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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
TinkRaises $63 Million, Goes Live in Five New European Markets.
DataSineScores $5 Million Investment in Round Led by BBVA.
Around the web
iProovannounces meeting the NIST standards for genuine presence assurance by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
BBVA Compasshires new chief information security officer, Brian Fricke.
Ping Identityannounces updates to its PingFederate, PingAccess, and PingDirectory.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Insurtech pioneer CoverHound announced today that it has closed a $58 million Series D round. The funding was led by global insurance firm, Hiscox, and featured participation from a variety of major insurance providers including Chubb, Aflac Ventures, and Japan’s MS&AD. The company’s total capital now stands at more than $112 million.
“The future of digital insurance will continually shift to more non-traditional insurance brands,” CoverHound CEO Keith Moore said. “CoverHound has built the leading P&C platform to enable any brand’s customers to easily quote, compare, and buy personal, business, and cyber insurance.”
In a statement, CoverHound said the new capital would help fuel continued development of its CyberPolicy subsidiary, as well as support expansion of its offices beyond Northern California to Charlotte, North Carolina. The funding will also support the firm’s international growth plans, including expansion into Japan.
Since inception, CoverHound has sold more than 200,000 policies, providing insurance consumers with the ability to shop for and select insurance solutions online. CoverHound’s curated list of best insurance options for both personal and business insurance needs brings choice and transparency to the insurance market.
Additionally, the company’s licensed advisors help make sure that insurance buyers receive any and all eligible discounts that may apply to their policies. Using CoverHound is free – the company is paid by the carriers on the platform – helping keep insurance costs low for consumers.
Giving the company high marks for sharing its “passion for making material strides in the changing SMB landscape,” Hiscox USA EVP of Small Business Insurance Kevin Kerridge praised the company for “leading the charge in providing a best-in-class digital cyber solution for businesses.” Kerridge highlighted CoverHound’s CyberPolicy subsidiary, which helps SMEs deal with the potential costs of cyberattacks by providing first party coverage for immediate responses costs associated with a data breach, as well as third party coverage to claims brought by customers and clients.
Launched in 2016, CyberPolicy became the first marketplace for SMEs to shop and purchase cyber insurance online in minutes. The subsidiary’s offerings have since expanded to include 98% of small business types with as much as $250 million in revenue.
“Cyber insurance is one of the fastest growing insurance products for small businesses,” said GM of Small Business Insurance at Progressive Insurance, Bill Kampf, whose firm partnered with CoverHound’s CyberPolicy last year. “Progressive wants to make finding insurance easier for the small business owner, and by working with CyberPolicy, we can offer consumers an efficient platform to shop for cyber insurance and easily find coverages to help protect their business.”
Founded in 2010, and based in San Francisco, California, CoverHound demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2013. The company partnered with Clearsurance, an online insurance consumer data publisher, last September. CoverHound’s Head of Engineering and Product, Kjersten Elias, was featured in an interview with Women in Business back in November.
A strategic partnership between Bill.com and American Express will enable businesses to automate the AP process to make it easier to pay vendors using their American Express Business or Corporate Cards.
The two companies have announced a new solution, Vendor Pay, that streamlines vendor payments, improves working capital and cash conversion cycles, and gives SMEs better data for payment reconciliation. And by relying on single-use virtual account numbers within their current Business or Corporate cards, Vendor Pay also relieves businesses of the burden of having to establish additional card accounts.
“The Bill.com and American Express partnership is a powerful combination of two innovators and leaders in business payments,” Bill.com CEO and founder Rene Lacerte said. “American Express Business and Corporate Card members will now have a central platform for managing digital business payments via Bill.com, with the added benefits of earning the rewards of their card and automating their manual and time-consuming back office processes.”
The partnership will also enable Amex Business and Corporate Card members to make payments via Bill.com’s easy-to-access ACH and check services, which include real-time status updates. Vendor Pay offers both a basic plan with core functionality and no monthly fee for the first user, as well as advanced plans with monthly fees that include features such as bill approval workflows and synchronization with major accounting software platforms.
Bill.com closed out 2018 with news that it had achieved NACHA certification as an ACH third-party sender. The company also partnered with First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO) to provide enhanced digital business payment solutions for its SME customers. Last fall, Bill.com announced the general availability of the automated international business payments solution that it had begun piloting over the summer.
Founded in 2006 and based in Palo Alto, California, Bill.com has raised more than $259 million in funding. The company demonstrated the CashView feature of its AP/AR management platform at FinovateSpring 2012.
A veteran of our developers conference, American Express participated in FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2015. At the event, Andres Ricaurte, VP of API and Partnerships, and Sathish Muthukrishnan, VP of Engineering, presentedThe role of B2B payments in the evolving commerce ecosystem, a look at American Express’ role in commercial payments, as well as rise of the API.
American Express reported net income of $2.7 billion in 2017 and revenues of $33.4 billion. The New York City-based global financial services company trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “AXP,” and has a market capitalization of $89 billion.
Insurtech Innovator CoverHoundFetches $58 Million in New Funding.
Bill.comPartners with American Express to Offer New AP Solution, Vendor Pay.
Around the web
Revolut and WeWork team up to provide three months of “hot desk space” to Revolut for Business customers.
PXP Financial, borne of the merger of PXP and Kalixa, announces its public launch.
U.K.-based cloud accounting firm FreeAgent to offer direct data feeds to banks via the Open Banking framework.
bpm’onlineforges partnership with Meritus Business Solutions.
OptimoveunveilsiGaming Pulse, a benchmark solution to enable gaming operators to test the performance of their platforms against industry performance metrics.
Onfidoappoints former Head of Computer Vision for Robotics at Amazon, Mohan Mahadevan as its new VP of Research.
Switchreports that its CardSavr service boosts credit card usage immediately at activation.
Enveilannounces technology partnership and integration with advanced data security solution and services provider Thales.
CuneXuspartners with outdoor recreational vehicle buying network, Rollick, to streamline the financing process for RV shoppers.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall. What fintech future does 2019 have in store for us all?
We posed the question to a handful of fintech experts who will be driving the conversation at FinovateEurope in London, U.K., on February 12-14.
Here’s what they had to say about the themes and trends that will dominate fintech this year.
And remember there’s still time to save your spot and join us for what promises to be our most exciting FinovateEurope to date!
Aurélie L’Hostis, Senior Analyst, Forrester
AI is set to disrupt business models, change operating models, and reimagine customer experiences in financial services. But like all other new technologies like big data and cloud computing, AI still requires hard work. Financial services executives must prepare their organizations for change and take a strategic approach to AI.
Join Aurélie as she provides key insights into digital business strategy as part of our Analyst All-Stars Session on February 14 at FinovateEurope.
Giulio Montemagno, General Manager, Amazon Pay, Europe
Since the emergence of digital, commerce has been in a state of transformation, first with e-commerce and then with the rise of mobile came m-commerce. We’ve gone from typing and touching to swiping and now to talking, each mode of interaction has gotten progressively easier for the consumer. What could be more simple or intuitive? More personal than a conversation?
With the rapid adoption of voice across multiple use cases and devices, commerce may well be the next frontier. It can make the complex simple—it’s the most natural and convenient user interface. Today, we are in the very early stages of the third era–voice commerce–a powerful medium that will transform our day-to-day lives and how we purchase. Central to emergence of voice is building connected experiences for customers so they can interact and transact where, when and how they want–their choice, and at their convenience.
Join Giulio as he discussesThe evolution of the third era of commerce on February 14 at FinovateEurope.
Benoit Legrand, Chief Innovation Officer, ING
Our 2019 prediction would be that 2019 will be the year of hyper personalization where financial ecosystems parties (BigTechs, FinTechs, incumbents) will combine advanced AI techniques with the (new) access to personal banking data provided by PSD2 APIs and beyond.
2019 will also be the year where DLT initiatives will move from pilot to scaling in the more mature use cases (i.e trade finance).
Join Benoit as he presents our afternoon keynote Digital transformation – culture, collaboration, and competition on February 14 at FinovateEurope.
Juliette Souliman, Early Stage VC Investor, Octopus Ventures
I think payment control will be at the heart of 2019 fintech innovations. With non-cash transactions increasing at the highest growth rate in the last decade, it is crucial to ensure a strong level of control over those new cashless and seamless payment experiences.
Hence, Octopus Ventures will be closely monitoring the newest players in the cyber security and anti-fraud prevention sectors – from robotic process automation, advanced ML, to biometrics solutions.
Join Juliette as she discusses the finance and fintech trends that getting investment during our Lunchtime VC Panel on February 14 at FinovateEurope.
Intelligent automation software platform Kofax announced today that it has agreed to acquire intelligent content processing solution provider – and fellow Finovate alum – Top Image Systems (TIS)
The deal, financed entirely with cash on Kofax’s balance sheet, will give TIS shareholders $0.86 per share in cash, representing a 65% markup on Top Image Systems’ volume weighted average price over the past 30 trading days.
Final closing of the transaction is subject to a vote by TIS shareholders – expected early this year – as well as required regulatory approvals.
“We are pleased to announce this transaction with Kofax,” Top Image Systems CEO Brendan F. Reidy said. “The transaction will allow Top Image Systems to continue to provide its innovative content processing and remittance solutions to our customers while benefitting from the substantial resources of Kofax and Thoma Bravo.”
“TIS customers will enjoy single-vendor access to Kofax’s Intelligent Automation solutions that deliver increased efficiency, enabling the human and digital workforces of tomorrow,” Kofax CEO Reynolds C. Bish said. “Leveraging TIS’ SaaS expertise will assist us as we further advance the secure cloud capabilities of our end-to-end Intelligent Automation platform.”
Kofax demonstrated its KYC Automation with RPA solution at FinovateSpring 2016. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Irvine, California, the company spent $400 million in cash to purchase the imaging division of Nuance back in November. Kofax earned a spot on the Constellation ShortList for Robotic Process Automation last August and in July, the company entered a sales agreement with JIEC to provide RPA and digital transformation solutions.
Kofax was acquired by Lexmark in 2015 in a billion dollar deal. The company was bought by private equity firm, Thoma Bravo, two years later.
Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Top Image Systems was founded in 1991. The company demonstrated its eFLOW Intelligent Capture solution at FinovateAsia 2018. Back in October, the company announced that Allied Bakeries would use its eFLOW AP for SAP for centralized, automated invoice processing. Earlier in the year, Top Image Systems partnered with a leading Japanese personal care company to provide the firm with its eFLOW Extract accounts payable solution.
A baker’s dozen of Finovate alums has been honored this week with spots on the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50, an annual aggregation of what the editors called “the most innovative companies in fintech.”
“Recognition as a leading innovator in fintech is tremendous validation for the hard work we’ve done at Marqeta to open the industry up to the possibilities and opportunities of modern card issuing,” company CEO and founder Jason Gardner said. Marqeta is among the 20 companies to make its first appearance on the Forbes Fintech 50 roster.
Also earning their first appearances on Forbes Fintech 50 roster are New York based mobile investment platform Stash and San Francisco supply chain payments innovator Tradeshift.
“Very excited to be included in the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50!,” Stash tweeted once the news was released at the start of the week, “Monday = made.”
“We made the list!” Tradeshift tweeted this morning.
Summarizing this year’s selection of top fintechs, the editors noted that while 19 out of the 50 fintechs featured are unicorns with valuations of more than $1 billion, a nearly equal amount – 20 startups – are making their first showing on Forbes top fintech list. The two areas where newcomers were more prevalent, according to the editors, were payments technology and startups serving the un- and underbanked.
Finovate Alums Shine in 2019 Forbes Fintech 50 Roster.
Around the web
Mirror Review featuresNeener Analytics founder and CEO, Jeff LoCastro on small data and social media analytics.
Connecticut’s Guilford Savings Bank to deploy technology from Jack Henry & Associates.
BioMetric Signature ID to integrate identity verification technology from Mitek to provide authentication for its BioProof-ID solution.
Business Intelligence Group honorsJumio as part of its 2019 BIG Innovation Awards.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Alternative credit assessment innovator Aire has picked up $11 million in new funding. The London-based company, which demonstrated its Aire Credit API at FinovateEurope 2015, said the new capital will support the continued development of its credit insight engine, as well as support expansion in the U.S.
This week’s investment adds to the $5 million Aire raised in the summer of 2017, and takes the company’s total funding to $23 million.
“Aire is built on the premise that empowering consumers to play an active role in their credit assessment is the only way to give lenders a comprehensive view with which to make a decision,” company co-founder and CEO Aneesh Varma said.
Calling the announcement a “significant milestone,” Varma highlighted the participation of Experian Ventures, the venture arm of fellow Finovate alum and credit bureau giant, Experian. “This Series B funding is allowing us to push the Aire philosophy further into new markets, such as the U.S., as well as new sectors,” he said.
Aire improves the credit decisioning process by providing lenders with the tools they need to accurately assess thin file credit histories. When an applicant’s initial credit check reveals insufficient information, the applicant is directed to an Aire Interactive Interview. The applicant answers a series of tailored questions to create a “three-dimensional” view of their finances, focusing on issues such as affordability, stability, and financial resilience. Aire then creates and delivers a score based on this data that gives lenders insight into the applicant’s creditworthiness in the future rather than the past.
This latest funding for Aire was led by Crane Venture Partners, and featured participation from Orange Digital Ventures as well as Experian Ventures. The round comes two years after the company earned Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval, and accompanies news that Aire has scored more than $10 billion in credit across a variety of consumer credit categories.
Krishna Visvanathan, Crane Venture Partners founding partner praised Aire’s “unique contextual decisioning methodology” which he said “combines direct consumer engagement, new data sources, and (a) dynamic algorithm model” to help lenders make more accurate assessments of credit risk.
“Aire is yet another great example of a category-leading enterprise software company formed in Europe that is fundamentally changing an industry,” Visvanathan said, “and we are proud to support its new phase of growth.”
Aire was founded in 2014. The company’s partners include Zopa and the UK. arm of auto financing company, Toyota Financial Services.
Best of Show winner Capitalise is beginning the year with a bang: the company’s technology – which enables traders to automate their strategies using natural language – is now live with Interactive Brokers.
“Partnering with the prominent Interactive Brokers is a cornerstone achievement for Capitalise,” said company CEO Shahar Rabin. “This partnership will allow IB users to take their trading to new heights by automating them with the Capitalise platform. We believe IB users will enjoy and benefit from the hands-off experience of algo trading.”
Capitalise offers a white label solution that redefines trading automation by enabling traders to build and automate their own unique strategies using natural language. The technology transforms if-then scenarios into executable trades, monitoring the market and making entries and exits based on parameters provided in plain English by the trader. In this way, Capitalise brings the benefits of algorithmic trading to the average investor without requiring programming knowledge or ability.
The technology also enables traders to optimize their strategies, allowing them to analyze, predict, and improve investment outcomes with the click of a button. Capitalise is integrated with trading accounts on many third-party exchanges and brokers, making it easy for traders and investors to manage their trades in one place.
Capitalise plans to add a number of additional features to the platform including a social network for traders called The Social Arena, as well as backtesting functionality to enable traders to apply historical data to specific scenarios.
Interactive Brokers is an electronic brokerage firm based in the United States, with offices in 12 countries. Founded in 1978, the company has grown into the biggest electronic broker in the country based on daily average revenue trades and the number one forex brokerage. IB serves 385,000 client brokerage accounts, adding up to $86 billion in customer equity.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Capitalise demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2017, winning Best of Show. Last fall, the company announced that it would be one of 11 startups to participate in the 10th cohort at the Microsoft Accelerator Tel Aviv.
Capitalise has raised more than $5 million in funding and includes Stage One Ventures, Poalim Capital Markets, Gefen Capital, and Glenrock Israel among its investors.
By harnessing the collective wisdom of networked investors, social trading app Voleo helps individuals pursue market-beating returns. Voleo makes it easy for users to form and join investment clubs, contribute equally to the club portfolio, and make investments to grow the account.
The solution uses chat technology to enable club members to propose, debate, and ultimately vote on new investment proposals. Those new to trading and investing can take advantage of Voleo’s SimuTrader app, which allows investors to practice trading without risking actual money.
Awarded Best of Show at FinovateFall 2017, Voleo announced last month that it was partnering with OP Financial Group to help the Helsinki, Finland-based company develop a new social trading platform for the European market. Voleo also bolstered its advisory ranks in January, appointing B2B digital marketing executive Nicky Senyard to its board of directors. And last fall, the company launched its 2nd annual equity trading competition, in collaboration with Nasdaq.
Most recently, Voleo introduced a number of new features including advanced order types to enable investors to place and specify the date range for both limit and stop orders.
We caught up with company CEO Thomas Beattie (pictured) to talk about Voleo, the power of social trading and investing, and what to expect from the company in 2019 and beyond.
Finovate: What does Voleo do and how does it do it?
Thomas Beattie: Voleo is the first social trading app that makes it possible to team up and invest in the stock market with your friends.
Our patent-pending trading technology allows users to leverage the collective knowledge of their peers, and has revolutionized the way individuals trade stocks, ETFs, and proprietary products offered by partner financial institutions. Vancouver-based Voleo gamifies the investing experience and motivates users to collaborate through its community-building user experience. Voleo has established itself in the U.S. as a registered broker-dealer with FINRA and SEC, and now offers its social trading technology white-label to financial institutions.
Finovate: Who are Voleo’s primary customers and how does Voleo attract them?
Beattie: Our primary customers are career-oriented and ambitious individuals in their mid-30s. Current research shows that they have typically built some wealth, in the form of savings, but do not yet have self-directed trading accounts. Voleo’s target market socializes well in digital, mobile environments. They value the opinions of those in their network, and they are digital natives who learn, communicate and bank with their smartphones.
Firstly, we plan to reach this target market through strategic partnerships with U.S. banks and credit unions. These financial institutions have established brands that resonate with Voleo’s target market. This enables Voleo to naturally synergize and deepen relationships with current customers and acquire new ones.
Secondly, we have seen consistent and organic growth through our own iOS, Android, and Web platforms, which we thank the Voleo community for. On average, each club founded on Voleo’s platform has led to 13 members of their social circle being invited to join, with team sizes averaging nine members and growing. As our user base grows further, we are making continuous progress on product development to encourage further collaboration between our users and make investing more accessible to the general public.
Finovate: How does Voleo solve the problem better?
Beattie: The reality is that traditional investment options are not meeting the needs of Millennials due to high costs, time constraints, and inaccessibility. Young investors usually face a trade-off for the two most popular options for taxable investment accounts. For one, investment advisors are not interested in clients with minimal assets, and for individuals with money, these same advisors can end up being costly. On the other hand, self-directed investing can seem risky to novices who don’t know the ins and outs of the stock market.
From a customer acquisition standpoint, Voleo creates opportunities for financial institutions by merging the best of self-directed trading and social media platforms. We help reach new prospects by providing tangible value to customers, and authentic communication channels to financial institutions.
Finovate: Tell us about your favorite implementation of Voleo’s technology.
Beattie: Four years of R&D has gone into the development of its iOS and Android apps, which have seen steady user growth since the soft launch in early 2017. As of December 2018, Voleo has earned the opportunity to pilot with OP Financial Group, Finland’s largest bank with total assets of €140bn. This partnership came to fruition from OP’s Wealthtech Program, which serves to expose top international fintech companies to the Finnish market, and for OP Financial Group to stay at the forefront of innovation and adopt new technologies for their client base.
Our mission for this partnership is to help OP Financial Group convert savers into investors and help them along the way as they kickstart their wealth journey. Our white-label product will integrate the social sharing capabilities of Voleo’s platform with OP Financial Group’s product line. By creating a community around personal finance, we believe that we can increase activity among existing OP users and acquire new prospects as well.
Finovate: What in your capital markets background gave you the confidence to tackle this challenge?
Beattie: I began my career 15 years ago and have devoted time across several sectors, leading projects in financial services and capital markets before taking on the role of CEO at Voleo. I’ve always had a passion for investing and education, and this aligned well with our mission of enabling the general public to reach their long-term financial goals.
Finovate: What can we expect from Voleo in 2019?
Beattie: I am excited for 2019 as Voleo is currently taking steps to become a publicly listed company on the TSX Venture Exchange.
In the past year of soft launch, we have continuously refined our product and grown our community organically. Voleo is now at the stage where we are ready to scale up.
To assist in the company’s strategic growth in 2019, Voleo has recently appointed Nicky Senyard as our first Independent Director. We are extremely excited to have Nicky join our group, as she is a veteran in the marketing technology space, having successfully founded Income Access which was acquired by Paysafe for $30M in 2016. We’re excited to have her provide her expertise in scaling fintech businesses to achieve our business goals for 2019.
To learn more about this unique platform and how you can be an early-adopter to this coming revolution, you can message me on LinkedIn or send us an e-mail at partnerships@myvoleo.com.
Fiservlaunches new mortgage lifecycle integration solution, Mortgage Momentum.
Worldlineannounces expansion of its partnership with Rambus to provide ITSO smart tickets in the U.K.
The Paypers interviews Luke Flomo, Head of Ecommerce for Trustly.
BlueRushannounces two new board members, Michael Beckerman and Paul G. Smith.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.
Aurélie L’Hostis, Senior Analyst, Forrester
Since the emergence of digital, commerce has been in a state of transformation, first with e-commerce and then with the rise of mobile came m-commerce. We’ve gone from typing and touching to swiping and now to talking, each mode of interaction has gotten progressively easier for the consumer. What could be more simple or intuitive? More personal than a conversation?
Our 2019 prediction would be that 2019 will be the year of hyper personalization where financial ecosystems parties (BigTechs, FinTechs, incumbents) will combine advanced AI techniques with the (new) access to personal banking data provided by PSD2 APIs and beyond.
I think payment control will be at the heart of 2019 fintech innovations. With non-cash transactions increasing at the highest growth rate in the last decade, it is crucial to ensure a strong level of control over those new cashless and seamless payment experiences.
We caught up with company CEO Thomas Beattie (pictured) to talk about Voleo, the power of social trading and investing, and what to expect from the company in 2019 and beyond.