David Penn, Author at Finovate

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on April 14, 2015
Categories: Acculynk, authenticID, BioCatch, Blackhawk Network, Kofax, Lending Club, Lendio, MiiCard, Motif Investing, On Deck Capital, PaySimple, Prosper, Q2, SecondMarket, Tradier, Uncategorized

On Finovate.com

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 3 is up. Check out what 7 presenting companies have to offer at the next Finovate.

AuthenticID Teams Up with MyECheck to Provide Document Authentication

Around the Web

OEM agreement between Kofax and BlackHawk Network enables mobile capture on GoWallet digital wallet.

Early Warning and BioCatch to collaborate in new data-sharing consortium.

Q2 teams up with Acculynk to provide real-time P2P payment service.

2Chimps reviews Motif Investing.

The Netbanker Blog is Moving to Finovate.com.

Lending Club and Citi partner with Varadero Capital to facilitate up to $150 million in loans to provide affordable credit to underserved borrowers and communities.

Options trading tool, Orca, partners with Tradier for its Brokerage API.

Prosper and OnDeck partner to offer customers more lending options.

GDS Link integrates MiiCard’s DirectID into its Credit Risk Management platform to reduce risk and increase conversion rates.

Lendio acquires Business Bounce to accelerate business lending on its marketplace platform.

PaySimple awarded Marketing Team of the Year by Marketo.

TechCrunch reports: SecondMarket launching product to put more control over secondary sales in the hands of startups.

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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AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums

By David Penn Posted on April 13, 2015
Categories: Bill.com, Blockchain, CAN Capital, Cardlytics, CashStar, Coinbase, Credit Karma, Dealstruck, DemystData, Dwolla, Expensify, Flint Mobile, FutureAdvisor, Kabbage, LendUp, Motif Investing, PayNearMe, peerTransfer, Personal Capital, Prosper, Quantopian, Ripple, Swipely, Wealthfront, WePay, Xignite

More than a quarter of the companies recognized in AlwaysOn’s first OnFinance Top 100 roster are Finovate alums.

The OnFinance Top 100 is designed to recognize the Top 100 private companies in fintech. The list was chosen by the AlwaysOn editorial team, along with several venture capital firms and industry experts. The criteria included degree of innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and “media buzz.”

The list is divided into six categories, and Finovate alums are well represented in each. Category winners will be announced at Always On’s event at the NASDAQ OMX in New York City at the end of April 2015.

Banking and corporate finance

Big data and analytics

Capital markets and investing

Digital currencies

Payment platforms

Personal finance management

Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, AlwaysOn was founded in 2003 by Tony Perkins, founder and editor of Red Herring magazine. The company serves as a networking and social media platform for technology professionals in variety of fields, and has a membership of more than 5,000.

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SaveUp Purchased by Chicago-area Entrepreneur Paul J. Burt

By David Penn Posted on April 13, 2015
Categories: SaveUp, Uncategorized

SaveUp has officially been sold to Chicago-based entrepreneur Paul J. Burt.

SaveUp helps millennials and Gen Y consumers improve their personal finances through a combination of behavioral economics and gamification. Founded in April 2011 by the late Priya Haji and Sammy Shreibati, the company demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2012 and again at FinovateSpring 2014, where it won Best of Show honors.

As part of the deal, SaveUp has been relocated from Silicon Valley to Lake Forest, Illinois. The purchase was made in December 31, 2014, and closed on April 8, 2015. Terms were not disclosed. SaveUp had raised $7 million in funding as of July 2012.

Paul J. Burt is the founder and CEO of Westlake Financial Group, an employee benefits company for mid- to large-sized companies. The firm has more than 50 employees, and serves more than 150 corporate and healthcare clients around the country.

Burt is also the founder of an incubator program, Entanglement, also based in Lake Forest. Entanglement provides a forum for local students and community members interested in new technologies. He founded Cera Solutions in 2013, which developed a mobile employee-benefit onboarding solution.

SaveUp is free and available on both iOS and Android, as well as online at SaveUp.com. To use the platform, users link their credit, student loan, savings, and other accounts, and then earn points for every dollar they spend toward either reducing debt or growing savings. Points can then be used to play games and enter contests to win prizes, as well as compete for a $2 million jackpot.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on April 13, 2015
Categories: Blackhawk Network, Bluefin Payment Systems, CashStar, CR2, Dragon Wealth, Experian, FIS, Fiserv, FreeAgent, iQuantifi, Malauzai, MasterCard, Monitise, PayPal, SaveUp, SimplyTapp, Virtual Piggy, Xero

On Finovate.com

AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums

SaveUp Purchased by Chicago-Area Entrepreneur Paul J. Burt

Around the Web

Turk Ekonomi Bankasi (TEB) launches digital banking service developed by Monitise.

Dragon Wealth earns spot in Startupbootcamp FinTEch’s inaugural Singapore program.

Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA Bank) to deploy Bankworld ATM platform from CR2.

Virtual Piggy hires Viant Capital to provide financial advice on strategic options.

MasterCard presents its PFM “in-reach” benefits-platform to help issuers engage millennials.

iQuantifi teams up with MTSU Jones College of Business to produce inaugural Millennial Money Mindset Survey.

Motif updates its iPhone app to enable search-and-browse capability of motif catalogues directly from the app.

FreeAgent launches first iOS app to help manage invoices and expenses on the go.

PYMNTS features predictions from Blackhawk Network, Bluefin Payments, CashStar, Experian, FIS, Fiserv, and SimplyTapp.

Xero Denver named Top Workplace by Denver Post.

American Banker examines how Malauzai is helping small banks get a head start on Apple Watch.

PayPal confirms bitcoin acceptance option in SEC filing.

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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FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 2

By David Penn Posted on April 9, 2015
Categories: Bento for Business, DoubleNet Pay, FinovateSpring 2015, FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek, Karmic Labs, SizeUp, Stratos, TickerTags, Trulioo, Uncategorized

FinovateSpring 2015 is just over a month away. Our annual spring conference returns to San Jose, 12/13 May for two days of live demos of the latest in fintech innovation.

Today we introduce you to another seven companies that will be on stage presenting their technical solutions to some of the financial community’s biggest challenges—from improving engagement through mobile and social channels to improving security and reducing friction for business and individual consumers.

Be sure to check out Part 1 of our Sneak Peek series featuring Alpha Payments Cloud, CUneXus, DRAFT, FundAmerica, SayPay, StockViews, and TrueAccord, as well.

Tickets are going fast. Register today and save your spot at our second Finovate show in San Jose.

Bento for Business provides financial solutions that fit small businesses, combining the security of a bank with the ease and convenience of a modern technology company.

Features:

The Bento Prepaid Commercial MasterCard provides small business owners with controls, such as where, when, and how much their employees can spend without putting their owners’ personal credit at risk.

Why it’s great
Bento’s solutions are designed to save owners time and help eliminate expense ‘leaks,’ a type of fraud that can cost them up to 5% of their revenue each year.

Presenters

Farhan Ahmad, Co-founder and CEO

Ahmad was formerly managing director at Barclays and the global head of emerging payments and prepaid for Discover Financial Services. He has held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, Bank One and First USA.
LinkedIn

Sean Anderson, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer

Anderson was formerly senior director of emerging products at Blackhawk Network, where he built and launched their open API platform, launched an offers platform, and developed a prepaid processing platform.
LinkedIn

DoubleNet Pay automatically pays bills and funds savings goals directly from an employee’s paycheck, eliminating guesswork, late fees, and budgeting hassles.

Features:

Seamless integration with major payroll processors
Allows an employee to simply snap a picture of a current bill stub
Employees can easily create, fund, and redeem custom savings goals

Why it’s great
Bills are paid and savings funded automatically on payday, just like payroll taxes.

Presenters

Brian Cosgray, Founder and CEO

Cosgray has spent his entire career in financial services. Working with customers across the economic spectrum convinced him of the need to simplify and automate how people pay bills and save money.
LinkedIn

Cody Laird, Co-founder and COO

Laird is a financial technology veteran. Prior to co-founding DoubleNet Pay, Cody spent 21 years with SunTrust Bank helping to design and build their current retail banking platform.
LinkedIn

Bret Levy, Co-founder and CTO

Levy has been responsible for the architecture of many innovative, highly scalable software systems, most notably the Scientific Games system that powers most state lotteries.
LinkedIn

Karmic Labs provides API-based payment and SaaS solutions for card issuance (initially commercial market). Karmic offers Dash, FIS, and also uses Karmic’s APIs to offer its own product to FIs.

Features:

Robust API infrastructure for commercial card issuance
Payment virtualization layer
Creates a marketplace of innovative financial technology and SaaS solutions for the commercial market.

Why it’s great
Karmic labs offers API-based payment and SaaS solutions, of which its first product is Dash; the APIs are also used by FIS, a global leader in banking and payments technology, for its own product to FIs.

Presenters

Ryan Weidenmiller, CEO

Weidenmiller is an entrepreneur who built a top-ranked venture capital fund in China, now working on Karmic Labs’.
LinkedIn

Chris Agerton, CTO

Agerton was previously at Google, and was a founding engineer at Pinterest, responsible for developing high-availability architecture at Scribd.
LinkedIn

Troy Land, Group Executive of Emerging Commerce, FIS

Land is the group executive of emerging commerce at FIS within the retail payments division; he holds expertise in business and product development.
LinkedIn

SizeUp: SizeUp FI (financial insitutions) is big-data for small businesses. It enables FIs to provide their customers with business intelligence through the FI’s own website.

Features of SizeUp FI:

Enable your FI’s customers to :
- Compare their business performance with that of industry competitors
- Find customers, suppliers, and competitors
- Discover best locations to advertise

Why it’s great
SizeUp FI delivers a deeper business-customer partnership through success assistance; “sticky” client engagement; FI services awareness; and big-data insights that SMEs couldn’t previously access.

Presenters

Anatalio Ubalde, CEO and Co-founder

Ubalde is a successful entrepreneur leading Software as a Service (SaaS) ventures focused on data-driven solutions for small businesses and economic development.
LinkedIn

Thomas Barron, VP Business Development

Barron has developed corporate partnerships for 15 years from Fortunte 500 companies to 5-person startups. He previously worked at Visa developing strategic partnerships.
LinkedIn

Stratos consolidates cards into one dynamic card, making payments secure and smart. Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform allows cards to download instantly, digitizing physical fulfillment.

Features:

Ensures virtual top of wallet, increases consumer engagement and loyalty
Provides secure card and wallet data
Eliminates costly physical card fulfillment

Why it’s great
Starts card working with Stratos Digital Card Issuance Platform to reinvent, not only your wallet, but also cards—just like the iPod and iTunes reinvented your CD collection.

Presenters

Thiago Olson, Co-founder, CEO

Olson worked at CERN and the Department of Defense and is a leader in next generation payments. He graduated with honors in engineering and physics at Vanderbilt.
LinkedIn

Henry Balanon, Co-founder, CTO

Balanon brings technical leadership and expertise to Stratos from his previous experience as co-founder of Detroit Labs, a leading mobile-app agency.
LinkedIn

TickerTags connects trending social content to investable companies through the monitoring of 250,000+ crowdsourced Tags that have the potential to impact a company’s business.

Features:

Track social velocity and sentiment of products/brands driving your investment
Create your own Tags to associate with Tickers for personalized trending notifications
It’s free

Why it’s great
We are a community-maintained platform intent on democratizing information-flow by evolving new monitoring from view-limited tickers to social -monitored tags.

Presenters

Chris Camillo, Co-founder, CEO

A pioneer in social arbitrage investing, Camillo’s audited portfolio has averaged 84% annual returns over the past 8 years.
LinkedIn

Trulioo’s bank-grade AML/KYC identity-verification product, GlobalGateway, enables businesses to perform frictionless ID verification for 3 billion people in more than 40 countries via 140 data sources.

Features:

Builds confidence and trust by preventing fraud and identity theft
Saves time, money, and resources through automated online ID-checks
Eliminates barriers to market entry

Why it’s great
Trulioo’s GlobalGateway provides advanced analytics from cyber and traditional data sources to verify identities online by powering fraud and compliance systems worldwide, increasing trust and safety.

Presenters

Stephen Ufford, Founder, CEO

Ufford has founded four data-focused startups over the last decade while working in the role of CEO. As a serial entrepreneur, he challenges the status quo and if it’s broken, he likes to fix it.
LinkedIn

Anatoly Kvitnitsky, Director of Corporate Development

With solid startup and corporate experience, Kvitnitsky leads strategic partnerships and data acquisition for Trulioo.
LinkedIn

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Patch of Land Earns $23 Million Investment Led by SF Capital Group

By David Penn Posted on April 8, 2015
Categories: Patch of Land

FinovateFall 2014 alum Patch of Land has raised more than $23 million in a Series A round. SF Capital Group led the investment, which included the participation of Ron Suber, president of Prosper Marketplace.

The investment is a major infusion of capital for the company. Patch of Land’s total funding now stands at $25 million. Neil Wolfs, SF Capital Group president, will join Patch of Land’s board of directors.

An innovator in the field of real estate crowdfunding, Patch of Land sees the investment as an opportunity to provide the loan products, such as construction and buy-to-rent loans. In this, building bigger and better relationships with institutional investors is key. “We look at them as our capital firepower,” COO Jason Fritton said. Additionally, the capital will help Patch of Land build out its team, adding loan officers, underwriters, and others.

Left: CMO AdaPia D’Errico and CTO Brian Fritton demonstrated the Patch of Land platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

According to The Real Deal, the investment makes Patch of Land “one of the best-funded real estate crowdfunding platforms” in the country. The company has generated 12% annual returns for investors since inception, which is what may have helped spur interest among institutional investors. Issuing $17 million in short-term, commercial real estate loans without a single default likely provided additional impetus for larger investors to get involved in the real estate crowdfunder.

“We are excited to work with this dynamic team and help them capture the tremendous opportunity they have identified,” said Wolfson. “Patch of Land was one of the first companies to focus exclusively on real estate debt investments and the first to offer pretended loans, which dramatically shortens the time developers wait to get funded.”

Patch of Land was founded in February 2013 by Carlo Tabibi, CEO; Brian Fritton, CTO; and Jason Fritton, COO, and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The company has 10 employees; more than 2,500 investors; and more than 280 loans in its pipeline, with an average loan size of $240,000.

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FreeAgent Scores $5 Million Line of Credit

By David Penn Posted on April 8, 2015
Categories: FreeAgent, Lighter Capital

U.K.-based online accounting system provider Free Agent has raised $5 million in new debt financing courtesy of SaaS Capital. The new funding will be used helping the company acquire new customers.

Todd Gardner, founder and managing director of SaaS Capital said, “Free Agent is exactly the type of company we were looking to assist when we announced our new fund last month … (They) simply needed more capital to seize the market opportunity in front of them.”

Free Agent CEO Ed Molyneux says SaaS Capital’s investment was a unique opportunity. “We have historically raised equity and also used some venture debt, but we found the SaaS Capital solution to be a great way to finance our growth compared to those other options.”

FreeAgent CEO Ed Molyneux presented at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

The financing from SaaS Capital comes in the form of a “revenue-based line of credit.” According to FreeAgent, this funding strategy will give the company the ability to deploy capital for longer periods than other lenders, as well as more flexibility when it comes to funding its own longer-term goals. Note that Finovate alum, Lighter Capital, specializes in this kind of financing.

FreeAgent’s cloud-based accounting system is geared toward freelance workers and what the company calls “micro-businesses” for whom other solutions are often too expensive and/or too complex. The company’s platform offers a wide variety of features to help manage business operations from tracking expenses to sending invoicing, to tax planning and filing.

FreeAgent was most recently in the headlines for its partnership with small-business booking-platform Appointedd announced in February, and last December, FreeAgent was selected to be a part of Lloyds Banking Groups new Business Toolbox.

Founded in April 2007 and headquartered in Edinburg, United Kingdom, FreeAgent made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013, where its online accounting system was demoed. The company has 50 employees and more than 27,000 paying customers. Ed Molyneux is CEO.

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Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility

By David Penn Posted on April 8, 2015
Categories: Dealstruck, Uncategorized

In an investment that brings its total lending capacity to more than $100 million, direct lender Dealstruck has raised $58 million in new funding. The funding comes in the form of a $50 million credit facility led by Brevet Capital Management and the completion of a Series A round led by Trinity Ventures.

Co-founder and CEO of Dealstruck Ethan Senturia said, “Recent IPOs by alternative lenders validate an increasing need for new sources of growth capital. We look forward to building on our growth to date by setting even more businesses on the path to becoming bankable.”

The funding will be used to provide funding to small businesses across the country. Dealstruck has loaned more than $50 million since inception, and says it is the fastest online direct lender to reach and surpass the “$50 million lent” milestone.

(Left to right): Dealstruck CTO Russell McLoughlin and CEO Ethan Senturia presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

Talking about his firm’s investment, Doug Monticciolo of Brevet Capital focused on Dealstruck’s role in supporting small businesses, which Monticciolo called “an important engine of economic growth.” Added Noel Fenton of Trinity Ventures, “When small businesses succeed, it’s a win for everyone. Dealstruck is poised to help thousands of small- and medium-sized businesses grow.”

Operating in 43 states, Dealstruck offers three loan products: a term loan, an asset-based line of credit, and an inventory line of credit. Term loans are available up to $250,000, with lines of credit available as high as $500,000. Approved loans are funded within 48 hours.

Dealstruck made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, where it demonstrated its Investor API. The company was founded in July 2012 by Ethan Senturia, CEO, and Russell McLoughlin, CTO, and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on April 8, 2015
Categories: Authentify, BBVA Compass, BillGuard, Dealstruck, Dwolla, ETRONIKA, Insuritas, Jumio, PayNearMe, Taulia, TradeHero, Uncategorized, Vouch, Zooz

On Finovate.com

Early Warning Acquires Authentify

Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility

BBVA Taps Dwolla for Real-time Money Transfers

Around the web

Vouch launches its social network for credit. See Vouch at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

Retail Week features Zooz as its Start-up of the Week.

Vermont Federal Credit Union partners with Insuritas to open and manage turnkey insurance agency.

Optimal Payments integrates Jumio’s Netverify into its NETELLER stored-value service.

BillGuard launches custom categories capability.

Taulia Launches Research Arm, Taulia Labs.

FanIQ features TradeHero.

Norway Registers Development agrees to take 80% stake in Etronika.

PayNearMe partners with online rent payment network RentMoola to enable landlords to take rent in cash online.

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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Finovate Debuts: StreetShares Helps Small Businesses Raise Capital

By David Penn Posted on April 7, 2015
Categories: StreetShares, Uncategorized

StreetShares is a specialist in what the company calls “affinity-based social lending.” The idea is to take crowdfunding a step further by connecting small business owners in need of capital with investors with shared affinities. The first shared affinity StreetShares has been able to serve is the veteran and veteran-owned business community.

Calling the platform “Shark Tank Meets eBay,” business owners on StreetShares pitch their business to interested, accredited investors who compete for the opportunity to fund the loan.

“We are bringing the ‘peer’ back to peer-to-peer lending in the U.S. market,” StreetShares CEO Mark Rockefeller said, in explaining P2P lending’s origins in Great Britain and its evolution in the U.S. “We are talking about veterans funding veterans; female executives funding female executives; alumni from one school funding fellow alums from the same school.”

StreetShares’ stats:

Founded in July 2013
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia
CEO Mark Rockefeller, COO Mickey Konson, and CTO Ben Shiftlet are co-founders
Raised more than $1 million in funding
Maintains 12 FTEs
Provides small business loans of up to $50,000

The story

The idea behind StreetShares originated from the concept of the GI Bill, which gave millions of servicemen returning from World War II the opportunity to buy homes, start businesses, and raise families, giving birth to a true middle-class in America.

(Left to right): COO Mickey Konson and CEU Mark Rockefeller presented StreetShares at FinovateEurope 2015.

And while the circumstances have changed since 1945, many of the challenges remain: entrepreneurs, many of them veterans, still struggle to raise the capital help get their businesses off the ground or to move to the next level in terms of growth and expansion.

This is where StreetShares comes in. The company believes that businesses are more likely to get funded by (a) investors who have some sense of connection with the borrower and (b) investors who feel as if they know exactly where a business is headed and how it plans on getting there.

Add to this the extensive information about applicants provided to potential investors—and located on each applicant’s “tile”—and an investor has everything needed to make a lending determination. This includes information on the business itself, with links to websites and social media; a pitch with the ability to attached additional information, including spreadsheets, background on the applicant; and information on the status of the bidding for that company’s loan.

What do businesses need in order to apply for a loan via StreetShares? SMEs can apply online or by phone, and any U.S. citizen-owned business that has been in operation for at least a year is eligible. Businesses must earn a minimum amount of revenue, be incorporated, and have a business guarantor “with reasonable credit.” More information on the application is available at StreetShares.com.

Individuals with “accredited investors” can participate on the platform. Accredited investors need a StreetShares account, and must have an income of $200,000 or more ($300,000 for a couple), or have a net worth of $1,000,000, excluding the value of a primary residence.

At FinovateEurope 2015, StreetShares showed its auto-invest feature. Auto-invest enables the platform to make investments for the investor based on a set of prearranged criteria such as risk-tolerance level, affinity type, interest rate, bid amounts and more. Once set, the platform bids on open loans on the investor’s behalf. The investor can review the bids in the invest tab, as well as in the investor portfolio.

The future

StreetShares believes three key factors distinguish it from others in the SME lending space. The first, and most prominent, is the use of social affinity groups to “build bonds of trust” between borrowers and lenders. This trust results in lower-cost loans. The second factor is a fully transparent platform in which all investors, retail and institutional, compete for loans fairly side by side. And the third factor is co-investment, in which StreetShares puts its own capital to work as a co-investor on each loan that is made.

The company remains focused on expanding its capacity to provide loans, especially in the below-$100,000 category, which Rockefeller says is a $136 billion market. “We think lending is about risk and risk is about data,” Rockefeller said from the Finovate stage in February. “But what if we could tap into human trust, and apply that to lending. We think we have a way.”

That way has been brightened by news last month that StreetShares has picked up a $200 million commitment from Direct Lending Investments, Community Investment Management (CIM), and Eagle Bank Corporation to help fund loans. Speaking for Direct Lending Investments, Brendan Ross said, “Our mission is to put money to work funding small businesses. We are excited about this business partnership with StreetShares and the unique business owners they serve.”

Watch StreetShares demo its technology live at FinovateEurope 2015.

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ZenPayroll Raises $60 Million in Round Led by Google Capital

By David Penn Posted on April 6, 2015
Categories: ZenPayroll

Forget about presidents and painters. The next face I want on my paper currency is that of the ever-smiling ZenPayroll CEO Joshua Reeves, whose startup just raised $60 million in a round led by Google Capital.

Also participating in the Series B were Emergence Capital Partners, General Catalyst, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, and Ribbit Capital. The investment round takes ZenPayroll’s total funding to more than $85 million and, according to TechCrunch, values the company at more $550 million.

Coverage in the New York Times noted that round-leader Google Capital typically specializes in funding “older companies with more established businesses.” Google Capital partner Laela Sturdy pointed to the way ZenPayroll “changed payroll from an impersonal transaction into a meaningful connection between employers and employees.” And beyond ZenPayroll’s capacity to “solve every business owner’s biggest headache”—as another observer put it—Sturdy had high praise for the company’s human capital, as well. “We’re big believers in Josh and his team, and big believers in where they can take this company.”

Above: ZenPayroll co-founder and CEO Joshua Reeves presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

ZenPayroll offers all of its features: direct deposit; unlimited payroll runs; year-end W-2s and 1099s for $29 per month plus $4 per employee. There is no longer-term contract, and nothing to download. The online platform is accessible 24-7 from any web-enabled device. ZenPayroll is currently promoting a 2-month, free trial.

We last reported on ZenPayroll in September when the company opened up its API. The company processes billions of dollars in annual payroll for more than 10,000 SMEs in 47 states and the District of Columbia. With the additional funding, ZenPayroll anticipates going nationwide by the end of the month.

ZenPayroll made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, Calif. Founded in October 2011 by Reeves, Tomer London (CPO), and Edward Kim (CTO), the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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FinovateFall 2015: Ladies and Gentlemen, Launch Your Applications!

By David Penn Posted on April 6, 2015
Categories: FinovateFall 2015

Spring may have sprung, but for many here on the Finovate team, the fall season is already on our minds.

Why? Because the application-window for companies looking to demo their latest fintech innovations at FinovateFall 2015 in New York is now open! And that’s a big deal for fintech players of all shapes and sizes. For example:

Startups ready to show new technology in front of an audience of banking executives, press and industry analysts, fellow fintech firms and venture capitalists.
Industry veterans eager to show the world that they’ve still got more than a few innovations to showcase.
International firms looking to launch, or make serious inroads, into North America.
Direct-to-consumer financial firms with a digital value-proposition new to the industry.

If this describes you and your technology, then FinovateFall 2015 may be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for!

FinovateFall 2015 returns to the New York Hilton Midtown for two days of technological innovation and intense networking. The conference will be held on 16/17 Sept 2015, featuring our signature 7-minute live demos focused on the “special sauce” of true innovation in fields ranging from authentication and digital investing to mobile payments and P2P lending.

Watch last year’s presenters in the FinovateFall archives. For a refresher on last year’s Best of Show winners, read our FinovateFall 2014 Best of Show review.

For attendees: Be a part of the live audience at FinovateFall 2015. Register today and take advantage of special pre-sales savings!

For presenters: Demo your technology on stage at FinovateFall 2015 before an audience of nearly 1,500 financial professionals. Email us at fall@finovate.com for information on how to apply. The application window for FinovateFall 2015 opens today and applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.

Other questions? Send us an email at fall@finovate.com or contact Finovate Event Director, Greg Palmer, 1-800-418-0980.

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Finovate Blog

Author: David Penn

Finovate Alumni News

AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums

SaveUp Purchased by Chicago-area Entrepreneur Paul J. Burt

Finovate Alumni News

FinovateSpring 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 2

Patch of Land Earns $23 Million Investment Led by SF Capital Group

Left: CMO AdaPia D’Errico and CTO Brian Fritton demonstrated the Patch of Land platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

FreeAgent Scores $5 Million Line of Credit

FreeAgent CEO Ed Molyneux presented at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

Dealstruck Raises $8 Million in Funding, $50 Million for New Credit Facility

(Left to right): Dealstruck CTO Russell McLoughlin and CEO Ethan Senturia presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

Finovate Alumni News

Finovate Debuts: StreetShares Helps Small Businesses Raise Capital

(Left to right): COO Mickey Konson and CEU Mark Rockefeller presented StreetShares at FinovateEurope 2015.

ZenPayroll Raises $60 Million in Round Led by Google Capital

Above: ZenPayroll co-founder and CEO Joshua Reeves presented at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

FinovateFall 2015: Ladies and Gentlemen, Launch Your Applications!