FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Dorsum

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: Dorsum

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Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.27.53 PMA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

Dorsum, a financial software vendor for over 20 years, introduces Botboarding, the new platform for financial institutions to build and manage chatbots to acquire new customers.

Features

  • Acquire new customers on Facebook Messenger with a chatbot
  • Score leads with fluid, human-like conversations
  • Build, manage, and optimize your chatbots to best suit your business

Why it’s great
Botboarding provides an advanced platform for chatbots about your banking products in Facebook Messenger. Get your own chatbot and join the conversation.Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.44.13 PM

Presenters

Imre Rokob, Business Development Director
Rokob is leading the innovation and business development at Dorsum with 15 years of experience in investment software development.Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.44.30 PM
LinkedIn

Renata Stein, Business Development Consultant
Stein has over 10 years of multinational sales experience in the IT and financial services industry. She drives Dorsum’s international market expansion.
LinkedIn

Peter Sallai, Head of Mobile DevelopmentScreen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.44.57 PM
Sallai is the frontend service professional, working on mobile and web projects for the financial and airline industry in the last 15 years.
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: iProov

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: iProov

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Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.27.53 PMA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

iProov’s secure online authentication is multi-device and effortless. Patented Flashmark technology protects its network-based face verification against replica and replay attacks and compromised devices.

Features

  • Device-independent: use any device, even insecure or compromised
  • Effortless: its unique experience is reassuring yet undemanding
  • Highly secure: sustainable Flashmark protection from advanced attacks

Why it’s great
For access authentication and remote onboarding, only iProov delivers the convenience of a device-independent biometric and the sustainable security financial institutions and governments need.

PresentersScreen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.58.59 PM

Andrew Bud, Founder & CEO
Founder, CEO & chairman of global SMS/payments business mBlox, Bud founded iProov to innovatively meet the unanswered business need for simple, secure online user authentication.
LinkedIn

Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.59.09 PMMatthew Pearch, Commercial Director
An experienced sales and marketing leader, with previous senior positions at mBlox, IOVOX, and Nice Systems, Pearch now leads iProov’s commercial and partnership activities worldwide.
LinkedIn

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: W.UP

FinovateEurope Sneak Peek: W.UP

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Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 4.27.53 PMA look at the companies demoing live at FinovateEurope on the 7 and 8 of February 2017 in London. Pick up your tickets today and save your spot.

W.UP’s Sales.UP is an insight-driven sales and engagement tool for financial institutions that uses pre-built customer insights to create relevant, personal, and timely interactions with clients.

Features

  • Uses pre-packaged customer insights based on behavioral patterns of customers
  • Integrates with existing campaign managers
  • Improves the banking experience of the customer

Why it’s great
Sales.UP: the power of big data analytics with pre-packaged insights, with the speed and knowledge of ecommerce.

PresentersScreen Shot 2017-01-24 at 9.30.42 AM

Tamás Braun, Head of International Sales and Business Development
Braun worked in the retail banking technology industry in the past 15 years and more recently at technology vendors such as IND and Misys.
LinkedIn

Screen Shot 2017-01-24 at 9.30.56 AMBalázs Zotter, Head of Product Line
The last 10 years in the financial technology industry led Zotter to pave the way towards banking products that deliver a happy digital banking experience.
LinkedIn

StockTwits Partners with TradeIt to Expand Beyond Robinhood’s Brokerage

StockTwits Partners with TradeIt to Expand Beyond Robinhood’s Brokerage

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StockTwits announced today it has partnered with TradeIt to expand the number of brokerages through which its users can trade. With the new integration, traders and investors can now place trades via large brokerages directly within the StockTwits mobile app.

This is the San Diego-based company’s second brokerage partnership. StockTwits first introduced brokerage functionality into its iOS app through a partnership with Robinhood in November 2015. Since launch, 40,000 Robinhood accounts have been connected, making a total of 1,000 trades per day on the StockTwits iOS app.

In a press release, StockTwits CEO Ian Rosen said, “We’ve had so much success with our Robinhood integration that we are excited to get more brokerages used by our community connected.” While the press release did not mention the number of “major brokerages” the TradeIt partnership gives the StockTwits community access to, it made clear that the new addition, “expands StockTwits’ broker offering considerably.”

Screen Shot 2017-01-24 at 2.40.19 PMAbove: TradeIt’s multi-broker integration

The newest version of the StockTwits app is available in the app store now.

Founded in 2008, StockTwits serves as one of the top trading communities and social investing platforms. The company facilitates 200 messages each minute across 7,500 individual stocks and tickers. StockTwits launched its blog network and StockTwits Connect at FinovateEurope 2011. At FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2014, the company’s then-CEO Howard Lindzon gave a presentation titled Investing in a Social, Local, and Mobile World. StockTwits appointed a new CEO, Ian Rosen, in July of 2016.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • StockTwits Partners with TradeIt to Expand Beyond Robinhood’s Brokerage.

On FinDEVr.com

  • SimplyTapp Launches New Payments and E-Commerce App, Gane.

Around the web

  • TransferTo partners with Wirecard to enable mobile money operators to offer mobile-to-mobile remittance services.
  • Ayondo announces deadline for 2017 social trading championship.
  • Hellenic Bank of Cyprus to deploy new digital banking platform from Backbase. Join Backbase at FinovateEurope in London next month.
  • StockTwits teams up with TradeIt to give community members ability to execute trades with major brokerages via new iOS app.
  • Xignite adds senior sales, business development talent; unveils new offices in New York financial district.
  • Bambu wins Best Early Startup award at Next Money in Hong Kong.
  • Wealthfront revamps Selling Plan to help users sell and diversify their company stock.
  • Arxan Technologies partners with Cisco as to protect connected medical devices.
  • South by Southwest (SXSW) selects Hip Pocket to showcase Hip Money at SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event in March

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.

FinovateEurope Full Presenter Lineup Announced!

FinovateEurope Full Presenter Lineup Announced!

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FinovateEurope 2017 is just two weeks away, and the excitement is building! We’re gearing up for another great conference showcasing the best in fintech innovation from and for the European market.

You may have already seen a list of our presenters, but we’re excited to announce our full roster (including all previously “stealth” companies) for the first time. Here is the complete list of companies who will be demoing in London on February 7 and 8:

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For more information on what you can expect to see, take a look at our “sneak peek” blog post series. We’ll continue to add sneak peeks as the event approaches.

Join us in the heart of London to see the newest technology from each of these innovative companies for yourself. Space is limited, so register early to guarantee your spot!


FinovateEurope 2017 is sponsored by: Comarch, FT Partners, KPMG and Lleida.net.

FinovateEurope 2017 is partners with: Aite Group, Bankers Hub, Banking Technology, Celent, eBanking News, FemTech Global, Financial IT, Fintech Finance, The Fintech Times, Harrington Starr, Headcount, Holland Fintech, IBS Intelligence, IU eMagazine, Mapa Research, Ovum, Paybefore, The Paypers, Plus Journal, Smart Insights, SME Finance Forum, and Verdict Financial.

$700 Million Raised by 26 Alums in Q4 2016

Finovate/FinDEVr alums raised more than $700 million in the fourth quarter of 2016. Total fourth quarter investment in Q4 2016 was more than double last year’s Q4 total, and represented a gain of more than 40% over the previous quarter’s total.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • 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
  • Q4 2013: More than $294 million raised by 17 alums

The biggest equity deal of the final quarter of 2016 was $180 million raised by Payoneer in October. Also worthy of note was the $115 million raised by PaySimple, and the $80 million raised by NuBank. For the fourth quarter of 2016, the top 10 overall investments totaled $593 million or more than 84% of the total alum funding for the quarter.

Top 10 Overall Investments (equity only)

  1. Payoneer: $180 million
  2. PaySimple: $115 million
  3. NuBank: $80 million
  4. BlueVine: $49 million
  5. Finicity: $42 million
  6. Nutmeg: $37 million
  7. Quantopian: $25 million
  8. Personal Capital: $25 million
  9. Lendio: $20 million
  10. SecureKey: $20 million

These Q4 numbers for Finovate/FinDEVr alums suggests that the pace of investment in fintech innovation remains robust. With a $700 million Q4, the total investment in our alums for 2016 is more than $2.3 billion. This compares to a $3 billion 2015, a $2.2 billion 2014, and a $825 million 2013.

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2016.

October 2016: More than $371 million raised by eight alums

  • Aire: $2 million – post
  • DeMystData: $7 million – post
  • FinanceIt: $17 million – post
  • Lendio: $20 million – post
  • Nanopay: $10 million – post
  • Payoneer: $180 million – post
  • PaySimple: $115 million – post
  • SecureKey: $20 million – post

November 2016: More than $97 million raised by eight alums

  • Finagraph: $5 million – post
  • figo: $7 million – post
  • Five Degrees: $10 million – post
  • Nutmeg: $37 million – post
  • P2Binvestor: $7. 7 million – post
  • Sezzle: $1.85 million – post
  • TrueLink Financial: $3.6 million – post
  • Quantopian: $25 million – post

December 2016: More than $235 million raised by eleven alums

  • BlueVine: $49 million – post
  • Finicity: $42 million – post
  • Hip Pocket: $150,000 – post
  • Kreditech: $10.4 million – post
  • NuBank: $80 million – post
  • Nutmeg: $14.6 million – post
  • Personal Capital: $25 million – post
  • Socure: $13 million – post
  • Tradeshift: undisclosed – post
  • Walletron: undisclosed – post
  • Zighra: $1 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the second quarter of 2016, 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.

Quicken to Leverage PayNearMe’s Prism API

Quicken to Leverage PayNearMe’s Prism API

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Cash billpay service PayNearMe announced last week its Prism API is powering bill presentment for Quicken. By leveraging the Prism API, Quicken can provide its customers with real time bill and account visibility.

The Prism API also offers Quicken clients same-day bill payment capability for utilities, telecom providers, cable billers, and more. The integration has helped Quicken bring “thousands more” billers to its platform.

Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 2.29.05 PMPrism’s bill presentment

Daniel A. Chen, Quicken’s head of business development said Quicken selected Prism because it is “extremely developer friendly” and “the documentation is among the best I’ve seen.” Chen continued,

“Prism API enables us to better support our customers by providing them with real-time insight into future cash-flow needs and upcoming bill amounts. It also enables us to monitor changes in a biller’s service that may affect our customers before they are noticed. The automated monitoring means we are able to troubleshoot more quickly than the manual process we were using before.

PayNearMe began offering access to the Prism API after it acquired Prism Money in May of 2016. Visa was the first client to leverage the Prism API. The company helps enterprise customers offer bill presentment capabilities to their consumer-reloadable prepaid card clients.

Founded in 2009, PayNearMe enables consumers to pay bills using cash at 17,000+ 7-Eleven, Ace Cash Express, and Family Dollar retail stores across the U.S. by scanning a barcode on their smartphone. Most recently, the company partnered with Comcast to power cash payments for XFINITY clients. PayNearMe presented at FinovateSpring 2013 and at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2014. The company has raised more than $71 million in funding. Danny Shader is CEO.

Quicken debuted Quicken Online at FinovateFall 2008 in New York. The company, once owned by Intuit, was acquired by H.I.G. Capital in April of 2016 for an undisclosed amount. Eric Dunn is Quicken CEO.

CurrencyCloud Taps Former Misys Executive Ed Addario as New CTO

CurrencyCloud Taps Former Misys Executive Ed Addario as New CTO

CurrencyCloud_homepage_January2017

Ed Addario, the new Chief Technology Officer for CurrencyCloud, brings an impressive track record as a fintech executive to the company. Addario comes to CurrencyCloud after serving as Global Head of Architecture and Integration at Misys. And previous to his tenure at Misys, Addario was SVP Technology at Monitise. At CurrencyCloud, Addario will manage a 45-member team dedicated to developing the company’s APIs that help third parties automate and enhance their payment processes.

In a statement, Addario praised CurrencyCloud’s technology for being “built by developers for developers” and referred to the company part of the “next generation” that will “realize the true potential of the digital economy.” CurrencyCloud CEO Mike CurrencyCloud_EdAddarioLaven called Addario a “perfect fit” for the task of helping create solutions that will enable companies to take advantage of “new and emerging business models” without being limited by legacy technology. “Ed will play a key role in developing the tools that we provide,” Laven said, “to allow our customers to build the best solution for their business needs.”

Addario has a B.Sc. in Computer Science, with coursework in Applied Statistics and Machine Intelligence, and a M.Sc. in Manufacturing and Quality Engineering. He is also a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, U.K., CurrencyCloud demonstrated its payment engine last year at FinovateEurope 2016. The company also presented at our developer’s conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley in 2015, discussing how Currency Cloud rebuilt its market-leading API. Named to Fintech Forward’s “20 Companies to Watch” last fall, CurrencyCloud forged a partnership with Arkea Banking Services in August, and appointed a new CFO, Fiona Tee, last spring. CurrencyCloud has raised $35 million in funding – including an $18 million Series C in June 2015. Sapphire Ventures, Notion Capital, and Atlas Venture are among the company’s investors.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • CurrencyCloud Taps Former Misys Executive Ed Addario as New CTO.
  • Quicken to Leverage PayNearMe’s Prism API.

Around the web

  • Gillian Davies joins Boku as new CFO.
  • Paducah Bank to launch Insuritas insurance agency platform to drive fee income.
  • The Banker interviews Avoka European GM, Richard Austen.
  • Investopedia profiles Chicago-based robo advisor, M1 Finance.
  • Forrester features WorkFusion in list of important AI technologies in 2017.
  • HelloWallet unveils version 5.0 with improved app navigation and streamlined dashboard.

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.

Dwolla Raises Capital, Relaunches Access API

Dwolla Raises Capital, Relaunches Access API

Dwolla_homepage_January2017

Writing at the Dwolla blog, company founder and CEO Ben Milne expressed how important the goal of “building the ideal API to move money” was to him and his company. Calling this “part of our DNA,” Milne wrote that the new opportunities Dwolla’s technology has created have “come with growth and the need to finance it.”

And finance it Dwolla has. The company picked up $6.85 million in new funding in a round led by Union Square Ventures and Foundry Group. Milne wrote that the investment will be used to expand Dwolla’s sales and account management operations in Des Moines, Iowa. The round featured participation from Detroit Venture Partners, Firebrand Ventures, High Alpha, Ludlow Ventures, and Next Level Ventures, and brings Dwolla’s total capital to just over $39 million. Firebrand Ventures founder John Fein was quoted in the Kansas City Star crediting Dwolla for rekindling his interest in supporting fledgling technology companies.

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Pictured: Dwolla Director of Communications and Policy Affairs Jordan Lampe demonstrating FiSync at FinovateSpring 2015.

Milne also announced his company’s API Suite, Access API, will now contain all of Dwolla’s white label solutions. “Nothing changes for current customers,” he noted, “but additional features will be rolled into the Access API to make building software that connects to the banking infrastructure easier.” These features, according to TechCrunch, include same-day transfer and a new dashboard for managing transactions. Fortune.com notes that Access API “has attracted more than 100 customers in its first year.”

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Dwolla demonstrated its FiSync technology at FinovateSpring 2015. The company partnered with open source subscription billing and payments platform, Kill Bill, last October and, in August, introduced a new dashboard and administrative interface for its white-label partners. Dwolla added more FIs to its instant account-verification flow back in May.

Card-Linked Offers Consolidates: Edo Interactive Acquired by Augeo

Card-Linked Offers Consolidates: Edo Interactive Acquired by Augeo

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From 2011 to 2013, card-linked offers (CLO) was all the rage– you could say it was the AI of that era. The trend peaked in 2012, when it seemed every other fintech company added some type of card-linked offers. As is typical with explosive trends such as these, we’re now seeing industry consolidation.

This week that consolidation comes in the form of successful CLO player Edo Interactive being acquired by Auego. Minnesota-based Auego will add Edo’s CLO technology to its loyalty and engagement offerings, which will provide Edo access to a larger client base. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Since launching in 2007 Edo has partnered with hundreds of national and local merchants, helping each tailor a personalized digital marketing campaign to drive sales. At FinovateSpring 2012, the Nashville-based company (pictured right) launched its GeoCommerce feature that enabled retailers to push offers to users’ phones based on their geolocation.

Ed Braswell, Edo CEO said, “…the combination of our platforms helps solve the challenges many others face with content and delivers the strategy, data insight and analytics required for programs to be sustainable and successful. Heading into 2017, we intend to deliver the next generation of card-linked loyalty with the most premier partners in the space.”

This is Auego’s seventh acquisition since launching in 1998. The company will preserve the Edo brand along with its operations and headquarters location.