Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • FinDEVr Silicon Valley: When You’re a Dev, You’re a Dev All the Way
  • DriveWealth Brings Robo-advisory to Latin America in New Partnership with Alkanza. See DriveWealth make its FinDEVr debut next week at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016.

Around the web

  • Personetics launches Chatbot Bootcamp.
  • Klarna unveils online retailer financing.
  • ACI Worldwide to provide back-end tech for TransferWise’s integration into the Faster Payments Scheme.

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.

FinDEVr Preview: Blend

FinDEVr Preview: Blend

FinDEVr PreviewsFinDEVrSV16-withdate highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms, and integrations at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, October 18 & 19. Tickets are on sale now. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

Eugene and Nivi will demonstrate Blend’s thoughtfully designed platform used today by lenders and borrowers alike to originate efficient, data-driven mortgages. They will highlight exactly how the technology streamlines the data-collection process, and show how Blend accelerates what has historically been a long, painful path in the mortgage process.

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Why it’s a must-see

Modernizing a $10+ trillion industry that runs on paper and fax machines is no simple task. In this presentation, attendees will get a peek beneath the hood of Blend’s platform, learning how the company’s engineers employ everything from containers to computer vision to overhaul the mortgage process.


Check out more of today’s FinDEVr Previews:

FinDEVr Preview: Personal Capital

FinDEVr Preview: Personal Capital

FinDEVr PreviewsFinDEVrSV16-withdate highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms, and integrations at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, 18/19 October. Tickets are on sale now. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

Personal Capital will show how, by enabling both the user and her adviser, to see the same holistic financial picture, we have transformed the traditional “opening and funding of an account” transaction into a natural conversation about the best way to implement a financial plan.

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Why it’s a must-see
If you are interested in this user story then join us. As a fintech developer, ask: Have you ever wanted to build a product that leverages all of a user’s financial goals and profile data, one that makes each individual’s account-opening process conversational and collaborative.


Check out more of today’s FinDEVr Previews:

FinDEVr Preview: Symphony Software Foundation

FinDEVr Preview: Symphony Software Foundation

FinDEVr PreviewsFinDEVrSV16-LogoV2(wdate) highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms, and integrations at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, 18/19 October. Tickets are on sale now. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

Symphony Software Foundation (SSF) will show how enterprise collaboration has been historically dominated by proprietary platforms, especially in highly regulated industries like FinServ. Learn how SSF is building an open ecosystem that fosters industry-wide collaboration, enabling your firm to stay on top of the FinTech revolution.

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Why it’s a must-see
Learn how open source in general, and the Symphony Software Foundation specifically, are accelerating growth of the ecosystem around the Symphony Communication Platform, while also delivering innovation faster and at a lower cost.


Check out more of today’s FinDEVr Previews:

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • IBS Journal Interviews David Mitchell, NYMBUS president.
  • Startland interviews EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush on hiring plans, global expansion.
  • PayPal and Vodafone partner to facilitate contactless payments in the U.K.
  • GreenKey Technologies begins rollout of new mobile app that will offer hard turrets through existing hardware and infrastructure.
  • nanoPay using Liberty Village as a working lab for its MintChip digital currency.

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.

Which Devs Are Coming to FinDEVr Silicon Valley Next Week?

Which Devs Are Coming to FinDEVr Silicon Valley Next Week?

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FinDEVr returns to Silicon Valley next week on 18/19 October, and we’re preparing for the wave of fintech by examining the companies, their presentations, and the audience in more detail. In the past few weeks, we’ve showed off highlights of each company’s presentation in our Preview series and showcased content from their slide deck in a special Deep Dive feature. Don’t miss out on this year’s FinDEVr Silicon Valley. Register today to join us.

During the dual-track show, each company will give a 15 minute presentation and the audience will have multiple networking opportunities to get a closer look at the tech and talk with the developers involved. Here’s a look at the headquarters/locations of the 46 presenting companies we’ll see on stage next week. fdsv16mapstealthjpg

While 10 companies call the Bay Area home, nine will cross national borders to come into the U.S. and showcase their technology at FinDEVr. The two companies traveling the farthest are Kyckr and OCR Labs, which are both based in Australia.

Stay tuned later this week for more about what to expect at FinDEVr, who else will be in attendance, and last-minute conference details.


FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 is sponsored by The Bancorp.

FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016 is partnered with Acuity Market Intelligence, BankersHub,BayPay Forum, BiometricUpdate.com, Bitcoin Magazine, Bitoinist.net, Breaking Banks, Byte Academy, California Bankers Association, Celent, The Cointelegraph, Colloquy, Emerging Payments Association, Empire Startups, FIDO Alliance, Fintech Finance, Global Platform, Hack Reactor, Harrington Starr, Juniper Research, Mercator Advisory Group, Next Money, Payment Week, Payments & Cards Network, SecuritySolutionsWatch.com, SIMAlliance, Swiss Finance + Technology Association, and Women Who Code.

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: eSTORM

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: eSTORM

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FA2016-V1A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

eSTORM has 17+ years of business history. All previous authentications focused on user authentication but eSTORM has designed and implemented a brand new concept of Service Authentication.

Features:

  • Strong human-oriented, two-way mutual authentication
  • Super easy user experience
  • Dramatic reduction of operational costs

Why it’s great
Do the right authentication with DualAuth. Let’s change the 50-year-old, vulnerable, one-way user authentication into more secure, mutual authentication.

Presentersscreen-shot-2016-10-11-at-1-31-38-pm

John Woo, CEO
Woo has been leading eSTORM for 17 years as CEO. He wants to help people do right by using eSTORM products and seeks to help employees find out their natures and pursue happiness.
LinkedIn

BongHo Kang, CSO screen-shot-2016-10-11-at-1-31-52-pm
Kang had been working for global companies such as Cisco and NDS Corp. Initially he began his career as an embedded software developer and is now chief strategic sales officer for eSTORM.
LinkedIn

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: EyeVerify

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: EyeVerify

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FA2016-V1A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

EyeVerify’s Eyeprint ID is a convenient, secure, eye-based biometric authentication for mobile banking and payments that is today used by more than 40 financial services companies.

Features:

  • Software-only and can be used on almost all popular smartphones
  • The only mobile biometric that generates a high-entropy key
  • Advanced spoof detection

Why it’s great
Eyeprint ID is the only mobile biometric that generates a high-entropy key-equivalent to a 50-character complex password.

Presenter

Tinna Hung, Director of Marketing
Hung joined EyeVerify in May 2015. She has 18 years of experience in strategic planning, product planning and strategic marketing, mostly at mobile/technology companies.
LinkedIn

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: WeInvest

FinovateAsia Sneak Peek: WeInvest

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A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateAsia on 8 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

WeInvest’s end-to-end robo-advisery platform on mobile and web is backed by a robust middle-to-back-office platform, global investment strategies and execution, and custody with Pershing, BNY Mellon.

Features:

  • AUM-based fee structure. Pay as you scale.
  • Mutiple asset classes, currencies, brokers and custodians supported
  • Investment strategies App Store to gain access to the best global strategies

Why it’s great
Asia’s first platform-as-a-service robo-adviser can help you launch your version in three months with an investment of less than US$150,000.

Presentersscreen-shot-2016-10-11-at-1-17-59-pm

Bhaskar Prabhakara, CEO
Prabhakara has over 14 years’ consulting experience with various banks, brokerages and asset-management firms across India, Middle East, United States, and London. He graduated from IIT Madras and has an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad.
LinkedIn

Aananth Solaiyappan, CTO screen-shot-2016-10-11-at-1-18-12-pm
Solaiyappan is changing wealth management and investing through technology in Asia with a passion for design-led innovation and the transformative power of fintech in Asia. He formerly worked for Stanchart, Amazon, Oracle, and Sequoia.
LinkedIn

Fintech Favorites

Featured

  • U.K.-based challenger bank Atom opens to the public. The bank’s iPhone and iPad app is built on the Unity gaming platform and is the only way to access the mobile-only bank. Atom has a customer service team equipped with AI and machine learning, and has bolstered its security using voice and face biometric login. Atom Bank is the first of a handful of U.K. challenger banks set to launch this year, including Mondo, Starling Bank, and Tandem. Atom is headquartered in Durham and is already valued at almost $190 million. Check out Business Insider’s coverage.

Deals

  • Akamai (FEU 15) acquires Soha Systems, which offers secure access as a service for enterprises. This matches well with Akamai’s aim to offer cloud-based services to enterprises, and places it in a good position for a potential acquisition. See our coverage.
  • Jack Henry & Associates (FF 15) collaborates with Visa (FDSV 14) to accelerate P2P payments to debit cards. This may help banks compete with other services that have sped up settlement times, such as Zelle (formerly clearXchange) and Venmo (FS 13). See the press release.

Milestones

  • IBM (FF 16) announced a $200 million investment for a new global headquarters for its Watson IoT business. The headquarters will be located in Munich and is one of IBM’s largest-ever investments in Europe. This move is part of a $3 billion initiative to bring Watson’s computing expertise into the world of IoT. See IBM at FinDEVr Silicon Valley, 18/19 Oct 2016. See VentureBeat’s coverage here.
  • Banking Technology reported that Misys (FEU 15) is preparing to issue an IPO in Nov 2016 with a $6.9 billion float. Advisory firm Moelis will be overseeing the move. Misys was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in 2012 when it merged with Turaz. Misys CEO Nadeem Sayed says going public is a “logical step in our evolution.” See Banking Technology’s coverage.
  • Aire (FEU 15) raised $2 million. Along with the funding announcement, the alternative credit-scoring platform announced it is now authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.’s financial regulator. This places it on a more level playing field to compete with the big three credit bureaus. See our coverage.

Tech

  • Thomson Reuters (FF 12) unveils blockchain-dev platform, BlockOne ID. Built for Ethereum, BlockOne ID is an experimental framework in which app owners can manage access to their blockchain contracts in a controlled environment. See Banking Tech’s coverage.

Financeit’s Fresh $17 Million to Fund TD Financing Acquisition

Financeit’s Fresh $17 Million to Fund TD Financing Acquisition

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Today, Financeit pulled in a $17 million venture funding round that was led by new investors Pritzker family business interests advised by The Pritzker Organization and DNS Capital. Existing investors also contributed. The new installment boosts the Canada-based company’s total funding to more than $38 million since it was established in 2011.

This comes less than a month after Financeit announced the acquisition of TD Bank Group’s indirect home improvement financing assets. Today’s installment will be used to fund the $339 million transaction, which included the purchase of more than 800 merchant dealer agreements. Once things have settled from the deal, Financeit will be servicing 45,000 existing TD consumer loans.

The secondary purpose of today’s round will be to “support the ongoing needs of the company as it continues its rapid growth.” In a press release, Michael Garrity, founder and CEO of Financeit, said, “As more merchants embrace the benefits of offering cloud and mobile-based financing options to their customers, Financeit expects to increase its sizable signature in this market. We continue to focus on innovation for our merchant partners and market growth through both organic tactics and acquisition.” The company has already increased its lending activity in the home improvement industry by almost 2X since 2015.

Last month, Financeit made headlines when it recruited Ian Hanning, the CFO from Capital One Canada. Earlier this fall the company debuted its direct-to-consumer financing platform, Financeit Direct, which enables consumers to apply for funds via their mobile device. At FinovateFall 2014, Financeit made its U.S. debut in conjunction with FIS.

FinDEVr Preview: NuData Security

FinDEVr Preview: NuData Security

FinDEVr PreviewsFinDEVrSV16-withdate highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms, and integrations at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, October 18 & 19. Tickets are on sale now. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

NuData Security will be demonstrating its flagship product NuDetect, a behavioral biometrics platform that monitors behavioral interactions. The platform accurately verifies identity based on unconscious natural behaviors in real-time. It can detect most forms of account-based, automated, anomalous, and fraudulent online behavior even when valid credentials are presented.

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Why it’s a must-see
See how to verify users in real-time before a transaction—even when the correct credentials are presented—identify higher risk activities, and leverage an extensive behavioral network. Behavioral biometrics offers financial institutions the balance between real security and a great customer experience. NuData supports new account creation, ATO, and automated use-cases.


Check out more of today’s FinDEVr Previews: