Author: David Penn

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BehavioSec, Betterment, Currency Cloud, IP Commerce, linxo, MasterCard, On Deck Capital, Tradeshift, TransferWise, Vouch

On Finovate.com

  • “IP Commerce Closes Series A Round”
  • “Linxo Raises €2 Million from Crédit Agricole”

Around the web

  • MasterCard and TransferWise talk about the “future of money and credit” with TechCruch at Davos 2016.
  • Let’s Talk Payments features Betterment in a roundup of fintech startups focused on reducing fees for retirement savers.
  • OnDeck enters referral agreement with Opus Bank to power SMB lending.
  • BehavioSec to power behavioral biometrics for TeleSign.

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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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Capital Preferences

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Capital Preferences
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capital Preferences, FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek

CapitalPreferences_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDate    A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

 

Capital Preferences takes the pain out of client profiling. We use game theory to create each client’s Economic Fingerprint—letting you customize advice and prove suitability.

Features

  • We lower risk and raise customization potential
  • We provide statistical confidence that you are providing suitable advice
  • We sell to the right clients based upon their preferences

Why it’s great
Firms that know their clients best will win. Your client’s Economic Fingerprint is the key to serve them better, grow revenue, stay compliant, and lower the regulatory risk profile of your business.

Presenter

CapitalPreferences_BernardDelReyBernard Del Rey, CEO

Del Rey is an experienced chief marketing officer, a leader at JP Morgan Asset Management and Morgan Stanley Investment Management, who then founded Capital Position, a global strategy and marketing firm.
LinkedIn

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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: additiv

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: additiv
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: additiv, FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek

additiv_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDate    A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

 

additiv will present Descartes, based on the platform additiv Digital Finance Suite (DFS).

Features

  • Additiv DFS: digitization realized fast and efficiently
  • Full self-service hybrid, or personal adviser-focused solutions including robo-adviser technology
  • For the banking and insurance markets

Why it’s great
Descartes is a high-end, multi-algorithmic robo-adviser for demanding, self-directed investors offering a holistic advisory and portfolio-management approach.

Presenters

additiv_MichaelStemmieMichael Stemmle, Owner and CEO

Stemmle has long-term consulting experience with a focus on the development and implementation of business, sales, and distribution strategies for the finance and insurance industries.
LinkedIn

 

additiv_AdrianoLucatelliAdriano B. Lucatelli, Entrepreneur, Founder of Descartes AG

Lucatelli is a Swiss entrepreneur, investor, and member of the board of directors of various companies (one of them additiv). He has lectured at the University of Zurich on international finance since 2012.
LinkedIn

 

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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: AdviceRobo

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: AdviceRobo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AdviceGames, FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek

AdviceRobo_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDate     A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

 

CreditRobo from AdviceRobo provides behavior-based predictive and preventive solutions, instant credit scoring, and a gamified user interface by applying the latest technologies such as machine learning.

Features

  • Reduces risk in your customer base
  • Gives actionable insights for highly effective campaigns
  • Offers personalized services, such as a personal online dashboard
  • Improves your ROI

Why it’s great
AdviceRobo helps you to predict and prevent, on an individual level, the credit risk in your base.

Presenters

diederik van thielDiederick van Thiel, CEO

Founder and CEO Thiel previously founded and sold eyeOpen, the world’s first online mortgage robo-advisor. He is enrolled in a Ph.D. program on behavioral finance and big-data-driven customer experiences.
LinkedIn

Diederick van Tiel en Rosali Waleson-SteenkamerRosali Steenkamer, CCO

Founder and CCO Steenbakmer previously founded and sold eyeOpen, the world’s first online mortgage robo-advisor. She has in-depth expertise and experience in the field of marketing, communication, and sales.
LinkedIn

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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: eWise

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: eWise
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: eWise, FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek

eWise_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDate A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

 

eWise is a leading international provider of private and secure personal finance management (PFM) and account-aggregation solutions. eWise will present its new data privacy feature.

Features

Responsibility and security in Personal Money Management since 2000.

  • Money Manager
  • Personal Data Vault
  • Data Privacy Settings

Why it’s great
Having our financial data in one place and sharing it in return for better services will revolutionize the relationship we have with our money.

Presenters

eWise_AlexGrinbergAlex Grinberg, Head of Business Development and Founder

Grinberg started his career in law and technology, as senior legal counsel at IBM and Oracle. He founded eWise in 2000 and is now driving business development.
LinkedIn

 

eWise_DeanYoungDean Young, Head of Product Management

Young is based in Singapore and has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
LinkedIn

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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Valuto

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Valuto
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek, Valuto

Valuto_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

 

Valuto offers a corporate level, multi-currency account for SMEs, a centralized location to facilitate everything from foreign exchange to sending and receiving cross-border payments.

Features

  • Domestic payouts and collections via our network of European bank accounts.
  • Free and instant payments between Valuto users.
  • Integrates seamlessly with other technology via Valuto open API

Why it’s great
Via the Valuto API, users will be able to connect their Valuto payment account to third-party systems in a safe and secure way.

Presenters

Valuto_LukaszOlekLukasz Olek, Chief Product Officer and Founder

Olek balances his time between getting key deliverables out the door in the short term, while simultaneously inspiring people around him to find ways to improve the core product.
LinkedIn

 

Valuto_MichalCzekalskiMichal Czekalski, CEO and Founder

Czekalski at age 25 started his first company, Internetowykantor.pl, leveraging the internet to help individuals and companies exchange currencies at a fraction of the cost of the incumbents.
LinkedIn

 

Valuto_MatthewHarrisMatthew Harris, International Business Developments and Partnerships

Not content with just offering Valuto to users in Poland and the Czech Republic, Harris has taken the role of expanding the brand’s reach across Europe and beyond.
LinkedIn

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FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: TaxFree4U

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: TaxFree4U
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: B4U Tax Free Limited, FinovateEurope 2016, FinovateEurope 2016 Sneak Peek

TaxFree4U_homepage_Jan2016

FEULogowithDateA look at the companies demoing live to 1,500 fintech professionals. Register today.

TaxFree4U is an innovative service that utilizes IT solutions to provide customers with the simplest and most efficient way in the market to get the VAT refunds on purchases made in the EU.

Features

  • 48-hour refund
  • Purchases available within any store in EU
  • Website and mobile apps make process almost fully-automated

Why it’s great
The main strategic course is to be present in every EU country and be fully integrated with existing customs and revenue systems in order to provide our clients with a unified VAT-refund solution.

Presenter

B4UTaxFree_AndrilLebedynetsAndrii Lebedynets, Co-Founder

Lebedynets has over a decade of experience in IT, with more than five years of successful work on startups specializing in marketing, advertising, and SEO. He has been with the project since its inception.
LinkedIn

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LendUp Raises $150 Million in Series B, Expanded Credit Facility

LendUp Raises $150 Million in Series B, Expanded Credit Facility
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, LendUp

LendUp_homepage_Jan2016

San Francisco-based alternative lender LendUp has raised $150 million in a combined Series B funding round and expanded credit facility.

The Series B, which involved participation from “almost all” of LendUp’s existing investors, was led by Susa Ventures and Data Collective. Victory Park Capital participated in the investment, as well as providing LendUp with a second credit facility. According to LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff, the expanded credit facility will help the company provide new “national products” and reach more customers.

LendUp_stage_FS2014

From left: LendUp Co-founder Sasha Orloff and CTO Jacob Rosenberg demonstrated their platform at FinovateSpring 2014.

Founded in 2011 and launched the following year, LendUp specializes in providing credit products to the millions of U.S. consumers who aren’t able to borrow from traditional banks. These products include the LendUp Ladder, an alternative to payday loans that helps borrowers rebuild their credit, and a new credit card business, the L Card, launched last year.

Named one of “30 Hot Fintech Startups to Watch” by Fox Business in June 2015, and earning a spot on AlwaysOn’s On Finance Top 100 in April 2015, LendUp demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2014. The company has more than 130 employees and anticipates doubling staff by the end of the year.

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Finovate’s European Alums Raised More Than $350 Million in 2015

Finovate’s European Alums Raised More Than $350 Million in 2015
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AdviceGames, Aire, Azimo, Bitbond, CashSentinel, Currency Cloud, CurrencyFair, eToro, EZBOB, Fenergo, Figo, FreeAgent, Funding, Fundings, Kantox, Kreditech, Revolut, StockViews, SumUp, TransferWise, Xpenditure

Euros_purple

Nineteen Finovate alums headquartered in Europe raised $350 million in 2015.

From the $16,000 in seed money raised by U.K. startup, StockViews, to the €82 million investment received by Germany’s Kreditech, we’ve counted every euro, pound, and dollar that investors poured into our European alums. And whether the funding represented an initial infusion of capital or was part of a multi-stage Series E round, it is clear that investors are very interested in the fintech innovations of Europe.

Take a look for yourself at the “European Portfolio” from 2015 below, featuring Finovate alums from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

GermanFlagGermany

 

Ireland_FlagIreland

 

Netherlands_FlagThe Netherlands

 

 

Switzerland_Flag

 

Switzerland

 

 

UK_FlagUnited Kingdom

There’s still time to join us in London for FinovateEurope! Our two-day conference returns to Old Billingsgate Market Hall, February 9 and 10. Get your tickets today and save your spot.

 

 

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Narrative Science Introduces Narratives for Qlik

Narrative Science Introduces Narratives for Qlik
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Narrative Science

NarrativeScience_Qlik_homepage_Jan2016

Narrative Science is bringing its natural-language-generation technology to Qlik Sense, adding intelligent narratives, intuitive analysis, and insights to Qlik’s data-visualization platform.

Calling the collaboration an example of Qlik’s “leadership in the data discovery industry,” Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel sees businesses and industries embracing NLG.

“The next generation of smart data discovery platforms will include natural language generation capabilities to explain findings to users,” Frankel said. “It is just a matter of time before this is a mandatory capability of visualization and business intelligence applications.”

NarrativeScience_Qlik_videoshot

(Click image to play video)

Qlik specializes in visual analytics and business intelligence, ranging from reporting and self-service solutions to guided, embedded, and custom analysis. With the company’s technology, businesses can build drag-and-drop visualizations, create apps, and embed analytics into their websites and apps using both open and standard platform APIs. With offices worldwide and partners in more than 100 locations, Qlik is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, and trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker “QLIK.”

Narratives for Qlik automatically creates dynamic narratives that help illuminate key points in Qlik’s data visualizations. Moreover, Narratives for Qlik not only explains what the charts and graphs show, but also helps users discover non-obvious patterns and relationships in the data. Industry analyst Seth Grimes called the technology “a groundbreaking BI innovation,” adding that “the tight link to Qlik’s associative analysis and its personalization possibilities are pluses, but it’s the ability to provide a new means of communicating insights that is really compelling.”

Narratives for Qlik is available for download.

Founded in January 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, Narrative Science demonstrated Quill Financial at FinovateFall 2013. In November, Narrative Science unveiled its anti-money laundering solution, Quill for AML, and in September, the company launched a new version of its Quill Engage technology for Google Analytics. Last summer, Narrative Science released its Quill Portfolio Review solution, which helps money managers create better institutional portfolio commentary.

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BlueVine Raises $40 Million in Round Led by Menlo Ventures

BlueVine Raises $40 Million in Round Led by Menlo Ventures
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BlueVine, Funding, Fundings

BlueVine_homepage_Jan2016

BlueVine, a startup that provides financing for small businesses, has raked in $40 million in new funding. The Series C round, led by Menlo Ventures, featured participation from new investor, Rakuten, and boosts BlueVine’s total capital to more than $64 million.

In a post at the company blog, BlueVine founder, CEO Eyal Lifshitz, said the investment would help “bolster its management ranks” as well as drive new feature development and exploration of new verticals. “With this capital infusion,” Lifshitz said, “our team is excited to work with more SMB owners to solve their cash-flow challenges on a greater scale.” BlueVine also announced an expansion of its maximum credit line from $150,000 to $250,000.

BlueVine_stage_FF2014

From left: BlueVine VP of Operations Edward Castano and CEO Eyal Lifshitz demonstrated their platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

BlueVine specializes in cloud-based “invoice financing,” also called “factoring.” The practice helps small- and medium-sized businesses manage cash flow and payment cycles by advancing cash against outstanding invoices via a simple, online solution. BlueVine enables SMEs to get paid on “day one” for invoices due in 15-90 days with credit lines starting at $5,000. BlueVine reported a 12-fold increase in funded invoices in 2015 and expects to fund more than $200 million in working capital in 2016. Tyler Sosin of Menlo Ventures praised the company for “bringing automation and a modern web experience to factoring, a massive market that has yet to be optimized by technology.”

Founded in July 2013 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, BlueVine demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014. BlueVine’s approach to factoring was profiled by PYMNTS.com in September and, in February, the company was highlighted by Fast Company as one of “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Money.”

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London’s Revolut Unveils Version 2.0 of its Personal Money Cloud

London’s Revolut Unveils Version 2.0 of its Personal Money Cloud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Revolut

Revolut_homepage_Jan2016

Revolut, the U.K.-based startup that demoed its Personal Money Cloud at FinovateEurope 2015, has released version 2.0 of its mobile money app.

In addition to a redesign and new user interface, most of the the enhancements are geared toward improving transparency and efficiency. The new app now provides previews of exchange rates for all 90 available currencies. Sending money to bank accounts is easier, and users can now create PINs without first having to use a MasterCard-approved Chip & Pin ATM. Revolut has also added tutorial screens that display when the app is first installed.

Revolut_stage_FEU2015

Pictured: Revolut CEO and founder, Nikolay Storonsky, and CTO Vlad Yatsenko demonstrating Revolut at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

Revolut_DroidFounded with a mission to eliminate the fees that often accompany both spending and transferring money, Revolut has been used by more than 80,000 people in 150 countries. More than $180 million has been transacted via the app, saving users an estimated $15 million. With the RevolutCard, users can make purchases worldwide in any one of 90 different currencies. And with the Revolut app, users can make instant money transfers through SMS, social media, and email, all without fees or a bank intermediary.

The app is available for download at the Apple App Store and at Google Play. Both the app and the multi-currency RevolutCard are free.

Revolut’s announcement was accompanied by a handful of “Fun Revolut Statistics” from 2015. These metrics give some interesting insights into how the technology has been used since it was launched last summer.

A few highlights:

  • Most populous EU country where Revolut has users: Germany
  • Least populous EU country where Revolut has users: Gibraltar

Top 5 most popular countries for the Revolut community to visit (based on transactions)

  • Spain
  • France
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • USA

Top 5 most popular retailers with the Revolut community (based on transactions)

  • Ali Express
  • Universal Studios
  • Microsoft Store
  • Amazon UK
  • Walgreens

Founded in December 2013 and headquartered in London, Revolut demonstrated its Personal Money Cloud at FinovateEurope 2015. The company made its public launch in July, at the same time announcing a successful $2.3 million venture round led by Balderton Capital.

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