BioCatch Brings on New Chief Revenue Officer

BioCatch Brings on New Chief Revenue Officer

Behavioral biometrics expert BioCatch brought on a new team member today. The company appointed Bill Sytsma as Chief Revenue Officer.

Bill Sytsma

Sytsma is a 20-year veteran of the software and security industry. Most recently, he served as a vice president of sales at ThreatMetrix. In addition to that role, Sytsma has worked at Emulex, iPass, Aveksa, Lumigent Technologies, and EMC.

“As we accelerate our plans for growth, Bill is the ideal person to lead the effort,” said BioCatch CEO Howard Edelstein. “He has vast experience as well as a proven ability to scale global sales efforts, secure new client relationships and drive revenue, exactly what is needed to enhance the results generated by our seasoned and talented team to date.”

The appointment of Sytsma is the latest in a recent string of C-level appointments for Israel-based BioCatch. Last year, the company named Gadi Mazor COO and Paul Mattison CFO.

BioCatch’s technology works by embedding what the company calls Invisible Challenges into online and mobile user experiences. The challenges are a set of subtle tests that the user subconsciously responds to. The user’s responses help to distinguish themselves over a fraudulent person or bot without interrupting the user experience.

BioCatch has raised $41.6 million since it was founded in 2011. At FinovateFall 2014, the company’s cofounder Uri Rivner demoed how some of the Invisible Challenges work.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate

  • Holvi Expands to Five New European Markets.
  • Artivest Inks Deal with Institutional Investment Manager LaSalle.
  • BioCatch Brings on New Chief Revenue Officer.
  • Yseop Pairs Up with Larsen & Toubro Infotech.

Around the web

  • Inc. names Blend, Kabbage, Lendio, Plaid, Pendo, Signifyd, and Ripple among the best places to work.
  • Alt Coin Magazine interviews Steven Parker, Crypterium CEO.
  • Interactions‘ IVA was named the top virtual assistant in Speech Technology Magazine’s 2019 People’s Choice Awards.
  • Salt Edge Open Banking API now supports eIDAS PSD2 certificates.
  • NIIT Technologies launches Cognitive Service Desk Audit, a tool to help applications understand and interpret user needs through natural communication.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Fintech OS Raises $1.2 Million

Fintech OS Raises $1.2 Million

Digital transformation expert Fintech OS landed $1.2 million (€1.1 million) in a post-seed investment round this week. The round, which brings the company’s total funding to $3 million (€2.7 million), was led by GapMinder VC. LAUNCHub Ventures, Gecad Ventures, and private investors also contributed.

Fintech OS will use the funds to expand its international presence. “This new investment round allows us to quickly deploy commercial teams in three strategic territories: U.K., Benelux and DACH,” said Teodor Blidăruş, FintechOS CEO. “Meanwhile, we’re going ahead full-throttle to further integrate AI technology within the FintechOS platform, because intelligent processing of massive amounts of data and quick customization of financial instruments are critical components for the whole financial industry.”

Founded in 2014, Fintech OS helps banks launch new technologies by offering them low-code solutions that facilitate fast and inexpensive deployment of new products and services. At FinovateEurope 2018, Blidăruş demoed how the company uses AI to facilitate financial services companies’ digital transformation.

By the end of this year, the company plans to have secured $9 million to $11.2 million (€8 million to €10 million) in Series A funding. Also in 2019, the company anticipates expanding its workforce to 70 employees and plans to see over 4X year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue from licenses. Additionally, Blidăruş said, Fintech OS will be “announcing a technological revolution” in the third quarter of 2019.

Neustar Helps TELUS Fight Caller ID Spoofing

Neustar Helps TELUS Fight Caller ID Spoofing

Data services company Neustar has joined forces with TELUS this week to fight caller ID spoofing. The Canadian telecommunications company recently finalized a test of Neustar’s Certified Caller software suite.

The trial was done per the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) mandate that telecommunications service providers deploy caller ID authentication and verification for voice over internet (VoIP) calls to reduce illegal caller ID spoofing. TELUS tested Neustar’s Certified Caller in its NFV lab environment using the STIR/SHAKEN protocol.

STIR, which stands for Secure Telephony Identity Revisited, is a set of technical standards to certify the identity of originating calls. SHAKEN, which stands for Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs, is a framework that focuses on implementing STIR within IP-based service provider networks. The industry sees STIR/SHAKEN as the most feasible measure of trust in the phone number and name displayed during an incoming call.

“We fully support the adoption of STIR/SHAKEN as a means to restore trust in calls,” said Neustar General Manager and Vice President of Caller ID Solutions James Garvert. “Neustar’s Certified Caller is a full STIR/SHAKEN solution that enables service providers to meet the standards to authenticate and verify the caller telephone identity between originating and terminating carriers and detect and warn subscribers of spoofing.”

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Virginia, Neustar combines identity and data to offer businesses a range of marketing, risk, communications, security, and registry services. Among the company’s clients are Google, Tesco, Ticketmaster, Allstate, and Pinterest.

Neustar demoed its marketing solution at FinovateSpring 2016. Earlier this year, the company acquired fraud solutions provider TrustID. Neustar is a public company, listed on the NYSE under the ticker “NSR.” The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion. Charles Gottdiener is president and CEO.

Fintech Illustrated

Fintech Illustrated

If you had to draw fintech, what would it look like? For our audience at FinovateSpring last week, it might look similar to the illustrations below.

Check out sketches that cover the highlights from 10 sessions at last week’s show (there’s a lot to unpack, so click on the image to open it in a new tab).

A huge thanks to Giselle Chow Consulting (gisellechow.com) for the composition and use of the images!

masterQueue Closes First Round of Funding

masterQueue Closes First Round of Funding

Debt collection solutions company Intellaegis, which does business under the name masterQueue, is marking its first round of funding today. The amount of the investment is undisclosed.

“To this point, we’d been self-funded by the founders and two strategic Angel investors,” said Co-Founder and CFO Perla Lewis. “This allowed us to double staff and increase our year over year Q1 revenue from 2018 to 2019 by eighty percent.”

The company has also brought on Lance Suder, a former entrepreneur and Stanford grad, as its Director of Operations. “As masterQueue makes contacting customers easy, efficient and compliant, I’m proud to join their seasoned team, and we’re excited to have found an investor that shares our vision and passion,” said Suder.

masterQueue’s debt collections tools help recapture delinquent loans by gathering, organizing, and tracking big data from dozens of data aggregators to find customer assets. The resulting workflow facilitates compliant debt collection, skip tracing, and repossession efforts.

Debt collection technology is one of the lesser-heralded sub-sectors of fintech. Perhaps startups are hesitant to enter the space because of its associations with loan sharks. We have, however, seen a handful of successful entrants in the space, including TrueAccord, collectAI, and Global Debt Registry.

Headquartered in California, Intellaegis demonstrated masterQueue’s debt collection workflow at FinovateSpring 2011. John Lewis is president and CEO.

The ID Co. Lands $2 Million

The ID Co. Lands $2 Million

Bank data expert The ID Co. boosted its funding total to $11 million this week after closing on $2 million (£1.5 million). Headline investors in today’s round are Amadeus Capital Partners and SixThirty.

The company, which already has clients in 30 countries, said the funding will fuel further global growth. CEO James Varga said, “We are hiring fast and entering new markets and geographies across the globe. The recent launch of DirectID Insights and Income Verification means that we are in an excellent place to capitalise on the need for greater efficiency in lending practices to reflect borrowers’ expectations.”

The ID Co. has two main branches, DirectID, its B2B offering, and NoMo, its B2C product launched last fall. DirectID’s product lineup includes Insights, a dashboard that displays data to assist underwriters in lending decisions, and Income Verification, a tool that combines real time data with six algorithms to offer a clear picture of clients’ income. In addition, the company offers an onboarding solution, a categories and classifications engine, and a bank account validation tool.

James Varga, CEO (right), and Lazaro Campos, Chairman

The ID Co. was prepared for the onset of the U.K.’s Open Banking mandate well before it came into play last January. Atul Kamra, Managing Partner of SixThirty said, “James and The ID Co. team have gotten a real nice head start here, and are well positioned to take advantage from the regulatory tail winds afforded by Open Banking.”

Varga added, “The financial world is being fundamentally changed through Open Banking. It improves our understanding of each individual, allowing us to move away from traditional credit reference agencies.” Varga last demonstrated miiCard’s identity as a service capabilities at FinovateFall 2013.

Launched as miiCard in 2011, the company pivoted to The ID Co. in 2016. Within the last year, the company has launched its Open Banking API, released its NoMo consumer cashflow tracking app, and unveiled its Income Verification solution.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • The ID Co. Lands $2 Million.
  • Finastra Inks New Bank Partners for its Blockchain-Based Lending Platform.
  • ClickSWITCH Raises $13 Million in Series B.
  • masterqueue Closes First Round of Funding.

Around the web

  • Fintech Switzerland lists additiv, finhorizon, and clevercircles on list of wealthtechs offering more than just roboadvisory.
  • Forbes on how Tradeshift is fighting modern day slavery.
  • Mint Life names FamZoo on list of apps to teach kids about money.
  • IBS Intelligence features CustomerXPS’ Clari5 in its latest report.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Segmint Powers Data Analytics for Buzz Points

Segmint Powers Data Analytics for Buzz Points

Data insights startup Segmint has agreed to power analytics capabilities for Austin, TX-based Buzz Points. Specifically, Ohio’s Segmint will enable Buzz Points to help its clients to build marketing segments based on cardholders’ buying behavior.

“The ability to identify customers with a strong probability of action in combination with a strong call to action like rewards is a marketer’s dream,” said Dwayne Spradlin, Buzz Points CEO. “We’re excited to find strategic partners like Segmint that help us continue to offer robust platform solution with an even greater ROI for our clients.”

Founded in 2007, Segmint leverages the raw, unstructured data from banks’ consumer transactions to form marketing insights that lead to customer acquisition, cross-selling, and more efficient marketing techniques.

The company’s products include Merchant Payment Cleansing, a tool that decodes merchants’ cryptic transaction data descriptions; Transaction Analytics, which cleans and categorizes data to make it useful for marketers; and Data-Driven Marketing Platform, an all-in-one tool to help non-technical marketers create, deliver, and monitor campaigns.

Segmint, which demoed at FinovateFall 2012, was founded by John Cale, Nate Shahan, and Rob Heiser, who serves as CEO. The company has raised $30 million.

Kony Taps MX for PFM Tech

Kony Taps MX for PFM Tech

Everyone, including fintechs, gets by with a little help from their friends. That must be what digital banking solutions provider Kony and financial data expert MX were thinking when they joined forces this week.

Under the agreement, Kony will leverage MX’s PFM expertise to bolster Kony DBX, its digital banking experience product. Specifically, Kony will use MX’s data services for PFM and tap into the company’s solutions for spending categorization and classification.

Explaining the decision to partner, Kony DBX SVP and GM Jeffery Kendall described access to clean, actionable financial data as “critical” for banks and credit unions to meet customer expectations. “We are excited to collaborate with MX to deliver valued-added data services for Personal Financial Management and spending categorization and classification solutions that will give consumers a clear view of their financial health. In addition, banks and credit unions can also gain insight so they can better tailor their digital banking offerings to their customers and members,” said Kendall.

Don Parker, EVP of partnerships at MX added, “Together, and through Kony’s expansive partner network, we will help more banks, credit unions and fintech developers grow faster, reduce costs, and deliver exceptional experiences to their customers.”

The first client of the joint solution is CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union, a 33,000 member credit union with branches in Northern Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Harrisonburg, VA. “By having access to clean, relevant and categorized data, we will be able to better serve and meet our members’ financial needs, and our members will also be able to aggregate and see all of their accounts in one place, said Larry Flory, CIO of CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union. “Having improved insight into their finances will enable our members to make better financial decisions.”

This is Kony’s second major enhancement this month to the Kony DBX platform. A little over a week ago the company partnered with Micronotes to bring Micronotes’ personalized conversation solution to Kony DBX’s bank customers.

Kony’s CTO Bill Bodin and Product Marketing Manager Antonio Sanchez showcased the company’s digital banking platform at FinovateFall 2017. Kony was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Austin, TX.

MX was founded in 2010 and is partnered with more than 1,800 financial institutions and 43 of the top 50 digital banking providers. Headquartered in Lehi, Utah, MX is a six-time Finovate Best of Show winner, having most recently presented at FinovateFall 2017, where it demoed Discovered Accounts.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • RightCapital links up with investment research firm Morningstar.
  • Turbine, the creator of the Lord of the Rings online game, uses Xsolla to power in-game storefront
  • investorID taps IdentityMind’s compliance and risk management capabilities

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Twisto Closes $15.7 Million Capital Raise

Twisto Closes $15.7 Million Capital Raise

Mobile-first payment innovator Twisto closed a Series B funding round this week totaling $15.7 million (€14 million). The investment brings Twisto’s total funding to $38.7 million (€34.5 million), which is comprised of $23.6 million (€21 million) in equity and $16.8 million (€15 million) in debt.

The round was led by Finch Capital and includes support from existing investors UNIQA Ventures and ING Bank, as well as newcomers Velocity Capital Private Equity and ING Ventures.

The company, which is based in the Czech Republic and Poland, will use the funds to expand further into Europe. Twisto aims to have two million app users in the Central and Eastern European region in the next two years.

Founded in 2013, Twisto offers a simple financing solution to European retail banking customers. The company is best known for its Buy Now, Pay Later tool, which gives consumers an online point of sale financing option, offering instant credit that can be activated in a single click.

The company’s payment card features a favorable exchange rate, is compatible with Apple Pay, and offers 5% more cashback than competitors. The app offers a bill-splitting capability and OCR-powered bill payments that allow customers to pay bills by uploading a photo of the paper statement.

Launched in Prague, Twisto expanded to Poland in the first quarter of last year. Today, the company’s app has been used by more than 500,000 customers. The company’s CEO and Founder Michal Smida demoed the Twisto account at FinovateEurope 2018.