Fintech Fundings: 24 Companies Raise $570 Million Week Ending 8 Jan

HappyNewYear_MoneyThe year is off to a big start with 24 companies raising $569 million in the first week of 2016. However, three-quarters of that ($425 million) was additional debt for three big alt-lenders: Finovate alum LoanNow ($50 million) along with CommonBond ($275 million) and Qredits ($100 million).

The $138 million in new equity last week was 25% more than the $110 million from the same week a year ago. And the number of deals was up 40% (24 compared to 17).

In addition to LoanNow, Finovate alums attracting new capital included:

Here are the deals by size from 1 Jan to 8 Jan 2016:

CommonBond
Person-to-person student loan lender
Latest round: $275 million Debt
Total raised: $319.7 million ($44.7 million Equity, $275 million Debt)
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, P2P, student loans
Source: Crunchbase

Qredits
Dutch person-to-person SMB lender
Latest round: $100 million Debt
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: The Netherlands
Tags: SMB, credit, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, P2P, alt-lender, marketplace lender, European Investment Bank (lender)
Source: Crunchbase

NuBank
Brazilian neo-bank
Latest round: $52 million Series C
Total raised: $98.3 million
HQ: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Tags: Consumer, mobile, debit card, neobank, personal finance, PFM
Source: Crunchbase

LoanNow
Consumer alt-lender
Latest round: $50 million Debt
Total raised: $56 ($6 million Equity, $50 million Debt)
HQ: Santa Ana, California
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, loans, underwriting, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Toast
Person-to-person lender
Latest round: $30 million Series B
Total raised: $30 million
HQ: Boston, Massachusetts
Tags: SMB, point-of-sale, merchants, restaurants, bars, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Lendful Financial
Online alt-lender
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $15 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, loans
Source: Crunchbase

freee
Online accounting
Latest round: $8.3 million Series D
Total raised: $55.5 million
HQ: Tokyo, Japan
Tags: SMB, accounting, billpay, invoicing
Source: Crunchbase

Street Contxt
Financial communications platform
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Advisers, wealth management, investing, enterprise
Source: Crunchbase

Gem
Blockchain technology
Latest round: $7.1 million Series A
Total raised: $7.1 million
HQ: Venice, California
Tags: Enterprise, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, database
Source: Finovate

Direct Match
Trading venue for U.S. Treasuries
Latest round: $6 million Series A
Total raised: $9 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Investing, trading, enterprise, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

StartEngine
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $5.5 million
Total raised: $5.5 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: SMB, equity crowdfunding, capital, investing, P2P
Source: FT Partners

KnCMiner
Bitcoin mining hardware
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $32 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, hardware, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

Xfers
Asian payment gateway
Latest round: $2.5 million Seed
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Consumer, payments, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

Snapcart
Consumer receipt manager
Latest round: $1.68 million
Total raised: $1.68 million
HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia
Tags: Consumer, debit/credit cards, mobile, spending, PFM
Source: Crunchbase

CUneXus Solutions
Consumer lending software for financial institutions
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1.65 million
HQ: Santa Rosa, California
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, loans, underwriting, enterprise, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Deposit Solutions
Deposit software for financial institutions
Latest round: $1.0 million Series A
Total raised: $7.0 million
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Tags: Consumer, Peter Thiel (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

Zebpay
Person-to-person lender
Latest round: $1 million Series A
Total raised: $1.1 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Consumer, payments, P2P, bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Toborrow
SMB P2P lender
Latest round: $350,000
Total raised: $2.74 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: SMB, loans, credit, peer-to-peer, underwriting, crowdfunding, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Cuvva
Short-term automobile insurer
Latest round: $590,000
Total raised: $590,000
HQ: Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, insurance, automobile, mobile
Source: FT Partners

Nestiny
Homebuyer education website
Latest round: $350,000 Angel
Total raised: $350,000
HQ: Manakin Sabot, Virginia
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, real estate, home buying, agents, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Buckit (StashLLC)
Consumer receipt manager
Latest round: $143,000 Seed
Total raised: $143,000
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumer, debit/credit cards, mobile, spending, PFM
Source: Crunchbase

Agent Review
Insurance education and agent referrals
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bellevue, Washington
Tags: Consumer, insurance, agents, lead gen
Source: FT Partners

Patientco
Healthcare payment technology
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $3.75 million prior to latest round
HQ: Atlanta, Georgia
Tags: SMB, healthcare, payments
Source: FT Partners

Tiendo Pago
Short-term working capital provider
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Lima, Peru
Tags: SMB, lending, loans, commercial lending, underwriting, alt-lender, Accion (investor)
Source: FT Partners

BECU Helps Parents Teach Savings Ethic with 6.17% APY

BECU Helps Parents Teach Savings Ethic with 6.17% APY

smartypig_retailgiftcardBack when my kids were able to save—both are in college now, so that’s not happening—ING Direct and others offered interest rates that actually created an incentive to save. My oldest even enjoyed 5% rates for a while, quite helpful in showing how the “free” $5 to $10 per month he earned at the bank grew his total over time.

But today’s middle-schoolers and younger teens have come of age in an absurdly low interest-rate environment (see note 1), with little chance to experience the joy of compound interest. SmartyPig (inset, note 2) and others have created savings bonuses centered around merchant gift cards. That’s a clever way to add value, but it can also send a mixed message, “Hey Junior, save $250 and you’ll get an extra $5 if you spend the whole thing at Best Buy.” For parents who’d like their kids to hold onto that cash (at least until college), few options exist, other than bribing your kids with parent-funded bonuses.

But a few financial institutions have addressed the forlorn kiddos and their disappointed parents by dramatically boosting the rates paid on the first few hundred of a balance. For example, in the greater Seattle area, BECU pays 6.17% on the first $500 deposited in its Early Saver account (see screenshot below). Granted, the rate reverts to pretty much zero (0.1%) after that, but kids at least get enough interest every month ($2.50/mo on $500 balance) to make it feel like it’s worth holding the money at the credit union (note 3).

Bottom line: Your customers’ children are your future. It’s worth investing in services to keep them at your FI for the next decade or six. If the $30 annual subsidy is beyond your budget, enable parents to pay for the rate bonus. Let parents “boost” the interest paid on their child’s account as much as they want. To provide an extra incentive, you could match parental contributions up to a certain point (e.g., $10/year).

———

BECU Youth Savings landing page (link, 11 Jan 2016)
Note: BECU has elevated Youth Banking to one of six choices on its Everyday Banking primary navigation item.

becu_kidssave

 

 

———–

Notes:
1: For example, Bank of America currently offers 1 basis point interest on a child’s account, which means your child’s $1,500 average balance earns 1 cent per month!
2. Social Money, owner of SmartyPig, was acquired by Q2 Holdings last month (Dec 2015).
3. BECU offers a similar boost for the first $500 banked by 18+ year-old members as well, but the rate is only 4%.
4. Off topic: BECU has done a great job optimizing its homepage for responsive design. Open it in your browser and then shrink the window and watch how it resets. Very nice!

Fintech Fundings: 8 Companies Raise $70 Million Week Ending 31 Dec

Fintech Fundings: 8 Companies Raise $70 Million Week Ending 31 Dec

HappyNewYear_MoneyAs expected, the year ended on a relatively quiet note with just eight companies raising $71.5 million. More than half the total ($46 million) went to Chinese P2P lender Weijinsuo.

The year ends with a total of about $19 billion invested into private fintech companies (includes debt and equity). If you add the $6 billion in new capital raised in the IPOs of Worldpay, Square and First Data, the 2015 total is a nicely even $25 billion.

It is unlikely we’ll see that much in 2016, but the fintech sector is vast, and there are fascinating opportunities for newcomers and existing brands alike.

Here are the deals by size from 26 Dec to 31 Dec 2015:

Weijinsuo
Person-to-person lender
Latest round: $46 million Series A
Total raised: $46 million
HQ: Bejing, China
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

Roofstock
Enabling investments in rental real estate
Latest round: $7 million Series
Total raised: $7 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, investing, real estate, rental properties
Source: Crunchbase

MobiKwik
Mobile wallet
Latest round: $6.6 million Series B
Total raised: $36.9 million
HQ: Gurgaon, India
Tags: Consumer, payments, mobile wallet, billpay, P2P payments
Source: Crunchbase

Ayannah
Payments and commerce solutions for unbanked in emerging markets
Latest round: $3 million Series B
Total raised: $7.5 million
HQ: Laguna Hills, California
Tags: Enterprise, payments, underbanked, financial inclusion
Source: Crunchbase

Picwell
Health insurance selection tools
Latest round: $3.03 million
Total raised: $7.05 million
HQ: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tags: Consumer, insurance, healthcare, benefits, HR
Source: Crunchbase

DipJar
Tipping system for retail point of sale
Latest round: $2.4 million Seed
Total raised: $2.82 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, payments, POS, merchants, acquiring, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Nxt-ID
Mobile wallet and biometric solutions
Latest round: $2.1 million (at least $1.5 million debt)
Total raised: $2.9 million (includes at least $1.5 million debt)
HQ: Shelton, Connecticut
Tags: Enterprise, payments, mobile, security, Wocket Wallet (product name), hardware, credit/debit cards
Source: WhoGotFunded

ModeFinance
Credit risk management
Latest round: $1.4 million Seed
Total raised: $1.4 million
HQ: Trieste, Italy
Tags: SMB, credit, lending, trade financing, underwriting, commerce
Source: Crunchbase

—–
Image licensed from 123rf.com

Happy New Year! Webster Bank Jumpstarts Financial Resolutions

Happy New Year! Webster Bank Jumpstarts Financial Resolutions

newyearbanner_SFFCUWhile I have taken banks and credit unions to task for basically ignoring the December holiday period, the real missed opportunity is not Christmas, but New Years. The annual calendar reboot is the time when people are most likely to be thinking about their long-term finances.

Three years ago, I found only one example of a new year’s message among the largest 80 banks and credit unions. This year I looked at a few dozen websites more or less at random and again found just a single “look at your finances” message. Webster Bank not only showcased a page-dominating “financial checkup” spot, but also incorporated the message into their main pull-down (mouseover) “Bank” navigation (see first screenshot below).

The promotion is designed to get Webster customers into the branch, or on the phone, for a financial checkup. The service appears to be free of charge, although the bank doesn’t reveal specifics. Customers are asked to complete a contact-me form (see second screenshot below) with just a single qualifying question, whether the appointment is to discuss business or personal finances.

While Webster was the only FI playing the “new year resolution” card, South Florida Federal Credit Union gets an honorable mention for its timely Happy New Year graphic, one of four rotating promotions running at year-end (see last screenshot below and inset above).

——–

Webster Bank homepage (31 Dec 2015)
Note: The pull-down menus shown here also carries a similar message

websterbank_newyear_2016

 

Webster “Fresh Look” landing page (link)

webster_newyear_2


South Florida FCU homepage
(31 Dec 2015)

southfloridaCU_newyears

Fintech Fundings: 15 Companies Raise $51 Million Week Ending 25 Dec 2015

Fintech Fundings: 15 Companies Raise $51 Million Week Ending 25 Dec 2015

Holiday_money_pigFor just the fourth time this year, weekly fintech fundings fell below the $100-million mark with 15 companies raising a total of $51 million.

The second-largest round of the week ($4 million), went to Finovate veteran Dana Bowers’ latest startup, Venminder. The Kentucky-based company has developed a vendor-management platform for banks and credit unions. Bowers is the founder of iPay Technologies, which demoed at the first Finovate in 2007, and was acquired by Jack Henry in 2010.

With just one holiday-shortened week remaining in the year, the total invested in private fintech companies YTD now stands at $18.8 billion.

Here are the deals by size from 19 Dec to 25 Dec 2015:

PokitDok
Person-to-person lender
Latest round: $35.1 million Series B
Total raised: $40.7 million
HQ: San Mateo, California
Tags: Enterprise, healthcare, payments, insurance, billing, API, developers
Source: Crunchbase

Venminder
Vendor management for financial services companies
Latest round: $4 million
Total raised: $6.3 million
HQ: Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Tags: Enterprise, risk management, compliance, operations
Source: Crunchbase

Prestiamoci
Person-to-person consumer lender
Latest round: $2.2 million Series
Total raised: $3.5 million
HQ: Milan, Italy
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, sub-prime, loans, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Streami
Blockchain-based remittances
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Tags: Blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, payments, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

Snapcard
Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $4.45 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, consumer, blockchain, cryptocurrency, payments, wallet, bitcoin
Source: Crunchbase

BTCS (aka Bitcoin Shop)
Blockchain technology
Latest round: $1.4 million Post-IPO equity
Total raised: $4.2 million
HQ: Troy, Michigan
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, payments, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

Sharesight
Investment portfolio management
Latest round: $1.35 million Seed
Total raised: $1.35 million
HQ: Wellington, Australia
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, aggregation, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

BorsadelCredito.it
Person-to-person small business lender
Latest round: $1.1 million
Total raised: $1.1 million
HQ: Milan, Italy
Tags: SME, lending, alt-credit, underwriting, sub-prime, loans, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Chronos Technologies
F0rex trading technology
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
HQ: Scottsdale, Arizona
Tags: Forex trading, investing, fx
Source: Crunchbase

Minkasu
Mobile and online payments
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $1.75 million
HQ: Milpitas, California
Tags: Consumer, mobile wallet, security, payments
Source: Crunchbase

The PayPro
International payments
Latest round: $450,000 Seed
Total raised: $450,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, payments, billpay, fx, international payments, billpay, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

Bee
Mobile bank/card
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: $4.6 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, prepaid debit card, neo-bank, challenger bank, mobile, AXA (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

 

Depo
Escrow and renter-deposit management
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Sweden
Tags: Payments, renting, escrow, deposits, homes
Source: Crunchbase

GoldBean
Helping consumers get started in investing
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, investing, personal finance, spending, PFM, AXA (investor)
Source: FT Partners

Payable
Contractor payables solution
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: $2.1 million
HQ: Sunnyvale, California
Tags: SMB, payments, invoicing, billing, billpay, accounts payable, payroll
Source: FT Partners

——–
Image licensed from 123rf.com

 

2015 Holiday Marketing Efforts from the Top-20 U.S. Banks

2015 Holiday Marketing Efforts from the Top-20 U.S. Banks

The end of the year provides a unique challenge to banks. Customers are busy buying gifts, finishing year-end projects at work, and preparing for holiday travel, meal prep and/or extended family time. There isn’t an abundance of deep thought about long-term financial plans, other than how to pay down inflated December credit card bills.

For banks, it’s a good time to run a few simple messages:

  1. Thank customers for a great year
  2. Wish them happy holidays and/or a wonderful new year
  3. Help customers deal with holiday overspending and planning for the new year
  4. Provide last-minute gift assistance via prepaid MasterCard/Visa cards
  5. Detail holiday branch hours and service options (extra credit for an online/mobile banking plug)

This is not a tall order, yet only 9 of the 20 largest banks managed to do even 1 of the above 5 during the week leading up to Christmas. While that may not seem like a great performance, it was more than double the measly four last year. And it’s back in line with historical norms of 9 banks 2013; 8 in 2012; and 10 in 2011. It looks like 2014 was an anomaly.

Congrats to PNC Bank, which once again, proved it was the holiday champ thanks to its long-running 12 Days of Christmas Index, earning a full 5 bulbs on our 1-to-5 light bulb scale. Runner-up Key Bank moved up to an impressive 4-bulb performance with four holiday promos. And we had three 3-bulbers (Fifth Third, BMO Harris, Union Bank) who posted impressive holiday graphics.

The scrooge list: Top-20 banks with no holiday promotions or graphics on 23 Dec 2015:
Bank of America; Bank of the West (BNP Paribas); BB&T; Capital One & Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct); Chase (note 2); Citizens (RBS); HSBC; SunTrust; US Bank; Wells Fargo; Zions Bank.

Following is a quick overview of the promotions, including a 1- to 5-bulb rating.

Previous year-end holiday posts: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 (big banks), 2011(CUs/community banks), 2009 part 1, 2009 part 2, 2007, 2006, 2006, 2004.

_____________________________________________________________________

Large U.S. banks show holiday spirit

PNC Bank

Score: imageimageimageimageimage

Homepage (23 Dec 2015):

pnc_holiday2015
PNC Christmas Price Index page:

pnc_holiday_2015_2

———–

Key Bank

  • Checking account promo with holiday imagery (1 of 3 rotating promos)
  • Security tips related to holiday spending (2 of 3 rotating promos)
  • Rewards promo with holiday image (lower left on homepage)
  • Credit card promo with holiday copy (lower right on homepage)

Score: imageimageimageimage

Homepage promo #1 (23 Dec 2015):

key_holiday2015
Homepage promo #2:

key_holiday2015_2

———-

Fifth Third Bank

  • Page-dominating “wishes”

Score: imageimageimage

Homepage (23 Dec 2015):

53_holiday2015

———-

BMO Harris

  • Community service announcing a Milwaukee holiday display (#2 of 3 rotating promos)
  • Security message related to holidays and its new chip card (#3 of 3 rotating promos)

Score: imageimageimage

Homepage promo #1 (23 Dec 2015):

bmoharris_holiday2015

Homepage promo #2:

bmoharris_holdiday2015_2

———

Union Bank

  • Rose Bowl parade float (#1 of 4 promos)
  • Billpay offer with charity tie-in (#2 of 4 promos)

Score: imageimageimage

Homepage promo #1 (23 Dec 2015):unionbank_holiday2015
Homepage promo #2:unionbank_holiday2015_2

———–

Comerica

  • Gift card promo integrated into main image (promo 2 of 3 rotating)

Score: imageimageimage (2.5)

Homepage (23 Dec 2015):

comerica_holiday2015

———-

Regions Bank

  • Loan discount with holiday copy (well below the fold)

Score: imageimage

Homepage with loan offer (23 Dec 2015):

regions_holiday_2015
Landing page for loan offer:

regions_holiday2015_2

——–

TD Bank

  • Checking account promo with holiday imagery and Samsung giveaway (main promo)

Score: imageimage

Homepage with checking promo (23 Dec 2015):

tdbank_holiday2015

———-

Citibank

  • Year-end home-equity promo with winter imagery

Score: image

citi_holiday_2015

 

————————-

Notes:
1. Observations taken between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wed, 23 Dec 2015, from a Florida IP address, running Mac Chrome browser with cookies cleared.
2. Chase is running a series of newish articles/posts below the fold, one of which covered holiday budgeting. But it wasn’t prominent enough to move them off the scrooge list.
3. Animation from
http://www.millan.net/anims/christmas.html#

Fintech Fundings: 23 Companies Raise $685 Million Week Ending 18 Dec 2015

Fintech Fundings: 23 Companies Raise $685 Million Week Ending 18 Dec 2015

holidaymoneyThere may be a bubble in tech investing. But if there’s one in the fintech sector, the dozens of investors in these 23 companies didn’t get the memo.

In the last full non-holiday week of the year, $685 million poured into fintech companies worldwide. The vast majority went into alt-lending, including NYC-based Pave, $300 million; Australian P2P platform MoneyPlace, $60 million from Auswide Bank; and Chinese lenders Fengjr.com, $80 million, and Dashu Finance, $77 million.

Three Finovate alums banked a total of $65 million:

With just two holiday-shortened weeks remaining in the year, the total invested in private fintech companies YTD now stands at $18.8 billion.

Here are the deals by size from 12 Dec to 18 Dec 2015:

Pave
Person-to-person lender
Latest round: $300 million Private Equity
Total raised: $300 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, lending, youth market, alt-credit, underwriting, sub-prime, loans, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase, WSJ

Fengjr.com (aka Phoenix Finance)
Alt-lender to consumers
Latest round: $80 million
Total raised: $80 million
HQ: Beijing, China
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, loans, credit
Source: FT Partners

Dashu Finance
Consumer alt-lender
Latest round: $77 million Series B
Total raised: $93 million
HQ: Shenzen, China
Tags: Consumer, lending, P2P, underwriting, loans
Source: Crunchbase

MoneyPlace
P2P lender
Latest round: $60 million; $300 million valuation
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Australia
Tags: Consumer, lending, credit, loans, person-to-person, peer-to-peer, Auswide Bank (investor)
Source: Lets Talk Payments

Gusto (fka ZenPayroll)
Payroll services
Latest round: $50 million Series C
Total raised: $136.1 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, payroll, payments, HR, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

CloverHealth
Health insurance
Latest round: $35 million Series B
Total raised: $135 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, insurance, healthcare, payments
Source: Crunchbase

NextCapital
Investing and portfolio management
Latest round: $16 million Series B
Total raised: $22.3 million
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Consumer, investing, wealth management, 401(k), aggregation, portfolio management
Source: Crunchbase

Trulioo
Online identify verification
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $23.3 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Enterprise, security, authentication, security, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Oration
Tools for self-insured businesses
Latest round: $11.2 million Series A
Total raised: $12.2 million
HQ: Foster City, California
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, insurance, healthcare, payments
Source: Crunchbase

FinTech Group
Diversified financial technology provider
Latest round: $11 million Post-IPO equity
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Frankfurt, Germany
Tags: Enterprise, payments, IT solutions, trading, investing management
Source: FT Partners

Bench
High-tech and high-touch bookkeeping services
Latest round: $6.1 million
Total raised: $16.1 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: Accounting, SMB, bookkeeping, Techstars, Vancouver, Canada
Source: Crunchbase

CardLab
Residential and commercial property search
Latest round: $6.0 million Series A
Total raised: $6.0 million
HQ: Herlev, Denmark
Tags: Enterprise, credit/debit cards, hardware, card manufacturing
Source: Crunchbase

DealCloud
Workflow tool for investment bankers
Latest round: $5.3 million Series A
Total raised: $5.57 million
HQ: Charlotte, North Carolina
Tags: Enterprise, investing, trading, deals, investment banking
Source: Crunchbase

Gastrofix
Point-of-sale system for restaurants and hotels
Latest round: $4 million Series A
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: SMB, payments, POS, ePOS, mPOS, credit/debit card acquiring, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

TransferGo
Remittance service
Latest round: $2.5 million Seed
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, payments, remittances, fx, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Factom
Blockchain technology for businesses
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $3.04 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: B2B, SMB, blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency
Source: Crunchbase

Indexa Capital
Low-cost investment portfolio management
Latest round: $1.2 million
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Madrid, Spain
Tags: Consumer, investing, mutual funds, wealth management
Source: FT Partners

Bewa7er
Secondary market for private company shares
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $1.24 million
HQ: Bilbao, Spain
Tags: SMB, consumer, trading, equity, investing
Source: Crunchbase

PayJoy
Consumer point-of-sale financing
Latest round: $1 million Debt
Total raised: $2.3 million
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, point-of-sale financing, payments, loans, lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Capcito
Receivables financing
Latest round: $600,000
Total raised: $600,000
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: SMB, factoring, financing, commercial lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Nous Global Markets
Crowdsourcing financial market predictions
Latest round: $290,000
Total raised: $1.9 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, trading, investing, gamification Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

DotDashPay
Payments for the internet of things
Latest round: $250,000 Award
Total raised: $250,000
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: B2B, SMB, IoT, payments, API, developers
Source: Crunchbase

VentureCrowd
Platform for investing in startups
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: SMB, investing, crowdfunding, equity, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

 

 

 

Fintech Fundings: 30 Companies Raise $100 Million Week Ending 11 Dec 2015

Money_clickBuoyed by 7 Startupbootcamp Insurance entrants—each grabbing $17,000—a record 30 fintech companies raised money this week for a total of just under $100 million ($95.8 million). Only two companies topped 7 figures: real estate specialist EasyProperty ($37.6 million) and Lemonade, a P2P insurance play ($13 million).

Four Finovate alums were among the bunch:

With just two weeks remaining in the year, the total invested in private fintech companies YTD is $18.1 billion.

Here are the deals by size from 5 Dec to 11 Dec 2015:

EasyProperty
Residential and commercial property search
Latest round: $37.6 million Series C
Total raised: $47.9 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, home buying, rental, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Lemonade
Peer to peer insurance
Latest round: $13 million Seed
Total raised: $13 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, P2P, insurance
Source: Crunchbase

Clip (PayClip)
Mobile payments and point-of-sale platform
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $16.4 million
HQ: Mexico City, Mexico
Tags: Consumer, SMB, merchants, mPOS, credit/debit card acquiring, payments
Source: Crunchbase

GroundFloor
Real estate lending marketplace
Latest round: $5 million Series A
Total raised: $6 million
HQ: Atlanta, Georgia
Tags: Consumer, P2P lending, credit, underwriting, mortgage, investing, commercial real estate
Source: Crunchbase

KeyPair Inc
NFC hardware for mobile payments
Latest round: $5 million Series B
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Seongnam, Korea
Tags: Consumer, mobile, security, authentication, identification
Source: Crunchbase

CBANC Network
Community financial institution research network
Latest round: $4 million Series B
Total raised: $5.7 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: Enterprise, B2B, networking, compliance, policies, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Aye Finance
Alt-lender to micro and small businesses
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: New Delhi, India
Tags: SMB, loans, commercial lending, credit, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Income&
Mortgage-based investment vehicle
Latest round: $2.9 million Seed
Total raised: $2.9 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, investing, mortgage, REIT
Source: Crunchbase

Paynear
Mobile point-of-sale solution
Latest round: $2.5 million Seed
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: Hyperabad, India
Tags: SMB, merchants, acquiring, payments, mPOS, point of sale, hardware
Source: Crunchbase

Curve
Stealth mobile payments company
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, mobile, payments, debit/credit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Melody Health Insurance
Health insurance startup
Latest round: $2.0 million ($2 million + $1.8 million option)
Total raised: $2.0 million
HQ: Denver, Colorado
Tags: Consumer, SMB, insurance, health care
Source: Crunchbase

TabbedOut
Mobile POS system for restaurants and bars
Latest round: $2 million Series C add-on
Total raised: $41 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: SMB, merchants, acquiring, payments, mPOS, point of sale
Source: Crunchbase

Trizic
Wealth-management platform for financial advisers
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Advisers, investing, wealth management, Finovate Alum
Source: Finovate

Cookies Labs
P2P payments
Latest round: $1.6 million
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: Consumer, person to person, payments, transfers
Source: FT Partners

Backed
Alt-lender specializing in credit with co-borrowers
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, lending, personal loans, co-borrower, joint application, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

TRData
Market data communications platform
Latest round: $1.3 million
Total raised: $1.3 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Investing, advisers, enterprise, trading, information
Source: FT Partners

Rippleshot
Credit and debit card security
Latest round: $1.2 million Seed
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: California
Tags: Consumer, security, big data, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Purse.io
Bitcoin payments
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $1.3 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, cryptocurrency, payments, remittances, P2P payments
Source: FT Partners

MoneyRemaid
Financial platform for underbanked
Latest round: $100,000 Prize
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Malaysia
Tags: Remittances, PFM, financial literacy, MasterCard (sponsor)
Source: MasterCard

Rightindem
Insurance claim processing technology
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Insurance, enterprise, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

BimAfya
Mobile micro-insurance platform
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tags: Insurance, underbanked, mobile, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

Covi Analytics
Analytics tool for insurance companies
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: California
Tags: Insurance, analytics, big data, underwriting, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

FitSense
Wearables analytics platform for insurance companies
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Insurance, enterprise, mobile, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

massUp
White-label platform for niche insurance sales
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Germany
Tags: Insurance, mobile, underwriting, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

Quantifyle
Personal health monitoring for insurance rebates
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Insurance, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

Safer
Personal risk analyzer for insurance selection
Latest round: $17,000 Accelerator
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, insurance, lead gen, Startupbootcamp (accelerator)
Source: FT Partners

BankersLab
Lending training and compliance platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Enterprise, training, commercial lending, benchmarking, gamification, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Bitx
Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: Unknown
Total raised: $8.8 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Consumer, payments, cryptocurrency, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

eCurrency Mint (eCM)
Digital currency platform for central banks
Latest round: Undisclosed Series C
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Tags: Central bank, cryptocurrency, bitcoin
Source: Crunchbase

Lenny
Credit-building microloans for college students
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Consumer, lending, student loan, youth market, credit, Dwolla (partner)
Source: Crunchbase, Finovate

Bank VC Files: Building the “Credit Karma for Small Biz”

Bank VC Files: Building the “Credit Karma for Small Biz”
nav_dashboard
Nav dashboard monitors both personal and business credit

We are huge fans of strategic investing by financial institutions, especially in lower dollar amounts, what we call strategic seed investing. It’s the ultimate win-win in business. NewCo gets capital, credibility and adult supervision on the board. OldCo gets inside access to experiment after experiment in its core market without risk of sullying its billion-dollar brand. That’s why we’ve seen a dramatic rise in venture investing by large financial institutions in the past 18 to 24 months.

The best place to find new strategic investments? Our quarterly Finovate events around the globe (of course). But to help you narrow down the possibilities from our 857 alums, we try to highlight promising areas here from time to time.

Today, we look at risk-evaluation services targeted to small- and mid-sized businesses (SMB), also known as business credit scores.

Given the massive businesses built on the back of consumer credit scoring—Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, Credit Karma, Intersections, and all the mid-size credit score retailers—it comes as no surprise that these same players, along with a few startups, are targeting SMBs.

We’ve seen a number of alt-credit-score plays at Finovate (Aire, EFL, xxxxx) but only one was focused exclusively on small-business credit scoring:

  • cortera_logoCortera: The company appeared at Finovate in May 2010 (FS10 video). Ten months later, it landed $50 million in private equity funding for a total of $60.7 million raised. Earlier this year, the company picked up an additional round of growth debt, but the amount was not disclosed. Two strategic FI investors were involved in its 2008 $8 million Series A: CIBC and Fidelity.

The big three

  • Dun & Bradstreet: The company that created the industry sells reports from $60 to $150 each or $188 annually per company tracked.
  • Experian provides a number of business credit evaluation reports in the $40 to $50 price range each or on subscription basis for $150 annually (per company followed).
  • Equifax provides similar information for $100+ per report, or $20 per month per company tracked.

The new startup: Nav
nav_logo
Since Cortera does not appear to be in fundraising mode, and the big three are all major companies, banks should look at newer players. One that seems promising, and is currently raising $12 million (at a $65 million valuation), is Nav (formerly Creditera).

Nav is geared to SMB owners for monitoring their own company. It is not currently offering services for evaluation of other companies, the bread-and-butter of D&B and others. Nav’s service combines personal and business credit scores, essential for small-to-medium businesses, for $30 to $50/mo. It’s a single source to get reports across five sources—D&B, Experian, Equifax, Transunion, and FICO. The company also offers a freemium option, with free access to summary data from two sources free of charge and obligation (with no credit card required).

Nav also runs a commercial lending marketplace where owners can look for business credit cards, loans and other financing from Nav-affiliated lenders.

San Mateo, California-based Nav was founded in 2012 and raised a $6.5-million Series A led by Kleiner Perkins in Nov 2014. The company was founded by Levi King, who previously co-founded alt-lender and 2011 Finovate alum Lendio.

Investing in the business risk-evaluation space

Why banks should be interested in the space:

  • Business owners seeking their company’s credit report may be in the market for financing
  • Business (and personal) credit reports is a potentially lucrative, fee-based business
  • Business credit score monitoring is a valuable entry-level service to begin a banking/credit relationship, especially if owners are drawn to the site multiple times each year
  • Understanding of the needs of small businesses will help any FI looking to grow its small-biz services
  • The freemium model could be a great value-add for business checking accounts
  • The free service could be a good draw to the bank’s website

 

Fintech Fundings: $110 Million Raised by 13 Companies Week Ending 4 Dec 2015

Fintech Fundings: $110 Million Raised by 13 Companies Week Ending 4 Dec 2015

dollar_money_signAs we head into the final four weeks of 2015, private investment into the fintech sector is just under $18 billion for the year—or $24 billion including the First Data, Worldpay and Square IPOs.

Two Finovate alums were among the 13 companies raising money this week:

In total, the 13 companies pulled in $112.7 million, all equity.

Here are the deals by size from 28 Nov through 4 Dec 2015:

Tyro Payments
Point-of-sale payment processor
Latest round: $72 million
Total raised: $104 million
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: Merchants, SMB, acquiring, mobile, POS, mPOS, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Progressa
Short-term online consumer loans
Latest round: $11.4 million Series A
Total raised: $11.4 million
HQ: Vancouver, Canada
Tags: Consumer, lending, payday, underwriting, loans
Source: Crunchbase

Clearpool Group
Electronic trading software
Latest round: $8 million
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Enterprise, investing, trading
Source: FT Partners

Mirador Financial
Small business lending technology
Latest round: $7 million Series A
Total raised: $9.7 million
HQ: Portland, Oregon
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, lending, underwriting, loans
Source: Crunchbase

ThetaRay
Threat detection solutions for financial institutions
Latest round: $5 million Series C
Total raised: $15 million
HQ: Jerusalem, Israel
Tags: Enterprise, big data, security, Alibaba (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Bee
Mobile bank/card
Latest round: $4.6 million
Total raised: $4.6 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, prepaid debit card, neo-bank, challenger bank, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Social Change Rewards
Rewards platform emphasizing personal wellness
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Toronto, Canada
Tags: Consumer, rewards, gamification, cards, health care
Source: Crunchbase

Onovative
Marketing automation and analytics for financial institutions
Latest round: $1.0 million Series A ($3 million valuation)
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: Louisville, Kentucky
Tags: Consumer, marketing, analytics, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

ETNetwork
Digital receipts platform
Latest round: $1.2 million
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Enterprise, merchants, SMB, PFM, transactions, debit/credit cards
Source: Crunchbase

ExpenseBot
Platform
Latest round: $150,000
Total raised: $325,000
HQ: North Ridgeville, Ohio
Tags: Consumer
Source: WhoGotFunded

Zize (formerly Tete)
Blockchain-based bitcoin analytics
Latest round: $100,000 Angel
Total raised: $100,000
HQ: Genova, Italy
Tags: Enterprise, cryptocurrency, big data, analytics, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

iQapla
Automated trading tools
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Madrid, Spain
Tags: Consumer, trading, investing, stock market
Source: Crunchbase

OmegaFI
College fraternity and sorority financial management platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Columbus, Georgia
Tags: Nonprofit, accounting, bookkeeping, billpay, invoicing
Source: FT Partners

 

Fintech Fundings: 12 Companies Raised $150 Million Week Ending 29 Nov 2015

money_tree_newIt was a quiet week over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, but it still surpassed the $100-million mark, thanks entirely to U.K.-based Atom Bank’s $128 million raise. BBVA was lead investor, contributing $68 million for a 30% stake in the not-yet-launched mobile bank.

In total, 12 fintech companies raised $152 million, although 5 of the 12 did not release the amount raised. Finovate alum Lighter Capital had the second-biggest round this week, raising $9 million in equity and announcing a loan-funding commitment of $100 million, a sum not included in fundraising totals.

So far this year, venture funding in the fintech sector has totaled $17.8 billion, or about $24 billion including WorldPay, First Data and Square IPOs.

Here are the deals by size from 21 Nov through 27 Nov 2015:

Atom Bank
Digital bank
Latest round: $128 million; $230 million valuation
Total raised: $128 million
HQ: Durham, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, bank, BBVA (lead investor), mobile, challenger
Source: Crunchbase

Lighter Capital
Alt-lender focused on startups
Latest round: $9 million
Total raised: $15 million
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Tags: SMB, underwriting, revenue-based financing, commercial lending, loans, credit
Source: Finovate

Growth Street
Alt-lender for small businesses
Latest round: $7.6 million
Total raised: $7.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, lending, short-term financing, commercial lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Anywhere to Go Co
Insurance claims platform (Claim Di)
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Bangkok, Thailand
Tags: Enterprise, B2B2C, insurance, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Lenda (formerly GoRefi)
Mortgage lending platform
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, home buying, refinance, lead gen, price discovery
Source: Crunchbase

Early Salary
Alt-lending platform
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: Pune, India
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, young adults, credit scoring
Source: Crunchbase

NextBank Project
Bitcoin-based bank
Latest round: $1.4 million; $35 million valuation
Total raised: $2.1 million
HQ: Port-valais, Vanuatu
Tags: Bitcoin, banking, payments, consumer, SMB, cryptocurrency
Source: Crunchbase

Akredo
Lending portal
Latest round: $635,000
Total raised: $820,000
HQ: Warsaw, Poland
Tags: Consumer, lending, lead gen, price comparison
Source: Crunchbase

DealMarket
Deal management platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Zurich, Switzerland
Tags: SMB, equity, investing
Source: FT Partners

Homie
Peer-to-peer real estate platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
Tags: Consumer, home buying, discovery, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Kount Money
Marketplace lender
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bengaluru, India
Tags: Consumer, credit, person-to-person, lending, P2P, peer-to-peer, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Point
Home-equity exchange
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Consumer, home equity, mortgage, lending, credit, investing
Source: Techcrunch

Savedo
Savings and timed-deposit portal
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: Consumer, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, banking
Source: Crunchbase

Fintech Fundings: 26 Companies Raise $1 Billion Week Ending 20 Nov 2015

Fintech Fundings: 26 Companies Raise $1 Billion Week Ending 20 Nov 2015

money_tree_newLarge swaths of cash flowed into the global fintech sector last week. All told, 26 companies brought in $1.06 billion. A quarter of the total was Square’s IPO ($243 million), another $330 million was debt, with the remaining $479 million being VC/angel funding.

In addition to Square, two companies topped $100 million: student and personal loan startup Earnest ($75 million equity; $200 million debt) and Australia’s ZipMoney ($1 million equity; $100 million debt).

Two Finovate alums landed new rounds: $5 million to Tuition.io which enables employers to help pay down employee student loan debt and Nous, a crowdsourced investment-information platform, which raised $290,000.

Year-to-date, the total raised is $17.7 billion, or about $24 billion counting the payments-company IPOs (Worldpay, First Data, Square).

Here are the fundings by size from 14 Nov to 20 Nov 2015:

Earnest
Alt-personal and student lender
Latest round: $275 million ($75 million equity; $200 million debt)
Total raised: $299.1 million ($99.1 million equity; $200 million debt)
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, credit, lending, underwriting, loans, student loan refinancing
Source: Crunchbase

Square
Payment processor and small-business lender
Latest round: $243 million (IPO)
Total raised: $833 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, point-of-sale, mPOS, acquiring, merchant, credit/debit cards
Source: LA Times, Crunchbase

ZipMoney
Financing online consumer purchases
Latest round: $101 million ($1 million equity; $100 million debt)
Total raised: $101 million (includes $100 million debt)
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: Consumer, SMB, B2B2C, financing, lending, underwriting, ecommerce, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Ebury
Global funds-transfer service for businesses
Latest round: $83 million
Total raised: $119 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, accounts payables, payments, FX, trade finance
Source: Crunchbase

LQD Business Finance
Online small-business financing
Latest round: $30 million Debt
Total raised: $30 million Debt
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: SMB, commercial lending, credit, loans
Source: Crunchbase

Openhouse
Real estate discovery app
Latest round: $13.5 million
Total raised: $19.5 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Consumer, real estate, home buying, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Align Commerce
Payment service provider for global commerce
Latest round: $12.5 million
Total raised: $12.5 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, payments, bitcoin, FX, trade finance
Source: Crunchbase

Sensible Lender
P2P property lender
Latest round: $10.6 million
Total raised: $10.6 million
HQ: Kent, England, United Kingdom
Tags: P2P lending, investing, mortgage, underwriting, crowdfunding
Source: FT Partners

Hanweck Associates
Real-time risk analytics for financial institutions
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $10 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Security, risk management
Source: FT Partners

Card.com
Prepaid card platform
Latest round: $9 million
Total raised: $12 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Consumer, debit card, gift card, payments, card management
Source: Crunchbase

Intersections
Identity-protection services
Latest round: $7.5 million Post-IPO equity*
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Chantilly, Virginia
Tags: Consumers, enterprise, security, credit report monitoring
Source: Crunchbase, BusinessWire

SalaryFinance
Payroll-based lender
Latest round: $6.1 million
Total raised: $6.1 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, B2B2C, consumer credit, lending, underwriting, employee benefits
Source: Crunchbase

Tution.io
Student loan repayment service for employers
Latest round: $5 million
Total raised: $8.15 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Student lending, employee benefit, SMB, enterprise, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Prepaid Financial Services
Prepaid card services
Latest round: $3.8 million (at $75 million valuation)
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, prepaid cards, debit cards
Source: FT Partners

Vanare
Wealth management system for advisors
Latest round: $3.35 million
Total raised: $3.35 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Advisers, investing, asset management, robo-adviser
Source: Crunchbase

Peppermint Innovation
Mobile banking and payments platform
Latest round: $2.7 million
Total raised: $2.7 million
HQ: Australia
Tags: Payments, mobile, remittances, banking, Indonesia (market)
Source: FT Partners

GoodBox
Mobile ecommerce and payments platform
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $2.7 million
HQ: Bangalaru, India
Tags: SMB, payments
Source: FT Partners

ietty
Home discovery platform
Latest round: $1.6 million
Total raised: $4.0 million
HQ: Tokyo, Japan
Tags: Consumer, real estate, home buying, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

iBox
Mobile point-of-sale solution
Latest round: $1.3 million Seed
Total raised: $4.8 million
HQ: Hong Kong, China
Tags: SMB, payments, mPOS, merchants, acquiring, hardware, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Health Solutions One
Online health insurance broker
Latest round: $1 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Roswell, Georgia
Tags: Consumer, insurance, price comparison, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Bitwage
Bitcoin-based international payroll
Latest round: $750,000
Total raised: $750,000
HQ: Sunnyvale, California
Tags: SMB, enterprise, payments, human resources, cryptocurrency, payroll
Source: Crunchbase

Stampery
Proof of ownership via the blockchain
Latest round: $600,000
Total raised: $600,000
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, consumer, blockchain, security, contracts, security
Source: Crunchbase

Fintec Labs
Banking and insurance incubator
Latest round: $350,000 ($2.3 million valuation)
Total raised: $745,000
HQ: South Africa
Tags: Insurance, SMB, startups
Source: Crunchbase

Nous Global Markets
Crowdsourcing financial market predictions
Latest round: $460,000
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, trading, investing, gamification Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

POM
Secure invoice payment
Latest round: $200,000
Total raised: $200,000
HQ: Viaams-Brabant, Belgium
Tags: SMB, payments, accounting, accounts receivables
Source: FT Partners

ScramCard
Ultra-secure consumer payments device
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Hong Kong, China
Tags: Consumer, B2B2C, credit/debit card, payments, security, token, hardware
Source: Crunchbase