LendingRobot Pulls in $3 Million to Boost Your Lending Club and Prosper Portfolios

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Yesterday, LendingRobot received $3 million in funding for its platform that helps individuals invest like pros on P2P lending sites, Prosper and Lending Club. Europe-based Runa Capital led the Series A round.

The new funding, plus the undisclosed amount received in a Seed round last April, brings LendingRobot’s total raised to somewhere north of $3 million.

The Washington state-based company plans to use the funds to add new features, enhance its prediction models, and accelerate growth.

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LendingRobot uses an algorithm to invest users’ available balance in their Prosper and Lending Club accounts to get them the best return.

How is this different from Prosper’s QuickInvest or Lending Club’s Automated Investing?

Think of it as Bid Sniper software for eBay-meets P2P Lending. Popular loans are funded seconds after they are posted on Prosper or Lending Club, usually by institutional investors or hedge funds with automated loan investing technology. By the time the average individual makes their investments, often times the best loans have already been snatched up.

Additionally, it offers its 1,000+ users more than 40 filtering criteria to insure their cash is being invested how they want.

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LendingRobot has no up-front fees, and manages users’ first $10,000 for free, after which it takes 0.45% per year.

LendingRobot was recently named a finalist in SWIFT Innotribe’s Startup Challenge.

We featured LendingRobot in our Behind the Scenes feature in May of 2014. Check out LendingRobot’s live debut at FinovateSpring 2014.

FinovateEurope 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 3

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We’ll be in London three weeks from today, where drinks will be served, networking will be in full force, and we’ll be wrapping up the first day of FinovateEurope 2015 (get your ticket here).

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To help you prepare for the onslaught of 70+ live demos full of new technology, some of the presenters provided us a summary of what to expect from them on stage. This week, we’re featuring CoinJarEVRYFOBISSStrandsTrunomi, and VATBox:

Don’t miss previous posts:


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CoinJar is a digital finance platform that gives customers a way to manage and spend both traditional and digital currencies when and how they want.

Features

    • Store bitcoin without volatility 
    • End-to-end solutions to make bitcoin adoption easy 
    • Buy bitcoin reliably with a simple interface

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CoinJar provides end-to-end solutions to unlock Bitcoin’s potential.

Presenters

Asher Tan, CEO and Co-Founder
Economic Analyst. Researcher. Bitcoiner.
LinkedIn

Ryan Zhou, COO and Co-Founder
Rubyist. Student at University of Melbourne. Bitcoiner.
LinkedIn


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EVRY is the Nordics’ leading financial service provider and is presenting Spendific, a concept designed to make personal finance simple.

Features

    • Automatically generates personalized budget based on previous spending
    • Gives users feedback on their finances in real-time
    • Motivates users to reach their goals

Why it’s great
In Spendific there are no complicated graphs or charts to tell you whether you’re on track with your finances. Just one number. No worries.

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Presenters

Anne Moa, Product developer
Moa has previously worked as a youth economist in a large Norwegian bank, with responsibility for the bank’s main channel of communication towards young people.
LinkedIn

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Magne Meldal, Business developer
Combining two decades of technology and marketing experience with an open mind, Meldal is passionate about bringing better financial services to consumers.
LinkedIn


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FOBISS is a first modern tool enabling retail banks to manage their entire cash supply chains with one button click.

Features

    • Automates optimization and decision-making
    • Based on Artificial Intelligence technologies
    • Can be flexibly adapted to existing processes

Why it’s great
The industry’s first and only cash management system empowered by Artificial Intelligence and driving best decisions on time.

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Presenters

Mindaugas Leonavicius, Managing Director
Leonavicius has more than 10 years of experience in management consulting. Led multiple businesses through start-up phases from establishment to breakeven.
LinkedIn

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Andrius Ojeras, Global Sales Director
Ojeras is an IT Sales professional with more than 10 years of experience within multinational IT organizations.
LinkedIn


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Strands designs and creates next-generation digital banking experiences to help individuals and SMEs manage their finances.

Features

    • Help SMEs analyze and forecast future financial needs
    • Empower SMEs to deliver targeted marketing campaigns on mobile devices
    • Help banks address the digital banking needs of business owners

Why it’s great
With Strands Loop, financial institutions can create a more seamless and personal banking experience and build better relationships with their SME clients

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Presenters

Dario Lombardi, General Manager, Strands Finance
Lombardi leads the Finance BU. He joined Strands in 2011 as Business Development Director and has been responsible for managing sales in EMEA. Prior to Strands, he worked for Bloomberg LP
LinkedIn

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Cesar Jimenez Richardson, Director, Business Development
Richardson joined Strands in 2014 and is managing Strands Finance in the Americas. Previously he founded and managed tech startup companies in travel and education tech arena and worked for Bloomberg LP
LinkedIn


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Trunomi offers an innovative technology platform that streamlines Know Your Customer and mobile verification using a revolutionary consent-based data sharing platform.

Features

    • TruMobile securely connects customers with banks.
    • Monetises and personalises your customer’s data experience.
    • Streamlines verification KYC using a revolutionary consent-based data sharing platform.

Why it’s great
A customer-focused mobile solution that eliminates their most significant pain-points; making their account opening and data management experience simple, secure and easy.

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Presenters

Stuart Lacey, Founder & CEO
Lacey is an innovator, team-builder and thought leader. Sometimes mistaken for the Energizer Bunny – he is relentless in his drive to find better ways to learn, build, nurture and share great ideas.
LinkedIn

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Chia Brewin, Customer Development Executive
Brewin is a multi-tasking, Trunomian super-star. She attended University in the UK, helped run campaigns for major political parties then earned a black belt in the “Art of Customer Development”.
LinkedIn


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VATBox is the first, cloud-based automated solution for Foreign/Domestic VAT recovery, providing data-driven visibility and insights while maximizing VAT returns.

Features

    • Eliminate human-error and resources with automated VAT technology
    • Gain complete visibility, compliance and control of VAT spend
    • Benefit from VAT recovery optimization, maximizing refunds

Why its great
VATBox’s Automated VAT recovery solution enables customers to have one global process that tracks and manages VAT spend with ease, and to maximize VAT refunds.

Presenters

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Isaac Saft, Co-Founder & CEO

    • 2012 – 2013 – President and Global Business Development, KCS Ltd
    • 2004 – 2012 – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, KCS Ltd
    • 1994 – 2003 – Commanding Officer, Israel Defense Forces

LinkedIn

Stephen Coleclough, Advisory Board Member
Coleclough is a Tax Consultant in Mishcon de Reya’s Tax Group with over 30 years’ experience in tax and law. He was formerly a Partner and Global Leader of Indirect Taxes at pwc.

FinovateEurope will be held February 10 & 11 in London. Pick up your ticket today to save your seat at the hottest fintech event of the year.

Questions? Check out our FAQ for some answers.

Coinbase Raises $75 Million from BBVA, USAA, NYSE, & Others

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Amid recent murmurs of cryptocurrency’s projected outlook for 2015, bitcoin wallet Coinbase just received some credibility from some major financial institutions.

The San Francisco-based company pulled in $75 million in a round led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). BBVA VenturesUSAA Bank, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and Crypto Currency Partners also contributed, along with existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital.

From a fintech standpoint, the most notable investors are BBVA and USAA. Both have historically been known for being on the cutting edge of fintech. In an interview yesterday with CoinDesk, BBVA Ventures executive director Jay Reinemann stated:

“This is unfortunately not an announcement that we’re opening up the bank to do that, it’s moreso a precursor. We need to better understand the industry and understand how merchants and consumers are interacting with bitcoin.”

According to TechCrunch, this is the largest round yet a bitcoin-related company has raised. The new installment adds up to more than double its last three rounds combined, and brings its total funding to almost $107 million.

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What’s a bitcoin-focused company to do with all of those dollars? The Coinbase team will use the money to work on its mobile channel, increase its international availability from the current 19 countries to 30 countries, and build out its API.

To see the Coinbase wallet in action, check out its live demo from FinovateSpring 2014 where it demoed Instant Exchange.

Lending Club Pilots Program to Provide Low Interest Financing to Google Partners

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When you combine Lending Club’s entry into small business lending last March with its investment from Google in May of 2013, add in a successful IPO last December, what do you get?

A partnership with Google Partners.

Lending Club announced yesterday it is piloting a program that will enable Google to invest its own capital in its network of 10,000 partners by purchasing their loans. This differs from Google’s other investment arms, Google Capital and Google Ventures, as the partner investment program will offer capital without taking equity.

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The partner network consists of resellers, consultants, and system integrators that help Google distribute its applications and services. To be eligible for funding, Google partners must be based in the U.S. and meet certain requirements. Qualifying partners can get loans of up to $600,000 for a two-year term.

This six figure amount is double the $300,000 cap that Lending Club typically places on qualified small business borrowers. Also, while the interest rate for SMBs borrowing through Lending Club starts at a fixed 5.9%, those who take out loans through Google Partners will pay only interest the first year, and pay back the loan on an amortized schedule in year two.

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This isn’t Lending Club’s first time working with third parties. For a little over a year now, Lending Club has extended two-fold partnerships to banks and credit unions to 1) purchase loans from Lending Club to diversify their asset portfolios and 2) offer personal loans to their banking customers. It is also working with private equity companies.

Lending Club demonstrated at the first Finovate in 2007.

Kreditech Acquires Kontomierz for “Seven Digit Amount”

Kreditech Acquires Kontomierz for “Seven Digit Amount”

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With a growth rate of 500% per year and a vision to serve 4 billion underbanked individuals across the globe, Kreditech has a lot on its plate.

Fortunately, the Hamburg-based company announced today it acquired Kontomierz for a “seven digit amount plus Kreditech shares.” The actual amount is undisclosed.

Kontomierz is an attractive purchase. Its KYC technology, Kontomatik offers an API to banks that gives read-only access to customer accounts. Additionally, it has net revenues around 1 million Euros, three digit annual growth, and counts Alior Bank and Idea Bank as clients. Sebastian Diemer, Kreditech founder and CEO explains further:

“With its technology Kontomierz enables us to get unique data in real-time. Our subsidiary companies will hence provide an even better banking service to a bigger target group, the unbanked and the underbanked individuals. A perfect marriage, indeed.”

The 16 Warsaw-based Kontomierz employees will now work as a group within the Kreditech organization.

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Kreditech launched in 2012, and since then has served two million customers across nine countries. The following inforgraphic displays the company’s impressive growth:

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Kreditech demonstrated its Kredito24, K24, and Zaimo products at FinovateSpring 2014. You can check out the demo video here.

FinovateEurope 2015 Sneak Peek: Part 1

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2014 was an exciting year for fintech, and we estimate 2015 to be even bigger, with the ongoing battle for mobile wallet share, growth of alternative lending, and burgeoning VC funding.

At FinovateEurope, our first conference of 2015, we’re hosting more than 70 companies who will showcase their products centered on the newest trends, and some we’ve never seen before. 

For Finovate’s fifth time in London, we’re returning to the Old Billingsgate Market Hall on February 10 & 11. Register now and be the first to see the newest fintech of 2015.

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In the weeks leading up to FinovateEurope, we’re giving you a taste of what will be on stage in our Sneak Peek series. Below are the first six companies in this installment.


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ebankIT is an omnichannel banking software company that provides innovative solutions with centralized management, allowing banks to communicate faster, easier and more efficiently with their customers.

Features

    • Seamless access to financial products and services
    • Allows banks to extend its customers’ network
    • For any device and wearable technology
Why it’s great
Omnichannel & Social banking provides a consistent experience across channels to provide customers with seamless access to financial products and services.

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Presenters

João Pinto, Board of Directors
Pinto is an administrator with nearly 20 years of solid experience in the financial sector, actively participating in the design and implementation of innovative Omnichannel Solutions.
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Paulo Oliveira, Omnichannel Speacialist
Oliveira is a Project Manager, Omnichannel Specialist and Software Architect in ebankIT. He has been developing solutions in the financial sector for more than 15 years.

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Jumio’s Netverify turns your customer’s computer/smartphone into an ID scanning terminal that captures customer data and verifies customer ID documents, increasing online account opening rates.

Features

    • Reduces abandonment during digital account opening 
    • Creates fast & intuitive experiences for digital account opening 
    • Helps meet KYC & AML compliance requirements

Why it’s great
Jumio’s Netverify has been developed to meet the challenge of verifying identity in a connected-device environment, decreasing online account opening abandonment by up to 40%.

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Presenters

David Pope, European Marketing Director
Pope is a tech marketing specialist, having helped brands like 192business, Experian & Jumio balance the need for customer convenience with KYC compliance requirements.
LinkedIn

John McIntosh, Sales Engineer EMEAJumioPresenter2.jpg
McIntosh is the EMEA Sales Engineer for Jumio and is responsible for all information about the Jumio Product and Technical Information.
LinkedIn


SOFORT AG, based in Germany, offers Europe-wide,

SOFORTLogo.jpginnovative services for the secure purchase of goods and digital products on the internet.

Features
SOFORT Banking Paycode is an efficient method for purchasing on an account, whether online or offline. The online link contains all relevant transfer information.

Why it’s great
SOFORT Banking Paycode – the faster, smarter and easier way to pay bills online

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Presenter
Christian Mangold, Managing Director Sales
At SOFORT, Mangold is in charge of the German market and the sales strategy. He has been on the SOFORT Management Board since late 2012.
LinkedIn


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TradeRiver Finance is a non-bank online funding solution which finances trade, both cross-border and in the U.K.

Features

    • Online tool and finance for trade buyers
    • Pay global suppliers in cash and in local currency
    • Finance and execute local and cross-border transactions online  

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

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Presenters

Toby Lanyon, Chief Operating Officer

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Mike Mumford, Business Development Executive

provides real-time, reference financial data via cloud-based APIs to fintech innovators Wealthfront, Betterment, Personal Capital, Motif Investing, Robinhood, Stocktwits, Yodlee & more.

Features

    • New API offers trusted FactSet fundamental data, including company financials & estimates
    • Covers more than 75,000 publicly listed global companies
    • Easy integration into apps & websites

Why it’s great
The leading fintech innovators use Xignite market data APIs

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Presenter

Stephane Dubois, CEO & Founder
Dubois is a fintech revolutionary in the process of disrupting the financial services industry. He founded Xignite to pioneer market data in the cloud.
LinkedIn


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Yoyo is a mobile platform that seamlessly blends payments, loyalty, and discovery – done right.

Features

    • Combines payment, loyalty and discovery
    • Yoyo ‘magic’ button on the till – we integrate into the epos software
    • Ability to link card to mobile and to give and receive social gifts

Why it’s great
Pay fast, get rewarded.

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Presenter

Michael Rolph, Co-founder and CCO
Rolph is ex Barclaycard, First Data and PayPal. He was formerly a Director at Anthemis Group and is currently a Mentor at Seedcamp and advisor to Azimo.
LinkedIn


Check back later this week, when we’ll explore six more presenting companies. To learn about all of the presenting companies, check out our presenter page.

Space is limited; get your FinovateEurope ticket now to reserve your seat.

PeerTransfer Secures $22 Million in a Round Led by Bain Capital

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PeerTransfer, a company that makes it easier for international students to pay their tuition bills, should now have an easier time paying its own bills, thanks to a new installment of funding. 

Today, the Boston-based company brought in a $22 million Series D round led by Bain Capital. Previous investors Spark Capital, Devonshire Investors, Accel Partners, and QED Investors also contributed.

The new installment, which almost doubles its previous total, brings peerTransfer’s total raised to $43 million. It plans to use the new capital to expand coverage and penetration at schools in Australia, Asia, Canada, the U.K., and U.S. and advance its payment platform.

Matt Harris, Managing Director at Bain Capital, will join peerTransfer’s board.

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PeerTransfer enables students from 200+ countries and territories to pay their tuition and room & board using bank transfers and credit and debit cards on its payment platform. It is partnered with 600 schools across 10 countries.

Since launching in 2009, the company has processed over $1 billion in international payments and is adding 50 new clients per quarter. During the first half of the 2014/15 academic year, it doubled year-on-year revenue and reached profitability. Alex Finkelstein, General Partner at Spark Capital states that peerTransfer is poised for even faster growth and expansion.

As for the rest of the academic year, CEO Mike Massaro states that the company is on track to deliver $1 billion in cross-border payments processed for the full year. 

PeerTransfer recently won the 2014 BostInno’s 50 on Fire Award. It demonstrated its international payment solution at FinovateSpring 2011.

No Need to Fax: Kofax Launches E-Signature Solution, SignDoc

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Nobody reacts positively when asked to print a form, sign it, and fax it back. Fax? Fortunately, Kofax, a company that aims to simplify digital customer interactions, is here to help.

Today, the California-based company announced a new set of e-signature solutions, SignDoc, that enables FIs to design, deploy, and manage custom e-signature workflows. The two versions include:

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    • SignDoc Standard, a stand-alone solution for self-service needs
    • SignDoc Enterprise, a solution in which FIs can embed advanced capabilities into the workflow. It is integrated with Kofax TotalAgility, a process automation platform.

Since SignDoc keeps all document interaction in a PDF reader, users have access to a complete audit trail. Institutions can view any document tampering without the need to contact Kofax or access an external site.

SignDoc supports click-to-sign, handwritten signatures, and offers the option to add a higher level of authentication by capturing biometrics at the time of signature.

Kofax took the stage at FinovateSpring 2014 where it demonstrated how its Mobile Capture Platform works with gift cards.

Cachet Financial Launches Co-Branded Option for Select Mobile Money Solution

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Mobile money technology company, Cachet Financial, is launching a co-branded option for its Select Mobile Money product, a reloadable debit card with a suite of smartphone-accessible account services.

Maryland-based Frederick County Bank is piloting the co-branded version of Select Mobile Money. The institution holds $330 million in assets and is in 5 locations.

The new option is an express version, which means banks receive a pre-configured set up of the prepaid card program, mobile app and cloud services. Additionally, Cachet handles card issuance, processing, and management. This hands-off approach not only lowers overhead costs, but also decreases time-to-market.

Select Mobile Money is aimed at prepaid customers, a typically underserved market. It is available for payroll, travel, student, and unlimited use programs.

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Cachet reports that more than 300 financial institutions use its remote deposit capture technology, and it is hoping to tap into that base to increase adoption of the co-branded Select Mobile Money solution.

Cachet Financial Solutions demonstrated Select Mobile Money at FinovateFall 2014.

SigFig Starts 2015 with New Mobile Features, Refreshed Look

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If SigFig’s New Year’s resolution was to create a fresh look and new features, the investment portfolio tracker and manager is starting out the year right.

Those familiar with SigFig may first notice that the previous pig logo has been swapped out in favor of a more modern design. Additionally, the web and mobile user interfaces have a simplified, cleaner appearance.

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Aside from aesthetics, the upgrade brings new mobile features to SigFig’s free iOS and Android apps. One of those new features, launching today, is Managed Accounts on mobile.

Previously, the automated investment service was only available on the web interface. Now users can not only track, but also manage their investments and risk tolerances from the SigFig app on their mobile device.

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In addition to managing users’ portfolios, SigFig aims to simplify users’ investing lives by educating them about fees and strategies, as well as offering a single place where they can track all of their investments.

SigFig last demonstrated at FinovateFall 2011.

How Backbase Engage Upgrades Banks’ Digital Channels

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If you attended FinovateFall a few months ago, you likely saw Backbase’s demo where it launched Backbase Engage. This new offering delivers omni-channel digital banking to regional banks and credit unions. The Backbase Open Marketplace bridges the gap that small financial institutions often face between their dated core banking system and newer fintech solutions.

Company facts

Backbase Engage

Customer Experience Platform
Backbase Engage stems from Backbase’s Customer Experience Platform (CXP) which, originally, was only accessible to large banks. The CXP (see a live demo here) is a widget-based customer portal that enables banks to customize their online banking appearance and function, as well as edit and design targeted offers to create a seamless customer experience across all devices.

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Backbase Engage
Smaller banks with outdated core banking providers can benefit from a one-size fits all solution in order to work with their legacy system. Backbase Engage upgrades institutions’ existing systems by providing a new digital banking solution, working on any device and channel. It runs on the FI’s existing core banking stack, and enables the institution to integrate new functionality from providers in the Open Banking Marketplace. At the same time, it offers full control to the FI to manage the user experience with the integrated CXP features and Visual Editor.

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Widgets
The appeal of Backbase Engage stems from its modular and turnkey approach that enables banks to select from a wide variety of widgets.

To enable a high level of customization, the widgets draw from multiple sources and are made possible by APIs. For example, a bank may use Google Maps’ API for an ATM and branch locator. Backbase’s Open Banking Marketplace makes other services available through APIs from an array of fintech companies.

Open Banking Marketplace

The Open Banking Marketplace hosts APIs from Backbase’s fintech partners to give FIs access to their services. Launching partners in the Marketplace include:

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BehavioSec, a behavioral biometrics security solution
Watch its FinDEVr 2014 demo video.

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Cardlytics, a card-linked marketing provider
Watch its FinovateFall 2013 demo video.

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Geezeo, a PFM and small business financial management solutions provider
Watch its FinovateFall 2014 demo.

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iPay, an online payment gateway for global ecommerce businesses
iPay demonstrated its Small Business Suite at Finovate 2009.

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miiCard, an online identity verification service
Watch miiCard’s FinovateFall 2013 demo.

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MX, an online money management and PFM tool
MX last demonstrated at FinovateFall 2014 where it won Best of Show.

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Strands, a PFM solutions provider
Strands will demo at the upcoming FinovateEurope 2015 conference in London.

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Other partners:

    • Ensenta, cloud-based imaging technology for mobile RDC risk mitigation
    • Payveris, a digital money movement solution provider

Since FinovateFall, Backbase has added partners (who are confidential at this point) and is looking for more. While most fit in the security, PFM, and loyalty categories, Backbase is not necessarily looking for partners in specific verticals. Rather, it wants to connect best of breed providers that deliver quality solutions to FIs across the globe.

Though this post focuses on retail banking, Backbase Engage also works for small business (commercial) banking, insurance, and wealth management verticals.

Growth and 2015

Since launching in 2003, Backbase has experienced rapid growth across the globe, including signing major banks in North America, the European Union, and Asia Pacific regions. It has also opened offices in the largest financial hubs around the world. In 2014, Backbase’s revenue grew 40% and it projects the same growth trajectory in 2015.


Backbase most recently demoed at FinovateFall 2014 and will showcase its newest offering at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

 

Ukraine-Based Settle Launches Restaurant Pre-Order App in San Francisco

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Ukraine-based Settle aims to minimize the time consumers spend waiting in line for their food or beverage. Its mobile pre-order app enables customers to reserve a table at a restaurant, pre-order, and pre-pay, so that after the meal they walk away without waiting for the check.

Today the company announced that it is launching in San Francisco later this month.

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Settle is working from its foundation in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia. Since launching late last year, users have made 3,500 transactions at 20 restaurants.

We detailed the user experience for Settle customers and merchants last October in our Finovate Debuts series. Aside from a pre-order service for customers, Settle also offers a point of sale system for merchants, as well as a loyalty program to acquire and maintain their customer base.

To see a live demo of Settle, check out its FinovateFall 2014 video.