Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Finovate Alumni News– June 11, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Credit Sesame, FutureAdvisor, Hidden Levers, Kabbage, MiiCard, Offermatic, Stocktwits, Tagit, Zopa
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgTagit wins coveted Emerging Enterprise Award 2012.
  • BlogTalkRadio talks to Kathryn Petralia, COO & Co-founder of Kabbage.
  • Offermatic alters business model, no longer pursuing card-linked offers.
  • Chicago Tribune looks at Future Advisor and Betterment as two inexpensive investing platforms.
  • BBC news reports Zopa has lent more than £200m since it started in 2005.
  • Credit Sesame Scores $12 Million in Series C Funding.
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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Holvi Reveals Beta Account Activity

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

Thumbnail image for HolviLogo.jpg

Earlier this week, we received an email from Finland-based group-account platform Holvi that listed recent developments:

    • New homepage
    • Have processed payments of more than 300,000 euros
    • The majority of requests for beta accounts (70%) come from outside of Finland (though Holvi currently takes only Finland-based users)
    • Most requests for accounts are from people wanting to use it to organize finances for activities and events
    • People wanting to use Holvi for business comprise the second highest number of requests for accounts. For example:
– Lille-lle is running her small T-shirt print business on Holvi
– Devaamo is a developer event that conducts its banking with Holvi
– Hermanni Turkki is running their band and selling their first album on Holvi

To learn more about Holvi, watch its FinovateEurope 2012 demo.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Planwise Lands $200K in Seed Funding

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

Thumbnail image for planwiseLogo1.jpg

San Francisco-based PFM Planwise announced a $200,000 round in seed funding today. Several angel investors participated in the round. 

The startup plans to use the funding to further expand its user base.

planwiseFunding2.jpg

BetaKit covered the funding announcement and explained some of Planwise’s future goals:

    • Update the platform with more visualizations
    • Integrate with more banks
    • Add mobile apps 
    • Integrate with existing PFM tools to enable users to track their spending
To learn more about planwise, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News– June 8, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Holvi, planwise, Simple, TradeKing, Zecco, ZipZap
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBillGuard adds premium fee-based options.
  • National Journal examines how Simple (formerly BankSimple) is disrupting traditional banking.
  • USA Today considers whether the Zecco/TradeKing deal could bring changes to online investing.
  • Spectrum explains how ZipZap enables customers to pay online transactions using cash.
  • Holvi reveals beta account activity.
  • Planwise lands $200K in seed funding.
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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

BillGuard Adds Premium Fee-Based Options

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

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for BillGuard.jpg

Credit-card statement-monitoring platform BillGuard celebrated its first birthday earlier this week and distributed an email notifying its users of two milestones:

    1. Exited beta
    2. Added fee-based premium options intended for families or businesses with more than three cards to monitor (see below)
BillGuardStructure3.jpg

Beta users will be grandfathered into the unlimited version for free, for life. New users who sign up before June 30 still have this opportunity, also. Use this link to receive the unlimited version for free.

To learn more about BillGuard, watch its FinovateSpring 2012 demo (coming soon) and FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

TIO Networks Launches MobilePay iPhone App

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: TIO Networks

Thumbnail image for TIONetworksLogo.jpg

Earlier this week, TIO Networks, a payments specialist serving primarily the underbanked, launched its iPhone app for mobile billpay.

Unlike traditional billpay methods that connect to your bank’s checking account, TIO enables users to pay bills using their credit/debit Visa or MasterCard in real time. 

The app allows users to: 

    • Make same-day bill payments in real time 
    • Store your billing information and payment methods to enable quick payments in the future
    • Schedule bill payments and set up reminders so you never miss another payment
    • View historical payments within the app

Mobile1.jpg

Mobile2.jpg

Mobile3.jpg

Mobile4.jpg

Mobile5.jpg

To learn more about TIO Networks, watch its FinovateSpring 2012 demo (coming soon).

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News– June 7, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bill.com, Braintree, Cachet Financial Solutions, Cartera Commerce, ClairMail, Lending Club, mFoundry, SaveUp, ThreatMetrix
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCheck out VC funding trends in financial services startups.
  • Cartera Commerce raises $12.2 Million in growth equity.
  • Braintree expands payments gateway to merchants in 30 countries.
  • Lending Club receives $15 mil from Kleiner, Mary Meeker joins board.
  • ThreatMetrix positioned as a “Visionary” in the Magic Quadrant for Web Fraud Detection.
  • Clairmail awarded 2012 Best Mobile Application or Service.
  • mFoundry launches mobile banking solution for Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union.
  • City National Bank partners with Cachet Financial Solutions and Panini to deliver RDC to Mac users.
  • Bill.com receivables wins ninth annual Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation 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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Lending Club Receives $15 Mil from Kleiner Perkins, Mary Meeker Joins Board

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Lending Club

Thumbnail image for LendingClubLogo.jpg

Peer-to-peer platform Lending Club made two announcements today. First, a $15 million equity investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. It also received $2.5 million from board member John Mack, the former CEO of JPMorgan.

These installments bring Lending Club’s total funding to $100 million and total unrestricted cash to over $45 million.

MeekerPic.jpeg

The company also announced that Mary Meeker (inset), general partner at KPCB, will join its board of directors. Meeker states:

“Lending Club is helping reinvent the consumer lending industry, it’s the kind of opportunity that Kleiner Perkins is interested in and I knew I wanted to be involved.”

Meeker joins Lending Club’s existing board members:

    • Lending Club CEO, Renaud Laplanche 
    • Former Morgan Stanley CEO, John Mack
    • Jeff Crowe of Norwest Venture Partners
    • Daniel Ciporin of Canaan Partners
    • Rebecca Lynn of Morgenthaler Ventures

Lending Club presented at FinovateStartup 2009.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Braintree Expands Payments Gateway to Merchants in 30 Countries

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

BraintreeLogo.jpg

Payment gateway, Braintree, announced yesterday that its platform will soon be available internationally. Merchants in 30 countries (see below) will have access to Braintree’s:

    • Merchant account
    • Payment gateway
    • Recurring billing
    • Vault credit card storage

Thumbnail image for BraintreeIntlFin2.jpg

The private beta will begin in the next few months, and the expansion will launch publicly in the 3rd quarter of 2012.

Braintree also shared its plans to support local, non-credit payment methods and additional countries next year.

To learn more about Braintree, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Cartera Commerce Raises $12.2 Million in Growth Equity

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Cartera Commerce

Thumbnail image for CarteraCommerce.jpg

Yesterday, card-linked offer company Cartera Commerce announced it raised $12.2 million in growth equity funding. The round was led by Comvest Group. Other investors include:

    • Flybridge Capital Partners
    • Dace Ventures
    • LBO Enterprises
    • Venture Capital Fund of New England

The Boston-based company plans to use the funds to enhance sales, product development, and operations to support growing demand.

To learn more about Cartera Commerce, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

VC Funding Trends in Financial Services Startups

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

Last week, VentureDeals wrote a guest post for VentureBeat that looked at VC investment trends in financial services startups from 2007 to 2011.

Overall Picture

    • The number of companies that received funding increased substantially
      in 2010 and 2011
    • The dollar amount rose by only a fraction in 2010 and dropped in 2011

Funding Amount
The below chart summarizes the funding dollars financial services startups received from VCs during 2007 to 2011:

FundingDollarGraph3.jpg

Here is the year-over-year percent change in funding amount:

FundingPercentChangeGraph2.jpg

Number of Companies Funded
The below graph summarizes the number of financial services companies VCs funded from 2007 to 2011:

FundingNumberGraph3.jpg

Here is the year-over-year percent change in number of companies funded:

FundingNumPercentChange.jpg

Finovate Alumni Funding
We compared these results to our analysis of funding Finovate alumni received in 2011:

  • 34 Finovate alumni received funding, some more than once
  • $400 million in funding received

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News– June 6, 2012

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Concur, Credit Karma, Doxo, FutureAdvisor, Geezeo, ReadyForZero, SaveUp, TIO Networks, Wonga
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpg2 Minute Finance covers Concur’s FinovateSpring 2012 demo.
  • Quid puts FinovateSpring companies through its Big Data algorithm.
  • Netbanker reports Doxo Provides the Missing Login at Small Billers.
  • TIO Networks named to PROFIT Mag’s list of Fastest-Growing Companies in Canada.
  • GigaOM reports Wonga readies $1.5 billion IPO.
  • Wall Street Journal reviews FutureAdvisor.
  • ThreeThriftyGuys.com reviews SaveUp.com.
  • American Banker reports Computer Services Inc. (CSI) adds Geezeo’s PFM tools to its online banking suite.
  • Business Insider recommends using Credit Karma and ReadyForZero to get out of debt and raise your credit score.
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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook