Author: David Penn

TipRanks Announces $3 Million Investment

TipRanks Announces $3 Million Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: TipRanks

Thumbnail image for TipRanksLogo.jpg

Featuring former New York State attorney general, governor, and so-called “Sheriff of Wall Street” Eliot Spitzer as one of its investors, TipRanks has just closed an initial round of funding, raising $3 million.

Also participating in the Series A round were Roni Michaely, a professor of finance from Cornell University, and John Nakamura, an angel investor. The completed round takes the company’s total funding to $3.7 million.

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TipRanks leverages machine learning and natural language processing technology to analyze and rank more than 6,500 financial analysts and bloggers online. This enables the company to provide accurate performance measurements on anyone giving investment or stock trading advice online.
Uri Gruenbaum, TipRanks CEO and co-founder, explained, “Let’s face it, not all analysts are created equal.”
“By scanning leading (financial) websites for analyst recommendations, TipRanks is able to provide its users (with) relevant information regarding the analyst’s performance history.”
TipRanks was founded in 2012 by Uri Gruenbaum (CEO) and Gilad Gat (CTO). The company includes Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi among its financial institution customers. Based in Tel Aviv, Israel, TipRanks demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2013, taking home Best of Show honors. See TipRanks in action here.

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Alumni News– July 23, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BioCatch, Cachet Financial Solutions, Insuritas, Malauzai Software, Place2Give, Taulia
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgTaulia raises $27 million in series D funding.
  • CU Service Network partners with Insuritas to generate fee income for credit unions.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions partners with top five commercial bank in the U.S. to implement a prepaid mobile platform for supermarket chain.
  • BioCatch raises $10 million in Series A round. See them demo at FinovateFall 2014.
  • Malauzai Software partners with Trusteer to bring mobile security solutions to Customers Bancorp. Join Malauzai in New York in September for FinovateFall.
  • Place2Give launches MyPlace2Give.com to enable individuals to set up their own charitable giving fund.
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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BioCatch Raises $10 Million in Series A Round

BioCatch Raises $10 Million in Series A Round
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BioCatch
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Israel-based biometric security specialist BioCatch announced today that it had raised $10 million in an initial Series A funding round.

The Series A was led by Blumberg Capital and equity crowd funding firm, OurCrowd, and included participation from unnamed existing investors. The company says that the new funding will go toward research and development, as well as expanding the service in North America, Europe, and Latin America.
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BioCatch CEO Benny Rosebaum said in a statement, “This funding will allow us to continue strengthening our offering and expand our globe reach in strategic markets, while keeping the world’s largest and most influential institutions safe and secure.”
BioCatch is an innovator in the biometric authentication space. The company’s technology examines more than 400 behavioral, cognitive, and physiological markers to help determine when unusual activity is taking place. These markers range from how a person’s finger tends to move across a trackpad or interface, or even the angle at which a mobile device is typically held while being used.
And while stopping fraud is the important, headline goal, the more fundamental objective of the technology is eliminating friction. This translates into both a more secure experience for online and mobile banking customers and e-commerce consumers, as well as a more efficient and seamless transacting process.
BioCatch cyber strategy chief Uri Rivner suggested as much in an interview with Gigaom. “The problem today is not necessarily fraud, but (that) they want to make sure it’s really you, so they add a lot of security, which is friction.”
“We’ve demonstrated that we can reduce that friction and operational costs.”
Founded in 2011, BioCatch will make its Finovate debut this September. To take advantage of early-bird pricing to the New York City event, register here.

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Taulia Raises $27 Million in Series D Funding

Taulia Raises $27 Million in Series D Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Taulia

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Taulia, a company that aims to ease cash flow issues faced by small and medium sized businesses, announced today it raised $27 million in Series D funding.

This newest installment, which brings Taulia’s total funding to $67.2 million, comes from QuestMark Partners, which led the round, and existing investors Trinity Ventures, Matrix Partners, Lakestar and DAG Ventures.

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When Taulia launched in 2009, its primary service was Dynamic Discounting, a product that helps suppliers receive faster cash flow, and gives buyers more flexibility and discounts if they pay early. Now Taulia offers seven products, including einvoicing and supplier management tools that help small businesses interact with their suppliers.

Of the 225,000 suppliers on Taulia’s platform, 55 rank among the largest corporate companies. The San Francisco-based company plans to use the funding to sign more large corporate clients and expand into Asia.

Taulia is now valued at $200 million.

To learn more about Taulia, check out its FinovateSpring 2012 demo where it debuted its Early Payment Network.

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Alumni News– July 18, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Check, CurrencyTransfer, Fastacash, LendingRobot, Mambu, PaySimple, Wallaby Financial
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgInnotribe finalists include early stage companies CurrencyTransfer and LendingRobot.
  • Innotribe finalists include growth stage companies Advanced Merchant Payments, Fastacash, Mambu, and Wallaby.
  • Pymnts talks with PaySimple CEO and founder Eric Remer to discuss how PaySimple looks at B2B payments.
  • Check announces major expansion of photo bill pay beta.
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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Dashlane Launches Password Management for Teams

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dashlane

DashlaneLogo.jpg

Password management platform Dashlane recently released an update that will give organizations more control over accounts that need to be shared across team members.

The New York-based company’s latest release will include three major upgrades:

1) Sharing Center, a dashboard that displays all of a user’s accounts synched with Dashlane. It enables them to share the passwords with others, automatically informing all users when a shared password changes.
From the Sharing Center, users can also manage access levels, giving others full rights or limited rights to the password.
2) Emergency Contacts gives users the ability to provide a trusted emergency contact with access to select accounts in case of emergency.
3) View Password History gives users a comprehensive view of all of the passwords they have previously held in Dashlane.
 

In addition to the new sharing functionality, it is also releasing an upgrade to its user interface.

Dashlane was founded in 2009. At FinovateEurope 2013 it demoed how its online and mobile interfaces make online transactions easier and faster.

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Alumni News– July 17, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dashlane, PaySimple, Top Image Systems
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgPaySimple to enable SMBs to accept payments and automate billing under Zen Planner’s software solution.
  • Dashlane launches password management for teams.
  • Top Image Systems acquires eGistics for $18 million.
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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Alumni News– July 16, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase, Dwolla, Jack Henry, Lendio, MasterCard, mBank, Micronotes, peerTransfer, Xero, Zooz
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgpeerTransfer and Nelnet expand partnership, enhancing international payment options for educational institutions.
  • Xero MD Chris Ridd featured on Qantas radio. Check out Xero at FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers.
  • Micronotes releases Mobile-SMS to automate the referral process through the mobile SMS channel to drive more sales.
  • Lendio launches program for brokers that helps more SMBs find financing by giving brokers and ISOs access to Lendio’s lending options.
  • New app from The Members Group alerts Google Glass wearers if a Dwolla-accepting merchant is nearby.
  • mBank deploys authentication technology from HID Global.
  • Jack Henry launches jhaEnterprise Workflow solution.
  • Coinbase integration brings bitcoin payments to Shopify merchants.
  • Zooz raises $12 million in round led by Blumberg Capital.
  • MasterCard’s MasterPass to enable in-app payments by August.
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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LoopPay Receives Undisclosed Amount of Funding from Synchrony Financial

LoopPay Receives Undisclosed Amount of Funding from Synchrony Financial
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Loop

Loop_logo.jpg

Late last month, mobile payments platform company LoopPay released its ChargeCase, a battery case for iPhone 5 and 5s.

Now, two weeks later, the Massachusetts-based company has announced it received an undisclosed amount of funding from Synchrony Financial. This adds to the $10 million in Series A funding LoopPay raised last November from Beta Fund.

Under this strategic investment, LoopPay will provide Synchrony Financial with special features and benefits to provide greater convenience and utility to its cardholders and retail partners.

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LoopPay uses Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) to enable a contactless payment experience in which customers use LoopPay’s ChargeCase and Fob Button Pay devices to pay at a merchant’s existing credit card swipe reader.

To see LoopPay demonstrate its MST technology live, check out its FinovateSpring 2014 demo.

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Alumni News– July 9, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Andera, Check, Encap, Lendio, Prosper, Ripple
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBank Systems & Technology: Consumers CU Expands National Footprint with Andera’s Online Account Opening Solution.
  • Lendio launches free version of prospect mgmt software, Pipeline, for the business loan process.
  • Encap Security joins the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance to change the nature of online authentication by reducing reliance on passwords.
  • LendAcademy takes a look at $146 million in new loan originations in June for Prosper.
  • And speaking of Prosper, Altifi.con’s This Week in Crowdfunding features Prosper CEO Ron Suber.
  • Rebranded version of Ripple Client, Ripple Trade emerges from two-month soft launch.
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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Vaamo Launches Goal-Based Savings Platform on Invite-Only Basis

Vaamo Launches Goal-Based Savings Platform on Invite-Only Basis
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: vaamo

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We caught up with vaamo today, which just launched its platform on an invite-only basis. Today, 150 users are given access to invest real money into the funds on vaamo’s platform in order to achieve their goals.

Vaamo is rolling out the invitations in batches over the next three months or so to accommodate the 2,000 users who have requested full access to its goal-savings platform.

We profiled vaamo earlier this year in our FinovateEurope Behind the Scenes post series (check it out here); as a refresher, here’s how its web app works:

1) Users set up any number of goals on the vaamo platform. These are generally larger life-goals such as higher education, purchasing a house, or saving for a wedding. In the screenshot below, the user has set up and is tracking three separate goals.

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2) Using an investment approach it developed in collaboration with the Goethe-University in Frankfurt, vaamo invests the user’s savings into a set of funds. The startup has partnered with Dimensional Fund Advisors to provide a group of well-diversified funds through which users can invest to reach their goals. Dimensional Fund Advisors has offices all over the world, and is headquartered in Austin.
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3) If one of the funds changes course, vaamo prompts the user to change their goals using the slider tools on its platform. For example, if a fund lost a significant amount of value, vaamo would prompt the user either to extend the time period of their goal or change the amount desired to reach their goal.
VaamoPlan

Users in Germany can now sign up for a demo account, and will be invited to use vaamo with real money in the near future. In other geographical locations, users can sign up for a demo account, but cannot invest funds in the platform.

To learn more about vaamo, check out its launch at FinovateEurope 2014.

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Alumni News– June 24, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Geezeo, Handpoint, Taulia, TradeHero, Verde International, Wipit
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAmerican Banker looks at Wipit’s partnership with prepaid mobile wallet, Boost Mobile.
  • Iceland’s Acquiring Bank, Borgun, launches mPOS solution powered by Handpoint.
  • e27 examines TradeHero’s mobile app.
  • San Francisco Business Times: Taulia taps Fortune 500 to finance small businesses.
  • Geezeo announces partnership with Payveris.
  • Seasons FCU (18k members; $140 million assets) to deploy Verde International’s Corona, Aurora solutions for loan decisioning.
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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