Finovate Debuts: Minetta Brook’s Knewsapp

The Finovate Debuts series introduces new Finovate alums. Today’s feature is Minetta Brook, which demonstrated Knewsapp at FinovateFall 2014.

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Minetta Brook aims for Knewsapp to change the way investors stay informed of news relating to stocks in their portfolio. The web-based news discovery application surfaces topics before they become trending news, giving researchers a tool superior to Google.

The stats

    • $2.4 million in funding
    • 10 employees
    • 100+ firms in beta
    • 100,000+ news sources searched
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Knewsapp

Traditionally, when seeking information that may effect a stock in their portfolio, investors search Google, Yahoo or other investment info sources. But typical search engines measure the importance of an article based on popularity.This method elevates content that could be days old, and buries stories investors actually need to read.

For traders, risk management professionals, and research analysts that need real-time news, search engines are not the best tools for content discovery. Knewsapp’s content-based model finds the information investors need to make important trading decisions.

Aside from simply serving up news, Knewsapp also helps investors know what news may effect their investments. It uses a proprietary scoring method to suggest content they should read to be informed, based on their portfolio.

Knewsapp launched on Bloomberg in May. Here’s what the full integration looks like:

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Features
>>Top tickers

Knewsapp continuously scans Twitter and more than 100,000 sources of news and blogs for unusual activity. The result is a list of stocks with the most relevant and fastest developing news, based on their score and velocity.

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Ticker and/or topic combination search
With this function, users search a ticker symbol by itself or in combination with key word(s). The result shows headlines of relevant news stories, sources, scores and similar topics.

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Additionally, a filter capability enables users to see news in specific markets or sectors.

Portfolio monitoring
With hundreds of stocks in a portfolio, it can be difficult to know which terms to search. Knewsapp simplifies this by displaying the score, along with the rate the news is developing, for each stock in a portfolio.

When users filter by the score or velocity, they see which stocks are receiving above average coverage in the news or on Twitter. The right-hand panel displays news stories corresponding to stocks in their portfolio.

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Story DNA
The Story DNA section word cloud displays a quick view of topics and themes within a selected news story.

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Minetta Brook debuted the public web version of Knewsapp at FinovateFall 2014.

Financeit Brings in Fresh Funding After U.S. Launch

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What do wonders of the world, deadly sins, the Harry Potter series, and Financeit’s funding have in common? They all come in sets of seven (at least for now).

Financeit’s seventh round of funding comes from BEST Funds, which is adding an undisclosed amount to the $21.4 million Financeit has raised since its 2007 launch.

Previous rounds include $13 million in November 2013, along with $8.4 million in angel funding received in five rounds from 2007 to 2012.

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The new installment comes a few months after the Toronto-based company launched its point of sale financing solution in the United States. This is no small feat, given the hurdles of complying with U.S. regulations. Financeit plans to use the funds to expand growth in the new market.

Check out the live demo of Financeit’s U.S. launch, along with its partnership with FIS, at FinovateFall 2014.

Another +1 For Host Card Emulation: SimplyTapp Garners $6 Million

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Host Card Emulation (HCE) solutions company, SimplyTapp, is making it easier for banks to place their own tap to pay functionality in customers’ hands.

To further this mission, two investors, Blue Sky Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, recently contributed $6 million in Series B funding to the Austin-based startup.

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Other funding rounds include a $1.4 million Series A round last November and a $200,000 seed round in February of 2013. Its total funding now tallies just over $7.5 million.

Check out SimplyTapp’s video from FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, where it explains HCE.

Alumni News– November 14, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgIntelliResponse acquired by [24]7 for its customer service suite.
  • Another +1 For Host Card Emulation: SimplyTapp Garners $6 Million.
  • Financeit Brings in Fresh Funding After U.S. Launch.
  • Payfone selected as “Best Revenue Creator/Enhancer” for Mobile Network Operators in the 2014 Fierce Innovation: Telecom Edition Awards.
  • InComm & PayPal collaborate to offer digital gift cards.
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.

Alumni News– November 13, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgKili acquires NFC microSD pioneer DeviceFidelity.
  • American Banker lists Currency Cloud, BioCatch, Linqto, VerifyValid, and Rippleshot as top 10 tech companies to watch.
  • Fintech in the fall: themes and company updates from CAN Capital, Encap Security, Fuze Network, Guardian Analytics, Larky, Ripple, and Xpenditure.
  • American Banker examines 2015 plans for FIS, Fiserv and Diebold.
  • Forbes looks at the success of RoboAdvisors: Betterment, Wealthfront, Personal Capital, and SigFig.
  • Forbes examines Kantox’s P2P FX trading technology.
  • TSYS partners with FICO to deliver a marketing product for card issuers called TSYS Targeted Messaging.
  • Digital Insight enters reseller agreement with Guardian Analytics to deliver anomaly detection services to financial institutions.
  • Trulioo wins 2014 Canadian Technology Companies to watch award from Deloitte.
  • Huffington Post interviews Andrea Gellert, SVP Marketing at OnDeck.
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 in the Fall: Themes and Company Updates

Fall is in full swing and there has been plenty of news to keep the fintech world busy.

I spent last week at Money20/20 where the themes centered around Apple Pay, Bitcoin, and Millennials. In between listening to industry experts on these and other topics, I sat down to chat with seven Finovate alums. Here are a few notable updates:

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CAN Capital (fka Capital Access Network) has supplied just over $4 billion in funding to more than 55,000 small businesses. It continues to expand, reporting double-digit growth from last year.

CAN’s financing works well for small businesses who cannot obtain funding through traditional bank loans. Its 60%+ approval rate is made possible by the robust tech and big data analytic capabilities that enhance market insight. This ultimately broadens CAN’s access to prospective clients and enables it to provide customers with a lower priced loan.

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In June, it launched the beta version of CAN Connect, a set of 4 APIs. One of these APIs is called CAN Instant Quote (IQ). It pulls data from software that a small business uses frequently, such as scheduling or accounting software, to pre-approve them for instant financing.

In November, CAN announced a partnership with Yodlee to extend funding through its small business offering. This will enable Yodlee’s financial institution clients to offer customers access to funding via CAN’s Instant Quote API. The service will be available by Q1 of 2015.

While fixed term loans are still CAN’s core product, it is currently looking into offering flexible payment terms in 2015.

See CAN Capital’s demo from FinovateFall 2013 where it debuted Mobile Funder.

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Encap Security offers Smarter Authentication, a seamless way for banks to authenticate users across multiple channels, without disrupting the user experience.

Several weeks ago, Encap partnered with Feedzai to leverage its analytic engine that authenticates users. When the customer’s identity is in question, they are sent challenges to authenticate themselves, rather than being shut out of the system entirely.

Other partnerships are in the works, but all are confidential at this point.

Additionally, Encap has recently integrated Apple’s Touch ID to replace users’ PINs. While Encap’s Smarter Authentication will still be the underlying technology, Touch ID will help authenticate the user at each point of interaction.

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The company plans to incorporate other biometrics in the future.

Watch Encap demo Smarter Authentication at FinovateSpring 2014.

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As we tweeted last week, Fuze was recently acquired by Ingo Money, a company that specializes in mobile check cashing services for underbanked consumers. Ingo enables customers to instantly deposit checks onto a prepaid card, bank account, or mobile wallet.

The acquisition will combine Ingo’s mobile check cashing with Fuze’s swipe-to-pay and swipe-to-load features to give users more control over their money. Ingo will also leverage Fuze’s existing network of more than one billion cards, which includes:

    • 50 million prepaid cards
    • 459 million debit cards
    • 576 million credit cards
    • 531 million private label cards
    • 137 million other types

Ingo is also working on solutions to help users avoid late fees by enabling them to send funds to a location of their choice, such as their landlord. Additionally, it plans to expand the number of retail locations where customers load cash and move money from card to card.

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The terms of the acquisition, which is set to be finalized by the end of this year, were undisclosed.

Fuze Network last demonstrated at FinovateFall 2011 where it debuted Swipe2Pay.

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With a swell in data breaches this year, security has become a hot topic with the half-billion personal identities stolen in the last 8 months.

The increasing number of new solutions and capabilities banks now offer has opened up fresh opportunities for fraudsters to compromise users’ identities. To combat this, Guardian Analytics has added capabilities that gather user reputation data, such as their IP address.

Guardian Analytics is working with more than 300 financial institutions and has expanded its partnerships outside of banks. In the last year and a half, it has partnered with two non-bank institutions, Fiserv and Digital Insight.

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In the future, the California-based company plans to expand its analytics-based security solutions, since rules-based security is failing under the ever-expanding number of requirements needed to protect institutions.

Guardian Analytics debuted FraudXCHANGE at FinovateFall 2012.

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Larky, a company that provides card-linked discounts and offers on a mobile platform, signed six new financial institution clients across Alabama, Michigan, and New York in October.

Each new client is using a white-labeled version of Larky’s platform coupled with a package of local offers and rewards. The offers not only save users money, but also drive traffic to local business, and increase card usage.

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Check out Larky’s demo from FinovateFall 2014.

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Open source payments protocol, Ripple,announced a partnership with Yantra, which specializes in electronic payment systems. Specifically, Ripple will use Yantra’s risk management capabilities.

The Ripple network increases the speed and velocity of transactions, which add to its risk. To mitigate the liability, it leverages Yantra’s technology to create context and conditionality to its money movement processes.

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Yantra will augment the data collected about transactions and is adding new tools, such as custom search fields, to better analyze the data, and all within seconds.

Ripple debuted at FinovateSpring 2013.

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When we last spoke with Xpenditure at the beginning of this year, the company had $2.2 million in Angel funding and 15 employees. By the end of 2014, it will have raised $3.5 million in total funding and expects to have 25 employees.

It is also expanding its operations. It recently opened offices in São Paulo and New York City. In fact, the U.S. is its fastest growing market and accounts for 30% of its customers.

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In late October, it launched a partnership with MasterCard and its expense management system will be available as a part of MasterCard’s Business Owner ToolBox in Canada.

Check out Xpenditure’s demo from FinovateEurope 2014.

Alumni News– November 12, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgGuardian Analytics introduces FraudMAP ACH-RDFI to identify suspicious transactions.
  • Zumigo named finalist in Mobile Excellence Awards for Best Mobile Retail/Commerce Solution.
  • Pando Daily: BillGuard was the first to notify many affected consumers of the USPS security breach.
  • Yodlee Interactive introduces selected companies to participate in its incubator program.
  • AsiaOne Business features PlayMoolah co-founder, Lee Min Xuan.
  • ReadyForZero launches ReadyForZero Insights, a new dashboard to help users understand their debt.
  • MetaIntelli and Arxan Technologies partner to provide developers a way to mitigate security and privacy risks in mobile apps.
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.

Linkable Networks Raises $8 Million for Card Linked Offers Platform

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Just days after its competitor, Cardlytics, announced a major funding round, Linkable Networks landed a fresh $8 million round.

The new installment is Linkable Networks’ seventh funding round, bringing its total to $28.7 million.

    • October 2014: $8 million
    • August 2013: $3.6 million
    • December 2012: $4.1 million
    • September 2012: $3.2 million
    • October 2011: Undisclosed
    • March 2011: $8.3 million
    • October 2010: $1.5 million

The Boston-based company’s investors include Kepha Partners, Common Angels Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

Linkable Networks focuses on enhancing customer loyalty for retailers while providing financial institutions with a reward program linked to bank cards.

The company was founded as Clovr Media in 2011 and has since changed its name. It debuted MyLinkables MasterCard solution at FinovateFall 2012.

Alumni News– November 11, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgLinkable Networks Raises $8 Million for Card Linked Offers Platform.
  • Coinbase integrates with Openfolio to create transparency in who is investing in Bitcoin.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions Launches Enhanced Select Business 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.

Alumni News– November 10, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNHS Choices selects Narrative Science to Assist with Delivery of Healthcare Information.
  • Visa using Kofax TotalAgility to deploy enhanced data and invoice management in Asia Pacific.
  • PostFinance integrates Strands PFM in their new digital banking platform.
  • BNN interviews Bionym CEO on how its Nymi band could work for payments.
  • The Australian Business Review considers how SocietyOne is contributing to the P2P lending boom.
  • Livemint.com features Bankbazaar.com’s growth.
  • Hoyos Labs launches iOS & Android password manager that uses the user’s face to log into websites.
  • BillGuard and Experian Data Breach Resolution partner to offer an advanced ID protection suite.
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.

What the Hack to do With All those APIs?

What the Hack to do With All those APIs?
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We’re in Vegas this week, catching up with several Finovate and FinDEVr alums. Before the week even started, however, we took a gamble and spent the weekend at the Money20/20 Hackathon.

Many Finovate and FinDEVr alums have powerful APIs to enable the creation of solutions to solve all types of problems. At the hackathon, the crowd of 450 developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs developed a myriad of solutions over the course of 25 hours.

Here are the winners for each company:

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Bionym winners

  • OffBank, which uses Bionym’s Nymi band to authenticate bank customers before initiating a wire transfer
  • I Heart Pay, which uses Bionym’s Nymi band, combined with an app, to enable merchants to verify a customer’s identity to charge them for a transaction

Check out Bionym’s demo from FinDEVr 2014, San Francisco

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Blockchain winner:

Samaritus, which uses barcode scanners inside of recycling bins that read bar codes on recyclable materials to reward people for recycling. The app pays them in bitcoin, while simultaneously collecting data on what and where users recycle.

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Feedzai winner:
Bacon, which places a multi-layer authentication platform that layers more security data on top of Feedzai’s algorithm to authenticate customers before a transaction. 

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Intuit winner:
In Reach, which uses the QuickBooks Online API to determine the availability of a retailer’s inventory, then enables customers to purchase goods via a native app, and pick up the item in the store.
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MasterCard winner:

Enterchange, which uses MasterCard’s API to enable customers to order food and pay at sit-down restaurants.
Modo Payments winners:
    • ShopperPal (for FIS), an app that incents consumers to enter a physical retail store by giving them points for entering a 
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      store, liking the company on Facebook, and making purchases in the store. The points are added to the consumer’s Modo Payments app.

    • KidFit (for Alliance Data), an app that syncs with wearable devices, such as a smartwatch, to enable parents to reward their children for elevating their heart rate for a set amount of time. The rewards are given in the form of points in the Modo Payments app. 
    • Nike Modo, a system that uses the Nike Fuel band to track a consumer’s geolocation and add reward points to their Modo Wallet when they enter a store and make a purchase.
Swift, a solution for retail stores that uses an RFID sensor to track each product that is placed into shopping carts. The data syncs to the consumer’s PayPal app to enable a quick and mobile checkout experience.

Socure Scores $2.5 Million to Overcome Evil with Good

Socure Scores $2.5 Million to Overcome Evil with Good

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Online security companies are always working to stay one step ahead of fraudsters. Socure, a New York-based company is out to fight these malevolent deeds with an approach it calls Social Biometrics.

As it turns out, it pays to be good. The company just closed a $2.5 million round of funding this week. Investors include:

    • Founder Collective
    • Two Sigma Ventures
    • ff Venture Capital 

This, added to Socure’s $2.2 million Seed round it generated in March, brings the company’s total funding to $4.7 million.

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Socure’s fraud detection solution uses people’s social behavior across networks to determine the authenticity of their identity. See their debut of Social Biometrics at FinovateFall 2013.