StockViews Closes Second Round Equity Funding, Earns FCA Authorization

StockViews Closes Second Round Equity Funding, Earns FCA Authorization
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, StockViews

London-based StockViews completed its second round of funding this week. The $640,000 in new capital (£500,000) will help fuel the launch of the company’s equity research platform this summer, putting the technology in the hands of clients before new regulations take effect in January 2018. Both new and existing investors participated in the funding, which takes the company’s total capital to more than $1 million.

“As a result of the upcoming regulatory changes under Mifid II,” StockViews CEO Tom Beevers said, “it is clear there is a growing demand for high quality, differentiated equity research.” He added, “The new capital, our expanding team of leading analysts, and the arrival of our new Executive Chairman will position us well for this opportunity.”

Pictured: StockViews CEO Thomas Beevers demonstrating StockViews Signal at FinovateSpring 2015.

One of the ways Mifid II will change the landscape for asset managers is by requiring them to separate payments for research to investment banks from commission payments. StockViews believes this will encourage asset managers to either pay for research directly or use “Research Payment Accounts” as a way to pass the cost of research to customers. The company sees this as generating opportunities for firms that can provide independent equity analysis at a lower cost.

In addition to the funding news, StockViews announced that the company had been granted FCA authorization and appointed former Fidelity International president, Thomas Balk, as the company’s Executive Chairman. Balk joined the StockViews board last spring, the same month StockViews pulled in $355,000 in seed funding.

Founded in 2014, StockViews demonstrated its StockViews Signal technology at FinovateSpring 2015. Signal aggregates the recommendations from the top-rated analysts on the StockViews network to provide buy and sell signals. Last fall, StockViews won top honors and a $50,000 investment at the G-Startup Worldwide competition at GMIC Bangalore. We featured StockViews in our roundup of top business-to-business wealth tech players. Read more about the company in our Finovate Debut feature.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AutoGravity, EverSafe, Fiserv, LendingTree, NetGuardians, Payfone, StockViews, Trusted Key

On Finovate.com

  • StockViews Closes Second Round Equity Funding, Earns FCA Authorization.

Around the web

  • EverSafe picks up $250,000 in capital from JP Morgan as one of eight FinLab startup winners.
  • Affinity Plus FCU ($2 billion in assets) to deploy Fiserv’s Architect platform to power its online and mobile banking services.
  • Trusted Key CEO Prakash Sundaresan looks at changing customer expectations, security challenges, and the shifting regulatory landscape through the lens of FinDEVr London.
  • Payfone wins patent for technology that fights SIM swap fraud.
  • Ghana’s Premium Bank chooses NetGuardians’ anti-fraud solution, FraudGuardian.
  • LendingTree acquires DepositAccounts for undisclosed sum.
  • AutoGravity unveils partnership with Fletcher Jones Auto Group.

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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FutureVault Partners with BlueRock Wealth Management

FutureVault Partners with BlueRock Wealth Management
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FutureVault

“Everybody’s gotta have a little place for their stuff,” the late great George Carlin reminded us years ago. “That’s all life is about. Trying to find a place for your stuff.”

Digital safety deposit box developer FutureVault appears to agree. The company announced this week that it is partnering with BlueRock Wealth Management, providing the firm’s high net worth (HNW) clients with access to its secure digital filing technology and information management platform. BlueRock President Neal Owen highlighted the data management functionality of the new solution, BlueRock Vault, referring to it as the type of technology that is important in both storing and managing digital documents. He said the partnership would help his firm to safeguard information as well as it safeguards assets.

Pictured: FutureVault CEO and Executive Chairman G. Scott Paterson demonstrating the company’s digital safety deposit box at FinovateFall 2016.

In his comments on the news, FutureVault CEO and Executive Chairman G. Scott Paterson emphasized the “unique needs” of high net worth clients and their families. In addition to providing bank-grade security, optical character recognition (OCR), pre-configured digital filing cabinets, and sophisticated tagging, BlueRock Vault clients will have access to FutureVault’s Trusted Advisor service. This feature enables clients to allow a trusted fiduciary such as a financial advisor or attorney to enter and manage their information on their behalf.

The ability to serve HNW clients was demonstrated by Paterson’s own use of the technology as an “alpha” customer when he formally launched the technology at FinovateFall a year ago. He showed how the platform was easily able to accommodate clients with a complex set of data storage requirements (for example, a HNW family with multiple business concerns, a small trust, a foundation, etc.), noting that the platform scales downward as well “(these categories) could also be family members, parents, business divisions.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, FutureVault demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2016. Last month, the company announced a partnership with C-Suite Network, which will offer the C-Suite Vault as a premier value-added service to executive clients. FutureVault began the year by bolstering its own C-suite, adding three former TD Bank executives, Kevin Whyte, Tom Duane, and Rudy Sankovic to its ranks as president and COO, CTO, and CFO, respectively.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FICO, Fiserv, FutureVault, PayNearMe, Revolut, Ripple

On Finovate.com

  • FutureVault Partners with BlueRock Wealth Management.

Around the web

  • Fiserv to enhance digital banking strategy for Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union.
  • American Banker profiles Ripple’s strategy to partner with– and compete with — banks.
  • U.S. News profiles PayNearMe as a tool to help consumers shop online without a credit card
  • Revolut launches business accounts in U.K. and Europe to complete with Transferwise
  • FICO launches new fraud solution to identify the source of compromised cards faster

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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SwipeStox Parent Company Announces IPO

SwipeStox Parent Company Announces IPO
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Swipestox

Germany-based SwipeStox announced today that its parent company, The NAGA Group (NAGA), is planning an IPO on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, approved the listing, which is planned for July 10, 2017.

NAGA will offer up to one million new registered shares until June  29 2017 for private and institutional investors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain. Shares are priced at $2.93 (€2.60). Discount shares of $2.79 (€2.47) are available on the SwipeStox app and NAGA website for subscribers who hold a Real Money Account at the broker Hanseatic Brokerhouse Global Marktes Ltd (HBGM).

The purpose of the IPO, as the company describes in the press release is “aimed at improving the company’s profile and developing its equity – including as a currency for further expansion.” Gross revenues of up to $2.93 million (€2.6 million) will be used to further software and business development and to bolster marketing to attract more users to the SwipeStox app.

Founded in 2015, NAGA has raised a total of $14.5 million. The company has six offices across three European countries and plans to open locations in Shanghai and New York to support potential partners in the American and Asian markets. SwipeStox, the social network for stock trading, stands out as one of NAGA’s most successful projects. SwipeStox launched in 2016. Nine months after going live the startup’s global user base had already traded more than $21 billion over the platform.

Benjamin Bilski, along with Managing Director & Co-Founder, Wladimir Huber, showed off the SwipeStox platform at FinovateSpring 2016. At FinovateEurope 2016 in London, SwipeStox took home a Best of Show award for the debut of its platform. Earlier this year, the company closed a $13 million funding round led by Chinese investment group FOSUN, which is committed to helping NAGA expand SwipeStox in the Asia Pacific region. In 2016, the company launched a web trading platform and took home honors at Wolves Summit 2016  where it won $100,000 for business development.

SwipeStox is just the beginning for NAGA. The company is working on a new project, Switex, which focuses on trading virtual objects in online gaming (in-game items). Additionally, NAGA plans to launch two new fintech companies in early 2018.

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Trusona Raises $10 Million to Fuel #NoPasswords Revolution

Trusona Raises $10 Million to Fuel #NoPasswords Revolution
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Trusona

Identity authentication company Trusona landed $10 million in funding this week. Microsoft’s venture capital arm led the round. Existing investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers also participated, bringing the Arizona-based company’s total funding to $18 million.

Founded in 2015, Trusona provides an insured cloud identity suite that offers everyday logins for SWIFT wires, DTC stock transfers, critical infrastructure logins, high net-worth individual accounts, and more. The company will use today’s funding to double its workforce and generate more demand for its identity application suite that comes in three different versions. The most basic of which, Essential, allows users to log into a website by scanning their fingerprint or entering a PIN on their mobile device. The Executive version is designed to replace OTP tokens, requiring 3-factors of authentication upon login. Businesses may also select the Elite level for identity verification to access sensitive assets or initiate high-dollar wire transfers. This version delivers four-factor authentication and includes insurance.

Trusona’s CEO and founder, Ori Eisen, demonstrated the company’s Cloud Identity Suite at FinovateFall 2016. The platform is so fast and frictionless that Eisen was able to show off the user experience seven times during the seven minute demo. To authenticate themselves, clients use the Trusona app on their smartphone to photograph a QR code on a website login page, then select accept on their mobile device.

The company also provides a free WordPress plugin and earlier this spring launched an offering for Salesforce users. In April, Trusona appointed Karen Dayan as Chief Marketing Officer and earlier this year won Info Security PG’s Global Excellence Award.

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Fintech Luminaries, Lock in Presale Savings for FinovateAsia

Fintech Luminaries, Lock in Presale Savings for FinovateAsia
By Erika Sanchez Posted on
Categories: Finovate Marketing, FinovateAsia 2017

This is the perfect time to lock in your spot for our second annual Hong Kong event before prices go up on Saturday. Not only do you save $600, there’s little risk since tickets are fully refundable through mid-September.

On November 7 & 8, FinovateAsia 2017 will showcase the latest products spanning the spectrum of fintech. The event features our signature demo-only format, followed by fast-paced discussions and deeper dives in the afternoon covering the most important topics of 2017 and beyond (a new piece this year!). If you’re looking to stay on top of the cutting edge in fintech, Finovate is the place to be.

But we know that’s not the only reason to attend an event—you also want to meet and learn from other interesting attendees. We’re expecting 500+ attendees in Hong Kong this year. The audience will consist of senior-level financial executives, venture capitalists, other entrepreneurs, and influential press, analysts, and bloggers. This mix ensures you’ll have good conversations with the right people about the latest in fintech and the trends that lie ahead.

Attendee Titles from FinovateAsia 2016

Get your ticket now before seats run out (space is limited). Presale tickets expire this Friday, June 16, so save $600 by registering soon.

And if you’d like to apply to demo your latest fintech product at the event, please email us at asia@finovate.com for more information.

FinovateAsia 2017 is sponsored by: CeleritiFintech, Invest Hong Kong, Lleida.net, and more to be announced.

FinovateAsia 2017 is partners with: Aite Group, BankersHub, Banking Technology, Breaking Banks, Celent, FemTech, Financial IT, Fintech Finance, Holland Fintech, IBS Intelligence, Mercator Advisory Group, Ovum, The Paypers, Plug and Play, and SME Finance Forum.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr APIntelligence

Our first developers conference in the U.K. was a huge success! Stay tuned on the blog to see what you missed at FinDEVr 2017 London this week. We’ll post photos, videos, and Twitter updates.

On FinDEVr.com

  • FinDEVr London: Tech Talk at the Tobacco Dock
  • FinDEVr London 2017: Welcome to Day One.
  • FinDEVr London 2017: Welcome to Day Two.

Alumni updates

  • Surety Bank taps NYMBUS SmartCore for a Digital-First approach.
  • Fiserv to Acquire Monitise for $89 Million.
  • DefenseStorm hires Steve Soukup as Chief Revenue Officer.
  • PayNearMe facilitates $1.6M in child support payments for the state of Michigan.
  • Fiserv leverages robo-advisory and automation technology from fellow Finovate alum Trizic to enhance its wealth management solutions.
  • Stratumn Lands $7.8 Million, Forms Strategic Partnership with NASDAQ.
  • Mastercard launches comprehensive digital payment solution for small and midsized businesses.

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CSI globalVCard, Icon Solutions, Insuritas, NetGuardians, NYMBUS, Swipestox

On Finovate.com

  • SwipeStox Parent Company Announces IPO.

Around the web

  • Ghana-based Premium Bank selects NetGuardians’ anti-fraud solution – FraudGuardian.
  • CSI globalVCard partners with AmTrav Corporate Travel Management.
  • Paducah Bank’s insurance agency, powered by Insuritas, set a record: 58% of the customers that asked for an auto, home or business quote bought a policy.
  • Form3 partners with Icon Solutions to leverage Instant Payments Framework for SEPA Instant Payments.
  • Surety Bank taps NYMBUS SmartCore for a Digital-First approach.

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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CrowdFlower Raises $20 Million to Bloom AI Adoption

CrowdFlower Raises $20 Million to Bloom AI Adoption
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CrowdFlower, Funding

AI data enrichment platform, CrowdFlower, has pulled in $20 million in funding today. This is the California-based company’s sixth round of funding since it was founded in 2009 and brings its total raised to $58 million.

Leading today’s round is Industry Ventures. A new investor, Salesforce Ventures, is also participating along with existing investors Canvas Ventures, Microsoft Ventures and Trinity Ventures. CrowdFlower will use the funding to expand the functionality of its platform, integrate with other machine learning technologies, and hire new talent. The company’s CEO, Robin Bordoli, said, “With this funding, we can accelerate our reach and help data science and machine learning teams everywhere produce the training data they need within the scale, cost and quality parameters that matter to them.”

CrowdFlower creates human-in-the-loop technology that offers quality control for data scientists. The company leverages an on-demand workforce to collect, label, and clean data that requires human intelligence. According to Bordoli, we are just starting to scratch the surface of AI. He described AI apps for the enterprise as being “at the beginning of a Cambrian explosion” and said that the bottleneck for mass adoption of machine learning is “the availability of high quality training data and human-in-the-loop workflows to handle the failure states of the algorithm.” Bordoli went on to explain that an algorithm without human input is like “a rocket ship with a large engine but no fuel and no navigation system.”

CrowdFlower’s Tatiana Josephy (VP Product) and Seth Teicher (Head of Content & Business Development) at FinovateFall 2014

At FinovateFall 2014, CrowdFlower won Best of Show in a demo that showed how the on-demand workforce uses its platform to collect, clean, and label financial transaction data. Last month, the company launched a set of dedicated tools for computer vision to enhance its Pixel Labeling Tool.

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Fiserv to Acquire Monitise for $89 Million

Fiserv to Acquire Monitise for $89 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fiserv, Mergers & Acquisitions, Monitise

Financial services company Fiserv has agreed to acquire U.K.-based Monitise for 2.9 pence per share, which equates to $89 million.

The acquisition comes after a storied history for Monitise, which was valued at $2.6 billion at its peak in 2014 and had formed successful partnerships with IBM, Santander, Telefonica, Virgin Money, and others. In 2015, however, the company changed its business model because of increased competition from tech giants such as Alphabet and Apple who offered mobile payment services for free. After the pivot, Monitise wasn’t able to recover and ended up putting itself up for sale in 2015.

Founded in 2003, Monitise demoed its mobile banking platform on a Nokia flip phone at FinovateFall 2007, the same year it went public on the London stock exchange. In 2009, Monitise’s mobile payments partner, Metavante, was acquired by Fiserv rival FIS. Most recently, Monitise launched FINkit, a cloud-based platform, in 2016 to foster collaboration between banks and fintechs. BehavioSec, Currencycloud, and Envestnet | Yodlee were among the founding FINkit members.

Fiserv anticipates the acquisition, which is subject to shareholder approval, to “accelerate the Fiserv digital strategy and the development of a next-generation digital banking platform for leading financial institutions worldwide.” The Wisconsin-based company will foster Monitise’s FINkit program to help its bank clients accelerate adoption of fintech services.

Jeffery Yabuki, Fiserv President and CEO said, “Monitise has been a global pioneer and innovator in digital banking for more than a decade.” He added, “Combining its talented associates and advanced technologies with leading digital solutions from Fiserv will expand our clients’ ability to provide differentiated experiences to their customers.”

Founded in 1984, Fiserv most recently presented at FinDEVr New York 2017, where the company’s Sr. Product Manager, Jon Zimmermann, and VP of Electronic Payments, Paul Diegelman, addressed the audience in a presentation titled Payments Processing: Bank-Grade Standards, Now Available to Anyone. Yesterday, the company announced that it will help banks and credit unions join the Zelle P2P payment network via its Turnkey Service for Zelle.

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Kony Appoints Former Hewlett Packard and NCR Exec as Chief Revenue Officer

Kony Appoints Former Hewlett Packard and NCR Exec as Chief Revenue Officer
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kony

Mobile app development and omni-channel deployment company, Kony announced this week it has appointed Bruce Dahlgren (pictured) as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer.

Dahlgren assumes this newly-created position to further expand Kony’s global presence and capture more of the market. He has more than 30 years of experience in the IT industry, having most recently served as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Services and Managing Director, Asia Pacific and Japan Region for Hewlett Packard for almost five years. Prior to working at HP, Dahlgren held executive roles at Lexmark International, AT&T and NCR.

Kony CEO Thomas E. Hogan described Dahlgren as “an outstanding executive with a proven track record of success and results.” Specifically, Hogan applauded Dahlgren’s international experience and “reputation for the highest levels of integrity and leadership.”

Founded in 2007, Kony enables banks to design, develop, and visualize device-agnostic applications deployed across multiple channels. Last month, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Diebold Nixdorf in which Diebold Nixdorf white-labeled Kony’s mobile application suite, branding it DN Mobile. As part of the agreement, Diebold Nixdorf also acquired a minority equity stake in Kony. Earlier this year, Kony launched AppVantage to help organizations quickly develop customizable mobile apps from pre-packaged components. At FinovateFall 2011, the company debuted a commercial banking app.

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