Author: David Penn

SuiteBox Wins “Best Technology” at Melbourne Showcase; Dunbar Advances to CEO

SuiteBox Wins “Best Technology” at Melbourne Showcase; Dunbar Advances to CEO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: SuiteBox

SuiteBox_homepage_April2016

Just a month after naming Ian Dunbar as its new CEO, Australian virtual workspace innovator SuiteBox has won “Best Technology” at the Melbourne Showcase.

Marc Evans, co-founder of Showcase, sponsor Afiniation, and a judge at the event, praised SuiteBox as a “clean and simple solution that shows how technology can continue to innovate and improve how we connect with our clients.”

Afiniation is a network dedicated to supporting fintech innovation in the Australasia region. Thirty companies participated in this year’s showcase in Melbourne, held earlier this month. Finovate and FinDEVr alum Yodlee is among the event’s sponsors.

Afiniation_SuiteBox_TweetPic

Also taking home top honors from the showcase were:

  • Best in Show: Macrovue
  • Best New Entrant: Billsumo
  • Best Disruptor: XTB

The Melbourne Showcase isn’t the first time SuiteBox had been in the winner’s circle this year. The company won the Global 2016 Mobile category of the KPMG Fintech Innovation Challenge in February, ahead of its FinovateEurope debut.

Also making headlines for the company is Ian Dunbar’s move from country manager to CEO of SuiteBox. Co-founder and CEO Richard Mannell will stay on with SuiteBox as the company’s new COO. Talking about the leadership change, Dunbar said it reflected “the positioning of SuiteBox as a global provider of solutions to the financial services industry.”

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, SuiteBox demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013. The company’s technology is used by more than 250 financial services companies in Australia and New Zealand. And while Australia represents most of SuiteBox’s growth, Dunbar sees room for “rapid expansion” in the country, as well as pursuing new markets. Read more about SuiteBox’s virtual meeting rooms for financial professionals.

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Silver6

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Silver6
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016, FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek, Silver6

ConcatSys_Silver6_homepage_April2016

FS2016-wdateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on May 10 & 11. Register today.

Silver6 is a financial video platform that helps companies deliver custom tailored communication to their audience by using Video Personalization. Videos are completely unique to each recipient.

Features:

  • Engage your audience with video content customized to them
  • Track the video, and use heat maps to determine what portion was viewed the most
  • Create unique video content on a large scale

Why it’s great
After the baseline videos are created, the process requires very little time and effort. You can create and deliver thousands of customized videos, with next-to-no work involved.

Presenters

Brock Traetow, COO
Traetow has spent many years working for both large and small digital media companies. He has a wide variety of expertise in lead generation, content marketing, and analytics.

Sudheer Pamuru, CTO
Pamuru has spent 20+ years leading and architecting a wide variety of technology projects and companies. The last 10 years have been specific to working with video platforms.

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Sezzle

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Sezzle
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016, FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek, Sezzle

Sezzle_homepage_April2016

FS2016-wdateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on May 10 & 11. Register today.

Sezzle Pay is making it easy for online merchants to accept low-cost ACH payments. We combine bank authentication technology with time-tested ACH to enable instant ACH transactions.

Features:

  • A new ability for merchants to accept low-cost, easy-to-use ACH payments
  • Rewards for end users to increase utilization
  • Simplicity for end users to improve the payment experience

Why it’s great
What they are seeing today with Sezzle is going to be the future of payments. The physical payment card will become a relic of the past, and Sezzle will be a larger part of our cardless future.

Sezzle_CharlieYouakim

Presenter: Charlie Youakim, CEO 
Youakim is CEO and founder of Sezzle, as well as founder and former co-CEO of Passport. He is engineering and business educated, using love of tech, strategy, and marketing to build great companies.
LinkedIn

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Roostify

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Roostify
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016, FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek, Roostify

Roostify_homepage_April2016

FS2016-wdateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on May 10 & 11. Register today.

Roostify simplifies and accelerates the home lending experience.

Features:

  • Automated mortgage approval
  • An integrated borrower/lender/real estate agent experience
  • Consumer self-serve capability in the closing process

Why it’s great
You can give your borrowers a lending experience that’s fast, easy, and something they’re actually excited to tell their friends about.

Presenters

Roostify_NathanielSokollWardNathaniel Sokoll-Ward, Head of Product 
Sokoll-Ward is a former Google consumer-tech veteran taking on broken financial transactions.
LinkedIn

 

 

Roostify_JonathanKirstJonathan Kirst, CTO
Kirst is a former Salesforce engineering maven taking on broken financial transactions.
LinkedIn

 

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Malauzai Software

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: Malauzai Software
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016, FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek, Malauzai Software

Malauzai_homepage_April2016

FS2016-wdateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on May 10 & 11. Register today.

Malauzai Software will show its latest mobile offering, MOX Pay, a set of mobile wallet apps for small businesses, powered by community financial institutions.

Features:

  • Empower small businesses to publish affordable, payment-centric mobile apps
  • Help local businesses get paid faster and cheaper
  • Use existing technologies and services in new ways

Why it’s great
It offers mobile wallet apps for small businesses, powered by community banks and credit unions.

Presenters

Robb Gaynor, Co-founder, Chief Product Officer
Gaynor is chief product officer and co-founder of Malauzai Software Inc., a provider of mobile and internet banking SmartApps for community financial institutions.
LinkedIn

Blake Pelletier, SVP, Chief Information Officer & Chief Information Security Officer, Redding Bank of Commerce
LinkedIn

Malauzai_DanielPiangerelliDanny Piangerelli, Co-founder and CTO
Piangerelli leads the technology team and is responsible for all aspects of Malauzai’s technology infrastructure.
LinkedIn

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SumUp Announces Merger with Payleven

SumUp Announces Merger with Payleven
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, SumUp

SumUp_homepage_April2016

The merger between mPOS innovators SumUp and payleven announced this week will create a new giant in the industry that processes more than €1 billion a year in 15 countries.

Founder and CEO of SumUp Daniel Klein called the deal a “game-changer for the mobile payments industry” and a major move toward his vision of building the “first ever global card acceptance brand.” payleven co-founder Konstantin Wolff referred to SumUP and payleven as “two complimentary teams sharing the same vision” and said the merger would produce a company that is “larger and more powerful than the sum of its parts.” The combined entity will operate as SumUp.

SumUp_stage_FEU2013c

Pictured (left to right): Stefan Jeschonnek, CMO and co-founder, and Florian Richter, country manager, U.K., demonstrated SumUp at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

SumUp’s proprietary end-to-end EMV technology, hardware terminal, and mobile apps enable merchants to accept both credit and debit card transactions with a smartphone or tablet. Certification with Europay, MasterCard, and Visa ensures a high level of payment security and has enabled the company to serve merchants in 15 countries such as Brazil, Sweden and, as of last October, the U.S. SumUp’s investors include American Express, BBVA Ventures, Groupon, Venture Incubator AG—all participants of the company’s most recent fundraising last August. Founded in August 2011 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, SumUp demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013.

payleven’s Bluetooth-powered card readers help SMEs process credit and debit card payments. Founded in 2012, the Berlin-based company raised more than $25 million in funding, including a $10 million Series D round in February.

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Finovate, FinDEVr Alums Among Winners of 2016 Fintech Innovation Awards

Finovate, FinDEVr Alums Among Winners of 2016 Fintech Innovation Awards
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, EquityZen, Nomis Solutions, Trulioo, Zopa

FinTechInnovationAwards_2016_homepage

Of the 15 first place prizes awarded this month in the 2016 Fintech Innovation Awards, five went to Finovate/FinDEVr alums.

“This award is recognition of the strength of our idea for peer-to-peer lending and the growth we have seen since then as the idea has moved mainstream,” Giles Andrews said. “Of course, credit should go much more to the team who helped build Zopa’s scale, particularly Jaidev who took the reins last year and led the company to record levels of growth.”

“FinTech continues to be at the forefront of innovation, and that requires equally innovative RegTech solutions for risk management, security, and fraud,” Zac Cohen, Trulioo general manager, said. “Our Compliance-as-a-Service technology addresses that need, enabling pioneering technologies to grow their businesses and protect their users on a global scale.”

“In a shifting U.K. market, our range of price-optimization products are helping banks to better understand their customers’ behaviors and sensitivities through advanced analytics and analysis,” Damian Young, managing director, EMEA at Nomis Solutions, said, “This brings banks significant competitive and market advantage that will help them grow smartly and responsibly in any economic environment.”

“It’s brilliant to be recognized by the industry for our work in creating an award-winning money-transfer service, but the best prize of all is our ever-growing number of happy customers,” Azimo founder and CEO Michael Kent said. “They’re all part of the Azimo story – sending money home to support loved ones for all kinds of reasons.”

Also earning recognition at the event was EquityZen. The company, which will make its Finovate debut next month at FinovateSpring 2016 in San Jose, won the Innovation in Wealth, Asset, and Investment Management category.

Hosted by Julia Streets, CEO and founder of Streets Consulting, the 2016 FinTech Innovation Awards winners were chosen by a group of leading fintech specialists chaired by Dan Cobley, managing partner at Blenheim Chalcot. Taking home top honors in the remaining 11 categories were:

  • Innovation of the Year: ClearScore
  • Fintech Marketing Campaign of the Year: “Cashless on the Catwalk” by The 10 Group and Visa Europe
  • Fintech Startup of the Year: ClearScore
  • Innovation in Corporate Banking Solutions: Idea Cloud by Idea Bank SA
  • Innovation in Insurance: Bought by Many platform by Bought By Many and Ping An Insurance.
  • Innovation in Lending: Marketinvoice
  • Innovation in Payments: Zwipe Payment by Zwipe
  • Innovation in Risk Management: Imagine Software
  • Innovation in Trading Systems: FX Connect from State Street Bank
  • Innovation in Treasury Management: Walletsizing by Vallstein

The FinTech Innovation Awards were held at The Brewery in London on April 13th. The event featured a keynote address from author and Duke University professor, Dan Ariely, as well as remarks from Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, Matt Hancock. Finovate alum Strands was among the event’s sponsors.

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Narrative Science Turns Business Intel Into Data-Driven Stories

Narrative Science Turns Business Intel Into Data-Driven Stories
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Narrative Science

NarrativeScience_NarrativesforBI

With the launch of Narratives for Power BI, Narrative Science unveils the latest integration of its advanced natural language generation (NLG) technology. The new extension, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, will give Microsoft Power BI users advanced analytics and data-visualization tools to help them read and understand corporate data.

“Integrating Advanced NLG into Microsoft Power BI enables our customers to automatically turn complex data into insightful stories,” says Nick Caldwell, general manager of Microsoft Power BI. Both companies emphasized the importance of making technologies like advanced NLG accessible to the business. This collaboration is, according to Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel, key to “maximiz(ing) the value of their business intelligence efforts.”

NarrativeScience_screenshot“Put simply, this collaboration not only enhances and amplifies the user experience for customers of Power BI,” Frankel wrote in a blog post about the launch, “but also further drives the democratization of information, where users don’t need to interpret data and visualizations—they simply need to read.” Microsoft Power BI has more than 5 million users and works with Adobe Analytics, Github, Salesforce, and more than 50 other data sources.

Download Narratives for Power BI. Notes and tips on using the extension are published at the Microsoft Power BI Blog.

Narratives for Power BI is the second major new innovation from Narrative Science this year. In January, Narrative Science launched Narratives for Qlik, bringing its advanced NLG technology to the Pennsylvania-based company’s visual analytics and business-intelligence platform. Narrative Science was featured in Forbes earlier this month, and in the New York Times in February. The company has raised more than $29 million in funding; most recently picking up $10 million in a round led by USAA.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Narrative Science demoed Quill Financial at FinovateFall 2013.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FICO, Finova Financial, Ignite Sales, iSignthis, Linqto, Misys, Narrative Science, Ping Identity, Qumram, SaleMove, Sberbank, Student Loan Genius, TIO Networks, Top Image Systems, WorkFusion

On Finovate.com

  • “TIO Networks Closes Purchase of Softgate Systems”
  • “Narrative Science Turns Business Intel into Data-Driven Stories”

Around the web

  • Top Image Systems inks a pair of banking process automation deals worth $700,000.
  • iSignthis brings its KYC technology to Chinese e-payment leader, YeePay.
  • WorkFusion and VirtusaPolaris team up to provide smart automation solutions for companies in banking and financial services.
  • Misys launches FinCloud, a new range of cloud solutions and global cloud environment.
  • Capgemini consulting services adds risk- and fraud-management technology from FICO.
  • Ignite Sales powering Regions Bank’s guided selling tool.
  • Ping Identity releases new Knowledge Center, a customer support and documentation portal

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.

 

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Finvoate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blockchain, BlueVine, Coinbase, Fiserv, Ledger

Around the web

  • Let’s Talk Payments features Ledger, Blockchain, and Coinbase in its roundup of blockchain-powered digital wallets.
  • PYMNTS.com interviews BlueVine CEO Eyal Lifshitz on the return of the SMB line of credit.

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.

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Patch of Land Taps Former Oaktree Executive Paul Deitch as its New CEO

Patch of Land Taps Former Oaktree Executive Paul Deitch as its New CEO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Patch of Land

PatchofLand_homepage_April2016

Paul Deitch, former managing director of Oaktree Capital Management, will join Patch of Land as its new CEO.

In a statement about the hire, Patch of Land co-founder Jason Fritton highlighted Deitch’s experience in helping lead Oaktree as it doubled its assets under management from $50 billion to $100 billion and successfully launched its IPO in 2012. “We are excited to have someone of Paul’s caliber and experience,” Fritton said, saying Deitch brings “all of the ingredients we will need as we successfully grow our firm.” Fritton, who co-founded the company in 2013, will transition to the role of executive chairman.

PatchofLand_stage_FF2014c

Pictured (left to right): Patch of Land CMO AdaPia D’Errico and COO Jason Fritton demonstrated their platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Deitch (right) sees Patch of Land as poised for its next major growth phase. “We have a huge opportunity in front PatchofLand_PaulDeitchof us to continue to expand and diversify the firm’s solution-based lending platform,” Deitch said. In addition to his more than seven years at Oaktree Capital Management, Deitch served as COO at Countrywide Bank, a Management Consulting Partner at KPMG, as well as in a number of executive roles at Bank of America. He has a bachelor’s fegree from UCLA and an MBA from University of Southern California.

The news comes in the wake of Patch of Land’s February announcement that an “East Coast credit fund” was investing $250 million across its platform. In March, the company announced a set of major new milestones, including origination of more than $100 million in loans and returning more than $25 million to investors. New mid-term loans of two to five years were launched in March, as well.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Patch of Land demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2014. The company has raised more than $23 million in funding, and includes SF Capital Group among its investors.

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FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: VIX Verify

FinovateSpring Sneak Peek: VIX Verify
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016, FinovateSpring 2016 Sneak Peek, VIX Verify

VIXVerify_homepage_April2016

FS2016-wdateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on May 10 & 11. Register today.

VIX Verify is a global leader in consumer on-boarding and identity-verification solutions. We will be demonstrating our award-winning, SaaS-based platform for delivering these services: greenID.

Features:

    • Global data and document coverage for over 3 billion consumers
    • Compliance with local AML/KYC/CTF, information security and consumer privacy regulations
    • Flexible integration options

Why it’s great
greenID is the only global, integrated, on-boarding platform that combines data verification, document verification, and facial recognition technologies to authenticate consumer identities in real-time.

Presenters:

VIXVerify_JenniferHughesJennifer Hughes, Business Development
Hughes is a financial services industry specialist with more than twenty years of product management, consulting and information technology experience at leading global institutions.
LinkedIn

 

 

VIXVerify_MarcoPiovesanMarco Piovesan, General Manager
Piovesan is a globally seasoned and dynamic senior executive with extensive experience successfully building and leading numerous multimillion dollar data, analytics, and financial software businesses.
LinkedIn

 

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