StockTwits Launches Feature to Help Users Discuss Stocks

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Yesterday, online financial communication platform StockTwits launched a new capability called Conversations:

“StockTwits Conversations group new contributions made in response to any piece of content together, creating another way to share and consume messages beyond real-time StockTwits streams.”

The new feature should bring the communication from Twitter to the StockTwits platform and help users find and contribute to conversations.

To learn more about StockTwits, watch its FinovateEurope 2011 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– February 17, 2012

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  • Prosper celebrates its 6th birthday by offering to pay your second loan payment today (Friday, Feb. 17) only.
  • HelloWallet appoints Aaron Benway as new CFO.
  • American Banker reports PayPal is partnering with banks to attract new customers.
  • American Banker reports Intuit adds iPad banking app.
  • CNN Money looks at how SecondMarket will survive now that Facebook has gone public.
  • StockTwits launches feature to help users discuss stocks.
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.

BillFloat is Loaning More than $1 Million per Month

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The New York Times Bucks blog recently featured BillFloat, a startup that provides short-term loans to help consumers pay bills. 

The metrics cited in the article: 

    • Registered190,000 users in the past year
    • Provided 80,000 loans in past year
    • Total originations were nearly $13 million in past year
    • Average loan amount was $160
    • Works with over 2,500 companies across the U.S.
    • Loan default rate around 10%

Consumer costs: 

    • Maximum interest rate is 36% APR (not including service fee)
    • Service fee ranges from $9 to $18 per loan

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

Kabbage’s Partnership with UPS Provides More Funding by Using Shipping Data in Underwriting

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Kabbage, a startup that provides financing to online merchants, announced yesterday that it has partnered with UPS to use customer shipping data to make better underwriting decisions.

“Effective today, small businesses will be able to direct UPS to share their shipping history with Kabbage via the Kabbage.com website, making it possible for them to potentially obtain more capital at lower rates.”

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A video on Kabbage’s blog states that UPS is also providing Kabbage an undisclosed amount of capital to grow its customer base and fund more small businesses.

To learn more about Kabbage, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.

ETRONIKA Piques the Interest of FinovateEurope Audience

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In the week after FinovateEurope, I’ve been keeping track of press coverage from the conference. The media has generated a lot of buzz* about ETRONIKA’s use of Microsoft Kinect for online banking.

ETRONIKA, a Lithuanian startup, uses Kinect technology to provide users access to their online bank account via face and voice recognition, followed by a PIN number. After logging in, clients can navigate the system using voice commands and sweeping hand gestures.

Because this was the first time the Finovate team had ever seen this type of unique financial technology, we eagerly awaited seeing the demo. On the rehearsal day before the show, the microphones interfered with the voice recognition feature**. We sweated it out as the audio/visual team adjusted their equipment to minimize the echo caused by the large auditorium.

When ETRONIKA stepped up to the stage on the day of the conference, all fingers were crossed. Fortunately, the technology worked (almost) flawlessly, and the startup was able to share its unique technology with the audience.

ETRONIKA’s demo video will be posted on the Finovate website in a few weeks.

——————————————————————————————————————–

*Press coverage includes:

Bank Innovation
7 New Services Launched at FinovateEurope 2012
by Mary Wisniewski
Commercial Integrator
Etronika Unveils Improved Microsoft Kinect-Based Online Banking
by Rachel Cericola
I Programmer
Kinect The Ultimate Security Device
by Harry Fairhead
Inside Brunei fm
ETRONIKA Brings online banking to Gesture Control, But Why?
by Roshan Jerad Perera
My Bank Tracker
Wave Your Arms in the Air: Etronika’s Gesture-Based Banking
by Willy Staley
Slash Gear
ETRONIKA produce Kinect-based online banking
by Chris Burns
TechCrunch Europe
Lithuanian company develops Kinect-powered online banking system
by Mike Butcher
Ubergizmo
Kinect based online banking from Etronika a reality now
by Edwin Kee
Visible Banking
Etronika: Kinect Banking at the Branch, Minority Report Style [INTERVIEW]
by Christophe Langlois

**The voice-recognition feature works fine in a normal setting, this issue was solely caused by audio/visual technicalities. 

Finovate Alumni News– February 16, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgInspirePay embeds Dwolla’s payment network.
  • Fast Co Design applauds ReadyForZero’s product and UI.
  • Phil D’Angio appointed as Senior VP of Global Sales for ValidSoft.
  • MAPFRE Puerto Rico selects Identity Theft 911 to provide ID theft protection & resolution services to policyholders.
  • Vision Research Lab highlights Holvi’s demo from FinovateEurope.
  • DepositAccounts.com looks at reward checking accounts from Kasasa.
  • Kabbage’s partnership with UPS provides more funding by using shipping data in underwriting.
  • BillFloat is loaning more than $1 million per month.
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.

Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures Contributes to Xero’s Recent $16.6 Million in Funding

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Earlier this month, online accounting software Xero announced a $16.6 million round of financing, funded partially by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. This is not this first time the famed investor has funded Xero.

TechCrunch reports:

“Thiel first invested $3 million in New Zealand-founded Xero back in 2010, with the aim of fueling expansion in the United States. The company says that’s also the reason for the latest round.”

MYOB co-founder Craig Winkler and Sam Morgan also participated in the round.

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

MasterCard Forms Alliance with Silver Tail Systems

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Last week, MasterCard announced the formation of a relationship with Silver Tail Systems, an online security and intelligence startup.

“By combining Silver Tail Systems’ technology with MasterCard’s extensive payments experience and insights, merchants will be better equipped to spot malware or robotic (“bots”) activity originating from personal computers or smart phones attacking their online payments systems.”

The two will help U.S.-based online merchants by providing fraud solutions.

To learn more about Silver Tail Solutions, watch its FinovateSpring 2011 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– February 15, 2012

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAmerican Banker reports SmartyPig adds office in India.
  • American Banker reports PayPal digs even further into the prepaid card market.
  • TechCrunch Europe covers ETRONIKA’s FinovateEurope presentation.
  • VentureBeat lists Danny Shader, CEO of PayNearMe, as an entrepreneur using startups to change the world.
  • Since Aptys Solutions 2010 launch, over 1,000 commercial banks now use PayLOGICS platform to process payments.
  •  Diversinet Corp. appoints Dr. Hon Pak as the company’s CEO.
  • Cartera Commerce named to OnMedia 100 Top Private Companies List.
  • AccMan looks at how CurrencyFair solves multi-currency cost issues.
  • INDYCAR partners with Segmint to reward race fans.
  • MasterCard forms alliance with Silver Tail Systems.
  • Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures contributes to Xero’s recent $16.6 million in 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.

Dwolla Raises $5 Million in Series B From Union Square Ventures

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Earlier this month, payment network Dwolla announced that it raised $5 million in Series B funding from Union Square Ventures. In addition, Village Ventures, Thrive Capital, Artists & Instigators  and angel investor Paige Craig also participated in the round.

Silicon Prairie News reports:

“With the new funds, which bring Dwolla’s total amount raised to date to around $6.3 million, the company plans to bolster its product development and support and aggressively expand its API offerings…”

While not divulging any concrete numbers, Dwolla has shared a few stats over the past year on its blog

  • Users grew 25x
  • Merchants grew 37x
  • Millions have been saved in fees
  • 16 jobs were added to the Des Moines economy

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

Five of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance are Finovate Alums

Fast Company recently published a list of most innovative companies that contained multiple Finovate alumni. Here’s the breakdown:

Overall top 50 most innovative companies:

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Google
Rank: 3
FinovateFall 2011 demo

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PayPal
Rank: 43
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

Top 10* in finance category:

PayPal
Rank: 4
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

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SecondMarket
Rank: 6
FinovateStarup09 demo

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Dwolla
Rank: 8
FinovateSpring 2011 demo

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Simple (formerly BankSimple)
Rank: 9
FinovateFall 2011 demo

StockTwits
Rank: 10StockTwitsLogo4.jpg
FinovateEurope 2011 demo

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*Also included in the finance category are:

2. Starbucks
3. Kickstarter
5. Y Combinator
7. American Express

IBM to Purchase Worklight for Undisclosed Amount

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Late last month, IBM announced plans to purchase mobile app management company, Worklight:

“With this acquisition, IBM’s mobile offerings will span mobile application development, integration, security and management. Worklight will become an important piece of IBM’s mobility strategy, offering clients an open platform that helps speed the delivery of existing and new mobile applications to multiple devices. It also helps enable secure connections between smartphone and tablet applications with enterprise IT systems”

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year. The financial terms were not disclosed.

To learn more, watch Worklight’s FinovateFall 2010 demo.