SpyCloud Lands $5 Million in Funding

SpyCloud Lands $5 Million in Funding

Security breach detection and account takeover prevention service SpyCloud recently brought home $5 million in funding. The Series A round comes courtesy of existing investors Silverton Partners and March Capital Partners. This brings the Austin-based company’s total funding to $7.5 million.

SpyCloud helps prevent account takeovers by proactively identifying exposed accounts as early as possible so that businesses can force password changes for vulnerable accounts before fraudsters take action. The company will use the new funds to fuel product development, conduct deeper security research, expand its database of assets, and grow its team.

The company was founded in 2016 and emerged from stealth mode a year later. Since that time, SpyCloud has compiled a database of 32 billion exposed accounts, leaked passwords, and pieces of personally identifiable information; it adds billions of new account data points every month. This data repository is available to service providers via an API to help prevent customer account takeover. SpyCloud has protected tens of millions of accounts for notable companies across a variety of industries, including finance, retail, and healthcare.

“There isn’t a company in the world that doesn’t run the constant risk of having its employee or customer accounts exposed, and that leads to a host of other issues,” said Ted Ross, CEO and co-founder of SpyCloud. “The only chance businesses stand against these increasingly-proficient criminals is to know as soon as possible which accounts have been exposed and to take preventative measures well before credentials make it onto the dark web.”

SpyCloud CEO and Co-Founder Ted Ross, along with Head of Business Development, Chris LaConte, gave a Best of Show-winning presentation at FinovateFall 2017. The company also has the honor of winning the NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency Defense Innovation Challenge. We published a profile on SpyCloud, along with an interview with Ross, last fall.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • SpyCloud Lands $5 Million in Funding.
  • Finovate Alums Earn Spots on insideBIGDATA IMPACT 50 List.
  • The Faves of FinovateSpring: A Brief History of Best of Show Winners

Around the web

  • Benzinga reports: Tuition.io Helps Enterprises Tackle A $1.4 Trillion Crisis.
  • Speedway names InComm as Innovative Business Partner of the Year.
  • Revolut updates business accounts.
  • Bazaarvoice launches new solution to make personalization more powerful.

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.

MicroStrategy Powering Kasasa’s New Insight Solution

MicroStrategy Powering Kasasa’s New Insight Solution

Community banking and marketing services company Kasasa has cut a deal with enterprise software firm MicroStrategy. Under the agreement Kasasa will integrate MicroStrategy 10 into its business intelligence platform, Insight.

Kasasa’s Insight is a data-backed analytics solution that offers community banking clients product and marketing performance awareness, and helps them better understand consumer portfolios and market conditions. MicroStrategy 10 brings to the table a suite of research and adjustable product marketing tools to drive customer engagement at different levels.

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy said, “This integration allows financial institutions to have a single version of the truth that provides the insight needed to identify new opportunities and drive profitability.”

“Delivering the most practical and impactful insights to our clients is a top priority,” said Gabe Krajicek, CEO of Kasasa. “Our goal is to help community institutions build stronger relationships with their customers so they can win new business and better serve their existing customers. MicroStrategy provides Kasasa Insights with a critical competitive edge to help us accomplish our goals.”

Kasasa selected MicroStrategy for its new adaptive layout capabilities and its bootstrap framework. These elements will help Kasasa’s developers easily update the design across multiple devices. Speaking about a specific implementation of Insight, Krajicek said, “Our analytics platform now allows us to see the entire consumer base of the fifth-largest banking network in the country. We can extract actionable insights from large amounts of consumer data to increase the profitability of their customers.”

Kasasa was founded in 2003 when it launched its flagship REWARDChecking account to help community financial institutions compete against big banks. Since then, the company has expanded to 350 employees and now offers a full suite of branded bank products. Kasasa debuted at FinovateFall 2009 under BancVue, which was founded in 2003, and created a premium, national consumer brand for the BancVue product offering – Kasasa – which launched in 2009. Kasasa will present its newest technology at FinovateSpring next month. To check it out, register before April 27 and save.

Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy demoed a mobile identity network at FinovateSpring 2013. The company went public in 1998 and the latest release of its business intelligence platform, MicroStrategy 10, was released in 2016.

Ripple Joins Hyperledger Project, Launches Hyperledger Quilt Project

Ripple Joins Hyperledger Project, Launches Hyperledger Quilt Project

Enterprise blockchain solution Ripple has joined the likes of 231 organizations who belong to the Hyperledger blockchain consortium.

Hosted by The Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open source group consisting of leaders in finance, banking, IoT, manufacturing, and technology that seeks to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. Other Finovate alum members of the group, which launched in 2015, include Tradeshift, AlphaPoint, BBVA, Blockchain, PWC, Sberbank, SecureKey, and Wipro.

After teaming up with NTT Data last year, Ripple and the Japanese system integration company submitted Hyperledger Quilt, a Java-based Interledger Protocol (ILP), to Hyperledger. Through the partnership with Hyperledger, said Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, “developers will be able to access Interledger Protocol in Java for enterprise use.” Thomas added that Hyperledger Quilt “connects Hyperledger blockchains with other ILP-capable payment systems such as XRP Ledger, Ethereum, Bitcoin (Lightning), Litecoin, Mojaloop, and RippleNet, helping us to deliver on our vision for an internet of value – where money moves as information does today.”

Ripple was among 14 companies to join the consortium last week. Hyperledger Executive Director Brian Behlendorf explained that this growth is beneficial to the future of the blockchain. “The accelerating pace of growth and adoption of Hyperledger across industries and geographies underscores the power of our community and the technologies it is building,” he said. “It also reflects a global awakening to the impact of blockchain for business.”

With more than 100 customers across the globe, Ripple has offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney. At FinovateSpring 2013, company co-founder Chris Larsen debuted Ripple (originally known as OpenCoin).

Last week, the company funded every project on DonorsChoose.org, a platform where school teachers crowdfund classroom needs and special projects. Ripple fulfilled all 35,647 open campaigns with a $29 million donation. Earlier in March, Ripple began piloting blockchain-based payments with FLEETCOR. The company was founded in 2012 and has since raised $93 million.

$500 Million Secondary Investment Boosts Credit Karma’s Valuation to $4 Billion

$500 Million Secondary Investment Boosts Credit Karma’s Valuation to $4 Billion

San Francisco-based Credit Karma received a $500 million boost today from Silver Lake. Through a secondary investment process, the technology investing company is taking a significant minority stake from existing investors in the consumer credit monitoring and financial health startup through a secondary investment process. Founder and CEO Kenneth Lin will remain the largest shareholder. Additional terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Unlike a primary funding round, Credit Karma will not receive any proceeds from the sale and will not issue new shares as a part of the deal. It will, however, benefit from a 23% increase in valuation, making it worth around $4 billion. As TechCrunch explained, the move may be beneficial in placating investors and employees who are eager to cash out their equity, as well as help postpone an IPO.

Lin, who cofounded the company in 2007, said, “As we planned for the future and our continued growth, we sought a partner that could support our growth trajectory and provide existing investors an opportunity to lock in some of the rewards they’ve earned for their support and hard work.”

Silver Lake Managing Partner, Mike Bingle, will join Credit Karma’s Board of Directors. In the press release, he cited multiple reasons for investing in Credit Karma, including the company’s “cutting-edge technology” and its “unwavering focus on long-term partnerships” with both members and financial institutions.

While it’s best known as a consumer-facing tool to help users check their credit for free, Credit Karma’s functionality extends far beyond credit scores, credit card offers, and loan comparisons. Last November, the company launched a new automotive information center where members can manage and organize their vehicle-related finances and information. And in late 2016, Credit Karma unveiled Credit Karma Tax, a free online tax filing service that, thanks to a partnership with American Express, lets users opt to receive their tax refund in advance. The company even has a tool to help return unclaimed money to users.

Credit Karma has 80 million members across North America, almost half of which are millennials and 80% of which access the service via their mobile devices. The company has originated more than $40 billion in credit products including credit cards, personal loans, mortgages, automotive financing, and student loan refinancing. At FinovateSpring 2009, Lin demonstrated the company’s platform, which offers free credit reports from Equifax and TransUnion, and seeks to serve as a hub for users to monitor their financial health.

FreeAgent Acquired by RBS

FreeAgent Acquired by RBS

Cloud accounting platform FreeAgent has agreed to a takeover bid from the Royal Bank of Scotland this week. CEO Ed Molyneux and the rest of the board have accepted the offer, which values FreeAgent at approximately $75 million (£53 million).

In a blog post announcement, Molyneux said that the acquisition will allow the company to progress toward its vision and improve the FreeAgent platform for both customers and partners. “As part of a larger organisation we want to accelerate our growth ambitions in the micro-business and accountancy practice space, as well as significantly improve our core product,” he added.

This agreement comes just over a year after FreeAgent began working with RBS. The two formed a distribution partnership last January in which RBS offered FreeAgent’s accounting software services to its small business clients. The deal will help both parties leverage new opportunities to offer a more integrated banking and accounting experience for small businesses since, as Molyneux said, “the lines between banking, accounting and tax are becoming increasingly blurred.”

After the deal is closed, FreeAgent will continue to operate business as usual. In a Q&A, Molyneux said the company has “no intention of significantly changing the way that [it does] business with [its] customers.” FreeAgent shareholders will receive $1.70 (120 pence) per share. This represents an 86% premium to yesterday’s share price and a 43% premium to the IPO price of $1.19 (84 pence).

Founded in 2007, FreeAgent offers cloud accounting services for small businesses, an API for easy integration, and integrations with existing startups such as Basecamp, Stripe, PayPal, and Xpenditure. The company also has an offering for accountants and a fully-integrated payroll system.

Molyneux debuted FreeAgent’s Financial Health Insights at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. Since then, the company went public in 2016 and last month launched the Customer Sales Report, which allows businesses to see how much income they’ve received from each customer.

Braintree’s New Tool Facilitates Integrated Payments

Braintree’s New Tool Facilitates Integrated Payments

PayPal-owned Braintree is stepping up its game this week. The company has launched Braintree Extend, a solution that allows merchants to offer a more integrated payment experience across multiple partners.

This means that merchants who want to partner with transaction services firms, rewards and loyalty providers, and contextual commerce companies can do so while maintaining a seamless user experience. And because Braintree Extend works with Braintree Vault, merchants can tokenize and store payment information without putting their clients’ data at risk.

In a blog post announcement, Azita Habibi Sr. Manager of Braintree Development described the new release as the “next phase” in the company’s mission “to become the Commerce Operating System for… merchants and partners.”

Braintree is already working with Yelp on its card-linked loyalty program, Yelp Cash Back, which is used by thousands of merchants. Leveraging Braintree Extend, Yelp is able to give users real-time cash rebates at the point of sale after making a purchase at a participating merchant. And Bandsintown, a music performance and discovery platform, is leveraging Braintree Extend for contextual commerce. The platform enables users to discover and select shows and purchase tickets without leaving the Bandsintown platform.

PayPal acquired Braintree in 2013 for $800 million. Braintree most recently showcased Venmo Touch at FinovateSpring 2013. Last week, the company unveiled Transaction-Level Fee Reports, a new reporting capability to help merchants understand and analyze processing fees at a per-transaction level. And last September, the company celebrated four years of operation under PayPal.

FinovateEurope Demo Videos Live

FinovateEurope Demo Videos Live

Did you miss out on all of the fun at FinovateEurope earlier this month? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. We’ve just released all of the videos from the 68 companies that demoed their fintech on stage.

All of the 7-minute demos are available to stream and download for free at Finovate.com. And if you don’t know where to begin, we’ll get you started with the seven demos that won Best of Show at the event.

Backbase


Be-IQ


CREALOGIX


iProov


Meniga


Microblink


W.UP

Ready for more? Be sure to register for FinovateSpring, happening May 8 through 11 in Santa Clara, California.

ActivePath Acquired by Broadridge

ActivePath Acquired by Broadridge

Email engagement company ActivePath will soon broaden the scope of how it transforms customer engagement. That’s because the New York-based company has been acquired by Broadridge Financial Solutions, a communications, technology, and data analytics firm. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2007, ActivePath originally offered its flagship ActiveMail solution but created a more robust email banking offering after merging with PowerInbox in late 2012. The company allows banks, brokers, and other billers to quickly compose and send website-like, interactive experiences via emails created using HTML. Under the new agreement with Broadridge, ActivePath will offer omni-channel capabilities including SMS, social, audio UI, chatbots, and personal cloud solutions.

(above) With ActivePath, organizations can edit mass emails using drag and drop editing

In the press release, President of Broadridge Customer Communications, Doug DeSchutter commented on how the company would benefit from bringing on ActivePath. “In ActivePath, we gain a founding management team with rich entrepreneurial experience and a proven track record of innovation, and we are delighted they are joining the Broadridge family,” DeSchutter said.

Broadridge began as the brokerage services division of ADP in 1962 and became independent in 2007. The company is headquartered in New York and employs approximately 10,000 people in 16 countries.

ActivePath debuted ActiveMail at FinovateFall 2010. Before today’s acquisition, the company had raised $13.3 million. Avi Weiss is CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Peoples Trust Company Picks Finastra for Commercial and Consumer Lending.
  • Gro Solutions to Streamline Onboarding for Congressional FCU.
  • Braintree’s New Tool Facilitates Integrated Payments.

Around the web

  • Nabil Bank chooses Compass Plus Processing Centre.
  • Thomson Reuters collaborates with Salesforce to help fight financial crime.
  • World Finance Magazine awards Temenos “Best Islamic Banking & Finance Software Solution” at 2018 Islamic Finance Awards.
  • Klarna and MyOnlineStore partner up to offer all-in-one online commerce solution.
  • Pindrop to provide Phoneprinting for online retailer Shop Direct.
  • St. Paul FCU teams up with Insuritas to launch member-owned, digital insurance agency.

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.

Malauzai to Power Mobile Banking Tech for Axiom

Malauzai to Power Mobile Banking Tech for Axiom

Community banking app provider Malauzai announced today it has been tapped by Florida’s second-largest community bank.

Under the agreement, the Austin-based company will design and deploy a mobile app for Axiom Bank’s AxiomGo, a platform that serves the underbanked community. The digital, checkless checking account provides a bilingual alternative to prepaid cards and traditional checking. AxiomGo is a low-fee way for users to pay bills, pay a friend, deposit checks, and transfer funds on a mobile-first user interface.

The bank’s goal is to give users an app to manage all banking activity from their mobile phone. As Ron Strand-Sorrell, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Axiom Bank explained, “essentially we wanted to give them the bank in the palm of their hand.” He added, “For many of our customers, this is their first experience with the U.S. banking system and we wanted to ensure the app was intuitive and brought value to their daily lives.”

Upon launching the app, Axiom expanded the capacity of its call center to accommodate an increase in call center activity. However, while users of AxiomGo have increased 300% since launching last December, the number of calls to the call center have significantly decreased because of the robust in-app help capabilities.

“It’s important that underserved markets gain access to traditional banking services, said Robb Gaynor, chief product officer for Malauzai. “The bank designed the app to eliminate many of the barriers that often make it more difficult for this market to take advantage of banking services, and in turn has enabled Axiom to better serve its current customers, while also reaching a new audience and expanding its footprint.”

Founded in 2009, Malauzai last demoed at FinovateSpring 2016, where it debuted MOX Pay powered by Visual App Builder. In May of last year, the company teamed with Vantiv to leverage the company’s Ondot CardControl tool.

TESOBE’s Open Bank Project Powers API for Banking Startup

TESOBE’s Open Bank Project Powers API for Banking Startup

The Open Bank Project, an open source API solution, announced this week it will power an API for a London-based banking startup.

This week, the bank, who requested to be unnamed, released the first version of its API to give developers access to its infrastructure. This allows developers to take advantage of the bank’s compliance, risk management, and customer service offerings. The bank currently has 24 new apps eligible for its internal app store.

Thanks to the Open Bank Project, the bank’s API is PSD2 compliant– a key to taking advantage of financial services opportunities in Europe.

Headquartered in Germany, the Open Bank Project was founded in 2005. The company’s CEO Simon Redfern, along with COO Ismail Chaib, demoed the API engine at FinovateEurope a few weeks ago in London. In late January, The Open Bank Project announced it was powering Santander’s first hackathon and in May of last year, the company partnered with Societe Generale to launch the bank’s internal hackathon.