Trunomi Closes $3.5 Million Round from CloudScale Capital

Trunomi Closes $3.5 Million Round from CloudScale Capital

Consumer consent and data rights company Trunomi closed a $3.5 million round of funding today. This investment brings the Bermuda-based company’s total funding to $10.5 million.

Trunomi will use the funds to manage demand for its technologies and to continue its global expansion. And with the E.U. GDPR deadline coming up, the company will likely see a boost in banks and companies vying for its services, which helps businesses request, receive, and capture customer consent to the use of their personal data.

“Customer data rights and privacy are quickly becoming major issues of concern for companies, especially financial institutions, due to new regulations such as EU GDPR, U.K. Open Banking and marketing opportunities,” said Kim Perdikou, CloudScale Partner. “Trunomi enables businesses to comply with these new regulations by demonstrating compliance and accountability in customer data use and immutably proving the legal basis of processing. With Trunomi, businesses can empower their customers with control and transparency in how their data is used and turn regulation from a burden into a competitive advantage.”

“We are thrilled that CloudScale Capital Partners are part of this financing,” said Trunomi CEO Stuart Lacey. “CloudScale brings significant strength to our investor base, and its partners bring with them a wealth of industry connections with the largest players in the global customer and data markets.”

Founded in 2013, Trunomi has offices in Bermuda, Dublin, the U.K., and Silicon Valley. At FinovateEurope 2015 in London, Lacey launched TruMobile, a customer-focused “consent engine” that creates privacy policies to allow the sharing of consumer PII data across platforms. Last March, Trunomi was named to the RegTech top 100 power list. In December of 2016, the company began collaborating with FIS on the E.U. data protection rules.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Trunomi Closes $3.5 Million Round from CloudScale Capital.
  • Veridium to Power Biometrics for Nordea.
  • Personal Capital Launches Socially Responsible Investing.
  • Coupa Software Teams Up with Tuition.io.
  • Banco Santander to Leverage Ripple Tech to Offer Same Day Mobile International Payments.

Around the web

  • Lend Academy: StreetShares’ Unique Focus Gives Them an Edge in the Small Business Lending Market.
  • Jumio’s Q4 Revenues Up 96% Year-Over-Year.
  • Capital One UK’s use of TSYS Foresight Score with Featurespace wins TCP Award.
  • Xero announces ACH integration with Stripe.
  • Finance Monthly names ACI Worldwide Fraud Innovation Firm of the Year for its UP Payments Risk Management solution.

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.

Blockchain Appoints New President and Chief Legal Officer

Blockchain Appoints New President and Chief Legal Officer

Digital currency wallet Blockchain has appointed Marco Santori as its new president and chief legal officer. The role of President was formerly held by Blockchain co-founder Nicolas Cary, who has assumed the role of vice chairman.

Santori comes to the U.K.-based company from Cooley LLP, where he worked as a partner, leading the law firm’s global financial technology practice. During his tenure at Cooley, Santori built a digital assets-focused legal practice.

In his new role, Santori will build Blockchain’s compliance, legal, and corporate development teams and is charged with leading the team in bringing new products to market. “I’m honored and thrilled to join Blockchain, the leading provider for digital asset software,” said Santori. “It’s a compelling opportunity to contribute to a company that is not only achieving unparalleled business success, but also delivering on a powerful mission to create an inclusive financial system from which everyone can benefit.”

Santori’s new position at Blockchain seems to be a good fit for him– he currently serves as an advisor to the International Monetary Fund and is the Blockchain Ambassador for the State of Delaware. Additionally, he penned the “Simple Agreement for Future Tokens” (SAFT) Project Whitepaper, which set the standard for mitigating risks associated with Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

Blockchain CEO and co-founder Peter Smith said, “Marco has a breadth and depth of knowledge that is unmatched and I couldn’t think of a better person to focus entirely on our expansion efforts and strategy as we continue to serve our millions of users globally.”

Founded in 2011, Blockchain has more than 22 million wallets and has worked with its exchange partners to process 100+ million transactions in more than 140 countries in 20+ currencies. The company considers its wallet more secure than competitors Coinbase and Kraken because it does not offer an exchange. Instead, Blockchain’s wallet simply stores funds and has no visibility into users’ wallets.

Blockchain presented at FinDEVr San Francisco 2014. The company has offices in London, New York, and Brazil and has raised a total of $70 million, thanks in part to a $40 million Series B round raised last June. In August of last year, the company added ether to the list of currencies it supports.

Behalf Lands Equity Funding and Secures $150 Million in Debt Financing

Behalf Lands Equity Funding and Secures $150 Million in Debt Financing

Alternative lending startup Behalf just received more fuel to help power small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The New York-based company received $150 million in debt financing and an undisclosed amount of equity funding this week.

The debt round was led by a private investment fund managed by Soros Fund Management, with previous investor Viola Credit also participating. Both investors also contributed to Behalf’s equity round; the company’s equity funds now total more than $156 million.

Benjy Feinberg, founder and CEO of Behalf said that the funding is a significant step forward that will allow Behalf  to “expand our fast-growing e-commerce B2B financing platform and enhance our ability to provide the best business terms to customers, in a fraction of the time of a traditional business lender.”

Behalf extends short-term purchase financing to underserved SMBs by using technology and big data to assess the creditworthiness of the business and its owner. Unlike other alternative SMB lenders such as Kabbage or OnDeck, Behalf does not issue funds directly to the SMB. Instead, the startup pays the small business’ vendors on the SMB’s behalf (hence the name Behalf). Having flexibility in repaying their suppliers helps merchants increase their production and ultimately grow their business.

Uri Galai, partner at Viola Credit said Behalf’s technology “will change the landscape of business lending.” He added, “Behalf understands that the buyer-seller relationship has changed, and is providing an unparalleled solution to the increased demands from vendors and their customers seeking financing.”

Feinberg showcased Behalf’s vendor payment platform at FinovateFall 2014. Since it was founded in 2012, the company tripled its revenue and now counts Lenovo, Best Buy and PCM in its network of accepting partners. Last year, the company partnered with Utah-based FinWise Bank to offer SMBs a broader range of financing solutions.

Digiliti Money Merges Under Urban FT

Digiliti Money Merges Under Urban FT

The second time’s the charm for digital banking platform Urban FT. The New York-based company has successfully agreed to a deal with Digiliti Money, a subsidiary of Digiliti Money Group (formerly Cachet Financial Solutions) under which Digiliti will merge into Urban FT’s affiliate, FinTech Imaging Solutions.

Prior to the closing of the deal, Digitili Money Group will transfer all of its core technology assets to Digital Money Technologies, a newly formed Minnesota corporation and subsidiary of Digitili Money Group that is not subject to the merger. Digital Money Technologies will license this software technology to Urban FT for two years for a license royalty fee of $360,000 per year. The deal also gives Urban FT the option to purchase Digital Money Technologies’ software for $3 million.

For its part of the deal, Digiliti Money Group will receive a payment of $250,000, a secured promissory note from Urban FT’s parent company for $2.4 million, and a percentage of revenues relating to Digiliti Money’s prepaid card business that Urban FT is acquiring.

This comes six months after Urban FT’s original attempt to acquire the company in a bid that valued Digiliti Money at $10.5 million on a net equity basis. Digiliti rejected the original bid and proposed alternate terms to the contract, which Urban FT and its lawyers considered “unreasonable and unacceptable under the circumstances.” Urban FT left the bid on the table until the end of the month.

In August of 2017 Digiliti’s CEO resigned. Later that month, interim CEO Bryan Meier disclosed financial difficulties, saying that the company is “reducing [its] cash burn to improve [its] bottom line performance, which [it is] demonstrating with the implementation of [its] recent cost-cutting initiatives intended to reduce [its] annual operating expenses by nearly $3 million.” In a statement on August 14, Digiliti made it clear that it was “actively reviewing strategic options to restructure the company, including the potential sale of the company or potentially filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.”

Urban FT president Kasey Kaplan, who was aware of the financial and leadership difficulty Digiliti Money was going through at the time, said, “Placing Digiliti into bankruptcy, if that’s what the Board is considering, would be a great loss to all of those stakeholders and would truly disrupt so many organizations that rely on Digiliti’s services every day.”

In order to avoid bankruptcy, over the course of the past six months Urban FT provided Digiliti with significant financial support “to ensure uninterrupted service to Digiliti clients and continued employment to Digiliti employees.”

Richard Steggall, CEO of Urban FT, said that the deal “is a fantastic outcome for both companies, their employees, and most importantly, for the clients we respectively serve.” Steggall added, “From the beginning of this process, we recognized that the Digiliti business was fundamentally a good one—with exceptional client and strategic relationships—and together we could create synergies, resulting in significantly reduced combined operating costs and additional services for our pooled client bases.”

The deal is expected to close February 24. Urban FT will continue to be headquartered in New York City with development and operations located in Digiliti Money’s headquarters location, Minneapolis.

At FinovateFall 2016, Urban FT debuted the Workshop, a real-time, mobile app management platform that enables banks to quickly configure, brand, and launch mobile banking apps without coding. The company was founded in 2013 and has raised $3 million. Urban FT has made two acquisitions in the past, including iParse in 2017 and Wipit in 2015.

Digiliti Money demoed its Select Mobile Money prepaid suite at FinovateFall 2014 in New York. The company was founded in 2010 and went public July 18, 2014.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Fenergo Forges Strategic Partnership with Arachnys.
  • Personetics Powers New Intelligent Financial Assistant Didi from Israel Discount Bank.

Around the web

  • Thomson Reuters introduces investment research marketplace on Eikon to further MiFID II compliance
  • Xero opens new Wellington headquarters.
  • Trustly to expand its Pay N Play gaming payment product.
  • Zopa’s investor community lends 3 billionth pound to U.K. consumers.
  • Pendo Systems targets the insurance sector with Pendo Machine Learning Platform.
  • InComm expands gift card assortment in grocery partners with new brand offerings.

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.

CollectAI Launches in the U.K.

CollectAI Launches in the U.K.

Accounts receivable and debt collection management company collectAI made inroads into the U.K. this week.

The expansion is made possible via a partnership with Pay360 by Capita, which will build a branded receivables management solution for its business and government clients around collectAI’s technology.

Stephen Ferry, managing director at Pay360, said, “By working with strategic partners such as collectAI, we’re able to deliver a smarter, more efficient receivables process, that’s in line with today’s smartphone generation. Coupled with our ability to settle outstanding payments via the U.K.’s most popular payment methods, we’re edging towards an era of smart payments based on the needs and behaviour of the end consumer.”

Operating as a subsidiary of Germany’s largest ecommerce retailer Otto Group, collectAI launched in 2016 and now has $50 million (€40 million) in receivables under management. This is $6 million higher than the company’s October 2017 milestone of $31 million (€25 million). Pay360 is the third company collectAI has partnered with to offer its white label debt collection technology. collectAI has also partnered with an additional 20 medium and large businesses to pursue the collection of debt on their behalf.

As its name suggests, the Germany-based company leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the debt collection process. The technology engages consumers via their preferred digital channel and allows them to settle debt using their favorite payment method. The implementation of these enabling technologies not only makes for a better end user experience, it also relies less heavily on human labor, offering a cost reduction.

Describing the technology, Steve Emecz, CCO of collectAI, said that the company brings receivables into the digital age. “Our technology provides access to all digital communication channels and ensures frictionless payments. As a result, faster execution and higher repayment rates improve the consumer experience and boost customer retention. AI isn’t the future, it’s the now.”

Mirko Krauel, collect.AI CEO, demoed the company’s claims management technology at FinovateEurope 2017. To date, the company has improved the collection rate to 33% on average with a 41% reduction of processing costs.

Handle Financial’s Prism Mobile App Reaches $1 Billion in Bills Paid

Handle Financial’s Prism Mobile App Reaches $1 Billion in Bills Paid

Handle Financial announced this week that users have sent more than $1 billion in bill payments via its Prism mobile app.

Acquired by Handle in 2016, Prism is a financial management and billpay app that allows users to automatically track bills and account balances, receive due date reminders, and pay bills for free in real time. In conjunction with today’s milestone, Prism recently surpassed 11,000 billers across the country on its platform.

While the app saw high user adoption last year, the company has recently launched new payment options it expects will boost growth even further. The alternative payment options allow users to– for a small fee– pay their bills using a debit or credit card, even if the biller does not offer those payment methods. In cases where the biller only accepts ACH payment, Prism works behind-the-scenes to convert the credit or debit card payment to ACH.

In the future, Prism plans to add even more payment options, such as third party wallets, social money apps, and cash payments. The cash payment option would be an easy addition, since Handle Financial also owns PayNearMe, an app that enables consumers to make online purchases using cash by scanning a barcode on their smartphone.

Richard Kang, Senior Vice President of Consumer Channel for Handle Financial said, “Consumers have wholeheartedly embraced Prism and the power it gives them, as we’ve experienced through its widespread adoption. We look forward to helping even more users get ahead in 2018.”

At FinovateSpring 2017, Handle Financial launched the Handle Platform, which helps companies integrate bill presentment and same-day bill payment technology into their existing platform. Handle Financial is the parent company of Prism and PayNearMe, which was founded in 2009 and presented at FinovateSpring 2013 and at FinDEVr San Francisco 2014. Last July, PayNearMe partnered with Blackhawk Network, giving it access to Blackhawk’s network of retail partners.

Tuition.io to Power Student Loan Repayment Benefit for Estée Lauder Employees

Tuition.io to Power Student Loan Repayment Benefit for Estée Lauder Employees

Student loan repayment platform Tuition.io has landed a major client this week. The Los Angeles-based startup has partnered with Estée Lauder, offering a platform where the beauty company can help its employees pay down debt from their student loans.

Through their employee benefits package, Estée Lauder’s 46,000 employees will be eligible to receive up to $10,000 in student loan contributions. The repayments will be distributed in $100 increments each month to eligible employees’ loans. These parameters were put in place by way of insurance, since Estée Lauder isn’t aware of the value of its employees’ outstanding student loan debt. To receive Estée Lauder’s match of 100% on the first 3% and 50% on the next 4% of repayments, employees must contribute at least 7%.

Estée Lauder is one of many large U.S. companies to partner with Tuition.io for student loan repayment benefits for employees. Other companies include Live Nation, Staples, Children’s Hospital & Medical Center, HP, and Fidelity Investments.

One of the intentions of Tuition.io’s student loan repayment benefit offering is to attract millennials to the workforce. Millennials make up 61% of Estée Lauder’s workforce and, since the benefit took place in October of last year, about 65% of employees who have signed up are aged 35 or younger.

In a statement, Latricia Parker, executive director of global benefits for Estée Lauder, said that “student loans are an increasing burden for current and potential talent at The Estée Lauder Companies.” Parker went on to explain that the implementation of Tuition.io’s benefit program “is an example of how the company is executing its goal of being the best home for talent — offering benefits that relieve the stresses of everyday life and allow employees to focus on their careers and passions.”

The company’s former CEO Brendon McQueen debuted Tuition.io at FinovateFall 2012. The company has since transitioned into a strict B2B business model in which it helps businesses pay down student loan debt on behalf of their employees. Last September, Tuition.io raised $7 million in Series B funding, bringing its total capital to more than $15 million. At FinovateFall 2017, we interviewed Tuition.io CEO Scott Thompson about the state of the student loan crisis.

Stratumn Opens Public Beta for IndigoTrace

Stratumn Opens Public Beta for IndigoTrace

Stratumn, a startup that leverages the blockchain to reinvent how businesses create trust online, launched the beta of a plug-and-play software product today.

Dubbed IndigoTrace, it’s a user-friendly API that allows business administrators to create a workflow and invite participants, giving them each a role designated by a public/private key. Users can add inputs to the workflow and all changes can be monitored and traced in real time. This traceability offers visibility into who did what, when, where, and why, allowing for easy audits throughout the process. All information is secured by Stratumn’s Proof of Process (PoP) technology and public blockchains.

The API plugs directly into a business’ existing system and can be accessed via web, mobile, or IoT. IndigoTrace offers an intuitive user interface to empower even non-technical employees to offer input.

Stratumn cofounder and CEO Richard Caetano told Finextra, “At Stratumn, we see an increasing need for consumers, companies and regulators to be able to trace the movement of any good or asset and audit the status of a process at any given time and place. In a fast paced hyper-connected world, the ability to make, automate and prove strong business decisions is critical. We believe that the Blockchain technology has the answer to this need by providing a single and immutable source of truth, auditable by all parties involved in a finance or supply chain process.”

Founded in 2015, Paris-based Stratumn’s Proof of Process technology helps streamline and secure the exchange of data among partners, customers, and regulators by leveraging the blockchain. At FinDEVr New York 2016, Caetano gave a presentation titled Building and Securing Smart Workflow Using Chainscript and the Stratumn Blockchain Development Platform. Last June, Stratumn partnered with NASDAQ and received $7.8 million in Series A financing, bringing its total funding to $8 million. In November, the company completed a blockchain experimentation in which it connected 14 insurance companies in France.

Bitbond Launches Alternative Investment Fund in Partnership with 1741 Fund Management

Bitbond Launches Alternative Investment Fund in Partnership with 1741 Fund Management

Peer-to-peer small business financing platform Bitbond has entered into a partnership with 1741 Fund Management to launch an alternative investment fund.

The new investment opportunity is made possible through an open-ended investment fund from 1741 Fund Management. Through the partnership, any institutional investor will have access to a diversified portfolio of small business loans that are originated through Bitbond’s small business lending platform. The new product is set up as an Alternative Investment Fund under the E.U.’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

Germany-based Bitbond offers small businesses across the globe fast access to working capital. Its platform connects small business owners with individual and institutional investors and leverages the blockchain to send cross-border payments quickly and inexpensively. Because Bitbond requires less manual involvement than traditional underwriting methods, it also has the advantage of scalability.

Since it was launched in 2013, the Bitbond platform has facilitated more than 2,300 loans worth $7.4 million (€6 million), most of which is used as short-term working capital for online retailers. Bitbond, which holds its own BaFin regulatory license, boasts more than 130,000 users from 120 countries.

At FinovateFall 2016, Bitbond launched an automated SME scoring engine. The tool offers a universal, automated scoring method that provides borrowers instant funding after their application is accepted. Last spring, the company brought in $5.4 million in debt financing and an undisclosed amount of equity funding, taking Bitbond’s total equity funds to more than $2.4 million. Radko Albrecht is founder and CEO.

Moven Enterprise Teams with SBI Holdings to Launch in Japan

Moven Enterprise Teams with SBI Holdings to Launch in Japan

Financial engagement and digital experiences platform Moven Enterprise has partnered with Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings, which owns Softbank and is partnered with more than 60 financial institutions across Asia.

This is part of a joint venture agreement between the two in which SBI will bring Moven’s technology into Japan under the Moven brand, offering mobile banking tools to domestic and international banks. The agreement also gives SBI Holdings one of six seats on Moven’s board of directors.

Moven has already partnered with numerous financial institutions, including TD Bank and Westpac in New Zealand. Today’s agreement, however, with SBI is Moven’s first foray into Asia.

Launched at FinovateFall 2016, Moven Enterprise takes a software-as-a-service approach by allowing banks and financial services companies to white-label its financial management technology. Moven Enterprise offers tools to help banks engage with their existing customers, acquire new customers, and drive revenue through their mobile channel.

At FinovateAsia 2017, Moven Enterprise demonstrated a new credit offering, chatbot functionality, and an expansion of its wish list feature that leverages behavioral gamification.

American Banker announced today that Moven’s consumer-facing brand– a challenger bank that launched in 2011– is seeking to acquire a bank, though it has not disclosed which. The company’s founder, Brett King, said the reasoning behind a bank purchase would be to help Moven scale faster and access more services for its customers.

Moven last demoed its consumer-facing platform at FinovateFall 2016 with the launch of a daily digest feature and real-time receipt capabilities. Last June, the company’s enterprise offering, in partnership with Westpac, received the CANSTAR 2017 Innovation Excellence Award.