“WattzOn is a personal energy management platform that provides tools to help people use less energy and save money on an everyday basis.The WattzOn Marketplace: A marketplace for energy-saving products and services (such as appliances, windows, solar systems, hybrid and electric cars), to be combined with financing (loans, credit cards, savings accounts, Home Equity Lines Of Credit, mortgages) and rebates to create compelling energy and money-saving opportunities.The WattzOn Platform for Financial Services: Increase consumer engagement and drive loyalty with our WattzOn Personal Energy Management Platform. Incorporate branded personal energy management capabilities with your website or app. Provide your consumers with more ways to save money and promote complementary financial products, such as credit cards, car and home loans. Can be undertaken as a branded experience (for example, “MyBankGreenHome.com”) or integrated into your existing website or mobile app through our web services (APIs).”
Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)
Dwolla Releases New FiSync Iteration
“Dwolla is releasing the newest iteration of FiSync, the company’s revenue-generating financial services product.”
- Funding:
- Series B: $5 million (Union Square Ventures, Thrive Capital, Village Ventures & more)
- Series A: $1.3 million
- Employees: 20+
- Users: 100,000+
- Merchants: 10,000+
One Year After its FinovateSpring 2011 Demo, Bankons Inks Deal with Capital One
Bankons (think bank + coupons), a real-time mobile offers service, announced today that Capital One’s IT group, Capital One Labs,* has made a limited asset purchase agreement with the startup to obtain their software.
“The Bankons team wouldn’t be here without the great people who helped us launch at Finovate. We want to thank the community of technologists and banking professionals who we have worked with over the past year and look forward to future collaboration.”
“The combination of our Lab and the strengths of the Bankons team will add to the talented Digital Innovation Lab team and help accelerate the Labs innovation and rapid prototyping agenda at our innovation labs.”
Finovate Alumni News– May 4, 2012
TechCrunch hosts Jon Stein, Betterment CEO, to talk about the future of investing.
- Backbase signs Higher One, a leading financial services provider for colleges & universities.
- Bank Technology News reports Yodlee opens a workshop to boost startups.
- TechCrunch reports SigFig launches.
A Look at the Participants at FinovateSpring Next Week
We have a diverse bunch on stage at the fifth annual FinovateSpring next week. The 64 demoing companies come from all over the U.S., and from around the globe.
Here’s the geographic distribution of the 64 demoing companies (click to enlarge). It’s no surprise that we have 24 from California. But there’s almost twice as many from elsewhere around the country and world.
Next, here’s a graphical representation of the job titles from the FinovateSpring 2012 registration records:
And if you will be in the record-breaking crowd next week (thanks, everyone!), here’s the demo schedule which lists each company. See you in San Francisco.
Finovate Alumni News– May 3, 2012
CNBC covers how SecondMarket is looking to move from trading Facebook to Pinterest.
- TechCrunch reports Boku launched billing partnership with Sprint, giving it partnerships with all 4 major U.S. carriers.
- Meniga’s PFM solution powers Sweden’s first Smartbank, launched by Skandia.
- SecureKey adds 40 staff in past six months, reaches business and recognition milestones.
- Lendio sees nearly 500% increase in matching businesses with small business loans.
- Check Point launches free ZoneAlarm anti-virus/firewall combo.
- Forbes features article by Mike Alfred, CEO of BrightScope, discussing the differing opinions he, Personal Capital and FutureAdvisor have on the role of financial advisors.
- Fiserv to offer global ACH payments through partnership with Earthport.
cbanc Network Launches Premium Subscription Services
cbanc Network, a free, online network for banking and credit union professionals to collaborate and share knowledge, launched two options for premium services this week. The premium services will grant paying members access to special features that go beyond what the free service provides.
There are two levels of service:
- cbanc Plus — $250/ year
- Can access the Peer Trends feature to see what similar institutions are paying attention to
- Receive 5 free content downloads
- Receive a 1.5x Points Booster that allows them to earn 50% more points every time they complete a vendor review, survey, content review, or exam watch
2. cbanc Pro — $750/ year
- Same benefits as cbanc Plus
- One free registration to the webinar of their choice
- Five additional Free Content Downloads
- Access to the Vendor Management and Due Diligence software solutions
To learn more about cbanc Network, watch its FinovateFall 2011 demo.
Finovate Alumni News– May 2, 2012
Bank Innovation names Kabbage CEO, Rob Frohwein, as 1 of 10 top innovators.
- SimpleTuition’s SmarterBank announces $25,000 #CrushStudentDebt Sweepstakes.
- Pindrop Security raises $1 million in seed funding.
- Yodlee Interactive announces new accelerator/incubator programs.
- Bermuda’s Royal Gazette features Expensify.
- ZipZap to power cash payment service for Towah Group.
- Silver Tail Systems announces partnership with Barclaycard Global Payment Acceptance. See Silver Tail Systems at FinovateSpring.
- Kony Solutions is one of the first mobile platform vendors to support BlackBerry 10.
- Bank Technology News reports Bancorp using PayPal for payments and account-opening tech.
Pindrop Security Raises $1 Million in Seed Funding
Pindrop Security, a startup that aims to stop caller ID fraud, announced today that it raised $1 million in seed funding. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, GRA Venture Fund, New World Ventures, Sigma Partners, and Webb Investment Network.
According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
“Pindrop, backed by serial entrepreneur Paul Judge, expects to raise a $5 million to $8 million Series A round in mid-2012, is tapping into a mammoth market.”
Come see Pindrop Security demo its latest technology on stage at FinovateSpring next week.
Bank Innovation Names Kabbage CEO, Rob Frohwein, As One of Ten Top Innovators
Bank Technology News recently named Rob Frohwein, founder and CEO of Kabbage, as one of the top 10 innovators of the year. Kabbage, along with yet-to-be-launched Movenbank, were the only two non-banks to make the list.
In the article, Rob and Kabbage are recognized for the unique business model that aims to provide working capital to small businesses in a matter of minutes.
Bank Technology News interviews Frohwein about the startup:
“Although the company is not profitable yet, ‘we could be profitable tomorrow,’ Frohwein says. ‘Our business is large and most of the people working here are working on improvements to the system and we’re absorbing some losses.’ Changing the strategy to focus on profitability is a simple decision, he says.”
It also provides some additional data:
- Been in operation for 3 years
- Helped over 4,000 small businesses
- Extended over $14 million
- 20% of users have opted to allow UPS to share their shipping information with Kabbage. Read about that feature here.
To see Kabbage demo its newest technology, come to FinovateSpring. Also, check out its FinovateEurope 2012 demo.
Finovate Alumni News– May 1, 2012
DoughMain launches savings tool for kids.
- Actiance expands platform with vantage for Microsoft SharePoint. Come see Actiance at FinovateSpring next week.
- The Des Moines Register reports Social Money is set to more than double its workforce, hiring 35. Check out Social Money’s live demo at FinovateSpring.
- Spend Matters covers Taulia (part 2). Watch Taulia demo at FinovateSpring.
- Your Finances Simplified blog lists the top 11 reasons you should use Yodlee MoneyCenter.
- Gamification of Work blog explains how Bobber Interactive makes personal finance engaging.
- Credit Union Times reports Q2ebanking Integrates Trusteer Malware Protection.
- HiddenLevers updates features.
- TIME features BillGuard.
FinovateSpring 2012 Fintech Categories Revealed
In preparation for FinovateSpring next week, the 64 presenting companies have been busy perfecting their 7 minute demos, while we have been learning about the fintech they’ll demo on stage.
We assembled this graphic to give you a taste of some different fintech categories you’ll see on stage at FinovateSpring:

Want to see these and more demonstrated live, on stage? Get your FinovateSpring ticket here.