Author: David Penn

FinovateSpring 2014: The Way to San Jose

FinovateSpring 2014: The Way to San Jose
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2014

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“Fame and fortune is a magnet / It can pull you far away from home”

–“Do You Know the Way to San Jose?“

How many miles from home have this year’s FinovateSpring presenters traveled in order to take the stage next week in San Jose? It is true that a third of the companies that will be demoing hail from the Bay Area or parts nearby in Northern California. It is also true that FinovateSpring 2014 will host innovators from as far away as Germany and the United Kingdom, Singapore and the Ukraine.
Take a look for yourself (click to enlarge).
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And with ticket registrations climbing above 1,200 this week, plan on finding plenty of professional, like-minded company during the two days of live demos, C-level networking, and the latest in fintech innovation.
Here is a full list of the companies that will be demoing at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose on April 29 and 30.
  • Artivest
  • Avoka
  • BodeTree
  • ChiaraMail
  • Coinbase
  • CREALOGIX
  • CUneXus
  • D3 Banking
  • Dealstruck
  • defi SOLUTIONS
  • Digital Insight
  • Digital Retail Apps
  • Encap Security
  • Endeavour
  • EyeVerify
  • FinBuddy
  • Fiserv
  • FlexScore
  • ID.me
  • Insuritas
  • IntelliResponse
  • Interactions
  • Jumio
  • Kofax
  • Kown
  • Kreditech
  • LendingRobot
  • LendingTree
  • LendUp
  • Loop
  • LOYAL3
  • Market Prophit
  • Motif Investing
  • MShift
  • Nearex
  • NICE Systems
  • OnBudget
  • Ondot Systems
  • Pellucid Analytics
  • Personal Capital
  • Pixeliris
  • Privatbank
  • Qapital
  • Quisk
  • Radius
  • RealtyMogul
  • Red Giant
  • Rippleshot
  • Roostify
  • SaveUp
  • SmartAsset
  • Spreedly
  • Stockpile
  • StrategyCorps
  • Sureify
  • Tactile Finance
  • TD Ameritrade & LikeFolio
  • TextPower
  • True Link
  • Venovate
  • Verde International
  • Visible Equity
  • Vorstack
  • WePay
  • Wipit
  • Yseop
  • ZenPayroll
  • Zumigo
In order to make sure you know everything you need to know about FinovateSpring 2014, here’s a quick reminder on the what’s, where’s, and how’s of getting to and making the most of this year’s event in San Jose.
Schedule:
Registration for FinovateSpring 2014 begins at 8am on Tuesday, April 29. The demos will start at 9am Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, with the final demo on both days ending at 3:30pm.
Venue:
Moving to San Jose for this year’s FinovateSpring, the event will be held at the City National Civic building. The street address is below:
135 West San Carlos Street
San Jose, California 95113
Presenters:
For two days, 68 fintech innovators will demo their technologies before an audience of industry professionals from around the world. Learn more about our presenters at our Presenter’s page, or through our Sneak Peek series below.
If you have any questions about FinovateSpring, here’s a great place to go for answers. And you can always email us for more information at info@finovate.com.
Most importantly, there’s still time to get your ticket and save your spot. And if you already have your tickets in hand, thanks for joining us! See you in San Jose!

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Ondot Systems Raises $18 Million Ahead of FinovateSpring Debut

Ondot Systems Raises $18 Million Ahead of FinovateSpring Debut
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Ondot
Ondot_hi_res_FS2014

With less than a week to go before FinovateSpring, it’s pretty hard to hide our excitement for Ondot Systems. The Finovate newcomer will be arriving at the show $18 million in funding richer courtesy of an investment from a set of undisclosed contributors.

Ondot Systems’ technology is called CardControl. CardControl allows consumers to have instantaneous control over their credit, debit and other payment cards via their smartphones.

The applications for the technology are clear: from parents setting limits on a son or daughter’s credit card, to an individual being able to quickly “freeze” a lost or stolen card. The range of control options includes the ability to turn cards on or off, to provide location-based parameters on where the cards can be used, as well as to limit purchases by type and/or amount.
Said the company in a statement: ” We think giving consumers tools to control, monitor, and manage card usage is a cost-effective way to protect cardholders and enhance the value of existing debit, credit, and prepaid cards.”
Ondot has been in stealth for years, developing the sophisticated technology to enable this card-controling smartphone functionality. Now in the public eye, we learn that the company has partnerships with four of the top payment processors, and that its technology reaches 10,000 banks and credit unions around the U.S.
To this last point, Ondot is already claiming significant success in helping FIs reduce fraud costs. They cite Long Star National Bank as one client that has seen declines in fraud losses of 40%. Bank COO David Penoli added that card usage has also increased, which he called “the most cost-effective way to increase debit card margins.”
Founded in 2011, Ondot Systems will demo CardControl at FinovateS[pring in San Jose next week. There’s still time to get your tickets, so visit our registration page today to save your spot. 

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Finovate Alumni News– April 23, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Billhighway, FIS, Fiserv, Linkable Networks, Nous.net, ReadyForZero, TSYS, Xero
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNous launches two-month pilot program with Hong Kong hedge fund. Launched at FinovateEurope in February, Nous’ Spark Profit has 25,000 registered users in 194 countries.
  • Heritage Bank of Nevada to deploy Fiserv’s deposit reclassification solution, ReserveLink.
  • AmeriServ signs real-time account processing agreement with FIS to deploy TrustDesk.
  • TSYS to discontinue operations in Japan after almost 14 years.
  • Billhighway & RallyBound partner to make multi-channel fundraising a reality for nonprofits.
  • Zendesk customer service software partners with Xero.
  • PerformanceIn interviews Linkable Networks CEO, Tom Burgess.
  • Insuritas working with Overstock.com to launch its virtual insurance agency solution. Come see Insuritas at FinovateSpring next week.
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 Alumni News– April 22, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Kantox, Kapitall, MoneyDesktop, Taulia
  • ACI Worldwide joins electronic payments standards organization, EPASOrg, as a principal member.
  • Taulia named to 2014 Best Places to Work in the Bay Area List.
  • Silicon Slopes features MoneyDesktop’s recruiting efforts.
  • Kapitall launches Klub Kapitall loyalty program with reduced live trading commissions.
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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Lending Club Raises $115 Million in Debt and Equity; Acquires Springstone Financial

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Lending Club

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News that Lending Club has raised $115 million in debt and equity is a reminder that alternative lenders continue to be a magnet for venture capital.

The equity stake totals $65 million, and comes courtesy of BlackRock, Sands Capital, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Wellington Management Company. This boosts the company’s total capital raised to more than $280 million.

Lending Club also announced that it was acquiring Springstone Financial in a cash and stock deal worth $140 million. Springstone specializes in providing financing for medical patients and for medical professionals looking to fund their continuing education.

Moving into medical financing is apparently part of Lending Club’s overall strategy for growth. Last month, the company announced that it was moving into small business lending, challenging incumbents like Kabbage, CAN Capital, and OnDeck. The company has also begun selling loans to community banks, announcing agreements with seven small banks last December.
Lending Club has doubled its annual loan volume every year, and has paid more than $300 million in interest to its investors. The company reported surpassing the $3 billion loans originated mark at the end of 2013.
In the top five of Forbes’ “Most Promising Companies” roster for 2014, long-time Finovate alum (StartUp 2007) Lending Club was founded in 2006 and is based in San Francisco. Renaud Laplanche is CEO.

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Finovate Alumni News– April 17, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Qapital, SecondMarket, Temenos
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFinovate alums earn spots on Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative in Finance.
  • Qapital featured in Finextra and TechCrunch profiiles. See Qapital demo at FinovateSpring in San Jose, April 29 and 30.
  • Temenos appoints Martin Frick to head APAC.
  • News BTC reports: SecondMarket Welcomes Investors Seeking to Trade 25 BTC Or Greater.
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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TransferWise Hits £1 Billion Mark for P2P Cross Border Money Transfers

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: TransferWise

TransferwiseLogoNew.jpg

In the eleven months since May 2013, TransferWise has seen its cumulative total volume of cash transferred cross-border climb from just over £100 million to £1 billion.

Based in London, TransferWise provides peer-to-peer money transfer services in more than 175 different currencies. The platform works by connecting people looking to transfer money from Country A to Country B, with people looking to make the exact opposite transfer.

TransferWise has raised more than $7 million since its founding in 2010. The lion’s share of the capital has come from a Series A round almost a year ago led by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
Said TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus of the newly-reached milestone: “it shows how much people need modern financial services – something where it is modern, fast and cheap.”
Speaking of modern, fast and cheap, TransferWise is also announcing the launch of its Android app. Said Hinrikus, “there is much more that money on mobile should mean to people and ways they can be in control.”
The latest news from TransferWise shows how the currency transfer business has heated up. Companies like CurrencyFair and Azimo, both Finovate alums also, have announced reaching significant milestones or raising significant VC capital in recent weeks, as well. And now, even more attention is being paid to companies like these as potential partnership with Facebook, should the social networking innovator act on rumors that it is getting into the money transfer game.
TransferWise demoed its technology as part of the FinovateEurope show in 2013. See the company in action here.

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Finovate Alums Make Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative in Finance

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Dwolla, eToro, MasterCard, NICE Systems, OneID, TransferWise

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Who knew? More than half of the world’s top 10 most innovative companies in finance are Finovate alums.

Don’t just take our word for it. Fast Company published its roster of innovation in the financial space as part of their quest to find those companies that are “creating radical new approaches to move cash from one place to another.” 

And among such widely-known and talked-about entities as Square and Bitcoin, we find more than a handful of innovators who have used the Finovate stage to help show their technology to the world.

Take a look at the companies below, accompanied by Fast Company’s take on just what makes each innovator truly unique.

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Fast Company: “For connecting banks and other clients to frazzled end users when problems arise.”

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Fast Company: “For daring to take on the fee-laden credit card establishment.”

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Fast Company: “For slashing pesky foreign-exchange costs by creating a transparent peer-to-peer network.”

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Fast Company: “For establishing a single login for web users and taking a giant leap toward eradicating the scourge of the Internet: passwords.”
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Fast Company: “For luring international customers with a mobile-payment network that lets them purchase with a simple click.”

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#10 eToro
Fast Company: “For creating a social network that lets traders emulate those with skin in the game.”
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Finovate Alumni News– April 16, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Credit Sesame, Nostrum Group, Realty Mogul
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgWhere the Alums Are: A Remembrance of FinovateSpring Past. Read what the innovators of FinovateSpring 2013 have been up to in the year since.
  • Betterment raises $32 million in Series C round.
  • Realty Mogul crowdfunds Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs.
  • Partnership with Clearly Loans brings Nostrum Group into the secured loan processing business.
  • Credit Sesame launches free credit and identity protection service.
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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Where the Alums Are: A Remembrance of FinovateSpring Past

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Balance Financial, Banking Up, Banno, Better ATM Services, Braintree, CardFlight, Encap, EyeVerify, Finagraph, Finect, FinovateSpring 2013, FinovateSpring 2014, GoodApril, IntelliResponse, Jemstep, Kabbage, Kofax, Leaf, LendUp, LICUOS, Lodo Software, MoneyDesktop, Mortgage Harmony, Narrative Science, NICE Systems, Oink, OneID, OpenCoin, P2BInvestor, PayNearMe, Prestadero, Quantopian, Realty Mogul, SeedInvest, Yseop, Zooz

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It is hard to believe that it is almost time for FinovateSpring 2014.

There’s still plenty of time for you to get your tickets to our upcoming event in San Jose, California on April 29 and 30. Our final Sneak Peek preview post is up, all the companies who were prepping under the radar are now out of stealth, and we can’t wait for you to see what this year’s spring crop of fintech entrepreneurs and innovators has in store.

Before we do, however, let’s take a moment to take a look back at last year’s FinovateSpring alums. As we scrolled through blog archives, several themes jumped out: the appetite for startups remains as passionate as ever, with three of our Spring 2013 alums being acquired by such financial sector potentates as Intuit and PayPal. And venture capitalists continue to see innovation in this space as a more than worthwhile investment, with 20 separate fundings for Spring 2013 alums

We’ve grouped the achievements into four categories: Exits, Fundings, Awards, and Acquisitions. Enjoy!
EXITS
  • Jack Henry buys Banno for undisclosed sum
  • The rumors are true: eBay’s PayPal acquires Braintree for $800 million in cash
  • Intuit buys tax planning/preparation specialist GoodApril
  • TaxAct acquires Balance Financial
FUNDINGS
  • CardFlight secures $1.6 million in seed funding from ff Venture Capital
  • Encap earns seven-figure investment from ProVenture Seed
  • EyeVerify earns $2.3 million in Series A funding
  • Jemstep raises $4.5 million in Series A round
  • Kabbage brings in $270 million in debt financing to provide small businesses with funding of their own
  • Kabbage brings in $75 MIllion in debt financing
  • Leaf raises $20 million from Heartland Payment Systems
  • Alternative lender LendUp raises $14 million in new funding
  • D3 Banking creator Lodo Software Brings in $3 million
  • Narrative Science secures $11.5 million in Series C funding
  • OpenCoin wins investment from Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners
  • P2BInvestor raises $1.2 million in Series A round
  • PayNearMe leverages Family Dollar Partnership; raises $20 million
  • PayNearMe raises $10 million in Series D funding, launches Express Merchant Onboarding Option
  • Prestadero raises 5 million pesos ($400,000 USD) in first round of funding
  • Quantopian raises $6.7 million in Series A round
  • Realty Mogul raises $9 million in round led by Canaan Partners
  • SeedInvest raises $2 million in crowdfunded investment campaign
  • SeedInvest Raises $1 million in round Led by Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network
  • Zooz Closes $2 million Series A round Led by XSeed Capital
AWARDS
ACQUISITONS
  • OpenCoin acquires SimpleHoney
  • Kofax acquires data integration software provider Kapow Technologies
  • NICE to acquire Causata to enhance customer experience management

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Betterment Raises $32 Million in Series C Round

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment

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In a funding round that more than tripled the amount raised in its previous round, wealth management innovator Betterment raised $32 million from a sizable group of both new and existing investors.

Betterment’s total capital now stands at $45 million. Participating in this latest round were:

  • Anthemis Group
  • Bessemer Venture Partners
  • Citi Ventures
  • Globespan Capital Partners
  • Menlo Ventures
  • Northwestern Mutual Capital
Among the goals for the new capital cited by Betterment CEO Jon Stein is expanding the company’s range of products. This likely includes a new product for RIAs, Betterment Institutional, that the company plans to release soon.
In an interview with Forbes.com, Betterment CEO Jon Stein said he expects his company to have more than $1 billion under management by the end of 2014. Betterment currently has about half that amount under management right now, and Stein says that AUM is growing at a rate of 10% a month.
Betterment works by investing its customers in low-cost, index exchange-traded funds. With investments ranging from short-term U.S. Treasury bonds to stocks from emerging market countries, investors can achieve broad diversification without single-stock or liquidity risks. Asset allocation is personalized based on the short or long-term goals of the individual investor.
The company stresses that its goal is not to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis. Instead Betterment practices “passive investing,” looking to deliver market returns at a reasonable price that is lower than that offered by traditional investment managers.
Betterment has no minimum investment or minimum account balance, though account balance is a factor in determining pricing. The company charges a management fee ranging between 0.15% and 0.35% that covers everything from trades to advisory service. The company has 30,000 customers, with an average age of 36. However, 20% of Betterment’s customers are over the age of 50.
Founded in 2008 and based in New York City, Betterment was a Best of Show winner at FinovateFall 2010. See a demo of their presentation here. 

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Finovate Alumni News– April 15, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CardFlight, HelloWallet, Insuritas, TransferWise
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgTransferWise announces more than $1 billion in P2P transfers.
  • Insuritas picked by Nutmeg State Federal Credit Union to open and manage its turnkey insurance agency. See Insuritas demo at FinovateSpring in San Jose.
  • Streetwise reports: HelloWallet Signs Another Big Deal with Aon Hewitt.
  • CardFlight wins Electronic Transactions Association’s 2014 Technology Innovation Award.
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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