApp Business Solution.
  • Awok.com, a mass market ecommerce platform based in the UAE, raised $30 million in Series A funding.

Central and South Asia

  • Indian fintech BharatPe secures $15.5 million in Series A round to help provide UPI QR codes to merchants.
  • TechCrunch: PayU’s $70 million acquisition of Wibmo signals the company’s interest in the Indian market.
  • Entrepreneur India takes a look at what investors like about Indian fintech.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazilian SME lender Weel raises $30 million courtesy of investment from Franklin Templeton.
  • Mexico’s Banco BASE partners with Volante Technologies for end-to-end payment processing solutions.
  • PaymentsJournal reviews the surge in the number of new unicorns among Latin American fintech startups.

Asia-Pacific

  • TurnKey Lender receives accreditation from the Singapore government’s IMDA, a certification that enables companies to expand into international markets easier.
  • WeLab, a Hong Kong based mobile lender, earns virtual banking license.
  • Fintech Singapore features its list of the top 10 fintech firms in Thailand for 2019.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • The ecommerce marketplace known as the “African Amazon,” Jumia, begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
  • Top African finance app Branch lands $170 million in financing led by Foundation Capital and Visa.
  • Nigeria-based bank agent network Kudi raises $5 million in Series A.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Microblink introduces new document scanning app, BlinkCard.
  • Estonia to bid for developing national ID system, PhilSys, in the Philippines.
  • Fiserv helps Hellenic Bank streamline payments.

Top image designed by Freepik

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: SheerID

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: SheerID
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek, SheerID

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

SheerID helps financial institutions acquire high-value customer segments like students, the military, and teachers, with gated, exclusive offers.

Features

  • Sub-second verification for 10 eligibility segments
  • Unparalleled coverage with 8900+ authoritative data sources
  • Privacy-friendly customer experience

Why it’s great

SheerID works with leading brands like Amazon, Discover, Spotify, Target and T-mobile. The solution is proven to deliver a 20:1 return.

Presenter

Sai Koppala, CMO and Head of Product

Koppala is the CMO at SheerID. Prior to this role, he led marketing and product teams at companies like Google, SAP, Proximity (acquired by Apple), and Apigee (acquired by Google).
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Illuma Labs

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Illuma Labs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Illuma Labs

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateAsia Digital on June 22, 2021. Register today and save your spot.

Illuma Access from Illuma Labs enables real-time voice authentication to secure inbound phone calls for call centers. It reduces call duration, improves security, and eliminates friction from customer interactions.

Features

  • Reduce average handle time and operating costs
  • Enhance security against fraudsters and social engineers
  • Elevate user experience with a passive and non-intrusive authentication process

Why it’s great
Illuma Access offers passive voice authentication for call centers. This reduces operating costs, enhances security against fraudsters, and elevates the user experience.

Presenters

Milind Borkar, Founder and CEO

Borkar has 10+ years of experience in R&D in digital signal processing and machine learning, 5+ years in marketing and business development, 50+ product launches, 18 patents, and 14 technical publications.
LinkedIn

Jeremy Whittington, Co-founder and CTO

Whittington has 20+ years of experience in architecting SaaS applications for Fortune 100 companies. He designed and deployed multiple enterprise systems used worldwide and founded two technology startup ventures.
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: U.S. Bank

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: U.S. Bank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek, US Bank

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the U.S., provides mobile and online tools that allow customers to bank how, when, and where they prefer.

Features

  • U.S. Bank is changing the game for corporate travel and expense management
  • First-to-market technology
  • Customer-centric approach delivers a better experience for travelers and travel managers

Why it’s great

U.S. Bank is radically changing the way organizations manage business travel and expense management through this ground-breaking technology.

Presenters

Bradley Matthews, SVP & Head of Middle Market Product, Partners and Marketing

Matthews is a seasoned financial services executive with a stellar record in strategy and new product development, and a distinct background in robotics and artificial intelligence.
LinkedIn

Tory Passons, VP & Group Product Manager

Passons is an experienced business executive with a diverse background and proven track record in developing new partnerships and product technologies.
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Voca AI

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Voca AI
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2019, FinovateSpring 2019 Sneak Peek, Voca.ai

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateSpring on May 8 through 10, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Register today and save your spot.

Voca.ai has created a smart, human and empathetic virtual call-center agent for financial institutions that helps banks, lenders and insurers increase revenue while reducing operational costs.

Features

  • Human-like speech
  • AI and Machine Learning-based optimization
  • Emotional and intent detection that is instantly scalable

Why it’s great

Voca is the call-center agent you’ve always dreamed of. Voca can handle over 80% of all call and contact center interactions so your agents can focus on what’s really important to your business.

Presenters

Einav Itamar, Co-founder and CEO
Itamar is a serial tech entrepreneur with vast experience in AI and Big Data. He is founder of Corrigon, which was acquired by eBay.
LinkedIn

Danny Ruchman, VP of R&D
Ruchman has 20 years of experience in R&D. He is a former director at eXelate, which was acquired by Nielsen.
LinkedIn

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