FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: CREALOGIX

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: CREALOGIX

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on February 12 through 14, 2019 in London, U.K. Register today and save your spot.

TimeWarp from CREALOGIX is an independent app created for the everyday banker in order to provide them with insights to make better financial decisions at every stage of life.

Features

  • Independent app for everyday bankers
  • Simulation of decisions users make in financial life
  • Empowers banks to up-sell and cross-sell a variety of highly personalized products

Why it’s great
The new tool will ultimately help customers simulate every decision they make when it comes to their financial lives and predict the impact of these decisions.

Presenters

Jo Howes, Commercial Director
Howes is responsible for sales and marketing activity for CREALOGIX in the U.K. Howes has more than 20 years experience partnering with leading financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformations.
LinkedIn

Eszter Vass, Key Account Manager
Vass has eight years of experience in digitalization in financial services. She is strongly focused on continuously improving the services and experiences offered, as well as enhancing the way people engage with their banks.
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: BlueRush

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: BlueRush

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on February 12 through 14, 2019 in London, U.K. Register today and save your spot.

Building on over 10 years of experience creating engaging digital journeys for financial institutions, BlueRush has developed a completely new IndiVideo credit card selector and personalized video experience.

Features

  • Seamless customer journey and improved conversion rate
  • Increased customer engagement and satisfaction for up/cross-sell
  • Collection of valuable data-driven customer insights

Why it’s great
IndiVideo focuses on accelerating the customer journey through personalized education and visualization. BlueRush has seen conversions lift over 65% with IndiVideo because of its engaging format.

Presenter

Ted Mercer, VP of Sales
Mercer has worked in sales and sales management for over 10 years and has a background in financial services as a Chartered Accountant. He helps companies increase customer engagement with IndiVideo.
LinkedIn

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Feedzai and DataRobot Team Up to Tackle Financial Crime.
  • Revolut Turns to ClauseMatch to Streamline Compliance.

Around the web

  • Identity verification specialist Onfido partners with augmented identity innovator IDEMIA.
  • NICE Actimize unveils new integrated fraud management platform, IFM-X.
  • Open banking platform provider Token hires new Chief Technology Officer, Gaurav Kohli.
  • RightCapital taps Pietro La Greca as VP of Enterprise Sales.

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.

New Funding Helps Featurespace Fight Fraud in Financial Services

New Funding Helps Featurespace Fight Fraud in Financial Services

Fraud detection and risk management specialist Featurespace has raised $32.3 million (£25 million) in a round led by Insight Venture Partners and MissionOG. With participation from existing investors IP Group, Highland Europe, TTV Capital, Robert Sansom, and Invoke Capital, the investment takes Featurespace’s total funding north of the $71 million mark.

“We have made tremendous progress over the last 15 months since our last fundraising,” Featurespace CEO Martina King said, “and this fund raise is the largest to date.” King added that the new capital will be used to help fuel the company’s international expansion via a focus on “products, people, and customers.”

“We have also grown our financial services customer base and now are working with 17 banks across continental Europe, the U.K., the U.S., and Latin America,” King said. She noted that Featurespace had also become the “technology partner of choice” for many payment processors and merchant acquirers who have made Featurespace’s technology a part of their own fraud prevention efforts.

Based in Cambridge, U.K., with offices in London and Atlanta, Georgia, Featurespace demonstrated its ARIC Fraud Manager at FinovateFall 2016. The technology leverages behavioral analytics, anomaly detection, and machine learning to understand behavior and identify risk more accurately in real-time. Compared to traditional, rule-based anti-fraud solutions, Featurespace’s ARIC provides better fraud detection without increasing the incidence of false positives.

The company is off to a big start in 2019. Recognized by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) in its list of the 40 most innovative companies in the state, Featurespace partnered with business consultancy everis earlier this month. The company also announced that international bookmaker and gaming operator SKS365 would use its technology to provide real-time fraud protection.

Last fall, Featurespace teamed up with new U.K. clearing bank, ClearBank; partnered with Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark; and released a white label version of its ARIC fraud and risk technology. Founded in 2005, Featurespace is a member of the Inc. 5000 Europe.

M1 Finance to Launch New Current Account Offering

M1 Finance to Launch New Current Account Offering

Chicago-based M1 Finance is another firm taking on the big banks with plans to launch a checking (or current) account and debit card that integrates in its current app, reports Antony Peyton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Coming in a few months, and called M1 Spend, it will allow users to directly deposit their salary into M1, pay bills, and spend money with an M1 Visa debit card. It’s also launching a premium version with interest and cash back on purchases. In its view, this is “one account that does it all”.

In a swipe at rivals, Brian Barnes, M1’s founder and CEO, said: “Unlike current checking accounts, your money is not confined to sit idle as ‘cash’, earning next to nothing.”

Instead, excess money is automatically put into investments to “capture its full potential.”

Users can choose their own stocks or funds or select from curated options. They can also use money as an asset to back up a line of credit to offer liquidity of those investments.

Barnes explained: “We’ve built and launched two of the three pillars in M1 to make this a reality.”

Namely, M1 Invest for a custom portfolio and M1 Borrow for a line of credit. M1 Spend, when launched, will complete the foundation of its money management account.

All three will be integrated within the app, and money can move instantaneously between all three.

M1 Spend will be Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured as the money in the account will be held with Lincoln Savings Bank.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, M1 Finance demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2016. The company has raised $20.2 million in funding and includes Chicago Ventures among its investors.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • New Funding Helps Featurespace Fight Fraud in Financial Services.

Around the web

  • WeInvest announces North Asia expansion with appointment of new Head of Sales, Thomas Tse.
  • Yoyo Wallet partners with artisan coffee chain, SOHO Coffee.
  • TAG includes DefenseStorm and FeatureSpace in its list of the top 40 most innovative companies in Georgia.
  • ACI Worldwide brings its real-time payments solution to 17 Hungarian banks courtesy of partnership with T-Systems and Takarékinfo.
  • Dwolla powers AutoInvest, a new automatic investing feature from OneGold.
  • MaxMyInterest boosts top rate available on its platform to 2.46%, the highest rate in the country.

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.

Onfido to Accept Bitcoin Payments Courtesy of BitPay Partnership

Onfido to Accept Bitcoin Payments Courtesy of BitPay Partnership

Two of the hottest trends in fintech – blockchain technology and identity management – converge in the latest partnership between identity verification platform Onfido and global digital asset payments specialist BitPay. The companies are working together to enable Onfido customers to pay for identity verification services using Bitcoin. At the same time, BitPay will leverage Onfido’s technology to satisfy its own KYC compliance requirements, as well as to accelerate secure onboarding.

“At Onfido, it’s our mission to build an open world where identity is the key to access,” said company co-founder and CEO Husayn Kassai. “Partnering with Bitpay was the obvious choice for both our businesses. BitPay enables us to securely service more people in a way that is cost-effective and quicker than a bank wire, while we can deliver them the most trusted identity verification service in the crypto space.”

Above: Onfido’s Joel Sacmar (Sales Engineering) and Rob Connors (New Business & Channels) demonstrating Facial Check with Video at FinovateFall 2018.

With more than 1,500 customers globally, Onfido will leverage its partnership with BitPay to further expand worldwide. The company is especially interested in reaching un- and underbanked communities where transactions via mobile device are more common than credit card payments.  BitPay will benefit from Onfido’s antifraud technology, which is currently used by more than 30 of the biggest crypto exchanges and wallets in the world.

“We selected Onfido as our internal identity verification platform as it had the most robust functionality and was easiest to use,” BitPay CEO and President Stephen Pair said. “Allowing crypto companies to pay in Bitcoin shows Onfido’s commitment to the crypto space, and we’re excited to be working together to make crypto more secure, for more people.”

BitPay processes more than $1 billion a year from merchants and B2B customers. Founded in 2011, the company verifies and accepts Bitcoin payments on behalf of its partners, and businesses get their funds settled in fiat currency within one to three business days.

Headquartered in London, U.K., Onfido demonstrated its Facial Check with Video technology at FinovateFall 2018. The feature, available via the company’s SDK, leverages machine learning to validate a user’s identity document, cross-referencing the user’s facial biometrics with international credit and watchlist databases.

Reviewed in the Fintech Times earlier this month after announcing what it called “its strongest year to date,” Onfido earned a spot on the RegTech 100 last fall, and was also featured in Deloitte’s list of the 11 fastest growing tech companies in the United Kingdom.

With investors including Idinvest Partners, Wellington Partners, and Crane Venture Partners, Onfido has raised $60.3 million in funding. The company was founded in 2012.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Central and South Asia

  • India-based investment app Groww picks up $6.2 million in BBVA-led Series A funding.
  • Uzbekistan’s Digital Trust Fund inks deal with tokenization and securitization service provider BANKEX to bring blockchain technology to government agencies.
  • Entrepreneur.com India interviews Razorpay CTO and co-founder Shashank Kumar.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Jamaica Stock Exchange announces successful digital asset trading pilot with Canadian fintech Blockstation.
  • Bolsa de Valores de Panamá goes live with new trading system from Nasdaq.
  • Private equity firm Advent buys $1.42 billion majority stake in Prisma Medios de Pago, an Argentina-based payments firm.
  • Mexican challenger bank Albo raises $7.4 million Series A.

Asia-Pacific

  • IBM announces $250 million partnership with the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
  • UNPay founder Zhang Zhenghua named as 2018 Golden Shell Award’s inaugural “Payment Industry Pioneer.”
  • Hong Kong’s Atom cryptocurrency exchange, AAX, prepares for Hong Kong launch in the first half of this year.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Absa to deploy AI to help customers in South Africa switch bank accounts.
  • Nigeria’s Nairametrics lists its Fintech companies to watch out for in 2019.
  • The first online insurance distribution solution in Mozambique, Askari Fintech, opens for business.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Bankart wins final approval from Slovenian Central Bank to go live with Net’s instant payment solution.
  • CryptoNews looks at the rise in interest in fintech and blockchain technology in Lithuania.
  • Czech fintech Twisto to launch operations in Romania.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • New partnership helps Moven grow in MENA.
  • Iraq’s Al Mustashar Islamic Bank goes live with ICS Financial Systems’ core banking system, ICS Banks Islamic.
  • Entrepreneur.com talks with Padmini Gupta, co-founder and CEO of UAE-based fintech Rise about democratizing access to financial services.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Onfido to Accept Bitcoin Payments Courtesy of Partnership with BitPay.

Around the web

  • eToro adds decentralized payments network, ZCash, to its product suite.
  • IBM announces $250 million partnership with the Bank of the Philippine Islands.
  • Ping Identity announces significant updates to its PingIntelligence for APIs cybersecurity solution.
  • OutSystems reports record revenue in 2018, as well as adding hundreds of new customers and nearly 60,000 new developers.
  • Privakey unveils the latest version of its Privakey CX solution.
  • AlphaPoint hires former R3 chief sales officer Scott Grayson as its new SVP and head of enterprise sales.

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.

Finovate Alums Raise More than $4 Billion in 2018, $802 Million in Q4

Finovate alums raised more than $800 million in the final months of 2018, taking the year’s fundraising total over the four billion mark.

This achievement represents the biggest fundraising year for Finovate alums, and serves as a testament to the enduring commitment to fintech innovation by a broadening community of investors.

Previous Annual Comparisons

  • 2017: $2.7 billion raised
  • 2016: $2.3 billion raised (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4)
  • 2015: $3 billion raised
  • 2014: $2.2 billion raised

The fourth quarter of 2018 was also one of the biggest fourth quarters for our alums in recent years.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q4 2017: More than $730 million raised by 23 alums
  • Q4 2016: More than $700 million raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2015: More than $302 million raised by 28 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $1.4 billion raised by 26 alums

The quarter’s top equity investments were the $300 million raised by fintech unicorn Coinbase, and the $250 million raised by Plaid, a veteran of our developers conference, FinDEVr. In sum, the top investments of Q4 2018 represented 97% of the quarter’s known total. Note that investments for three alums (and specifically the equity portion of a fourth alum’s combined debt and equity fundraising) were undisclosed.

Top 10 Equity Investments

  • Coinbase: $300 million
  • Plaid: $250 million
  • Pindrop: $90 million
  • Quid: $37.5 million
  • Zopa: $20.7 million
  • Klarna: $20 million
  • PayActiv: $20 million
  • Thought Machine: $14.4 million
  • Modo: $13 million
  • Finn AI: $11 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2018

October 2018: More than $388 million raised by seven alums

  • Coinbase: $300 million – post
  • Finn AI: $11 million – post
  • Klarna: $20 million – post
  • PayActiv: $20 million – post
  • Ondot: undisclosed – post
  • Quid: $37.5 million – post
  • Zenmonics: undisclosed – post

November 2018: More than $58 million raised by six alums

  • Anorak: $6.5 million – post
  • Meniga: $3.4 million – post
  • Modo: $13 million – post
  • Moneyhub: undisclosed – post
  • Thought Machine: $14.4 million – post
  • Zopa: $20.7 million – post

December 2018: More than $356 million raised by six alums

  • FI.SPAN: $4 million – post
  • ISARA: $10 million – post
  • ShopKeep POS: $65 million (combined debt and equity) – post
  • Switch: $2 million – post
  • Pindrop: $90 million – post
  • Plaid: $250 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the fourth quarter of 2018, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

Symbiont Closes $20 Million Series B in Round Led by Nasdaq Ventures

Symbiont Closes $20 Million Series B in Round Led by Nasdaq Ventures

Blockchain outfit Symbiont has closed a $20 million Series B funding round led by Nasdaq Ventures with participation from additional new investors including Galaxy Digital, Citi, Raptor Group, and others, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Symbiont has developed a platform for institutional applications of blockchain technology.

The firm will use this funding round for deployments across various sectors including data management, mortgages, private equity, and syndicated loans.

“Our investment will also include the integration of Symbiont’s enterprise blockchain and smart contract platform into the Nasdaq Financial Framework,” said Gary Offner, head of Nasdaq Ventures.

Symbiont CEO and co-founder Mark Smith said: “Leveraging our financial markets and blockchain technology experience, our anchor partners like Vanguard, Lewis Ranieri, and Nasdaq will benefit from developing new distributed applications on Assembly, our enterprise blockchain and smart contract platform.”

Assembly enables financial institutions to maintain the peer-to-peer nature of their transactions with no central authority, while also getting a shared database with end-to-end privacy.

Symbiont received a big investment by Medici Ventures back in July 2017.

Founded in 2015, the company participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2016. At the event, Symbiont CTO and co-founder Adam Krellenstein presented Distributed Ledgers and Smart Contracts, a look at the architecture of the company’s Smart Securities system.