Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Avoka’s 3-Minute Loan Application Streamlines Account Opening

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avoka, FinovateEurope 2015
This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

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Avoka showed its fast onboarding process:

The 3-Minute Loan Application: Fastest Onboarding Experience in the World

Product and pricing are not differentiators in financial services—customer experience is. In particular, frictionless customer experiences have proven effective for attracting and retaining customers. Avoka helped a client go from 36% conversion rate for personal loan applications to 51% in just 4 weeks by focusing on delivering a frictionless experience for the customer. Because online, seconds matter.

We are demonstrating how combining social, cloud services, and crowd sourcing streamlines account opening, and how credit origination minimizes customer effort and takes the friction out of customer acquisition.

Presenters: Chief Experience Officer Derek Corcoran and Technical Manager 
Kevin Mortimer
 
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Product launch: February 2013
Metrics: Privately held company with 80+ employees globally
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), through other fintech companies and platforms
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Founded: January 2002
Website: avoka.com
Twitter: @avokatech

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VATBox Takes the Headache Out of Tracking VAT

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, VATBox

VATBoxLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

VATBox demonstrated its system that tracks and manages VAT spend:

VATBox is demoing a first-of-its-kind, cloud-based, truly automated solution. The automated VAT recovery solution and dashboard enable customers to build one global process that tracks and manages VAT spend with ease. Automation guarantees reduce risk, simplicity, and ease of use by eliminating human error and reducing the inefficiencies of manual processes. But, automation and transparency isn’t only about the money, it’s about data integrity. Qualified and validated data delivers visibility, control, and compliance.

VATBox empowers companies like Teva, PPG, and Broadcom by maximizing returns while enabling transparency. Deployment is simple; all it takes is a few simple steps.

Presenters: CEO, Co-founder Isaac Saft; Stephen Coleclough, advisory board member, VATBox
 
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First product launch: November 2013; VATBox 2, January 2015
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B) and through other Fintech companies and platforms
HQ: Herzilliya, Israel
Founded: 2012
Website: vatbox.com
Twitter: @VATBox

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With Wipro’s ngGenie myAdvisor, Users Receive Personalized Banking Assistance

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, wipro

WiproLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

Wipro debuted ngGenie myAdvisor:

Wipro ngGenie™ myAdvisor truly provides the ‘Next Generation Banking Experience’ for customers. The Wipro ngGenie™ myAdvisor can have an interactive conversation with you in natural language using voice and gestures. Wipro ngGenie™ myAdvisor learns from your spend patterns, banking transactions, retail transactions, and your social transactions and provides personalized assistance.

It is able to adapt to the user, understand context, and provide the right kind of assistance. It learns from the user’s actions and is able to predict user action as well as provide timely help. Wipro ngGenie™ myAdvisor covers a broad range of functionalities across branch, call center, and web, and provides omnichannel experience.

Presenters: General Manager Mukund Kalmanker and Practice Head Sudhakar Babu Tamminedi
 
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Product launch: May 2015
Product distribution strategy: Through financial institutions
HQ: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Founded: December 1945
Website: wipro.com
Twitter: @wipro

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Strands Launches Loop to Combine PFM and Card-Linked Offers

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, Strands

StrandsLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

Strands demonstrated how Loop builds a personal banking experience for retail and commercial banking customers:

Strands Loop is a combination of three solutions: Business Financial Management (BFM), Card-Linked Offers (CLO) and Personal Financial Management (PFM). Strands BFM is a white-label product that helps SMEs make better financial decisions. With this intuitive tool, business owners can analyze and forecast future financial needs.

Thanks to the tight integration with Strands CLO and Strands PFM, SMEs are also empowered to influence their future cash flow. With predefined marketing strategies and PFM data insights, SMEs can easily set up campaigns and target highly relevant deals to the card holders. With Strands Loop, financial institutions can create a more seamless and personal banking experience and build better relationships with their SME clients.

Presenters: Dario Lombardi, Strands’ general manager; Cesar Richardson, director of business development

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Product launch: February 2015
Metrics: $55 million institutional investment, 70 employees, offices in Barcelona, Miami, Madrid and Buenos Aires, two business units: Finance and Retail, serving more than 150 corporate customers around the world
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B) through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms
HQ: Barcelona, Spain
Founded: 2004
Twitter: @StrandsFinance

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TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon Helps Kids Save for College

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, SAS Games

SASGamesLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

TiViTz showed how its College $avings Game-a-thon helps kids of all ages save for college:

The TiViTz College $avings Game-a-thon is a market-disruptive tool that complements existing financial savings vehicles and provides a solution for families to offset potential student-loan debt and to help cover the cost of higher education.

The Game-a-thon—where students solicit pledges online from friends and family for playing TiViTz games—is similar to a Walk-a-thon, only fully automated from pledge solicitation to fund deposit into a savings vehicle. The Game-a-thon can fundamentally change the way families think about affording college and significantly empower children to take responsibility for, and contribute to, their own advanced education, all while improving their math skills and financial literacy.

Presenters: CEO Siobhan Mullen; Director, Technology, Patrick Moore
 
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Product launch: September 2015
Metrics: TiViTz has raised more than $5 million from angel investors. The company has 10 employees to manage tournaments, events, operations, marketing, and promotions, as well as product development with game developers in Europe (Unit9) and with fundraising tool software developers in California (SETA International).
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Consumer (B2C) through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms, licensed
HQ: Cocoa, Florida, U.S.A.
Founded: February 2004
Twitter: @tivitz

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ebankIT’s Solution Brings Contextual Banking to Multiple Channels

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ebankIT, FinovateEurope 2015

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This post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.
 
ebankIT showed off its multichannel innovation that gives users a seamless experience across all channels:
ebankIT aims to materialize in a solution that is much more than a banking application, maximizing the interaction of financial institutions and clients by extending the concept of omnichannel and social banking. In the world of omnichannel banking, customers are in control of the channels they wish to use.
For example, they can begin an interaction using one channel, such as mobile, while at home, and end it in another, such as SmartTV or Internet banking. Omnichannel banking brings the industry closer to the promise of true contextual banking in which financial services become seamlessly embedded into the lives of individual and business customers.
Presenters: João Pinto, member of the board of directors, and Omni-channel Specialist Paulo Oliveira
 
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Product launch: February 2015
Metrics: Revenues around €2M, 50 employees
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), through financial institutions
HQ: Oporto, Portugal
Founded: January 2014
Website: ebankit.com
Twitter: @e_bank_it

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Quantitative Credit Research’s RiskAware Forecasts Corporate Defaults

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, Quantitative Credit Research

QuantitativeCreditResearchLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

Next, Quantitative Credit Research demonstrated RiskAware:

RiskAware was developed based on the lessons learned from the financial crises. RiskAware can analyze and measure corporate credit risk quicker and better than existing practices.

RiskAware forecasts corporate defaults on a one-year term with close to 90% accuracy rate. New methodology includes the introduction of the macro environment into credit risk analysis and the simulation of 32 macro scenarios for each loan and borrower.

Presenters: CEO and Founder Tamas Varkonyi and CTO Sandor Kocso
 
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Product launch: March 2014
Metrics: 4 partners, 5 employees, operation in United Kingdom and Central Europe
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), through financial institutions, through other fintech companies and platforms, licensed
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Founded: June 2010

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TradeRiver Finance’s Cross-Border Trade Platform Allows Buyers to Pay Suppliers in Local Currency

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015, TradeRiver Finance

TradeRiverLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateEurope 2015.

TradeRiver Finance showed its platform for global trade:

The TradeRiver platform provides a business-funding and transaction-execution solution, which completely changes the nature and operation of cross-border trade finance.

TradeRiver provides the online tool and the finance for trade buyers of goods and services to pay their global suppliers in cash and in local currency at any point in their supply chain using a facility much like an online credit card.

Presenters: COO Toby Lanyon and Business Development Executive Mike Mumford
 
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Product launch: September 2011
Metrics: £2.8M equity, 6 employees, revenues £2.2M to date, £45M loans advanced, 130 registered users
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), licensed
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Founded: April 2010
Twitter: @Trade_River

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AdviceGames Raises $570,000 from Ibuildings

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: AdviceGames, Funding

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AdviceGames, the Netherlands-based company that gamifies personal financial management, announced last week it raised $570,000.

The investment comes from Ibuildings, a creator of software that facilitates online communication between businesses and customers. The funding will be used to increase the speed of its machine learning technology and build a solid foundation for international growth.

Since launching in 2013, AdviceGames has invested over $1.1 million to develop and build its machine learning platform.

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Tom Schenkenberg, founder of Ibuildings, will join AdviceGames as CTO.

AdviceGames will debut its newest technology this week at FinovateEurope 2015.

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FinovateEurope Lands in London Tuesday

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2015

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We are excited to be in London again for the fifth annual FinovateEurope 2015. The event begins at 8:00 AM Tuesday, 11 February, at Old Billingsgate Market Hall and continues through 5:00 PM Wednesday, 12 February. If you still don’t have your ticket, pick one up today, because they’re almost gone.

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Here are a few last-minute reminders:

Presenters
We’ll showcase 70+ presenters over the course of the two-day show. Be sure to check them out beforehand to get a head start on networking opportunities.
Also, our Sneak Peek blog series provides more detail on select presenters.

When
On Tuesday, registration opens at 8:00 AM with continental breakfast served until opening remarks at 8:45 followed by the first demo at 9:00.
Here is the detailed agenda:
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Venue
We’re returning to the beautiful Old Billingsgate Market Hall, situated alongside the River Thames.
 
Mobile networking app

If you’re a registered attendee, download the mobile app to view the agenda, presenters, fellow attendees, and more:

Once you’ve downloaded it, search Finovate and select Join.

Have more questions? Check out our FAQ or email info@finovate.com.

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Funding for E.U.-based Finovate Alums Totals $377 Million in 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding

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With FinovateEurope less than a week away, it’s a good time to review the results of 2014. In total, European-based alumni of Finovate raised $377 million. And 2015 is looking even better with two major fundings in January:

Here are the 2014 fundings by quarter:

Q1, 2014
Total: $180 Million
Q2, 2014
Total: $107 Million
Q3, 2014

Total: $21 Million

Q4, 2014
Total: $69 Million

Note: This total does not reflect funding raised by the 44 new-to-Finovate companies that will demo next week at FinovateEurope 2015.

** We used $1 million for Red Zebra’s “seven figure amount”

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Payments Platform Mozido Adds $2.5 Million to SimplyTapp’s Series B Round

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, SimplyTapp

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Host Card Emulation company, SimplyTapp, announced a $2.5 million addition to this week’s most recent round, bringing its Series B total to $8.5 million and total cumulative funding to $10.1 million.

The Austin-based company announced the first round, which was furnished by Blue Sky Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, last November.

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The funding comes from mobile payments and rewards company, Mozido, which is also based in Texas.

SimplyTapp demonstrated at FinDEVr San Francisco 2014.

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