David Penn, Author at Finovate

Lending Club Files for $500 Million Initial Public Offering

By David Penn Posted on August 28, 2014
Categories: Lending Club

No beating around the bush about this one: we are thrilled to share the news that Lending Club has filed for an initial public offering. The alternative, peer-to-peer lender seeks to raise at least $500 million.

See Lending Club’s S-1 filing at the SEC for yourself here. Forbes reports that Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs will serve as lead underwriters.

The company has been understandably mum as it enters what is known in the business as its post-filing “quiet period.” But in its filing, Lending Club noted a trio of advantages over traditional lenders:

An innovative marketplace model that efficiently connects the supply and demand of capital
Online operations that substantially reduce the need for physical infrastructure and improve convenience
Automation that increases efficiency, reduces manual processes and improves borrower and investor experience

Additionally, the S-1 cited a few choice metrics about the company’s first half of 2014, including:

Net income: $86.9 million
Adjusted EBITDA (excluding some non cash charges): $5.9 million
Profit/(Loss): ($16.5 million)
Loans originated: $1.8 billion

In seeking to raise $500 million, Lending Club could become one of the “biggest ever stock market debuts” according to the New York Times DealBook. Lending Club has financed more than $5 billion in loans and paid investors more than $490 million in interest since inception. DealBook notes that the Lending Club prospectus does leave a few questions unanswered such as the price range for Lending Club shares, and the exchange on which the shares will trade.

For its part, Forbes’ coverage of the announcement includes excerpts from a spring interview with Laplanche in which the CEO explains both how Lending Club works and how he ensures that the “best loans” are not cherry-picked by savvy investors. “There are no best loans,” Laplanche said. “If we do our job well – and I believe we do, there is no loan that is better than others.”

You can check out our 2012 interview with Laplanche here.

Lending Club is the fourth Finovate alum to file for an IPO. Q2 went public in March. Cachet Financial Solutions and Yodlee made their IPO filings in early and late July, respectively. As one of the oldest Finovate alums, Lending Club participated in both our inaugural Finovate event in 2007 and again at FinovateStartup 2009. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and was founded in 2007.

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Alumni News– August 27, 2014

By David Penn Posted on August 27, 2014
Categories: BehavioSec, Bill.com, Bolstr, CashStar, EyeVerify, FutureAdvisor, IntelliResponse, Locaid, Monitise, Ripple, Wallaby Financial, Wealthfront, Xero

Monitise announces digital commerce and resourcing alliance with IBM.

ThinkAdvisor takes a look at the deal between the San Francisco 49ers football team and Wealthfront.

The Globe and Mail profiles David Lloyd and IntelliResponse as part of its Innovators at Work contest.

Fortune magazine column discusses Ripple and the “Internet of value exchange.”

ValueWalk: FutureAdvisor can be used as a free tool to rate your own investment decisions or a low-cost asset management service.

Chicago Tribune’s Blue Sky Innovation visits Bolstr for video interview.

Bill.com CEO and co-founder Rene Lacerte writes about the “new sharing economy” for Inc.com.

CashStar announces spot in Inc 500|5000 for a second year in a row.

EyeVerify opens new offices to accommodate recent growth.

Locaid partners with Danal to leverage location services in fight against financial fraud.

Wallaby Financial named finalist in Samsung Gear App Challenge 2014.

ZDNet: Xero continues march into U.S., launches partner marketplace.

The Independent looks at how BehavioSec uses behavioral biometrics.

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– August 26, 2014

By David Penn Posted on August 26, 2014
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Azimo, Banno, BizEquity, FIS, Holvi, Jack Henry, MasterCard, Mortgagebot, SecureKey

ACI Worldwide ranks #36 in Apps Run the Cloud’s Top 500 application vendors.

Startups.co.uk interviews Michael Kent, CEO and founder of Azimo.

TechCrunch profiles Finland-based startup, Holvi.

American Banker looks at how banks can use BizEquity’s app that enables small businesses to estimate the value of their company.

Wade Arnold, founder of Banno which was sold to Jack Henry & Associates, is 1 of 5 finalists honored in annual Silicon Prairie Awards.

SecureKey and Trustonic partner to enable SecureKey’s briidge.net Connect services to work with Trustonic in select mobile devices. Check out SecureKey at FinDEVr this fall.

Bank Mutual selects D+H’s Mortgagebot solution for end-to-end mortgage lending.

India’s Bank of Maharashtra deploys FIS payment platform.

The new Citi Wallet supports digital payments via MasterPass from MasterCard. See the company present at FinDEVr in San Francisco this fall.

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– August 25, 2014

By David Penn Posted on August 25, 2014
Categories: Betterment, BillGuard, Dynamics, Financial Guard, FutureAdvisor, Geezeo, inStream Solutions, Jemstep, Kabbage, Lending Club, Motif Investing, Moven, On Deck Capital, Prosper, SigFig, Top Image Systems, Wealthfront

San Antonio Federal Credit Union to integrate Geezeo PFM technology.

On Deck partners with Worldpay to provide access to financing for small and medium-sized merchants.

PaymentsSource features Dynamics ePlate among its list of “7 unusual emerging payments technologies.”

Drippler.com reviews BillGuard.

Top Image Systems announces patent for full page mobile image processing.

The New York Times profiles Financial Guard, Motif, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, SigFig and Wealthfront .

InStream Solutions launches comparison tool.

Moven expands internationally, signs deal with New Zealand-based Westpac.

HuffPo profiles Prosper, Lending Club, and Kabbage in column on the rise of online lending.

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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Zumigo Raises $6 Million in Investment Led by Intel Capital

By David Penn Posted on August 22, 2014
Categories: Zumigo

Guess which fintech company’s just-completed, $6 million Series B round comes stamped “Intel Inside”?

On Friday, Zumigo announced an investment from Intel Capital, Intel’s global investment and M&A arm, along with participation from existing investors, including Aligned Partners. This Series B round brings Zumigo’s total funding to $7.7 million.

Zumigo’s CEO and Co-founder Chirag Bakshi says the new financing “validates our direction and success and will accelerate growth in our core business of providing mobile location and identity products to financial organizations and enterprises alike.”

In addition to growth in its core business, the company said in a statement that the funding also will help support investments in sales and marketing, as well as in new product development.

Yesterday we shared news that Zumigo will be one of three companies participating in the inaugural Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator. The Accelerator is geared toward startups that are capable of delivering solutions for FIs ranging from security and fraud to payments and operations. The six-month program includes an equity investment between $50,000 and $500,000.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Jose, California, Zumigo demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2014.

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Alumni News, 22 August 2014

By David Penn Posted on August 22, 2014
Categories: BankBazaar, BlueVine, Check Point, Continuity Control, EyeVerify, Lending Club, Zumigo

EyeVerify raises $6 million in Series A round, joins Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator.

Find out more about the innovators of FinovateFall 2014 with Part 2 of our Sneak Peek Preview series.

Continuity Control announces $10 million investment.

Zumigo earns a spot in, and an investment from, Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator.

BlueVine brings in $1.5 million in funding. Check out BlueVine’s live demo at FinovateFall.

Four notable website upgrades on Bankbazaar.com.

Houston Chronicle features Lending Club success story.

Check Point Software Technology positioned as a Leader in the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management.

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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FinovateFall 2014 Sneak Peek: Part 2

By David Penn Posted on August 21, 2014
Categories: Backbase, BioCatch, blooom, FinovateFall 2014, FinovateFall 2014 Sneak Peek, iBillionaire, Patch of Land, Settle

If you missed the first installment of our FinovateFall 2014 Sneak Peek series, click here for Part 1.

A few days ago we introduced you to BizEquity, Gremln, Hoyos Labs, Knox Payments, NopSec, and Rippleshot. Today we present another six companies that will be demoing on stage in New York in September.

FinovateFall 2014 is live in New York City on September 23 and 24. And with last year’s show a sell-out, we’re expecting even bigger things in 2014. So save your spot at this year’s show; click here to register today.

Backbase is a software company helping banks in the digital era.

Features:

Beautiful digital banking experience for end customers
Full control over the digital strategy by the bank
Backbase Marketplace to unite vendors and banks looking for fintech innovation

Why it’s great:

Backbase Engage helps banks regain control over their digital strategy.

Presenters:

Peter Chapman, Principal FinTech Strategist

Before joining Backbase, Chapman worked as VP emerging technologies at First Trade Union Bank. Frustrated by the lack of control of the banks to own their digital future, he joined Backbase to fix this.

Jelmer de Jong, Global Head of Marketing

De Jong focused his career on helping companies get the most out of new technologies. He has a strong focus on startups, B2B, product management and marketing.

BioCatch provides innovative online fraud-prevention solutions that dramatically reduce friction and fraud, giving customers confidence to expand their business.

Features:

The Cognitive Biometrics technology enables BioCatch to detect intruders, bots, and fraudsters.

Why it’s great:

BioCatch: Less friction. Less fraud.

Presenters:

Uri Rivner, Co-Founder and VP Business Development & Cyber Strategy

Rivner is recognized globally as an industry expert on Cybercrime and advanced threats. He is a regular speaker in the leading Security and Cyber conferences, and writes a cyber-security blog.

blooom has developed a revolutionary way to open the eyes of 401(k) investors, by outsourcing the management of their 401(k) accounts, regardless of where custodied.

Features:

We don’t use complicated charts or line graphs with a gazillion indecipherable colors
We make it easy to operate (no Ph.D in Finance required)
We rebalance the account, rather than just make recommendations

Why it’s great:

Blooom allows investors to ditch their current strategy of ignoring-it, meaning-to-get-around-to-it, and hoping-for-the-best!

Presenters:

Chris Costello, Co-Founder and Certified Financial Planner

Costello has 20 years experience and builds the model used to generate 401(k) recommendations, allowing blooom users to tap into advice traditionally only available to investors with a gazillion dollars.

Randy AufDerHeide, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

AufDerHeide handles all the fancy, schmancy IT stuff. If it involves computers, code, Internet stuff, he’s the guy. He also makes everythin
g work smoothly, helping deliver a great experience to bloom users.

iBillionaire taps into the investment strategies of Wall Street billionaires and provides unique and exclusive data on investment activity and trends.

Features:

Provides insights into billionaire investment portfolios and stock picks
Sends real-time alerts on buys, sells, and prices
Allows users to track their own portfolios and the iBillionaire Index

Why it’s great:

With iBillionaire, anyone can invest like a billionaire.

Presenters:

Raul Moreno, Co-Founder and CEO

Moreno is a serial entrepreneur with a background in finance and tech. His previous ventures include social app discovery platform, Kinetik, and he previously worked as an analyst at GFG Capital.

Patch of Land is a peer real estate (P2RE) lending marketplace presenting its real-time, due-diligence engine.

Features:

Proprietary risk and credit-modeling system increases accuracy of risk profiling
Full-stack integration with existing platform and processes
Significant scale and velocity of underwriting

Why it’s great:

We are creating an efficient, scalable system for underwriting and complex real estate lending transactions and pricing risk appropriately.

Presenters:

Brian Fritton, CTO

Fritton is a seasoned eCommerce expert who oversees the development of Patch of Land’s in-house platform and leads the research and implementation of our technology initiatives.

Settle is a mobile-payment platform built to create greater customer loyalty by hastening the checkout process while improving the overall customer experience.

Features:

Bridge mobile payments and loyalty
Target marketing to consumers based on their paying behavior
Transfer P2P cash easily

Why it’s great:

Settle brings easy mobile payments to customers and allows merchants to make the most of customer data.

Presenters:

Stas Matviyenko, CEO

Matviyenko studied in Austria, worked for the Ukranian government (banking research). Founder at Advice Wallet (the biggest mobile loyalty program in CIS countries), believes in mobile payments, geek.

Anna Polishchuk, COO

Polishchuk has a Masters degree in international business and is passionate about design and technology. She worked as Market Research Analyst at an international company and co-founded Advice Wallet.

Our Sneak Peek series continues on Tuesday with another six companies that will demo their fintech innovations at FinovateFall 2014 next month.

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EyeVerify Raises $6 Million in Series A Round, Joins Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator

By David Penn Posted on August 21, 2014
Categories: EyeVerify, Zumigo

With participation from Wells Fargo, Qihoo 360 and Sprint, as well as existing investors, EyeVerify just announced that it closed a $6 million Series A funding round.

The investment takes EyeVerify’s total capital to more than $10 million.

In a statement, EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush pointed to the fact that the investors included “the largest security software firm in the world, the leading bank in the U.S., and a wireless network operator serving more than 50 million U.S. customers” to underscore what he called the strong “marketplace validation” of the investment.

And the good news comes in twos for EyeVerify, with the company announcing that it is part of the inaugural class of the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator. EyeVerify will participate in the new, semiannual fintech bootcamp along with two other companies, including fellow Finovate alum, Zumigo. Participation in the program includes a “direct equity investment” ranging from $50,000 to as much as $500,000. The specific investment in EyeVerify was not immediately available.

EyeVerify’s innovation is the way it approaches eye-based, biometric authentication. The company’s technology uses the veins within the whites of the eyes to take an “eye print” that is as unique to the individual as a fingerprint. Eyeprints can be used in a range of authentication situations, from helping secure employee mobile devices to providing greater security for mobile banking customers. Kevin McGinnis, vice president of Sprint’s Pinsight Media+ division said, “With mobile security evolving beyond passwords, we are pleased to invest in EyeVerify and its easy-to-use, innovative biometric solution.”

Founded in 2012 and based in Kansas City, Kansas, EyeVerify last demoed its Eyeprint Validation technology at FinovateSpring 2014. See the company’s Best of Show winning demo here.

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Continuity Control Announces $10 Million Investment

By David Penn Posted on August 21, 2014
Categories: Continuity Control

Referring to its $10 million investment as “growth funding,” compliance-management specialist Continuity Control says it is even better positioned to expand its regulatory intelligence platform for FIs.

The company’s total capital now stands at $12 million.

River Cities Capital Fund led the way in an investment round that included participation from BancVue and the family of IBM founder Thomas Watson, as well as others. Impressively, the $10 million raised was twice the amount Continuity Control had initially sought.

Speaking of the investment, Continuity Control CEO and Co-founder Andy Greenawalt said, “The interest generated in this round of investment further validates our vision for compliance management and the opportunity it represents in the community financial industry.”

What will Continuity Control do with the additional capital? According to the company, research and development are near the top of the list. But faster movement overall is what Continuity Control is counting on with the new investment. “The faster we progress, the sooner we’ll fulfill our mission to eliminate the tedious, manual effort historically involved with compliance management.”

An innovator in the field of compliance technology for financial institutions, Continuity Control specializes in helping credit unions and community banks reduce the costs and time involved in meeting regulatory requirements.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut, Continuity Control demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2010. See the company’s demo video here.

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Zumigo Earns Spot in and Investment from Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator

By David Penn Posted on August 21, 2014
Categories: EyeVerify, Zumigo

Of the three companies participating in the inaugural Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, two are Finovate alums. One is EyeVerify, which also reported a $6 million dollar investment on Wednesday. The other is Zumigo.

What was it about Zumigo in particular that caught Wells Fargo’s eye? According to Zumigo, the big bank is especially interested in the company’s mobile location intelligence technology, which provides authentication services for mobile transactions. Zumigo’s solution allows financial institutions to be more proactive than is “current industry practice,” according to Chirag Bakshi, founder and CEO of Zumigo.

“Zumigo’s innovative technology for financial services institutions such as Wells Fargo can detect fraudulent transactions before (they) impact their customers,” Chirag added.

In the words of Steve Ellis, executive vice president and head of Wholesale Services at Wells Fargo, the goal of the Accelerator is to increase the bank’s “visibility into technologies and ideas that will stoke innovation across the enterprise.” And considering that two out of the three companies participating are security/authentication-related, Wells Fargo may be telling us a lot more about the kind of innovation major banks are looking for than it may seem. The third company, Kasisto, is a New York startup that specializes in conversational artificial intelligence technology.

Participating in the Accelerator includes an equity investment of between $50,000 and $500,000. Zumigo did not immediately disclose the level of investment it received. The program lasts for six months, and will provide business planning expertise geared toward developing “innovative ideas and stoke innovation across the Wells Fargo enterprise.”

Zumigo was founded in 2009, and demoed its Assure solution at FinovateSpring 2014. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.

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Alumni News– August 21, 2014

By David Penn Posted on August 21, 2014
Categories: AnchorID, BioCatch, Digital Insight, EyeVerify, MasterCard, PayNearMe, Taulia, Yodlee, Zumigo

American Banker takes a look at the new Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, with alums EyeVerify and Zumigo in the inaugural class.

Check out our first FinDEVr Preview, featuring Yodlee Interactive. Join Yodlee at FinDEVr in San Francisco this fall.

The Paypers spotlights BioCatch and the company’s cognitive science-based biometric technology. See BioCatch at FinovateFall in New York next month.

MasterCard partnership with Zimbabwe’s EcoCash designed to boost mobile money services in Africa. MasterCard is a presenter and sponsor of FinDEVr, the first fintech event for developers.

Taulia sees more than 350% growth in second quarter of 2014.

Mergermarket.com features AnchorID in latest report. See AnchorID’s live demo at FinovateFall in NYC.

GECU providing members with online and mobile digital banking services from Digital Insight.

PayNearMe partners with Systems & Methods to offer a way to pay child support in cash. Check out PayNearMe at FinDEVr.

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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FinDEVr Preview: Yodlee Interactive

By David Penn Posted on August 20, 2014
Categories: FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, Xignite, Yodlee

In the weeks leading up to our inaugural FinDEVr conference, we’re taking a look at the more than 40 speakers who will be making presentations. Click here to see the full agenda.

First up is Yodlee Interactive. Yodlee was a presenter at the first Finovate event in 2007, and continues that tradition by being a big part of the inaugural FinDEVr. In addition to its keynote address, Yodlee will deliver three workshops on the second day (see below).

For more information on FinDEVr, the first event for fintech developers, coming to San Francisco on September 30, visit FinDEVr here.

Yodlee is the platform for financial innovation. More than 600 companies globally, including seven of the top ten US financial institutions, rely on Yodlee to power personalized financial apps and services for millions of consumers, driving retention, engagement, and revenue.

Leveraging the industry’s largest data platform, Yodlee also delivers real-time insight into consumer behaviors to create more dynamic interactions – anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Yodlee Interactive is focused on making the Yodlee platform available everywhere that entrepreneurs, partners, and developers building digital financial apps and services can use to create value. As the architects of a new digital ecosystem, Yodlee Interactive optimizes the wisdom of the financial technology crowd to create, catalyze, and distribute innovations faster through an open and secure data API.

Used by hundreds of companies, both small and large, Yodlee Interactive is the horsepower behind today’s coolest and most personalized digital experiences.

At FinDEVr, Yodlee Interactive will be giving a keynote address and will provide three workshops for builders. The titles, topics, and presenters for the keynote and workshops are below.

Keynote: Demystifying the Yodlee Data

What is the Yodlee platform and what value do the Yodlee Interactive APIs open up to developers?

Joseph Polverari

Chief Strategy & Development Officer, Yodlee;

Founder & General Manager, Yodlee Interactive

Joe Polverari is focused on making the Yodlee platform available everywhere that value can be created by entrepreneurs, partners, developers building digital financial apps and services.

Joe is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Executive Program, holds a juries doctorate and degree in Economics from Santa Clara University.

Cheung Tam

Director API Product Management, Yodlee

Previous to Yodlee, Cheung served as Senior Product Manager, Developer Platform at Intuit. Cheung is a technologist with advanced degrees in business and engineering and has over 15 years of development, product, and project management experience.

Workshop Session #1

How to Build an App with Financial Data: Hands on help from Yodlee Interactive and the hot app builders who are leading the charge.

Anita Hayrapetian

Senior Solutions Engineer, Yodlee Interactive

Anita is a customer focused sales engineer with in-depth technical knowledge and superior presentation and interpersonal skills. Successfully developed and deployed more than 20 major projects including auction, e-commerce and ERP systems for global computer component re-sellers.

Session also features Cheung Tam and Guest Developers.

Workshop Session #2

Yodlee’s Instant Account Verification (IAV) API for Managing Risk and Fraud

Lori Martel

Vice President, Platform Product Management, Yodlee

Session also features Jayasree Iyer and Guest Developers

Workshop Session #3

Supercharge your Apps with Wealth Data from Yodlee & Xignite

Deviprasad Kocherry

Product Manager, Yodlee

Al Chang

Chief Technical Officer, Xignite

Look forward to our next FinDEVr Preview featuring TD Ameritrade Institutional next week.

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Finovate Blog

Author: David Penn

Lending Club Files for $500 Million Initial Public Offering

Alumni News– August 27, 2014

Alumni News– August 26, 2014

Alumni News– August 25, 2014

Zumigo Raises $6 Million in Investment Led by Intel Capital

Alumni News, 22 August 2014

FinovateFall 2014 Sneak Peek: Part 2

EyeVerify Raises $6 Million in Series A Round, Joins Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator

Continuity Control Announces $10 Million Investment

Zumigo Earns Spot in and Investment from Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator

Alumni News– August 21, 2014

FinDEVr Preview: Yodlee Interactive