Author: David Penn

FundAmerica Shares Growth Metrics, Plans for 2016

FundAmerica Shares Growth Metrics, Plans for 2016
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FundAmerica

FundAmerica_homepage_Jan2016

This week, crowdfunding compliance solution provider FundAmerica gave us an inside look at some of its top metrics from 2015. Near the top of the list was the $102 million processed by FundAmerica’s platform customers. And of that only $3.5 million was refunded to investors for deals that didn’t close.

FundAmerica founder and CEO Scott Purcell said he was “surprised” at the low refund figure. “It shows offerings using FundAmerica’s services and methodology are overwhelmingly successful,” he said.

FundAmerica_stage_FS2015b

From left: FundAmerica General Counsel Scott Andersen, with founder and CEO Scott Purcell, demonstrated FundAmerica’s platform at FinovateSpring 2015.

Specializing in providing back-office tools ranging from escrow, AML, and payment processing, FundAmerica gives investment advisers, broker-dealers, and platform operators the technology to make sure their crowdfunding businesses run efficiently and remain compliant.

Some 2015 metrics from FundAmerica:

  • Number of escrows (506b, 506c, and Reg A): 228 offerings
  • Average investment (506b/c): $50,000
  • Average investment (Reg A): $2,800
  • Total number of platforms: 325
  • Platforms launched in 2015: 85

FundAmerica says it has investors from all 50 states plus the District of Colombia, with most investors coming from California, Texas, Florida, and New York. The vast majority of investors are from the United States (95%), with other participating investors from countries such as China, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom, and Canada.

In addition to the metrics from last year, Purcell highlighted what to expect from FundAmerica in 2016.

  • Grow staff from 21 to 50
  • Launch EB-5 services
  • Support Title III crowdfunding portals
  • Provide APIs for venture exchanges, aggregators, and research firms

Purcell says FundAmerica will continue to improve its back-office solutions for 506b/c and Reg A offerings, and provide more compliance tools for broker-dealers. “Writing software is nonstop for us,” Purcell said.

FundAmerica made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015, and launched its Invest Now button in May. Learn more about how the company helps crowdfunders stay compliant in our August 2015 profile.

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Deadline for Queen City Fintech Spring 2016 Accelerator is This Week

Deadline for Queen City Fintech Spring 2016 Accelerator is This Week
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized

QCFinTech_homepage_Jan2016

The deadline for applications to join the Spring 2016 cohort of the Queen City FinTech Accelerator Program is this Wednesday, 6 January.

QCFinTech is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, a major U.S. financial services hub that provides access to professional mentors from institutions ranging from Bank of America to Wells Fargo. The accelerator program runs for 12 months with an on-site, “intensive acceleration” beginning on 14 March and ending with a Demo Day event on 1 June. Finovate Best of Show award winner Dyme is among the program’s alums.

QCFinTechSpring2016

In a statement, QCFintech said their accelerator program was an opportunity to help different kinds of fintech companies bring their innovations to market. “While our program does not focus on one aspect of fintech,” the statement noted, “our mentors and expertise tend to have core expertise in payments, cyber security, retail and consumer banking.”

 

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FundAmerica Shares Growth Metrics, Plans for 2016

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FundAmerica

FundAmerica_homepage_Jan2016

This week, crowdfunding compliance solution provider FundAmerica gave us an inside look at some of its top metrics from 2015. Near the top of the list was the $102 million processed by FundAmerica’s platform customers. And of that, only $3.5 million was refunded to investors for deals that didn’t close.

FundAmerica founder and CEO Scott Purcell said he was “surprised” at the low refund figure. “It shows offerings using FundAmerica’s services and methodology are overwhelmingly successful,” he said.

FundAmerica_stage_FS2015b

From left: FundAmerica General Counsel Scott Andersen and Founder and CEO Scott Purcell demonstrated the FundAmerica platform at FinovateSpring 2015.

Specializing in providing back-office tools including escrow, AML, and payment processing, FundAmerica gives investment advisers, broker-dealers, and platform operators the technology to make sure their crowdfunding businesses run efficiently and remain compliant.

Some other interesting metrics from FundAmerica:

  • Number of escrows (506b, 506c, and Reg A): 228 offerings
  • Average investment (506b/c): $50,000
  • Average investment (Reg A): $2,800
  • Total number of platforms: 325
  • Platforms launched in 2015: 85

FundAmerica also noted that it has investors from all 50 states plus the District of Colombia, with most investors coming from California, Texas, Florida, and New York. The vast majority of investors are from the United States (95%); also participating are investors from countries such as China, New Zealand, South Korea, United Kingdom, and Canada.

In addition to the metrics from last year, Purcell highlighted what to expect from FundAmerica in 2016.

  • Grow staff from 21 to 50
  • Launch EB-5 services
  • Support Title III crowdfunding portals
  • Provide APIs for venture exchanges, aggregators, and research firms

Purcell added that FundAmerica will continue to improve its back-office solutions for 506b/c and Reg A offerings, and provide more compliance tools for broker-dealers. “Writing software is nonstop for us,” Purcell said.

FundAmerica made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015, and launched its Invest Now button in May of that year. Learn more about how the company helps crowdfunders stay compliant in our August profile.

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Deadline for Queen City Fintech Spring 2016 Accelerator is This Week

Deadline for Queen City Fintech Spring 2016 Accelerator is This Week
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dyme

QCFinTech_homepage_Jan2016

The deadline for applications to join the Spring 2016 cohort of the Queen City FinTech Accelerator Program is this Wednesday, 6 January.

QCFinTech is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, a major U.S. financial services hub that provides access to professional mentors from institutions ranging from Bank of America to Wells Fargo. The accelerator program runs for 12 months with 12 weeks of on-site “intensive acceleration” beginning in March and ending with a Demo Day event on 1 June 2016. Finovate Best of Show award winner Dyme is among the program’s alums.

In a statement, QCFinTech said their accelerator program was an opportunity to help different kinds of fintech companies bring their innovations to market. “While our program does not focus on one aspect of FinTech,” the statement noted, “our mentors and expertise tend to have core expertise in payments, cyber security, retail and consumer banking.”

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alpha Payments Cloud, Backbase, FundAmerica, Hyperwallet, PayPal, Soundpays, Top Image Systems, Venmo, WePay, wipro

Around the web

  • Wipro appoints Abidali Neemuchwala, CEO and member of the board, and names TK Kurien as executive VP.
  • Top Image Systems announces quarter-million-dollar eFLOW5 upgrade project of Hong Kong subsidiary of a top-ten Chinese bank.
  • Let’s Talk Payments interviews Peter Burridge, Hyperwallet CRO and president.
  • PYMNTS interviews WePay’s Global Vice President of Sales and Success Kurt Bilafer about customer intimacy in online commerce.
  • Fortune: How Venmo plans to make money.
  • PayPal and Aramex partner to create www.ishoptheworld.com, a one-stop cross-border marketplace.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Credit Karma Thinks Mobile with Snowball Acquisition

Credit Karma Thinks Mobile with Snowball Acquisition
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Karma

CreditKarma_homepage_Jan2016

“Snowball” isn’t just a strategy for repaying debt. It’s also the name of the first acquisition by personal finance and credit management platform, Credit Karma.

“We have tens of thousands of data points on a particular customer at any time,” Credit Karma CTO Ryan Graciano told TechCrunch last week. “But sorting through all that … is a very tricky thing to do, especially in a way where you’re not overwhelming the user with spurious notifications.”

And that’s where Snowball comes in. The app was developed in 2014 to aggregate multiple Android-based messaging apps. Credit Karma plans to use the technology to deliver actionable mobile notifications, and they like the fact that the platform is native to Android. “Android is a key platform for us,” Graciano said. “And these guys have a really amazing experience on Android.”

CreditKarma_stage_FS2009

From left: Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin, founder, and VP Nichole Mustard, business development, demonstrated Credit Karma’s Debt Manager platform at FinovateSpring 2009.

Five members of Snowball’s six-person team will join Credit Karma, including Snowball CEO Anish Acharya who will serve as senior director for product management. Snowball had raised $2.3 million in funding from investors including Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital and Greylock Partners.

Founded in July 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Credit Karma specializes in providing credit management information, including free credit monitoring, credit scores, reports, and email alerts. The company has raised more than $368 million in financing, including its most recent $175 million Series D round in June 2015 . Credit Karma was named to Fast Company’s 2015 Silicon Valley “Nice” list, and was recognized by Glassdoor as one of the “Best Places to Work in 2016” in December, the same month the company joined 19 fellow Finovate alums on the first Forbes Fintech 50. In November 2015, Credit Karma celebrated giving away its billionth free credit score since launching in 2008.

Credit Karma demonstrated its Debt Manager platform at FinovateSpring 2009.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CBW Bank, Credit Karma, Fiserv, Global Debt Registry, Radius, Urban FT, WealthForge, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • “Credit Karma Thinks Mobile with Snowball Acquisition“
  • “Finovate Debuts: Urban FT Brings a Social PFM to Prepaid Cardholders”

Around the web

  • Let’s Talk Payments features several Finovate alums in its look at fintech in Europe. Remember FinovateEurope 2016 is just over one month away.
  • American Banker highlights Global Debt Registry in a review of companies tackling the problem of debt collection.
  • WealthForge publishes its 2015 Year in Review in infographic form.
  • American Banker recognizes CBW Bank’s Suresh Ramamurthi as Innovator of the Year.
  • Suffolk Bancorp in N.Y. Names Fiserv Core Processor (paywall).
  • Zopa reviews 2015 stats and discloses 2016 plans.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Wipro Inks Agreement to Acquire Viteos Group

Wipro Inks Agreement to Acquire Viteos Group
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Mergers & Acquisitions, wipro

Wipro_homepage_Dec2015

In a bid to grow its fund accounting and business process services and capabilities, Bangalore-based IT consultancy Wipro has agreed to acquire Viteos Group. The Times of India reports a purchase price of $130 million.

Viteos Group provides a proprietary platform built for cross-border, any asset class, any currency, post-trade operations for the U.S. alternative investment-management industry. The company has offices in New York, New Jersey, London, and the Cayman Islands.

Nagendra Bandaru, SVP and head of business process services for Wipro, says Viteos “brings with it experienced leadership, domain expertise, and unique BPaaS capability.” Speaking for Viteos, company founder and CEO Shankar Iyer referred to the acquisition as the “culmination” of his company’s “search for a global partner.”

Wipro_stage_FEU2015

From left: Wipro General Manager Mukund Kalmanker, Wipro general manager, and Sudhakar Babu Tamminedi, Wipro practice head, demonstrated ngGenie myAdvisor at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

Terms of the acquisition were not immediately available, and the deal is still subject to regulatory review. The acquisition is scheduled to be complete by the end of March 2016.

The deal combines Viteos Group’s buy-side expertise with Wipro’s sell-side credentials in areas such as reconciliation, settlements, and KYC, among others. President of Wipro, CEO Shaji Farooq explained that the trend of IT services moving toward the “as-a-service” model made a deal like this one with Viteos a priority. “Our strategy is to invest in industry vertical platforms which will provide platform-based services to our clients in a transaction/outcome-based pricing model,” Farooq explained. “Viteos will further our strategy in the capital markets domain.”

Viteos Group is Wipro’s second acquisition of the month. The company announced plans to acquire IT consultancy Cellent AG for €73.5 million early in December and, in June, Wipro launched its e-KYC solution which leverages its AI platform, Wipro HOLMES. The company began the year with a major, multiyear, IT outsourcing contract with Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

Founded in 1945 as Western India Palm Refined Oils Limited, Wipro is headquartered in Bangalore, India. A multinational IT consulting and systems-integration firm, Wipro demonstrated its Wipro ngGenie myAdvisor technology at FinovateEurope 2015.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, EverSafe, Hedgeable, Lending Club, Lighter Capital, Personal Capital, Toshl, Tradier, Wealthfront, wipro

On Finovate.com

  • “Lending Club Raises Average Rate 0.25%”
  • “Wipro Inks Agreement to Acquire Viteos Group”

Around the web

  • VentureBeat takes a look at the latest update to Toshl’s PFM app.
  • Insurance NewsNet features Wealthfront, Personal Capital, Hedgeable, and Betterment in a survey of robo-advisers.
  • WooTrader enables direct trading from its platform courtesy of a new integration with Tradier and its brokerage API.
  • GeekWire interviews CEO BJ Lackland of Lighter Capital.
  • Fidelity Clearing & Custody to offer clients protection from EverSafe at a reduced rate.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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2015: A Year in Finovate Alumni Mergers and Acquisitions

2015: A Year in Finovate Alumni Mergers and Acquisitions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Akimbo Financial, Aurora Financial Systems, Authentify, Blockstack.io, eMoney Advisor, Finicity, FIS, Funding, Fundings, FutureAdvisor, GoNow, Guide Financial, Kofax, Kontomatik, Kreditech, LearnVest, Mergers & Acquisitions, Q2, ReadyForZero, Red Zebra, Social Money, Stratos, Toopher, Urban FT, Wipit, Yodlee

Handshake_graphic

2015 was another big year for mergers and acquisitions in the fintech industry. And whether they were the acquirer or the acquired, Finovate alums were very much a part of the M&A action.

Because terms of many deals were undisclosed, it is difficult to get a precise number on how much money was spent acquiring some of fintech’s most promising startups this year. But looking just at those acquisitions for which figures were available, we can see that 2015 was a banner year in M&A (more than $7 billion) — and that’s just counting alums.

So from the $5 billion deal between FIS and Sungard to the “alum-acquires-alum” mergers of September 2015, let’s take a closer look at some of the major unions of the year that featured Finovate alums.

December

October

September

August

July

May

April

March

February

January

If you’re a Finovate alum whose merger we’ve missed or acquisition we’ve overlooked, let us know. Send us an email at research@finovate.com.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Backbase, BankersLab, Credit Karma, Holvi, MoneyStream, Motif Investing, Nostrum Group, Personal Capital, Stratos, Vantiv, Zopa

On Finovate.com

  • “2015: A Year in Finovate Alumni Mergers and Acquisitions”

Around the web

  • TechTarget interviews Vantiv CSO Kim Jones on “creating a culture of security.”
  • Moneystream announces plans to close its doors in February 2016.
  • Nostrum Group earns a spot in Deloitte 2015 Technology Fast 500 for the EMEA region.
  • Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana explains why 2016 will be the year P2P lending hits the mainstream.
  • Holvi is featured in this look at the top 10 startups in Finland.
  • TopFunded interviews BankersLab CEO Michelle Katics. See BankersLab at FinovateEurope 2016 in London in February 2016.
  • Credit Karma wins a spot on Fast Company’s 2015 Silicon Valley “Nice” list.
  • Emerging Prairie looks at how a local RIA is integrating Motif Investing into his business.
  • SwipeStox launches new features. Check out SwipeStox at FinovateEurope 2016.
  • Personal Capital Debuts First eBook: A Better Financial Life.
  • Backbase awarded accolades in Gartner report, Critical Capabilities for Horizontal Portals. Backbase will demo at FinovateEurope 2016.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

 

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Braintree, CRIF, FutureAdvisor, Gusto, Kabbage, PayPal, Personal Capital, Prosper, Top Image Systems, TradeKing, Twilio, Wealthfront, Xero, Yoyo, ZenPayroll

On Finovate.com

  • “Gusto, Formerly ZenPayroll, Closes on $50 Million Funding”
  • “U.K.-Based Yoyo Rolls Out Mobile Wallet in U.S.”

Around the web

  • B2B commerce technology company Handshake teams up with Xero.
  • Braintree launches new extension of its v.zero SDK in partnership with Magento Commerce.
  • CRIF Credit Solutions unveils new, fully responsive website geared toward international audiences.
  • Business Insider names Kabbage, Twilio, and Prosper as 3 of 42 startups that grew to be worth billions in 2015.
  • Top Image Systems to deploy eFLOW Digital Mailroom at GED Bulgaria.
  • NerdWallet’s five financial tips from robo-adviser CEOs feature insights from leaders of Betterment, Wealthfront, TradeKing Advisors, FutureAdvisor, and Personal Capital.
  • Nine months after launching, One Touch from PayPal reaches 10 million users in 23 countries.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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