Kalixa Acquired By Singapore’s Senjō Group for $30 Million

Kalixa Acquired By Singapore’s Senjō Group for $30 Million

kalixa_homepage_january2017

In a deal inked in the second half of December and slated to be completed in the first quarter of 2017, payments innovator Kalixa Group has been sold to Senjō Group, a private investment company based in Singapore. The price tag of the purchase is $30 million (€29 million), with a completion accounts adjustment that could take the final tally to as much as $37 million (€35.5 million).

In a statement, Kalixa said the acquisition gave the company the chance to “build a global footprint.” In addition, the statement read “it will give us the stability and long term support we need to further develop our platform and product portfolio for the benefit of our customers and partners.” Kalixa offers end-to-end payment services in verticals including financial services, e-commerce, gaming, and ticketing systems. Its solutions include Kalixa Pay, a prepaid digital wallet; Kalixa Pro, a small business mPOS; and Kalixa Accept, which enables merchants to accept more than 200 different payment methods. Following its acquisition of PXP Solutions in 2014, Kalixa became one of the top five payment services companies in the world.

With 19 payments, e-commerce, remittance, trading, and factoring companies in its portfolio, Senjō Group sees Kalixa as a good fit “with our strategy of building a global payments ecosystem,” in the words of Senjō Group COO Gavin Lock. “In return we will provide Kalixa, its employees and customers with the benefits of being a part of a global specialist payments operator.”

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Vienna, Austria, Kalixa demonstrated its mPOS technology at FinovateEurope 2013. In the fall of 2015, Kalixa was among a number of Finovate alums to make it to the finals of the U.K. Emerging Payments Awards. Earlier that year the company’s collaboration with Monitise, the social savings app called KiTTi, was launched by Santander UK.

AnchorID Adds Apple, SolarCity Vet Mark Roe to Board of Directors

AnchorID Adds Apple, SolarCity Vet Mark Roe to Board of Directors

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Former Senior Director of Worldwide Service for Apple and VP of Operations and Engineering for SolarCity, Mark Roe, will join the AnchorID Board of Directors. AnchorID CEO David Schropfer praised Roe’s experience “at Silicon Valley titans like Apple and Palm” and said his arrival coincides with the company’s growth plans – specifically within the U.S. credit union market. Schropfer also underscored Roe’s background in scaling operations, strategic implementation of IT systems, and “driving customer satisfaction.”

anchorid_markroe_newCredited with helping bring SolarCity public in 2013, Roe (pictured) said AnchorID had “the potential to become a billion dollar provider of new identity services.” Previous to Roe’s tenure at SolarCity and Apple, he was VP of Customer Service & Quality at Palm and, before that VP of Operations Engineering at Webvan. In addition to management stints at Accenture and Texas Instruments, Roe earned a BS in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and an MBA from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Kingston, New York, AnchorID demonstrated its enterprise grade authentication technology at FinovateFall 2014, taking home Best of Show honors. AnchorID offers a wide variety of authentication solutions – from phone, fingerprint, and voiceprint to soft tokens, PIN, and geocentric – to ensure that businesses and institutions have the identity proofing and KYC resources required in their industries. With more than $1 million in funding, the company announced a partnership with Los Angeles-based, white-label, digital wallet solutions provider, CU Wallet last fall.

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Worldcore

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Worldcore

worldcore_homepage_january2017

FE2017-V2-wdateA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Worldcore offers a wide range of secure global payment solutions including access to bank transfers, e-currency payments, prepaid debit cards, mass payments, and international money transfers.

Features

  • Secure biometric authentication with facial and voice recognition
  • Easy-to-use, class-leading digital experience
  • Multi-lingual, multi-currency support with mobile top-up + APIs/ SCIs

Why it’s great
We are constantly growth hacking to figure out how we can bring the fastest, easiest, and most secure payments and remittance options to new clients while continuing to provide same-day support.

Presenters

worldcore_seanpattersonSean Patterson, CMO
Patterson loves the analytical side of marketing and corporate strategy almost as much as the creative. He is a former Apple guy who loves great UX, has an MBA from Thunderbird, loves tennis, Porsches, travel, and venture capital.
LinkedIn

Alex Nasonov, CEO
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Mitek

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Mitek

mitek_homepage_january2017

FE2017-V2-wdateA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Trusted by over 5,000 organisations worldwide, Mitek will debut its unique machine-learning passport verification technology allowing service providers to onboard customers from across Europe.

Features

  • Instant verification via native and mobile web apps
  • Reduce onboarding abandonment with a 100% digital process via mobile
  • Machine and deep learning combats advanced fraud techniques

Why it’s great
Omni-channel identity verification establishes mutual trust between the individual and their institution reducing fraud, speeding onboarding, and propelling digital transformation.

mitek_sarahclarkPresenters

Sarah Clark, General Manager for Identity
Clark has worked in high growth fintech companies her entire career, helping companies bring both B2C and B2B products into blue ocean markets.
LinkedIn


Mitek_Kalle MarsalKalle Marsal, CMO

Marsal has over 20 years of marketing, technology entrepreneurship, VC, and general management experience in digital imaging, telecommunications, mobility, printing, and other high-technology industries.
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Horizn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Horizn

horizn_homepage_jan2017

FE2017-V2-wdateA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Horizn’s mobile platform dramatically accelerates market adoption of new products and digital technology for financial services and technology companies at enterprise scale.

Features

  • Used by employees, sales forces, and customers
  • Digitizes learning, embracing micro-learning, social technologies, gamification, and robust analytics
  • Increases employee performance, drives customer adoption and sales

Why it’s great
With banks, Horizn significantly accelerates the process of taking innovations to market, resulting in 85% employee adoption and a 20% increase in mobile platform usage.

horizn_janicedinerPresenters

Janice Diner, CEO and Founder
LinkedIn

 

 

horizn_robindindayalRobin Dindayal, SVP Product Management
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Twisto

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Twisto

twisto_homepage_january2017

FE2017-V2-wdateA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Twisto is simplifying daily payments, providing customers with a flexible credit line and helping them regain control over their finances.

Features

  • Pays all non-cash daily payments with one click
  • Seven minutes to access credit line with a card delivered within 48 hours
  • One mobile app to manage all finances, save money and time

Why it’s great
Twisto is a game-changer in payments across the CEE region through simplifying daily payments with the smart use of credit and outstanding customer experience born in the mobile age.
twisto_michaelsmida

Presenters

Michal Smida, Founder and CEO
Smida founded Twisto with the vision to become the leading bank challenger in CEE. Having previously spent four years at Barlcays, he lived in the U.S., Russia, U.K., and is currently based in Prague.
LinkedIn

Lukas Janousek, Chief Strategy Officer
twisto_lukasjanousekJanousek has more than eight years of experience building start-ups. He sold his last venture to O2. He is focused on delivering products with high added value and building a brand customers love.
LinkedIn

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • AnchorID Adds Apple, SolarCity Vet Mark Roe to Board of Directors.
  • Equifax Shakes Up Mortgage Tech with Castlight Partnership
  • Payfone Lands $23.5 Million in Funding

Around the web

  • Pakistan’s Samba Bank to deploy new core banking technology from Temenos.
  • Infosys’s core banking software Finacle goes live at Nepal’s Sunrise Bank.
  • ACI Worldwide to provide fraud protection for Kuwait’s Shared Electronic Banking Services Company (KNET).
  • Mitek partners with the American Cancer Society, supporting mobile fundraising with its mobile deposit and MiSnap technology.
  • Check Point Software partners with Attivo Networks to improve fraud detection.
  • DAVO Technologies has just been approved as a Certified Electronic Return Originator (ERO) with the California State Board of Equalization.

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.

 

NetGuardians Brings Real-Time Fraud Protection to Nigeria’s Keystone Bank

NetGuardians Brings Real-Time Fraud Protection to Nigeria’s Keystone Bank

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Keystone Bank in Nigeria has turned to FinovateAsia alum NetGuardians in order to meet a new anti-fraud directive from the country’s central bank. Keystone Bank ($2 billion in assets) will deploy NetGuardians’s FraudGuardian technology, which leverages Big Data and predictive analytics to enable continuous auditing across channels, IT levels, and financial transactions.

FraudGuardian was singled out by Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) as an effective way for FIs to meet recently-issued anti-fraud reporting requirements, a point underscored by Keystone Bank CIO, Femi Aderibigbe. “The CBN recommendation naturally gave confidence in the NetGuardians solution,” Aderibigbe said before adding that the technology’s “innovative approach to fraud prevention and system features” were also major factors in choosing to deploy FraudGuardian.

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Pictured (left to right): NetGuardian’s Mine Fornerod (Digital Marketing Manager) and Eric Margaryan (Asia Regional Director) demonstrating FraudGuardian at FinovateAsia 2016.

NetGuardians founder and CEO Joël Winteregg praised Keystone Bank as a “technology savvy, service-driven institution (where) eBanking is a key part of their operations.” According to Inlaks Computers, local implementation partner for NetGuardians, the Keystone Bank deployment is part of a larger plan to bring anti-fraud solutions to the area. Precious Osegi, Director of Sales and Strategy for Inlaks said, “(We) look forward to extending FraudGuardian to more banks in the West Africa region to mitigate fraud risk.” NetGuardians announced a deployment of FraudGuardian with the National Bank of Malawi last November.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, NetGuardians made its Finovate debut at FinovateAsia 2016 in Hong Kong. A Gartner Cool Vendor for 2015, NetGuardians was recognized at the Aurexia FinTech Awards in London last fall in the category of post-trade for investment suitability. The company has raised more than $5 million in funding, and includes MoneyTime Ventures and Polytech Ventures among its investors. Co-founder Raffael Maio is COO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: Sindeo Revamps the Mortgage Application Process.
  • NetGuardians Brings Real-Time Fraud Protection to Nigeria’s Keystone Bank.

Around the web

  • Flybits CEO Hossein Rahnama interviewed in TechRepublic feature on IoT trends in 2017.
  • AFK Insider lists Craft Silicon’s Uber-challenging app, Little, in its look at major technology developments in Africa in 2016.
  • FinDEVr alum Streamdata.io joins Google Technological Partner program.
  • ScientiaMobile recognized by CIOReview as one of the most promising CDN solution providers of 2016.
  • PYMNTS: BBVA Buys Openpay To Boost Digital Business Portfolio.

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.

 

Microsoft Marketing Vet Jeremy Korst Joins Avalara as New CMO

Microsoft Marketing Vet Jeremy Korst Joins Avalara as New CMO

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Starting in 2017 former Microsoft executive Jeremy Korst will be the man driving the message at tax compliance innovator and FinDEVr alum, Avalara. The Seattle-based company announced this week that Korst will join Avalara as its new chief marketing officer and executive vice president. Coming onboard at what Korst called “an exciting inflection point” for the company, he praised Avalara’s “ideal combination (of) a terrific executive team; a cohesive, unique culture that embraces the ‘power of Orange;’ a proven platform; and a massive global market opportunity.”

avalara_jeremykorstKorst (pictured) arrives at Avalara after several years at Microsoft where he led planning and execution of the global launch of Windows 10. Previous to Microsoft, Korst served as vice president and general manager at T-Mobile, and senior product marketing manager at AT&T Wireless/Cingular. A member of the board of a number of companies including Shoelace Wireless and 9104 Studios, Korst is a mentor for Seattle-area technology accelerator, 9Mile Labs. He has a BA in Economics, Politics, and Government from the University of Puget Sound, and a MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

At Avalara, Korst will be responsible for brand, demand generation, as well as channel, international, product, and customer marketing. Avalara general manager and CRO Pascal Van Dooren said Korst’s experience in marketing “some of the most storied names in tech … make(s) him an ideal fit for Avalara.”

Avalara presented “The Wacky World of Sales Tax” at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015, explaining how its API makes it easy for developers to integrate transactional tax compliance into their applications. Last fall, Avalara announced an investment of $96 million that took its total capital to more than $300 million. In August, Avalara added a set of enhancements to its CertCapture management solution for compliance documents. And in June, in addition to unveiling a new integration with Stripe, the company was recognized at the American Business Awards.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Microsoft Marketing Vet Jeremy Korst Joins Avalara as New CMO.

Around the web

  • New York-based BizFi reaches $2 billion in originations.
  • LTP: Trulioo CEO Stephen Ufford writes about the problem of gift card fraud.
  • Boku extends partnership with Microsoft to support carrier billing to France.
  • Exostar teams up with Taulia to bring supply chain finance to the aerospace and defense industry.
  • Avoka, SocietyOne, and SuiteBox named finalists for Fintech Business Awards.
  • HBR: Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel writes about talking chatbots.
  • Quantopian recognized by Boston Globe as a “Company to Watch in 2017.”
  • Let’s Talk Payments features Kontomatik’s successful 2016.
  • Dashlane to support Intel Software Guard Extensions to help protect your passwords with hardware-enhanced security.
  • OurCrowd marks 4 years, $320m raised, 100 startups, 9 exits.

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.

BBVA Compass Announces New CEO, Onur Genc

BBVA Compass Announces New CEO, Onur Genc

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One of the world’s most innovative, fintech-friendly banks just onboarded a new boss.

BBVA announced this week that U.S. subsidiary BBVA Compass has named former Garanti Bank deputy CEO, Onur Genç, as its new CEO. At Garanti, Turkey’s largest bank by market cap at $9 billion, Genç (pictured) was in charge of retail banking, private banking, and asset management. He was promoted to deputy CEO at Garanti in 2015. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity,” Genç said in a press release. “I onurgenccan’t wait to join the team and to work with Manolo to extend the success story of BBVA Compass.” Genç will replace Manolo Sanchez, who became CEO of BBVA Compass in 2008 and will transition into a new role of non-executive chairman.

“BBVA is a global financial group that can tap the world’s best talent, and Onur is a clear example of that. I am looking forward to helping him take BBVA Compass to the next level,” Sanchez said.

Prior to his tenure at BBVA Compass, Onur Genç was a senior partner and Turkey office manager at McKinsey & Company. Before McKinsey & Company, Genç was a financial controller at American Airlines. He has a bachelor of science degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Bogaziçi University in Istanbul, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1857 and headquartered in Madrid, Spain, BBVA—Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria—demonstrated its stock market sentiment solution, Stockbuzz, at FinovateEurope 2013. The second largest bank in Spain and a member of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, BBVA held assets of more than €750 billion in 2015. Carlos Torres Vila is CEO.

BBVA Compass was founded in 1964 and has been a BBVA subsidiary since 2007. With assets of $85 billion, the firm is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and is active in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas.