FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: YellowDog

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: YellowDog
By finovate Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2018, FinovateEurope 2018 Sneak Peek, YellowDog

 

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 6 through 9 of March 2018 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

YellowDog transformed the CGI rendering industry with Limitless Compute and amazing algorithms. YellowDog is now scaling to disrupt the financial services industry with award-winning technology.

Features

  • Reduce risk and make better decisions by carrying out more analyses faster than ever before
  • Always deliver batch workloads on time without spending more on servers

Why it’s great
YellowDog solves big batch problems in financial services by giving them access to Limitless Compute.

Presenters

Gareth Williams, CEO
Williams has built and led product management teams in mobile and software companies for the past 13 years. He founded YellowDog in January 2015.
LinkedIn

Simon Ponsford, CTO
Ponsford has 16 years experience in high growth start-up environments working in CIO, CTO and Technical Architect roles in the across the world, with several cloud computing related patents to his name.
LinkedIn

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Actiance, Finect, Handle Financial, LendUp, Meniga, Neustar, OurCrowd, Tinkoff Credit Systems, Tuition.io

On Finovate.com

  • Tuition.io to Power Student Loan Repayment Benefit for Estée Lauder Employees.
  • Check out sneak peeks from next month’s FinovateEurope presenting companies:
  • Meniga to Support Digital Transformation for French Banking Group, BPCE. See Meniga at FinovateEurope 2018 in March.
  • Handle Financial’s Prism Mobile App Reaches $1 Billion in Bills Paid.
  • Finect Raises Capital as BME Takes Minority Stake.

Around the web

  • Actiance forges partnership with Relativity to bring seamless data delivery to eDiscovery platform.
  • Neustar unveils multi-factor authentication risk assessment tool to help enterprises mitigate fraud risk.
  • Tinkoff Bank and AHML to launch joint venture to offer mortgage loans via new electronic platform.
  • Y Combinator interviews Jake Rosenberg, cofounder and CTO of LendUp.
  • VentureBeat highlights OurCrowd, which has raised $650 million for 145 startups and plans to top $1 billion in 2018.

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.

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Stratumn Opens Public Beta for IndigoTrace

Stratumn Opens Public Beta for IndigoTrace
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Stratumn

Stratumn, a startup that leverages the blockchain to reinvent how businesses create trust online, launched the beta of a plug-and-play software product today.

Dubbed IndigoTrace, it’s a user-friendly API that allows business administrators to create a workflow and invite participants, giving them each a role designated by a public/private key. Users can add inputs to the workflow and all changes can be monitored and traced in real time. This traceability offers visibility into who did what, when, where, and why, allowing for easy audits throughout the process. All information is secured by Stratumn’s Proof of Process (PoP) technology and public blockchains.

The API plugs directly into a business’ existing system and can be accessed via web, mobile, or IoT. IndigoTrace offers an intuitive user interface to empower even non-technical employees to offer input.

Stratumn cofounder and CEO Richard Caetano told Finextra, “At Stratumn, we see an increasing need for consumers, companies and regulators to be able to trace the movement of any good or asset and audit the status of a process at any given time and place. In a fast paced hyper-connected world, the ability to make, automate and prove strong business decisions is critical. We believe that the Blockchain technology has the answer to this need by providing a single and immutable source of truth, auditable by all parties involved in a finance or supply chain process.”

Founded in 2015, Paris-based Stratumn’s Proof of Process technology helps streamline and secure the exchange of data among partners, customers, and regulators by leveraging the blockchain. At FinDEVr New York 2016, Caetano gave a presentation titled Building and Securing Smart Workflow Using Chainscript and the Stratumn Blockchain Development Platform. Last June, Stratumn partnered with NASDAQ and received $7.8 million in Series A financing, bringing its total funding to $8 million. In November, the company completed a blockchain experimentation in which it connected 14 insurance companies in France.

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Bitbond Launches Alternative Investment Fund in Partnership with 1741 Fund Management

Bitbond Launches Alternative Investment Fund in Partnership with 1741 Fund Management
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bitbond

Peer-to-peer small business financing platform Bitbond has entered into a partnership with 1741 Fund Management to launch an alternative investment fund.

The new investment opportunity is made possible through an open-ended investment fund from 1741 Fund Management. Through the partnership, any institutional investor will have access to a diversified portfolio of small business loans that are originated through Bitbond’s small business lending platform. The new product is set up as an Alternative Investment Fund under the E.U.’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

Germany-based Bitbond offers small businesses across the globe fast access to working capital. Its platform connects small business owners with individual and institutional investors and leverages the blockchain to send cross-border payments quickly and inexpensively. Because Bitbond requires less manual involvement than traditional underwriting methods, it also has the advantage of scalability.

Since it was launched in 2013, the Bitbond platform has facilitated more than 2,300 loans worth $7.4 million (€6 million), most of which is used as short-term working capital for online retailers. Bitbond, which holds its own BaFin regulatory license, boasts more than 130,000 users from 120 countries.

At FinovateFall 2016, Bitbond launched an automated SME scoring engine. The tool offers a universal, automated scoring method that provides borrowers instant funding after their application is accepted. Last spring, the company brought in $5.4 million in debt financing and an undisclosed amount of equity funding, taking Bitbond’s total equity funds to more than $2.4 million. Radko Albrecht is founder and CEO.

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FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: ebankIT

FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: ebankIT
By finovate Posted on
Categories: ebankIT, FinovateMiddleEast 2018

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on 26 and 27 of February in Dubai, U.A.E. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

ebankIT platform is the hub that enables banks to provide customer journeys with empathic experiences. The next banking revolution will demand this.

Features

  • Flexible omnichannel digital banking platform, business middleware, class-leading apps
  • Fully empathic customer interactions
  • API gateway to embrace fintechs and third parties

Presenters

Diana Winstanley, Business Developer 
Winstanley coordinated several projects on business analysis and international business development, with experience showcasing the latest technology innovation to financial institutions throughout the globe.
LinkedIn

 

Vitor Barros, Pre-Sales Director 
Project Director for R&D department of ebankIT, Barros has managed and implemented several projects over the years, ranging from middleware to mobile platforms and development of innovative applications.
LinkedIn

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Moven Enterprise Teams with SBI Holdings to Launch in Japan

Moven Enterprise Teams with SBI Holdings to Launch in Japan
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Moven

Financial engagement and digital experiences platform Moven Enterprise has partnered with Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings, which owns Softbank and is partnered with more than 60 financial institutions across Asia.

This is part of a joint venture agreement between the two in which SBI will bring Moven’s technology into Japan under the Moven brand, offering mobile banking tools to domestic and international banks. The agreement also gives SBI Holdings one of six seats on Moven’s board of directors.

Moven has already partnered with numerous financial institutions, including TD Bank and Westpac in New Zealand. Today’s agreement, however, with SBI is Moven’s first foray into Asia.

Launched at FinovateFall 2016, Moven Enterprise takes a software-as-a-service approach by allowing banks and financial services companies to white-label its financial management technology. Moven Enterprise offers tools to help banks engage with their existing customers, acquire new customers, and drive revenue through their mobile channel.

At FinovateAsia 2017, Moven Enterprise demonstrated a new credit offering, chatbot functionality, and an expansion of its wish list feature that leverages behavioral gamification.

American Banker announced today that Moven’s consumer-facing brand– a challenger bank that launched in 2011– is seeking to acquire a bank, though it has not disclosed which. The company’s founder, Brett King, said the reasoning behind a bank purchase would be to help Moven scale faster and access more services for its customers.

Moven last demoed its consumer-facing platform at FinovateFall 2016 with the launch of a daily digest feature and real-time receipt capabilities. Last June, the company’s enterprise offering, in partnership with Westpac, received the CANSTAR 2017 Innovation Excellence Award.

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nCino Reels in Investment from Salesforce Ventures

nCino Reels in Investment from Salesforce Ventures
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, nCino

The amount of the funding was undisclosed. But cloud-based banking innovator nCino has just picked up a fresh infusion of capital courtesy of a round led by Salesforce Ventures. The investment adds to the company’s known total capital of more than $81 million, which includes a $17 million private equity round back in August.

“From day one, our vision has been to be the worldwide leader in cloud banking,” nCino CEO Pierre Naude said. “We are successfully executing on that vision and empowering financial institutions around the globe to grow their business and better serve their customers. Our strong alignment with Salesforce has been a key factor in our growth and success.”

nCino will use the funds to help drive its global expansion, as well as speed innovation on its Bank Operating System technology. The solution is built on the Salesforce platform and is integrated with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud. nCino has been a Salesforce partner since it was founded in 2012.

SVP and GM of Financial Services for Salesforce, Rohit Mahna highlighted the long-term relationship between the two companies. “nCino extends the power of the Salesforce platform, enabling banks to get closer to their customers than ever before,” Mahna said. “The investment from Salesforce Ventures is the latest evolution in our strong partnership, and we’re thrilled to help fuel nCino’s global growth and innovation.”

The company’s Bank Operating System integrates with core banking and transactional systems. The technology combines CRM, deposit account opening, loan origination, workflow, enterprise content management, digital engagement, and real-time reporting to enable financial institutions to provide the kind of personalized, streamlined experience customers and bank employees alike have come to expect. nCino notes that on average its client institutions have experienced:

  • 17% reduction in operating costs
  • 19% increase in loan volume
  • 22% increase in staff efficiency
  • 34% decrease in loan closing time
  • 54% reduction in policy exceptions

nCino demonstrated its Bank Operating System at FinovateEurope 2017. Headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, the company began the year with a major new partnership with Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in the world with more than $87 billion in assets, more than seven million members, and 300 branches. 2017 was a big year for nCino, with deployments of its Bank Operating System announced with CFCU Community Credit Union in December, Iberiabank in November, and Pacific Western Bank in August – to name just a few recent wins. The cumulative result was that nCino ended the year with 10 of the 30 largest U.S. banks by asset size as customers and 180 financial clients around the world.

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FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: ZagTrader

FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: ZagTrader
By finovate Posted on
Categories: FinovateMiddleEast 2018, ZagTrader

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on 26 and 27 of February in Dubai, U.A.E. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

ZagTrader is a leading financial technology company specializing in serving the global financial services industry and licensing its proprietary technology solutions, market data, and hosting services.

Features

  • Electronic connectivity to crypto exchanges globally
  • Access to more than 200 exchanges worldwide
  • Robo-advisory and structured product capabilities

Why it’s great
ZagTrader provides the ability to handle multi-asset class instruments such as stocks, commodities, futures, FX, as well as digital crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum ETC within the same platform.

Presenters

Shihab Khalil, CEO 
With in-depth experience in fintech and capital markets, Khalil is driving ZagTrader towards becoming a global fintech company serving the banks, brokers, asset management, and capital markets.
LinkedIn

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FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: Munnypot

FinovateMiddleEast Sneak Peek: Munnypot
By finovate Posted on
Categories: FinovateMiddleEast 2018, Munnypot

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on 26 and 27 of February in Dubai, U.A.E. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Munnypot is an award-winning, easy-to-use, fully-automated, B2C and B2B online investment advice service. It provides low cost, goal-based, jargon-free advice.

Features

  • Regulated investment advice
  • Investment decisions made for the customer based on goals and appetite for risk.
  • Monitoring of investment performance in relation to the goal with actionable advice.

Why it’s great
Munnypot is engaging, easy-to-use, and builds customer confidence. All the complex decisions are taken away, making investment advice accessible and convenient for anyone.

Presenter

Andrew Fay, CEO
Fay is a former IFA who went on to form Cavanagh Group and worked as Head of Wealth Management at Close Brothers prior to co-founding Munnypot.
LinkedIn

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London-based Lender EZBOB Raises $21 Million in New Funding

London-based Lender EZBOB Raises $21 Million in New Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: EZBOB, Funding

Small business online lender EZBOB has raised $21 million in new funding (£15 million) courtesy of an investment from Moscow-based PE firm Da Vinci Capital Management. The funding puts the company’s total capital at more than $146 million (£103 million).

Founded in 2011, EZBOB demonstrated its lending platform at FinovateEurope 2014. The company provides small and medium-sized businesses with up to £120,000 in financing in minutes. There are no pre-payment penalties, and borrowers are offered a flexible repayment schedule of up to 24 months and an APR as low as 18%.

What will EZBOB do with the additional financing? Some clues hinted at in a Forbes interview with EZBOB co-founder and CEO Tomer Guriel from last summer suggest that new products (“such as a consumer lending platform and a mortgage platform”) may be in the offering. The idea is to model any new lending product after the company’s current SME lending platform.

So it was no surprise that when asked by interviewer Omri Barzilay what EZBOB’s advantage is in the SME lending space, Guriel answered “technology” and discussed the company’s commitment to improving the customer experience. But he segued quickly to the “fin” part of “fintech,” adding that:

“Our advantage is that we are solely focused on digital lending solutions. We live and breathe the lending space. Lending is at the heart of the bank’s business and our experience in lending has given us phenomenal insight into what works for a customer and from a lender perspective.”

So far, so good. EZBOB ended 2017 winning “Best Technology Initiative” from the Financial Innovation Awards. In November, Yorkshire Bank said that it would deploy technology from EZBOB to speed the loan application process from two weeks to less than 24 hours. Back in August, the company announced that it would extend its contract with AU10TIX for ID authentication and automating customer onboarding. The Royal Bank of Scotland has also used EZBOB’s technology to launch its automated lending platform, Esme.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bitbond, Ephesoft, EZBOB, Klarna, Moven, MX, nCino, PayNearMe, Revolut, Ripple, TIBCO Software

On Finovate.com

  • Moven Enterprise Launches in Japan, Lands $23 Million from SBI Holdings.
  • nCino Reels in Investment from SalesForce Ventures.
  • London-based lender EZBOB Raises $21 Million in New Funding.
  • Bitbond Launches Alternative Investment Fund in Partnership with 1741 Fund Management.

Around the web

  • TIBCO appoints Matt Quinn as COO, Nelson Petracek as CTO.
  • Revolut launches ability to buy, hold, & sell Bitcoin, Litecoin, & Ethereum in just 30 seconds directly from the app.
  • KIVA Group team with MX to offer AFCU members mobile banking app.
  • UK technology retailer Maplin integrates Klarna’s pay later option.
  • Ephesoft appoints Russ Hubbard as Chief Revenue Officer.
  • PayNearMe partners with Ria to make paying for international money transfers easier.

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.

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TESOBE’s Open Bank Project Powering Santander’s First Hackathon

TESOBE’s Open Bank Project Powering Santander’s First Hackathon
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Open Bank Project, TESOBE

Courtesy of help from TESOBE’s Open Bank Project, Santander is hosting its first hackathon this spring. The bank will leverage the Open Bank Project’s white-labeled sandbox technology and expertise to host the competition, themed Building Banking Your Way.

Stephen Dury, Head of Customer and Innovation at Santander​, said, “​By launching a hackathon, we hope to see the future of open banking come to life through participants fresh ideas, creative new use cases and industry-changing solutions.”

Using a sandbox of emulated data, the hackathon aims to find innovative solutions to business challenges and tackle issues ranging from customer interaction, security, homeownership, and money management. Prizes will be awarded to participants who create submissions that “surprise, delight, and engage with users in a way that has never been done before” and the winning team will receive $14,000 (£10,000).

Santander’s upcoming hackathon will take place from 16 through 18th March in Shoreditch.

Simon Redfern, CEO of TESOBE / Open Bank Project, ​said that this hackathon comes at a particularly exciting time given the EU’s new open banking regulations. “A hackathon is a great way of gathering and focusing fresh perspectives and we’re excited to meet and support the up-and-coming innovators who have the vision, passion, and capability to rapidly deliver compelling fintech apps and services using Open Banking APIs,” Redfern added.

The Open Bank Project has partnered with a number of global banks, including Societe Generale and The Royal Bank of Scotland, to help them organize and execute successful hackathons. With new PSD2 guidelines in place, banks may be more likely to open themselves to new opportunities and feel more pressure to create and adopt new, innovative services.

Headquartered in Germany, the Open Bank Project was founded in 2005. At FinovateSpring 2013, Redfern demonstrated a fun application of open banking– the world’s first singing bank. The point of the demo was not the singing bank itself, but rather was intended to showcase the ease of use of the Open Banking Project’s API. At FinovateEurope this March, TESOBE’s Open Bank Project will demo its newest technology from stage (register).

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