FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek: Illuma

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2022, FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek, Illuma Labs

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.

Illuma Shield Voice Authentication is integrated with Posh Technologies’ Conversational AI IVR for deployment in the contact center.

Features

Frictionless account access without pins/passcodes/passphrases 24/7 customer service with a user friendly, conversational IVR Better security with biometric voice authentication

Why it's great

The Illuma Shield Voice Authentication + Posh Conversational IVR integration improves operational efficiency, security, and customer experience for community banks and credit unions.

Presenters

Milind Borkar, CEO & Founder, Illuma Labs
Borkar brings a background in R&D and more than 50 successful product launches to his role at Illuma Labs.
LinkedIn

Karan Kashyap, CEO & Co-Founder, Posh
Posh is a conversational AI fintech working with FIs. Kashyap is an alumni of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab.
LinkedIn

Chad Rogers, EVP & COO, Connexus Credit Union
At Connexus…

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FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek: EqualFuture

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: EqualFuture, FinovateFall 2022, FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.

EqualFuture's Super App reimagines financial wellness through a simplified, integrated way to empower people to plan, simulate, and make smarter decisions.

Features

Includes “Someone Like Me” features that help users create their profiles Supports goal/scenario-based financial decisions through interactive, gamified tools Uses cashflow modeling to stay on track

Presenter

Joyce Phillips, CEO & Founder
Joyce Phillips is an awarded leader, innovator, and marketer. Phillips brings significant global financial expertise, previously holding executive leadership roles with iconic corporate brands.
LinkedIn

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FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek: Debbie

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: Debbie, FinovateFall 2022, FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.

Debbie is the Noom for debt loss, utilizing behavioral psychology and rewards to motivate and incentivize people to crush their debt, for good.

Features

Utilizes behavioral psychology through a guided debt loss program to help users unwind habits Provides time trended credit data to pre-qualify users for refi Offers users micro-rewards for improved behavior

Why it's great

Debbie users pay down on average $450/month of debt, while setting aside savings of $100/month consistently. For folks in $5k-$10k of debt who are making $50k/year, this is significant.

Presenters

Frida Leibowitz, CEO
Ex-Credit Risk at Marcus by Goldman. Immigrant, first-gen student from a single parent home. Passionate about financial security because she's experienced crushing debt while attending NYU.
LinkedIn

Rachel Lauren, COO
Former VC at BDMI and software equity research…

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FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek: SESAMm

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2022, FinovateFall 2022 Sneak Peek, SESAMm

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 12 and 13. Register today and save your spot.

SESAMm specializes in big data and AI. At FinovateFall, the company is demoing its ESG Monitoring and Alerting product that detects controversies and positive impact events on web data.

Features

ESG controversies and SDGs positive impact topics identification on 5+ million companies Event monitoring on private and public companies Delivery methods: Daily emails, cloud and CRM integration, among others

Why it's great

SESAMm's ESG and SDG Alerts leverage AI to give firms the ability to monitor millions of public and private companies worldwide, providing more objective indicators.

Presenter

Sylvain Forté, CEO
Sylvain Forté, CEO and Co-Founder of SESAMm, created the company in 2014 based on his passion for artificial intelligence and finance after receiving a double degree in engineering.
LinkedIn

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Building Financial Inclusion: Elizabeth McCluskey, Director of the Discovery Fund at CMFG Ventures

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, Interview, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

What is venture capital doing to help promote fintech innovators who come from underrepresented groups and communities?

We caught up with Elizabeth McCluskey, Director of The Discovery Fund at CMFG Ventures, to talk about her work in supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs that are building solutions to drive financial inclusion.

We discussed her own extensive experience in financial services, working in both investment banking and wealth management before moving to venture capital. We also learned why she believes it is important to invest in female founders and founders from communities that are underserved by traditional financial institutions.

Why did you decide to transition from investment banking and wealth management to venture capital? What do you enjoy about working at a venture capital firm?

Elizabeth McCluskey: Investment banking is transactional. I enjoyed being part of transformational deals for companies but missed being there for the long-term impact. When I pivoted to wealth management,…

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Get Gatsby: Social Investment Platform eToro Acquires Option Trading App for $50 Million

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, eToro, Mergers & Acquisitions

Social investment platform eToro inked a definitive agreement to acquire stock and options trading app Gatsby for $50 million. U.S.-based Gatsby offers a commission-free, stock and options trading solution geared toward Millennial and Gen Z investors and traders. Making its first Finovate appearance in 2011, eToro has won Best of Show in every one of its six appearances on the Finovate stage.

Social investment platform eToro has agreed to acquire Gatsby, a U.S.-based, commission-free, stock and options trading app. The Israel-based company, which has won Best of Show awards in every one of its six appearances on the Finovate stage since 2011, will pay approximately $50 million for the trading company.

As part of the transaction, Gatsby's co-CEOs and co-founders Jeff Myers and Ryan Belanger-Saleh - along with other senior Gatsby staffers - will join the eToro team. The acquisition of Gatsby will enable eToro to diversify its offering…

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Card Transaction Data Provider Facteus Earns Plaudits for Pulse

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Facteus

A year ago, an Oregon-based fintech called Facteus made its debut at FinovateFall 2021.

"Finovate was started with the idea of showcasing new and exciting innovation in financial services," Facteus VP Steve Shaw said as he began his company's demo. "And we've seen a lot of great ideas in technology over the past couple of days."

"But what's that one thing that ties all of this innovation together and really makes it work?" he asked. "It's the data behind all this innovation. If you don't have access to the right data, a lot of this innovation is just for show."

Founded in 2010, Facteus leverages a massive debit and credit card transaction data set to offer hedge funds, researchers, marketing professionals and others unique insights into the consumer economy. With more than eight years of historical data and 42 billion transactions processed - representing $1.3 trillion in consumer spending -…

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Pomelo Launches Family Credit Cards to Combine Credit and International Money Transfer

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Pomelo is launching a family credit card account that gives accountholders up to four cards to give to friends and family overseas. Because the payments run on credit rails, users save on international money transfer fees. Pomelo is launching money transfer capabilities between the U.S. and the Philippines.

Pomelo is the newest fintech in the digital banking scene. The company is launching today with $70 million in Seed funding to change the fundamentals of international money transfer.

Leading the round are Keith Rabois at Founders Fund as well as Kevin Hartz, Co-Founder of Xoom and General Partner at A* Capital. Afore Capital, Xfund, Josh Buckley, the Chainsmokers, and the Weeknd also participated.

Frenkiel, who regularly sends money to family overseas, came up with the idea for Pomelo while he was visiting family in the Philippines and thought, "Why can’t I just give a card to my family instead of having to send money…

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Zogo Finance and MoneyLion Forge Partnership to Foster Financial Literacy

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Zogo Finance

MoneyLion and Zogo Finance announced a new collaboration to bring financial literacy tools to MoneyLion's more than three million users. MoneyLion will integrate Zogo's financial education modules into the Today Feed content section of the MoneyLion app. Zogo Finance won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2019 in New York.

Personalized financial content provider MoneyLion is the latest fintech to partner with financial literacy company Zogo Finance. MoneyLion will leverage the new relationship with Zogo Finance to bring enhanced financial education to its more than three million users. The collaboration represents Zogo's largest fintech platform integration since the company was launched four years ago.

"Partnering with a premier (neobank) such as MoneyLion is a pivotal step toward Zogo's goal to bolster investor education for consumers' prosperous financial futures," Zogo CEO Bolun Li said. "This is one of our biggest leaps in the fintech space, driving us…

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Wellness, Inclusion, and Opportunity: Third Annual Finovate Awards Celebrate the Best of Fintech

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Awards

The return of live events is delivering yet another opportunity for fintech enthusiasts and financial services professionals to rejoice: the Finovate Awards Ceremony is back!

The third annual celebration, to be held the evening of September 13th at the Edison Ballroom in New York City, will reveal the winners of this year's 20+ highly contested categories. Check out our list of Finovate Awards finalists. In addition to honoring this year's award winners, the event will feature live entertainment and all-evening-long opportunities for networking with new friends and old colleagues.

From digital banking and consumer lending to alternative investment solutions and excellence in decentralized finance, the Finovate Awards recognize the breadth of innovation that is driving fintech forward today. Leveraging the wisdom of more than 20 fintech and financial services experts who served as this year's judges, the third annual Finovate Awards celebrate the organizations and individuals whose efforts are…

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BankiFi Preps for U.S. Expansion with Fresh $4.8 Million

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

BankiFi announced a $4.8 million funding round today led by Praetura Ventures. The U.K.-based company will use the funds to expand into the U.S. and inch closer toward its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024. The Series A round brings BankiFi's total funding to $8.5 million.

Embedded banking solutions firm BankiFi landed $4.8 million today to help fuel its expansion into North America. The Series A round brings BankiFi's total funding to $8.5 million. The investment round is led by Praetura Ventures and will help U.K.-based BankiFi further its mission to serve two million SMBs across four continents by 2024.

"BankiFi has proven to be an industry-leading open cash management provider in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries," said Praetura Ventures Managing Director David Foreman. "Now that they have launched in North America, BankiFi has an opportunity for dramatic growth."

Founded in 2018, BankiFi…

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