Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Prosper’s Growth History: $4 Billion in Loan Originations Since Launch

Prosper’s Growth History: $4 Billion in Loan Originations Since Launch
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Prosper

ProsperHomepage715

What’s the most efficient way to understand the growth of a company? Look at the data, of course!

P2P lending granddaddy, Prosper, recently published some facts and stats about its history, performance, and future plans. We dissected the key pieces:

  • Prosper launched in 2006, and six years later, in 2012, the company had closed $150 million in loans.
  • In 2014, Prosper closed $1.6 billion in loans, a record at that time, and brought in 3.5 times more loan volume than 2013.
  • In Q1 2015, Prosper closed its largest quarter so far with $912 million in loan originations on the platform—an increase of almost 12x over two years before.
  • This week, Prosper announced it has originated more than $4 billion in loans since its 2006 launch.

LendItGraph

Graph source: Prosper blog (http://bit.ly/1JWswZO)

The industry is taking notice. So far this year, Prosper has been named one of Forbes Magazine’s Most Promising Companies of 2015, an AlwaysOn OnFinance Company of the Year, and was listed as a Global 250 Top Private Company.

In 2012, Prosper employed 85 people. The company now has 457+ employees and, in 2015 alone, has doubled the size of its engineering team.

Prosper debuted at the first Finovate event in 2007 in New York City. Check out the demo video below.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud, Kreditech, Patch of Land, Prosper, Realty Mogul, Tradeshift

On Finovate.com

  • “Prosper’s Growth History: $4 Billion in Loan Originations Since Launch”

Around the web

  • American Banker covers Realty Mogul and Patch of Land (paywall).
  • PYMNTS looks at how Currency Cloud plans to use its recent round of funding. Come see their presentation at FinDEVr 2015.
  • Tradeshift partners with supply-chain management solutions company Quyntess, which has built three apps on Tradeshift’s open platform.
  • TechCrunch rumors Kreditech is three months out from closing a $110 million round with contribution from Peter Thiel.

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.

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Finovate Debuts: itBit’s Regulated Bitcoin Trading Platform

Finovate Debuts: itBit’s Regulated Bitcoin Trading Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finovate Debuts, itBit

itBitHomepage

While there are dozens of bitcoin trading platforms available to people looking to buy and sell bitcoin, itBit easily differentiates itself from the masses.

itBit’s founders set out to build a compliant exchange which is what sets the New York-based company apart from its numerous competitors. In fact, it is the only regulated bitcoin trading platform open to all U.S. customers.

itbitMultichannel

Company facts:

  • 32 employees
  • $30 million in funding
  • Headquartered in New York City
  • Thousands of users across the globe
  • Board members include Senator Bill Bradley; Sheila Bair, former FDIC chairman; and Robert Herz, former FASB chairman
  • Accommodates both retail and institutional traders

itBit Trust Company

nydofsitBit has a trust company that is licensed by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The company selected New York state because the founders are based in NYC, and it is the most difficult state from which a license can be obtained. For this reason, the certification is recognized nationwide.

As a part of this license, itBit protects all of users’ fiat and bitcoin currencies. It also offers tax documentation and FDIC insurance for U.S. currency deposits.

Since itBit is regulated, it must pass yearly exams, complete capital requirements, and face oversight to ensure its bitcoins are secure. Additionally, the company must maintain a certain level of regulatory capital and is liable to repay users in the event any currency is lost or stolen.

Trading platform

itBit enables users to trade three fiat currencies against bitcoin (XBT), including Euros (EUR), Singapore dollars (SGD), and U.S. dollars (USD). itBit holds all client bitcoins in cold storage, i.e., stored offline.

The screenshot below shows the user’s wallet, which displays account balances across all currencies. The wallet also offers the option to deposit and withdraw from their account.

itbitWallet

To make a deposit, the user selects the desired currency. For every deposit, itBit generates a unique address, corresponding to the user’s wallet, which ensures funds are routed directly into their itBit account. The wallet dashboard also offers a visualization of all historical deposits, withdrawals, and currency trades.

Make a trade

At the top of the trading platform, itBit highlights the best bid and ask in the market, as well as the 24-hour bitcoin trading-volume.

To buy bitcoin, the user enters their desired limit-order price and amount, which will be filled only if the price of bitcoin reaches the user’s specified limit-price. Once they click buy and confirm the trade, their account updates in real-time to reflect the purchase.

The order book displays all executed, cancelled, and live orders in the market to all users. This transparent view of trades enables users to conduct their own price analyses.

itBit operates on a maker-taker fee structure, meaning that it pays rebates to users who are making money on its platform via limit-order execution. The rebate section shows the user their available balance to use toward future trading fees.

itbitBid

itBit is available internationally to users from 67 countries. The startup has offices in New York City and Singapore. It is currently looking for bank partnerships.

Check out itBit’s full live demo from FinovateSpring 2015 below, or visit the Finovate video archives.

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Avalara Integrates Automated Sales Tax Solution with Stripe

Avalara Integrates Automated Sales Tax Solution with Stripe
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avalara

AvalaraHomepage

Earlier this week, sales-tax automation company Avalara announced it has integrated with payment acceptance company, Stripe.

The integration with Stripe’s subscription billing service and API will make Avalara’s sales-tax calculation and compliance services available to companies using Stripe. The integration with Avalara takes minutes, after which merchants can automatically calculate sales tax owed on every transaction. Additionally, Avalara will automate the tax return preparation, filing, and remittance processes.

Avalara is now one of five third-party sales-tax service-providers available to Stripe merchants.

StripeHomepage

Founded in 2004, Avalara works with businesses of all sizes to provide holistic tax compliance systems that work within their own financial, billing, ecommerce, or point-of-sale systems. The Washington-based company has a variety of specialized products, ranging from SKU-level tax solutions for retailers to compliance systems for vacation rental homeowners. Avalara integrates with many other ecommerce software providers, including Bigcommerce, Groupon, Recurly, and Zen Cart.

Avalara is one of the presenting companies at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco on 6/7 October, so come and check out their presentation. Super Early-Bird tickets are on sale through 10 July, so pick up yours today and save.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: App Annie, Avalara, Cachet Financial Solutions, Coinbase, Insuritas, itBit, Nearex, Tradeshift, Vouch, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • “Nearex Closes Series B Funding”
  • “Avalara Integrates Automated Sales Tax Solution with Stripe”
  • “Finovate Debuts: itBit’s Regulated Bitcoin Trading Platform”

Around the web

  • American Banker article notes Vouch is bringing social connections back into lending in the 21st century.
  • Xero updates Tracked Inventory feature.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions partners with risk-management software company Advanced Fraud Solutions.
  • Kansas City Business Journal considers how Tradeshift is igniting renewed interest in its new partner, C2FO.
  • TechCrunch: “App Annie Integrates with Google Analytics, Launches Free In-App Analytics for Developers”
  • Insuritas to power multistate insurance agency solution for Enterprise Bank.

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.

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Nearex Closes Series B Funding

Nearex Closes Series B Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Nearex

NearexHomepage

Singapore-based Nearex, a proximity-transaction solutions company, received an undisclosed amount of funding in a Series B round today. This marks the second round of funding Nearex has received from a group of investors, led by Tata Capital Growth Fund LP. Existing investors also contributed to the new round, including Japan-based BEENOS Asia and Xinvesco.

The company, which specializes in contactless micro payments, debuted Xip at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose. Xip’s micropayments solution offers merchants a tiny mobile point-of-sale terminal, called a XipPOS, that communicates with the consumer’s Mobile Money account via a personalized NFC sticker, XipTAG, to initiate a contactless payment.

The hardware integrates with existing mobile wallets. Nearex’s target clients include financial institutions and other mobile money service providers.

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A Dash of Good Karma: Karmic Labs Raises $5 Million

A Dash of Good Karma: Karmic Labs Raises $5 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Karmic Labs

KarmicLabsHomepage

Was it good karma? San Francisco-based Karmic Labs, a company whose APIs offer payment and SaaS solutions to enterprises, pulled in $5 million in a Series A funding round today.

The funds come from Greycroft Partners, who led the round, with participation from Trusted Ventures, Accelerator Ventures, Pipeline VC, Correlation Ventures and individual investor Iqram Magdon-Ismail. The new amount tops the company’s 2013 Seed round, in which it garnered $2.7 million from Draper Associates. Karmic Labs’ funding now totals $7.7 million.

The comDashCardsMobilepany debuted its Dash Prepaid MasterCard at FinovateSpring 2015 (watch the live demo below). Dash is a business-expense-management platform that supplies employees with MasterCard prepaid cards, and enables managers to view, approve and control employee spending via a mobile app. The all-in-one system facilitates budgeting and accounting by simplifying the expense-reporting process.

The company is working with FIS as a distribution partner for Dash and plans to use the $5 million to advance Dash and create product awareness.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr APIntelligence

Are you building new financial technology? Be sure to register now for the only event exclusively for fintech developers, FinDEVr 2015, 6/7 October in San Francisco. Super Early-Bird tickets are on sale through this Friday, 10 July.

FinDEVr2015-SF-Logo-Stackedwdate

Before diving into company news, check out American Banker’s thoughts on why U.S. banks are opening up APIs to outsiders. It’s worth the read.

The latest from FinDEVr 2015 presenters

  • “12 New FinDEVr 2015 Presenters Announced“
  • “PayPal’s Early Valuation Tops $44 Billion”
  • PYMNTS.com takes a look at PayPal CEO Dan Schulman’s conversation with the Financial Times.
  • Rise in tech investment in the U.K. credited to companies such as Currency Cloud in London’s fintech sector.

Alumni updates

  • Xero releases payroll availability for Nevada and Illinois.
  • Dwolla’s Jordan Lampe pens American Banker article that focuses on Open Bank Project’s use of open sourced APIs.
  • Monitise to emphasize API, on-site solutions in recent strategy shift.
  • Xero to offer foreign invoice payments via new partnership with Midpoint Holdings.

Stay up to date on daily developments by following FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Cardlytics, Karmic Labs, ThreatMetrix, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • “12 New FinDEVr 2015 Presenters Announced“
  • “A Dash of Good Karma: Karmic Labs Raises $5 Million”

Around the web

  • Cardlytics wins 2 Silver Stevies at 2015 American Business Awards.
  • Xero adds payroll availability in Nevada and Illinois.
  • ThreatMetrix wins Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in three categories at Network Products Guide 2015 Hot Companies and Best Products Awards.

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.

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12 New FinDEVr 2015 Presenters Announced

12 New FinDEVr 2015 Presenters Announced
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr 2015 San Francisco

FinDEVrPresentation

If you haven’t been paying attention to our conference for developers, now’s a good time to start. FinDEVr is only three months away and we’ve just added 12 new speakers to an impressive roster of firms delivering 20-minute, TED-style presentations on their latest tools, APIs, platforms, techniques and case studies.

FinDEVr2015LogoV2DateSo join our audience at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco on 6/7 October 2015. We’re projecting attendance will exceed 600 fintech developers, CTOs and other builders. With ticket prices at their lowest, now is the time to pick up yours. Super Early-Bird tickets are on sale through this Friday, 10 July.

Below is a list of the presenting companies so far; we’ll reveal the full roster later this summer:

Interested in following news from these companies, along with last year’s presenting companies? Follow FinDEVr on Twitter and keep an eye out for our weekly FinDEVr APIntelligence blog posted every Wednesday.

FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 is partnered with BankersHub, BayPay Forum, California Bankers Association, Celent, CoinTelegraph, Mercator Advisory Group, and SF Fintech.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BioCatch, Open Bank Project, Ripple

Around the web

  • American Banker focuses on how Open Bank Project uses open-source APIs.
  • TechCrunch looks at BioCatch’s newest patent on user’s interaction with phone’s accelerometer and touch screen.
  • “Ripple Labs Elected to Fed Steering Committee for Faster Payments”

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.

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PayPal’s Early Valuation Tops $44 Billion

PayPal’s Early Valuation Tops $44 Billion
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: PayPal

PayPalHomepage

Ahead of its pending split from parent company, eBay, PayPal began trading on Nasdaq this morning on a “when issued” basis under the symbol PYPLV. So far, trades have settled around $36.50 per share, with a high of $39.75 per share.

Here are the details from the Wall Street Journal:

PYPLV

According to the Financial Times, this means that PayPal accounts for 60% of eBay’s market capitalization, which currently is sitting around $75 billion.

eBay shares are available in two separate forms, without PayPal rights (EBAY) and with PayPal rights (EBAYV), in which eBay shareholders will be given a PayPal share for each of their eBay shares. At noon eastern time, full eBay shares were trading at $61.40, and ex-PayPal eBay were trading at $25.10.

PayPal will officially split from eBay on July 20.

PayPal’s Braintree showed off at FinDEVr 2014 in San Francisco (video below) and will appear on the FinDEVr stage on 6/7 October 2015.

http://finovate.wistia.com/medias/y5r0p6kn2b?embedType=iframe&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640

The company’s last Finovate demo was at FinovateEurope 2012 in London.

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