Author: David Penn

Payroll, Benefits, and HR Management Innovator Gusto Secures Series E Round Extension

Payroll, Benefits, and HR Management Innovator Gusto Secures Series E Round Extension
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Gusto
  • TechCrunch and Pitchbook are reporting that HR innovator Gusto has raised an extension on its Series E round.
  • The company’s Series E round, launched in 2021, was led by T. Rowe Price Associates, and totaled $175 million.
  • The amount of the extension was not disclosed, but it is believed to be in the neighborhood of $55 million.

TechCrunch is reporting that HR technology company – and Finovate alum – Gusto has secured an extension of its 2021 Series E funding round. That round featured an investment of $175 million and was led by T. Rowe Price Associates. The amount of capital in the extension announced this week has not been disclosed, but TechCrunch suggests that the sum “appears to be around the $55 million mark.” Ahead of this week’s extension announcement, Gusto had a valuation of nearly $10 billion, and now has more than $746 in total funding.

Gusto offers an all-in-one platform to enable businesses to successfully automate and manage their HR operations. This includes a full-service payroll capability, as well as employee benefits management, hiring and onboarding, talent management, and timecards and attendance. The platform also provides insights and reporting that support anonymous team surveys, customizable reports, automatic compliance alerts, and more.

The company, launched in 2012, made its Finovate debut as ZenPayroll in 2014. Rebranding one year later as Gusto, the company has since grown into a fintech unicorn with more than 200,000 business customers nationwide. Gusto processes tens of billions of dollars in payroll every year while providing employee benefits – including health insurance and 401(k) accounts – that help companies provide an optimal environment for their workers.

Gusto began the year with an announcement that Whiz Consulting, based in Dallas Texas, launched its Gusto Payroll Services offering. Also in January, Gusto announced the appointment of former GitHub and Tesla executive Mike Taylor as its new Chief Financial Officer. This spring, Gusto reported that performance management software provider Engagedly would offer a seamless integration with its platform.

“We are excited to partner with Gusto, a leader in the people management platform,” Engagedly President and co-founder Sri Chellappa said. “As a partner, Gusto will help our joint clients leverage the vast power of Engagedly for employee engagement, people development, learning and performance management, and providing a seamless and holistic employee experience.”

Gusto is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Co-founder Joshua Reeves is CEO.

Photo by Henry & Co.

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Paymob Closes Egyptian Fintech’s Biggest Series B; South African’s Capitec Partners with Entersekt and nCino

Paymob Closes Egyptian Fintech’s Biggest Series B; South African’s Capitec Partners with Entersekt and nCino
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Entersekt, Finovate Global, nCino, NuData Security, Scalable Capital, VISA

A $50 million investment will help Egyptian digital payments company Paymob expand into new markets in both the Middle East and Africa. The round was led by Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures, and Clay Point, and represents the largest ever Series B round in Egyptian fintech history.

“Central Bank of Egypt initiatives that are continuously being introduced in the market to support fintech companies were key to Paymob’s growth,” company founder and CEO Islam Shawky said. “The Central Bank has created a regulatory framework to help fintech flourish and participate in making Egypt’s digital financial inclusion ambitions a reality.”

Processing more than 85% of the market share of transactions in Egypt with its mobile wallet technology, Paymob serves customers in five markets including Palestine, Pakistan, and Kenya. The investment comes as Paymob reports strong 2021 growth, including year-on-year growth in merchant partners and monthly volumes of 4x as of December. The company has onboarded more than 10,000 merchants in less than two years en route to a goal of onboarding one million SMEs.

This week’s funding brings Paymob’s total capital to more than $68.5 million.

South African bank Capitec announced that it was teaming up with two Finovate alums, Entersekt and nCino.

One of the fastest-growing digital banks in South Africa, Capitec has partnered with cloud banking and digital transformation solution provider nCino. The two companies will work together to build Capitec’s Business Banking loan management system to better serve the company 70,000+ business banking customers.

“Capitec has embraced an agile and innovative approach to growth,” nCino CEO Pierre Naudé said. “We’re glad Capitec saw a partner in nCino and look forward to providing the bank with industry-leading technology and a flexible platform that will help drive the sustainability and growth of its business banking operations.”

nCino made its Finovate debut in 2017 at FinovateEurope. The company’s flagship offering, its cloud-based Bank Operating System, provides a complete end-to-end banking solution that combines CRM, loan origination, workflow, ECM, business intelligence, and reporting all in a single location. nCino’s technology replaces disparate point solutions and manual processes with a modern, digitally-optimized experience.

In addition to its collaboration with nCino, Capitec also announced this week that it was working with South African identity and authentication solution provider Entersekt. Capitec will implement the company’s EMV 3D Secure solution to enhance the security of its e-commerce transactions.

The technology will enable Capitec to spot high risk e-commerce transactions in real-time, enhancing security without interfering with the customer experience. Entersekt’s EMV 3D Secure solution is pre-integrated with NuDetect from NuData Security – also a Finovate alum – which leverages behavioral biometrics and machine learning to help tell the difference between authentic users and potential fraudsters.

“We are constantly looking for ways to offer the best security possible without impacting our customers’ experiences,” Capitec Bank Marketing and Communications Executive Francois Viviers said. “By implementing Entersekt’s EMV 3D Secure solution with behavioral analytics from NuData Security, we are able to provide an additional level of protection for our e-commerce transactions. This also allows our team to continue to innovate, keeping our customers secure and Capitec at the forefront of digital banking innovation in South Africa.”

Entersekt demonstrated its technology as part of our developers conference, FinDEVr, in San Francisco in 2014. The company, headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, finished 2021 with a “significant investment” from Accel-KKR. This spring, Entersekt announced partnerships with edtech Mindjoy and the MiDO Foundation to promote financial literacy, as well as a collaboration with credit union service organization (CUSO) Bonifii to bring context-aware authentication solutions to credit unions.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Photo by Spencer Davis

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FIS Partners with Treasury Prime to Bring Embedded Finance to Small and Mid-Sized Banks

FIS Partners with Treasury Prime to Bring Embedded Finance to Small and Mid-Sized Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS
  • FIS has partnered with Treasury Prime to launch a new embedded finance offering.
  • The new solution will give FIS’ banking customers additional options for managing deposits, AP, and other critical bank processes.
  • The collaboration with Treasury Prime is FIS’ second big embedded finance play of the year, having acquired embedded finance solution provider Payrix in February.

FIS has launched a new embedded finance offering, built in partnership with Treasury Prime, to help community and regional banks take advantage of the most modern digital capabilities and create new distribution channels. The new API-based solution will give FIS’ banking customers and their business clients new options when it comes to managing deposits, accounts payable, and other key banking operations.

The new offering will also enable community and regional banks to potentially create new revenue streams by expanding their client base, especially among highly digitally-active consumers.

“Embedded finance is a growing trend in the market because it allows businesses to bring innovative ideas quickly to market by combining financial services with user experiences right at the point of need,” FIS Head of Payments Kelly Beatty explained.

A leading technology solutions provider for merchants, banks, and capital markets firms – and a Finovate alum since 2010 – FIS processes more than $75 billion in transaction value for than 20,000+ clients globally. Treasury Prime offers APIs that enable companies to embed a range of banking services onto their platforms to boost revenues, increase customer loyalty, and offer rewards. Writing about the partnership on the Treasury Prime blog, Vice President of Banking Jeff Nowicki noted that the collaboration will enable banks to focus on their core strengths “rather than trying to compete with fintechs.” The partnership will also create new opportunities for business lines or revenues “(in) the same way community banks have for ages added lenders or business banking teams to target specific segments.”

The technology already has been integrated by digital commercial bank Grasshopper. The firm, in partnership with Web 3 blockchain company HUMBL, will deploy FIS’ embedded finance services across both its consumer and commercial divisions.

“Our vision has been clear from the start,” Grasshopper Chief Digital Officer Chris Tremont said,. “We wanted to better serve the needs of fintechs, small and medium-sized businesses, and the venture community. This BaaS platform and sophisticated set of APIs allows us to leverage technology and provide an enhanced banking experience for our clients.”

2022 has been a year in which FIS has paid particular attention to opportunities in embedded finance. A Finovate alum since 2010, FIS began the year with an acquisition of embedded payments solution provider Payrix. The deal will bolster FIS’ e-commerce, embedded payments, and finance experiences for small and medium-sized merchants via SaaS-based platforms.

“The acquisition of Payrix is an excellent proof point of FIS’ ability to unlock the value of our broad portfolio of solutions as companies of all sizes rely on FIS as a destination for innovation to advance how the world pays, banks, and invests,” said FIS President Stephanie Ferris.

Photo by Laker

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Credit Risk Management Innovator AKUVO Secures Investment from a Trio of Credit Unions

Credit Risk Management Innovator AKUVO Secures Investment from a Trio of Credit Unions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Three credit unions – VyStar CU, BCU, and Reseda Group – have invested in credit risk management specialist AKUVO.
  • Terms of the funding were not disclosed.
  • The new capital will help AKUVO further develop its credit risk and delinquency management platform, Aperture.

Credit risk and delinquency management specialist AKUVO announced a new investment not from the world of venture capital, but from the land of membership-powered credit unions. The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but the names of the credit unions involved in the funding have been: VyStar Credit Union, BCU, and Reseda Group, a wholly-owned CUSO (credit union service organization) of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU).

The funding will enable AKUVO to further develop its collection and credit risk platform, Aperture. The cloud-based, API-enabled portfolio risk and delinquency management solution provides streamlined information for quick and easy research and leverages robotic processing to offer businesses a 20% improvement in collector efficiency, a 15% reduction of effort for speciality processes, a 10% reduction in collection workload, and a 10% increase in manager efficiency.

“Our goal is to empower members to discover financial freedom, and I am optimistic AKUVO’s data science solutions will help us accelerate our ability to do just that,” BCU EVP and COO Jim Block said. “We anticipate rapid growth over the next decade, and the Aperture platform has the promise to scale with our membership.”

With $5.5 billion in assets, BCU is based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, in the greater Chicago area. BCU is the smallest (by assets) of the three credit unions involved in AKUVO’s funding this week. Reseda Group is part of $6.8 billion MSUFCU and this investment represents the second time the institution has invested in AKUVO (the first being in January of this year).

“AKUVO’s Aperture platform will change the way we provide members with individual credit solutions that maximize recoveries,” MSUFCU Chief Risk Officer Jim Hunsanger said. “Aperture’s data-based decisioning also ensures we meet regulatory and legal requirements. We’re excited to be an AKUVO client and early investor.”

VyStar Credit Union, based in Jacksonville, Florida, has $12 billion in assets, and is one of the 15 largest credit unions in the country. Speaking on behalf of the firm, VyStar’s SVP of Loan Administration Eric Weatherly said that the investment in AKUVO will “allow us to be a greater force for change for our members and the credit union community.”

Courtesy of the investment, each of the three credit unions involved will have a representative on AKUVO’s board of directors. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, AKUVO was founded in 2019.

Photo by imustbedead

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First Impressions: Meet the Companies Making Their Finovate Debuts Next Week at FinovateSpring

First Impressions: Meet the Companies Making Their Finovate Debuts Next Week at FinovateSpring
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2022, List series

FinovateSpring 2022 goes live next week. From Wednesday, May 18 through Friday, May 20, FinovateSpring returns to San Francisco, California for three days of innovative fintech demonstrations, insightful mainstage presentations, and lively debates and panel discussions on the most critical topics in fintech today.

To help get you ready for next week’s event, here’s an opportunity to get to know some of the companies that will be making their first-ever appearance at a Finovate conference. From innovators in credit decisioning and data management to specialists in cybersecurity and financial wellness, this year’s cohort of FinovateSpring newbees promises something for everyone.

Click on the buttons below to learn more about each of the companies making its Finovate debut next week at FinovateSpring. Then visit our FinovateSpring 2022 hub to pick up your ticket today!

Altro
Argyle
Axway
Basis Theory
Buddy
Cion Digital
Coinme
Engage People
Ever Green C
Flowpoint
Global PayEx
Goalry
Hawk:AI
Highnote
Identomat
Incognia
KuantSol
Lendisoft
Lokyata
Neuro-ID
Palturai
Polymesh
Prelim
Rillavoice
Skyflow
Solve Finance
Spave
Toro Alerts
Tuo
Very Good Security

Be sure to catch our Finovate first-timers next week at FinovateSpring 2022 in San Francisco, California, May 18 through May 20. Tickets are still available, so visit our registration page today and save your spot.

Photo by Monica Silvestre

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Current Launches Platform API, Forges Partnership with Plaid

Current Launches Platform API, Forges Partnership with Plaid
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Plaid
  • Current launched its platform API today and introduced Plaid as its first partner.
  • The collaboration between Current and Plaid will enable Current members to access digital financial services from more than 6,000 apps and services on the Plaid network.
  • Current earned a valuation of $2.2 billion after securing $220 million in Series D funding last spring.

Fintech platform Current launched its platform API today. The new offering is designed to bring seamless integrations and embedded banking experiences to fintechs and financial services companies. The product launch is being accompanied by news that Current has secured its first partner, API-first data network Plaid. The partnership will enable Current members (totaling nearly four million) to access an even wider range of innovative digital financial solutions to help them better manage their finances. These solutions, available via the Plaid network, range from digital payments to financial planning to investment tools.

“Our new platform API gives open banking partners the capability to embed our core banking technology,” Current CTO Trevor Marshall said. “We’re thrilled to be working with Plaid, the industry leader in open banking, as our first partner. We enabled this integration in response to feedback from our members. With Plaid, our members can access experiences that can help improve their financial lives with control and security.”

In working with Plaid, Current will provide its members with a credential-less open finance experience, leveraging both Current’s API as well as phone number and device authentication to reduce friction.

“We’re thrilled to enable a simple, secure on-ramp to digital financial services for Current members, who are often banking for the first time in their lives,” Plaid Partnerships Lead for Universal Access Raja Chakravorti said. “The integration ensures that consumers are in control of where and how their financial data is permissioned and shared, information that is essential to setting up a healthy financial life.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York, Current offers a variety of solutions to help its members change their lives by creating better financial outcomes. The company offers up to 4.00% APY via its Savings Pods solution, provides overdraft protection of up to $200, enables early wage access for members who use direct deposit, and gives consumers up to 15x the points on qualifying transactions made via the Current debit card.

Current secured $220 million in Series D funding last spring in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The investment gave the company a valuation of $2.2 billion. Stuart Sopp is CEO.

Photo by Sebastian Voortman

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From Investment to Innovation: What Can We Learn from a World of Unicorns?

From Investment to Innovation: What Can We Learn from a World of Unicorns?
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2022, Report series

Earlier this year, PwC’s Vicki Huff Eckert published a report that looked at the impact of VC investment on the technology industry. Eckert is Vice Chair for Technology, Media, and Communications – and the global leader of New Ventures and Innovation – for PwC. She will be featured at FinovateSpring next week in San Francisco as part of our Fireside Chat series.

Eckert’s report, Living in a World of Unicorns, examines the role that venture capital has played in not just funding, but in actually helping transform a variety of industries – including fintech and financial services. Some of her key takeaways as they relate to fintech specifically include:

“Tech is now influencing so many verticals that the investments and business processes in those verticals are evolving and beginning to blur industry lines.”

“In the U.S., companies are mostly using AI to improve performance, gain greater insights from their data, or automate business operations. In China, AI companies are primarily focused on facial recognition and computer vision. Alarmingly, investment in cybersecurity hasn’t kept pace …”

“The growth of the platform economy and e-commerce created an unprecedented need for seamless, cross-border, highly scalable digital payments.”

“The digitization of the economy is also establishing the foundation and infrastructure for digital currencies to eventually go mainstream.”

“Today’s unicorns aren’t just shaping capital markets and investment strategies, they are shaping and redefining the industries in which they operate – by developing new products and services, expanding rapidly into new geographic markets, and using their cash (and valuable stock) to attract talent.”

Check out the report from PwC’s Vicki Huff Eckert, and then be sure to join us next week for our Fireside Chat at FinovateSpring in San Francisco, Friday morning, May 20th at 9:30am.

Photo by Kaboompics .com

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Minna Technologies Launches Merchant Solution for Fight Subscription Cancellations

Minna Technologies Launches Merchant Solution for Fight Subscription Cancellations
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Minna Technologies
  • Minna Technologies has launched a new solution to help merchants recover revenue and re-engage customers who recently canceled subscriptions.
  • The new offering, Merchant Solutions, helps solve a pain point in which bank cards are often blocked during a subscription cancellation.
  • Merchant Solutions tackles the new reality of subscription management in which customers are more proactive toward both signing up for and cancelling subscription-based services.

Sweden-based subscription management infrastructure company Minna Technologies unveiled its new Merchant Solutions late last week. The solution will enable subscription-based businesses to recover revenue from customers who have recently canceled their service and who manage their subscriptions via their retail bank app.

“We are thrilled to allow the 20% of consumers who cancel with Minna to more easily return to the subscription service when it suits them; and to enable subscription businesses to more personally retarget these consumers with suitable offers,” Minna Technologies Chief Product Officer Tiama Hanson-Drury said. “Not every cancellation is a desire to sever ties with the merchant – often it is a call for increased flexibility or personalization. By keeping the channel open, merchants have the chance to evolve the customer relationship and reacquire the consumer.”

Minna Technologies’ new solution also helps merchants deal with an unintended consequence of consumer protection efforts that require banks to support subscription payment management, especially with regard to unidentified or unintended payments. Sometimes, the subscription cancellation process results in the customer’s bank card being blocked to prevent future wrongful payments. Minna Technologies cited a study by Experian Insights that indicated that almost 80% of those who try to re-establish their subscriptions within three months after canceling have found that their bank cards have been blocked. This friction can be enough to cause the customer to abandon the attempt to resubscribe to the service.

To this end, Minna will offer a new “unblock” feature that facilitates communication between banks and subscription businesses to unblock bank cards in instances when banks have confidence that no wrongful payments will be reattempted by the business. This block removal service will help alleviate operational issues and the potential for poor customer service when payments are automatically blocked during subscription cancellation. Minna noted that the Unblock feature is one example of the kind of assistance the company is developing for subscription-based merchants with other solutions, including a way to prevent cancellations in the first place, to be offered in the near future.

Minna Technologies’ new offering also responds to the challenge of what Minna Technologies’ VP of Sales, Partnerships and Solutions Erica Katsambis referred to as the “rise of new subscription personas”. These personas reflect a growing assertiveness on the part of consumers who are more likely to be proactive in expressing their digital preferences than consumers of even a few years ago.

“From the ‘lost, confused, and angry’ who are disengaged and canceling via their bank, to the ‘savvy’ consumers switching subscriptions regularly or those consumers happy to try out many new subscriptions, they all demand more from their subscriptions,” Katsambis explained. “It is more important than ever to diversify and bolster digital channels and functionality to retain users, grow your customer base, and prevent unwanted churn.”

Minna Technologies made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2019. In the time since then, the company has forged partnerships with ING Belgium, Lloyds Bank, and Danske Bank; earned recognition as an Inclusive Fintech 50 member; and raised more than $23 million in funding. Late last year, Minna launched its “1-click” subscription management solution. Early this year, the company announced the appointment of new board chairwoman, Amanda Mesler.

Photo by Pixabay

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Fintech Innovation in Mexico: From Cross-Border Payments to Crypto Rewards

Fintech Innovation in Mexico: From Cross-Border Payments to Crypto Rewards
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

There’s more to fintech innovation in Mexico than remittances. But this week’s fintech headlines from America’s nearest neighbor to the south have reminded of the major role that money transfer services play in the financial services landscape of nations like Mexico.

Late this week, Western Union announced that it was teaming up with Pagaphone SmartPay to offer its customers additional options when it comes to sending and receiving money from the U.S. to Mexico. Courtesy of the new arrangement, U.S. customers will be able to send money via a variety of Western Union channels, from WU.com to the company’s mobile app to any one of Western Union retail locations in Mexico. Recipients receive the funds on their phones by accessing their PagaPhone SmartPay accounts. Funds can then be transferred to bank accounts, withdrawn as cash from an ATM using their PagaPhone debit cards, or used to pay for products and services directly from the app.

“By teaming with Western Union, PagaPhone SmartPay users in Mexico have yet another way to receive money from friends and family cross-border, using a brand known and trusted for decades,” PagaPhone Smart Pay and Cloud Transfer Services CEO and founder Ulises Tellez said.

More than $51 billion was sent to Mexico in remittances last year, Head of Western Union Mexico and Central America Pablo Porro said, underscoring the major role of cross-border payments in the region. “With this surge in remittances, customers demand choice and added convenience for how and when money is sent and received,” Porro added.

Headquartered in Mexico City and founded in 2018, PagaPhone offers an e-Wallet that enables users to cash remittances directly from their smartphone – as well as conduct a number of other transactions ranging from payments to cash withdrawals.

Also this week, we learned that Mexican fintech Broxel has announced the availability of free remittances for Mexicans living in the U.S. As part of its commemoration of Cinco de Mayo on Thursday, Broxel will make it both easier and more affordable for more members of the Mexican-American community to send money to relatives in Mexico for free.

“Millions of families in Mexico depend on the hard work of people trying to achieve their dreams, sending money every week as an act of love, memory, and gratitude,” Brozel Client Services Supervisor Mario Lopez said. “So having a financial product that allows the Mexican community to send money for free, is proof that technology can change people’s lives.”

Available from the company’s website, the Broxell Pay App offers free remittances among a number of other features. These include a Mastercard debit card, the ability to have both a peso-denominated account issued in Mexico and a dollar-denominated account issued in the U.S. on the same app, and a travel discount service.

“Technology is erasing borders,” Broxel founder and President Gustavo Gutiérrez said. “The idea of having free remittances is an economical disruption for the North American region, and a game-changer for millions of potential users.”

What’s going in Mexican fintech other than cross-border payments? Why crypto, of course!

YoCripto, a Mexico-based bitcoin rewards credit card, is gearing up for a launch later this year. As reported in Fintech Futures this week, the company calls itself the first Latin American fintech to offer a credit card with bitcoin rewards. YoCripto plans to offer both a virtual and a physical Visa-powered credit card, with Bitcoin rewards of as much as 3% on all transactions. The card will also feature a low interest rate, no annual fees or commissions, and instant credit approvals.

Designed to serve the young and underbanked Latin Americans, Yo Cripto was founded by Julian Arber and Rafael Maya in January of this year. Both Arber and Maya have significant backgrounds in financial services; Arber at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, Maya at American Express. The company raised $4 million in seed funding in February in a round led by DILA Capital and, after launch, plans to expand to Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Argentina.

“Our main goal is to promote financial inclusion across Latin America,” the founders said in an interview with LABS (Latin American Business Stories), “allowing users to obtain the benefits of the crypto ecosystem without its complexity.”

ICYMI … Check out our coverage of the $15 million in funding raised by Indian fintech Kaleidofin this week.

India-based financial services provider Kaleidofin announced it has raised an additional $5 million in funding, adding to the $10 million investment the company received in January of this year. The $15 million round brings Kaleidofin’s total funding to just shy of $23 million.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Photo by Ricardo Esquivel

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Cryptocurrency Accounting Company Tactic Secures $2.6 Million in Seed Funding

Cryptocurrency Accounting Company Tactic Secures $2.6 Million in Seed Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Cryptocurrency accounting firm Tactic raised $2.6 million in funding.
  • Leading the investment round were Founders Fund and finance automation company Ramp.
  • The new capital will help the company add talent and continue to build out its platform.

With more and more companies seeking to diversify their finances with cryptocurrencies, a new U.S.-based startup has arrived to help these businesses better manage their cryptocurrency holdings.

The company, Tactic, announced today that it has raised $2.3 million in seed funding. The investment was co-led by Founders Fund and Ramp, a finance automation company. Also participating in the funding were individual investors Elad Gil and Dylan Field, co-founder of Figma. Tactic said that, among other needs, the new capital will help the company hire additional talent.

Tactic helps businesses account for their cryptocurrency holdings by aggregating data across disparate sources – often multiple wallets across multiple blockchains – to provide a full treasury view of all balances and account activity. Tactic enables companies to automatically categorize their transactions and apply basic accounting logic and rules to calculate gain/loss and identify taxable events. Accounting teams can also use the platform to reconcile the cryptocurrency subledger to traditional accounting systems such as QuickBooks.

“Tactic solves a real pain point for businesses managing cryptocurrency finances and the product is already saving crypto accounting teams days each month,” Founders Fund Principal Leigh Marie Braswell said. “We believe Tactic has the potential to become a massive player as more companies move into web3.”

Founded by CEO Ann Jaskiw and launched in 2021, Tactic has since reeled in “dozens” of customers, from early stage startup companies to billion-dollar businesses. Jaskiw started Tactic after learning that many companies involved in web3 were using spreadsheets for their accounting because there were no other solutions available for them. By contrast, Tactic has developed its solution in part by teaming up with leading accounting firms to help them apply accounting guidelines to activities common in the DeFi world such as staking, NFT, minting, and airdrops.

Tactic VP of Strategy and Ops John Dempsey put Tactic’s platform in the context of other fintech solutions that leverage automation and other enabling technologies to make operations more efficient. “Businesses have come to expect back-office solutions that help them get started quickly and automate their manual tasks,” Dempsey said. “Tactic makes it easy for businesses to transact in cryptocurrency, knowing they can manage their financial activity in a clean, compliant way.”

Photo by Pixabay

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5 Things to Love About FinovateSpring This Year

5 Things to Love About FinovateSpring This Year
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2022

FinovateSpring is two weeks away! From May 18 through May 20, Finovate will bring its annual spring fintech conference to San Francisco, California for three days of live, IN PERSON, demos, keynotes, fireside chats, panel discussions, and debates.

To whet your appetite for our upcoming event, here are five reasons why we’re convinced that FinovateSpring 2022 is the must-attend fintech conference of the moment.

Live in San Francisco!

First and foremost: FinovateSpring 2022 will be live and in-person! For the first time since 2019, our annual spring fintech conference will feature live, in-person demos, in-person speakers, and – most importantly – live, in-person delegates and attendees. This year, we are expecting more than 1,100 senior attendees, more than 50% of whom are from financial institutions. Plus, representatives from each of the top 10 banks in the U.S. will be at the show.

Demo Newcomers!

Finovate events are a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and favorite companies. They are also an ideal time to meet new friends and new, innovative fintechs. This year, FinovateSpring will feature a number of new speakers, new formats like our Fintech Fight Club, Startup Booster Session, and Finovate Unicorn Power Panel. FinovateSpring 2022 also will host 30 companies making their Finovate debuts. Stay tuned for more on these Finovate newcomers!

Start-Up Booster!

Finovate events have helped shine a light on up-n-coming fintech startups with our Finovate Accelerator Showcases. This spring, we’re taking our commitment to supporting fintech startups to another level with our special Finovate Fintech Startup Booster program. This session will give fintech founders an opportunity to network with early stage fintech investors via pre-booked, one-to-one meetings. Make connections! Gain insights! And watch this space for more information on how to be a part of this unique opportunity for startups and the investors who fund them.

Special Sessions: Fintech Fight Club! Women in Fintech!

In addition to two days of live, in-person fintech demos and three days of insightful keynotes, fireside chats, discussions, and debates, FinovateSpring is hosting a handful of special sessions to help focus on critical topics in fintech. These sessions include our Fintech Fight Club and the return of our Women in Fintech session. Fintech Fight Club will feature a quartet of industry experts tackling some of the most challenging and controversial concepts in fintech. Our Women in Fintech session will focus on how to invest in women to pave the way for the next generation of leaders. Both sessions are 100% “can’t miss.”

Fintech’s Finest!

Saving the best for last, the most important reason to be a part of FinovateSpring is you: the financial services professional, the fintech enthusiast, the people who make our events such a rewarding opportunity for networking, exchanging ideas, and making key contacts. As much as we enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm that attendees expressed with our return to in-person events for FinovateEurope in London in March, we can’t wait to see what FinovateSpring in San Francisco has in store for us in just two weeks time.

Remember! Early bird savings for FinovateSpring ends this week! Visit our FinovateSpring hub by May 6th to pick up your ticket and take advantage of big savings! In-person and digital passes are available for both all-access and demo day only packages.

Photo by Pixabay

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LexisNexus Acquires Behavioral Biometrics Pioneer BehavioSec

LexisNexus Acquires Behavioral Biometrics Pioneer BehavioSec
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, BehavioSec, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • LexisNexis announced its acquisition of behavioral biometrics innovator BehavioSec. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • The acquisition adds to LexisNexis’ fraud and identity risk management capability following its 2018 acquisition of ThreatMetrix.
  • Sweden-based BehavioSec won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2012.

Yesterday we shared the news that Finovate newcomer – and recent Best of Show winner – Long Game had been acquired by Truist. Today, we see that the M&A train continues to chug down the tracks with word that another Finovate alum that also won Best of Show in its Finovate debut – has been acquired.

BehavioSec, which won top honors in its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2012, has agreed to be acquired by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a part of RELX. Among the pioneers in advanced behavioral biometrics, Sweden-based BehavioSec leverages behavioral analysis to provide continuous authentication to establish identity and prevent fraud. The company’s technology gives firms a passive method and frictionless approach to identity management, analyzing the complex mobile signals from touchscreens and sensors to seamlessly prevent fraud before it strikes.

“Behavioral biometrics is a valuable component in fraud prevention strategies that layer defenses to tighten the net that stops fraudsters,” LexisNexis Business Services CEO Rick Trainor explained. Complimenting BehavioSec as a “forerunner” in the behavioral biometrics industry that “continues to evolve and innovate,” Trainor added that “our combined customer base will benefit significantly from a blended behavioral biometrics solution within ThreatMetrix that offers more defense for customers without adding friction across the customer journey.”

Terms of the acquisition have not been made available. BehavioSec CEO Dr. Neil Costigan said that he is looking forward to “discovering the next phase in the evolution for behavioral biometrics alongside a successful, innovative company looking to further evolve our advanced capabilities.”

BehavioSec’s acquisition by LexisNexis Risk Solutions comes after a year of major activity for the company. Last summer, BehavioSec unveiled a new compliant, hosted version and a new cloud-native, SaaS version of its platform. The offering made it easier for more organizations to take advantage of BehavioSec’s anti-fraud technology, satisfying compliance requirements and embracing frictionless, multi-factor authentication. In May, the company launched new authentication and fraud detection capabilities via its BehavioSense platform. The platform features accelerated profile training, doppelgänger detection, enhanced mobile fraud detection, and predictive modeling.

“Our newest features respond to customer feedback and, frankly, market demands,” VP of Products at BehavioSec Jordan Blake said when the solution was introduced. “These features add to our platform’s existing anti-fraud capabilities and are designed to solve the COVID-19 era challenge of accelerated digital transformation, online security, and privacy regulation compliance.”

Photo by Markus Spiske

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