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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: SaleMove

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 9, 2016
Categories: FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek, SaleMove

A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

SaleMove enables organizations to engage online visitors the same way they would in person through video, audio, chat, and co-browsing without any downloads or installations.

Features:

Increase conversions
Enhance customer experience
Improve contact center efficiency

Why it’s great
Businesses that use SaleMove are able to provide online customers with the same high-touch interactions that are possible face-to-face.

Presenters

Dan Michaeli, CEO, cofounder
Michaeli, CEO, is a University of Pennsylvania graduate, originally from Guatemala. His career has focused on venture capital, tech/strategy consulting and startups.
LinkedIn

Justin DiPietro, COO, cofounder
Justin is the cofounder and COO of SaleMove. He formerly was a consultant who devised growth and innovation strategies for Accenture.
LinkedIn

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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Full Profile

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 9, 2016
Categories: FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek, Full Profile

A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

Full Profile brings transparency, efficiency, and trust to farmers and the post-farmgate ecosystem through our AgriDigital agri-blockchains and commodity-management software.

Features:

Help growers get paid immediately and save buyers and brokers time and money
De-risk financing for banks
Enable paddock-to-plate transparency for consumers

Why it’s great
This harvest, we are launching the first ever global pilot application of blockchain in physical agri-commodities.

Presenter

Emma Weston, Founder
Weston has extensive career experience as a lawyer, agribusiness executive, start-up mentor, and executive coach. She brings a wealth of strategic and operational expertise to the team at Full Profile.
LinkedIn

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FinovateFall Sneak Peek: TransUnion

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 9, 2016
Categories: FinovateFall 2016, FinovateFall 2016 Sneak Peek, TransUnion

A look at the companies demoing live to 1,500+ fintech professionals on 8/9 September 2016. Register today.

TransUnion’s Prama puts the power of big data and analytics at your fingertips to make better decisions at the speed your business demands.

Features:

On-demand access to seven years of depersonalized credit data
Easily configure metrics to answer your specific questions
Benchmark your performance against the market and peers

Why it’s great
Prama is an intuitive, web-based solution that provides self-service access to more than 350 billion rows of depersonalized consumer credit data, facilitating faster decisions and strategy adjustments.

Presenters

Paul Siegfried, SVP, Financial Services
Siegfried leads the financial services card vertical and is charged with product development, business development and market strategy.
LinkedIn

Ginny Gomez, SVP, Product Management
Gomez leads U.S. product management and is responsible for delivering innovative new solutions and driving increased value for our clients across markets and verticals.
LinkedIn

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on August 9, 2016
Categories: Cachet Financial Solutions, Compass Plus, CUneXus, DefenseStorm, Full Profile, Holvi, OutsideIQ, PayActiv, payworks, QE Data, SaleMove, SumUp, TransUnion, TSYS

On Finovate.com

Holvi and SumUp Join Forces to Serve SMEs and the Self-Employed

CUneXus Closes $5 million Series A

Check out today’s FinovateFall Sneak Peek posts:

Around the web

Cybersecurity innovator DefenseStorm adds Libertyville Savings Bank and PrimeRevenue as clients.

Prasac, the largest microfinance institution in Cambodia, launches mobile banking services courtesy of TranzWare from Compass Plus.

The New York Times features PayActiv.

Cachet Financial Services partners with the Central Bank of Kansas City to roll out a reloadable prepaid card program.

Payworks partners with VBO Tickets.

OutsideIQ Brings Due Diligence Platform DDIQ to New International Markets

TSYS EVP and CIO Patricia Watson writes about the importance of strong enterprise architecture in fintech for CIO Review.

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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Fintech Fundings: 32 Companies Raise $210 Million Second Week of July

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 8, 2016
Categories: Funding

Through mid-July, the blistering pace of deals continued with 32 new fundings during the week ending 15 July 2016. There has been an average of 28 fintech deals per week this year.

The total value of deals this week was $206 million, with half ($100 million) going to Canadian blockchain technology provider Blockchain Intelligence.

Two Finovate alums raised a total of $12 million during the week:

Revolut raised $8.7 million
Alkami landed $3.7 million

The total number of deals YTD stands at 792, nearly double last year’s 407. Total dollars raised YTD is $18.1 billion, more than double the $8.8 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 9 July to 15 July 2016:

Blockchain Intelligence Group
Blockchain search and analytics
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $100 million
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: SMB, institution, blockchain, crypto-currency, BI, analytics
Source: Crunchbase

Gust
Platform for investing in early-stage startups
Latest round: $14.4 million Debt
Total raised previously: Unknown
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: SMB, advisers, investors, capital raising
Source: Crunchbase

OK Car Insurance
Online automobile insurance
Latest round: $12 million Series A
Total raised: $14.4 million
HQ: Shangahi, China
Tags: Consumer, insurance, vehicles, autos
Source: Crunchbase

OpenDoor Trading
Treasuries trading platform
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $10 million
HQ: Jersey City, New Jersey
Tags: Institutions, advisers, investing, fixed-income
Source: FT Partners

Exporo
Real estate crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $9.1 million Series A
Total raised: $9.1 million
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, person-to-person, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Revolut
Currency exchange platform
Latest round: $8.7 million Series A
Total raised: $13.2 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, remittances, foreign exchange, payments, funds transfers, fx, mobile, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

PayJoy
Alt-lender
Latest round: $8.5 million Series A
Total raised: $10.5 million
HQ: Saratoga, California
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, purchase finance, merchants, payments
Source: Crunchbase

WeSwap
P2P currency exchange
Latest round: $8.4 million Series B
Total raised: $18.5 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, person-to-person, P2P, prepaid debit card, fx, foreign exchange
Source: Crunchbase

Amber Financial Services
Consumer alt-lender
Latest round: $5 million Seed
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, alternative lender
Source: Crunchbase

Ingo Money (formerly Chexar Networks)
Check decisioning and funding
Latest round: $4 million
Total raised: $19.1 million
HQ: Roswell, Georgia
Tags: Institutions, SMB, B2B2C, checks, authorization, credit, underwriting, deposits
Source: Crunchbase

Alkami Technology
Digital banking technology
Latest round: $3.7 million
Total raised: $46.7 million
HQ: Plano, Texas
Tags: Institutions, digital banking, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Quilt
Digital renter’s insurance
Latest round: $3.25 million Seed
Total raised: $3.25 million
HQ: Boston, Massachusetts
Tags: Consumer, insurance, renters, property & casualty, P&C
Source: Crunchbase

Compliance Science
Compliance platform for financial institutions
Latest round: $2.9 million
Total raised: $11.2 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Institutions, compliance, regulations
Source: FT Partners

Digitzs
Digital payments platform
Latest round: $2.8 million Equity Crowdfunding
Total raised: $5,4 million
HQ: Santa Monica, California
Tags: Consumer, payments, debit/credit cards, merchants, API, developers
Source: Crunchbase

BankerBay
Investment banking platform
Latest round: $2 million Convertible Note
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Institutions, SMB, capital raising, venture capital, VC
Source: Crunchbase

Touche
Mobile payments platform
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Singapore
Tags: SMB, payments, client platform, point of sales, POS
Source: FT Partners

MoneyBox
Savings and investing app
Latest round: $1.75 million Seed
Total raised: $4.75 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, savings, deposits, spending, investing, personal financial management, PFM, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Settled
Home buying platform
Latest round: $1.33 million Seed
Total raised: $1.75 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, real estate, discovery, mortgage, comparison
Source: Crunchbase

Switch
Lost/stolen credit and debit card solution
Latest round: $1.2 million
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Tags: Consumer, payments, credit/debit cards, security, convenience
Source: Crunchbase

TagPay
Sound-based payment and banking technology
Latest round: $1.1 million Seed
Total raised: $1.1 million
HQ: Paris, France
Tags: SMB, merchants, payments, acquiring, mobile banking, core system
Source: Crunchbase

InvestiQuant (formerly Master the Gap)
Investment and trading technology
Latest round: $1.0 million
Total raised: $3.3 million
HQ: Morrisville, North Carolina
Tags: Consumer, advisers, traders, investing, stocks
Source: Crunchbase

Plutus
Bitcoin-based mPOS technology
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: SMB, merchants, credit/debit cards, acquiring, bitcoin, crypto-currency, blockchain, point of sale
Source: FT Partners

CirraGroup
Crowdsourced medical debt settlement
Latest round: $500,000
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Layfayette, Lousiana
Tags: Consumer, SMB, credit, debt repayment
Source: FT Partners

CreditExchange
Consumer loan marketplace
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, person-to-person, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

SoCash
Mobile cash finder
Latest round: $400,000 Seed
Total raised: $400,000
HQ: Singapore
Tags: Consumer, merchants, ATM, cash-back, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Safello
Bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $300,000
Total raised: $1.3 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, cyrpto-currency, bitcoin, blockchain, payments, remittances
Source: Crunchbase

CrediWire
Commercial credit ratings
Latest round: $28,000
Total raised: $68,000
HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark
Accelerator: TechFounders
Tags: Institutions, underwriting, commercial lending, loans, information, BI, API
Source: Crunchbase

Quantoz
Blockchain technology
Latest round: $28,000
Total raised: $28,000
HQ: The Netherlands
Accelerator: TechFounders
Tags: Institutions, SMB, payments, cyrpto-currency, bitcoin
Source: Crunchbase

SayPay Technologies
Authentication technology
Latest round: $28,000
Total raised: $28,000
HQ: Pleasanton, California
Accelerator: TechFounders
Tags: Institutions, security, authentication, voice biometrics, payments, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Blocko (Coinstack)
Blockchain technology
Latest round: Unknown
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Tags: SMB, institutions, blockchain, database, crypto-currency
Source: FT Partners

GyanDhan
Education loans marketplace
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: New Delhi, India
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, person-to-person, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

SETL
Blockchain-based institutional funds transfer and settlement
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Institutions, payments, funds transfer, blockchain, bitcoin, crypto-currency
Source: FT Partners

———–
Image licensed from 123RF Stock Photo

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Alpine Data Partners with Pivotal to Bring Smart App Building Blocks to Businesses

By David Penn Posted on August 8, 2016
Categories: Alpine Data Labs

A new partnership announced last week between Alpine Data Labs and Pivotal is designed to help enterprises “attain business value from their investment in modern data platforms.” Specifically, Alpine Data Labs will use its collaborative platform for advanced analytics, Chorus, as a link between the Pivotal Big Data Suite and the Pivotal Cloud Foundry.

“With Chorus and Pivotal BDS,” Alpine Data’s Collin Cook wrote at the company blog, “you can easily build machine learning models that leverage data from any data source, expedite the process of building scoring engines around your models and quickly deploy them as micro services within the Pivotal Cloud Foundry.” Cook called the combined solution a way to reduce the friction that often develops between data scientists, IT professionals and business users.

Alpine Data cofounder and CPO Steven Hillion demonstrated Alpine Touchpoints at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

Alpine Data specializes in technologies that help turn big data into predictive insights and analysis. The company’s Chorus solution is a comprehensive, advanced analytics platform for big data and Hadoop that has been deployed in a variety of verticals from financial services to healthcare. Version 6, launched in May, provides tools to annotate analytics assets (data, scripts, models), build and share machine learning and ETL workflows, deploy models, and leverage predictive applications like Alpine’s Touchpoints to make data more digestible for non-technical co-workers and customers.

The partnership between Alpine Data and Pivotal may be new, but the relationship between the two companies’ technologies goes back to a time before Alpine Data was founded as its own entity. Alpine’s Workflow Editor and analytics engine began as research projects in the open source, massively parallel data warehouse known as Pivotal Greenplum. “Customers running Chorus on top of Pivotal BDS will be able to get up and running very easily,” says Cook, “without having to deal with any big-data infrastructure hurdles.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Alpine Data demonstrated its Touchpoints technology at FinovateFall 2015. The company has raised more than $23 million in funding and includes among its investors Mission Ventures, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Sierra Ventures, Stanford University, Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia, and UMC Capital. Read our Finovate Debut profile of Alpine Data from earlier this year.

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EyeLock’s New Launch Improves Iris Recognition Tech

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 8, 2016
Categories: EyeLock

There are plenty of reasons I stopped using my bank’s finicky iris-scanning mobile-authentication technology to log in and check my account balance. Plagued with issues caused by glasses, glare and sunlight, I switched to using a 4-digit PIN for the foreseeable future. This week iris authentication company EyeLock released a new technology to remove some of the friction associated with the technology and boost adoption rates.

The New York-based company’s new technology authenticates at a distance of 60 cm and works with glasses, contact lenses, and even in bright daylight, making EyeLock even more user-friendly. EyeLock CEO Jim Demitrieus refers to the new technology as a “significant scientific breakthrough.” In a press release, Demitrieus added that it “solves the usability and security impediments that have long been an obstacle for mass-market adoption.”

EyeLock owns and controls the entire software and algorithm stack, which helps it to create a more secure solution. Founded in 2006, the company has raised $3 million in funding. At FinovateFall 2014 the company debuted myris, a USB-powered identity authenticator that converts a user’s iris into a unique, encrypted code for secure website access.

Earlier this year, EyeLock opened an IoT Center of Excellence to further develop and expand the distribution of its iris-scanning technologies. In late 2015 the company teamed up with Diebold to create a new concept ATM that connects to the user’s smartphone instead of using a PIN pad, card reader, or screen.

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Avalara Unveils Enhanced Compliance Document Managent Solution, CertCapture

By David Penn Posted on August 8, 2016
Categories: Avalara

Seattle-based Avalara unveiled a trio of enhancements to its compliance document-management solution, CertCapture. The new features are designed to make it easier for SMEs to capture, manage, and analyze tax documents in real time.

“CertCapture’s new features simplify the ever-increasing burden of tax compliance while enabling customers to run their businesses more efficiently and with the highest level of security,” says Matt Tormollen, Avalara’s EVP and GM. The enhancements include a simplified user interface for POS systems, a single sign-on for customer exemption status management, and additional visual reporting features to better spot trends and manage compliance materials.

“Commerce happens in real time and we want to empower clients to manage more of their tax compliance in real time,” Tormollen said.

Loke Uei Tan, senior manager of developer relations for Avalara, presented “The Wacky World of Sales Tax” at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

Avalara specializes in APIs that enable developers to bring transactional tax computation and management to their platforms. From helping SMEs calculate sales taxes for e-commerce transactions to empowering businesses with global customers to better negotiate the complex world of VATs and import/export taxes, Avalara’s solutions support tax calculation (Avalara AvaTax), returns and filing (Avalara Returns), tax document management (Avalara CertCapture), and professional services.

In June, Avalara announced a new integration with Stripe, the same month the company was twice recognized by American Business Awards, earning a silver prize for Executive of the Year – Computer Services and a bronze for New Product or Service of the Year – Software. Earlier this year, Avalara partnered with eCommerce platform WooCommerce to help online merchants calculate sales taxes more accurately.

Founded in 2004, Avalara presented at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015, showing how its technology helps businesses deal with the complexity of sales taxes and other transactional fees. The company has raised more than $223 million in funding, and includes Arthur Ventures, Battery Ventures, Sageview Capital, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Warburg Pincus among its investors.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on August 8, 2016
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Alpine Data Labs, Avalara, BioCatch, Green Key Technologies, iSignthis, Meniga, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

Avalara Unveils Enhanced Compliance Document Management Solution, CertCapture

Alpine Data Partners with Pivotal to Bring Smart App Building Blocks to Businesses

On FinDEVr.com

GreenKey Launches Design Partner Program

Around the web

GreenKey launches Design Partner Program with interdealer brokers, Tradition and Tullett Prebon.

iSignthis inks card-acquiring and -settlement partnership with National Australia Bank.

ACI Worldwide hosts “Coding for Girls” camp.

Transfers from Brazil now live on TransferWise.

Equities.com: How Meniga is Leading the Charge in Revolutionizing Online Banking

Times of Israel features BioCatch.

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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Fintech Fundings: 23 Companies Raise $530 Million Week Ending July 8

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 5, 2016
Categories: Funding

money_key In a holiday-shortened week in the United States, 23 deals were announced that brought in a total of $527 million. Most ($449 million) went to Chinese payment and investment platform, Qufenqi.

Four Finovate alums raised a total of $18 million during the week:

Coinbase landed $10.5 million from Bank of Tokyo
P2Binvestor raised $5.1 million
StockTwits raised $2 million
Spiff raised $150,000

The total number of deals YTD stands at 760, nearly double last year’s 386. Total dollars raised YTD is $17.9 billion, more than double the $8.5 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 2 July to 8 July 2016:

Qufenqi
Installment payment and investment platform
Latest round: $449 million Series F
Total raised: $874 million
HQ: Beijing, China
Tags: Consumer, investing, loans, credit, ecommerce, investing, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Neogrowth
Alt-lender to small businesses
Latest round: $35 million
Total raised: $36.6 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: SMB, commerical loans, credit, underwriting
Source: FT Partners

Coinbase
Bitcoin exhange and wallet
Latest round: $10.5 million
Total raised: $117.2 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, traders, payments, funds transfer, remittances, bitcoin, crypto-currency, Bank of Tokyo (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase, Finovate

P2Binvestor
Receivables financing marketplace
Latest round: $5.1 million
Total raised: $6.5 million
HQ: Denver, Colorado
Tags: SMB, trade finance, factoring, accounts receivable, working capital, commercial credit, underwriting, investing, crowdsourced, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Finanzchef24
Online broker
Latest round: $4.5 million
Total raised: $12.6 million
HQ: Munich, Germany
Tags: Consumer, advisers, traders, investing, wealth management, trading, person-to-person, P2P
Source: Crunchbase

Lending Works
P2P lending platform
Latest round: $3.9 million Series A
Total raised: $9.65 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, credit, loans, underwriting, person-to-person, P2P, investing
Source: Crunchbase

SmartAngels.fr
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $3.9 million
Total raised: $5.3 million
HQ: Paris, France
Tags: SMB, investing, fundraising, capital, venture capital (VC), angel investing
Source: Crunchbase

Netki
Blockchain titles
Latest round: $3.5 million Seed
Total raised: $3.5 million
HQ: Woodland Hills, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, blockchain, digital identity
Source: Crunchbase

Airwallex
International invoice payments
Latest round: $3 million Seed
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: Melbourne, Australia
Tags: SMB, foreign exchange, billing, invoices, payments
Source: Crunchbase

EarnUp
Consumer debt management tool
Latest round: $3 million Seed
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Accelerator: Financial Solutions Lab (CFSI)
Tags: Consumer, debt/loan payments, credit, personal financial management, PFM

Source: Crunchbase

StockTwits
Stock information and communication platform
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $13.9 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, advisers, traders, investing, trading, communications, information, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

OB1 (division of OpenBazaar)
Stealth bitcoin payments
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: SMB, ecommerce, merchants, crypto-currency, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

Drop
Multimerchant credit/debit card loyalty program
Latest round: $775,000
Total raised: $775,000
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumer, rewards, cards, loyalty, payments, spending
Source: Crunchbase

Gatecoin
Crypto-currency exchange
Latest round: $500,000
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Hong Kong
Tags: Consumer, traders, payments, funds transfer, remittances, bitcoin, crypto-currency, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

The Oak
Financial wellness coach
Latest round: $300,000
Total raised: $300,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, personal financial management, PFM, service, information, advice
Source: Crunchbase

Spiff
Social savings platform
Latest round: $150,000
Total raised: $150,000
HQ: Oslo, Norway
Tags: Consumer, savings accounts, investing, youth market, personal financial management, PFM, spending, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Vestvise
Investment information site
Latest round: $6,000 Angel
Total raised: $6,000
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, advisers, traders, investing, wealth management, trading, information, analytics, reporting
Source: Crunchbase

Bolanegruppen
Mortgage price negotiation service
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, price comparison, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Crowdsurfer
Analytics on crowd finance
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised previously: $340,000
HQ: Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, traders, payments, funds transfer, remittances, bitcoin, crypto-currency, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

OneAssist
Credit card & mobile payments fraud protection
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $9.25 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumers, mobile payments, credit/debit cards, security, fraud protection
Source: Crunchbase

Salarium
Payroll automation platform
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Manilla, Phillipines
Tags: SMB, payroll, payments, HR, employee benefits
Source: Crunchbase

SBI Japannext
Online brokerage and trading system
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Tokyo, Japan
Tags: Institutions, traders, investing, trading, exchange
Source: FT Partners

Wealthtrust
Investment manager
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, advisers, traders, investing, wealth management, trading, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

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Prosper Closes in on $5 Billion Commitment for New Loans

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on August 5, 2016
Categories: Prosper

P2P lending platform Prosper is in talks with a group of investment firms to sell around $5 billion worth of loans over the course of the next two years.

Interested firms include Fortress Investment Group LLC, Soros Fund Management LLC, Third Point LLC, and Jefferies LLC. Some of these firms are in talks with banks about borrowing money to support the purchases. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The loans would be bought at face value, but the firms are also in discussions to receive equity warrants in Prosper as they make the purchases.”

Once finalized, this deal will help to quiet naysayers of P2P lending platforms, an industry which has faced increased scrutiny since Lending Club’s CEO was forced to resign and Prosper laid off 28% of its workforce. The loan purchase agreements are expected to be complete in the coming weeks.

News was also released that Prosper has already started selling loans to BBVA Compass, a bank whose VC arm took an equity stake in Prosper in 2015.

Aside from the aforementioned layoffs and a 12% drop in lending volume in the first quarter of this year, Prosper has issued relatively positive news over the course of the past six months. In March, the company appointed a USAA executive as its new CFO, rebranded its recently purchased BillGuard app to Prosper Daily, and teamed up with HomeAdvisor to improve access to home financing. In June, Prosper launched an all-new interface for investors, simplifying the view of portfolio diversification.

Founded in 2005, Prosper presented at FinovateSpring 2009 as well as the inaugural Finovate in 2007.

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Dashlane and Google Partner to Improve Online Security via Open YOLO

By David Penn Posted on August 5, 2016
Categories: Dashlane, Google

Dashlane and Google have teamed up to develop an open API for app developers called Open YOLO, which stands for “You Only Login Once.” The technology makes it easier for Android apps to work with password managers.

“To stay one step ahead of the market demand,” Dashlane’s Malaika Nicholas wrote on the company blog, “Google and Dashlane are helping create a seamless, universally acceptable Android app-authentication solution to increase your online security.” Nicholas added that Dashlane’s development team opted for an open source solution because it gives users a cross-platform security option. She noted that in February, Dashlane announced support for FIDO’s Alliances Universal Second Factor (U2F) authentication standard, the first password manager to do so.

Left to right: CEO Emmanuel Schalit and Nishant Mani, VP partnerships and marketing, demonstrated Dashlane at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

While Dashlane is pioneering the Open YOLO effort, other password managers are expected to be involved in the project, and other non-Android operating systems are to be added as well. Among those other password managers expressing interest according to reporting in TechCrunch, are 1Password, LastPass, Keeper, and Keepass. “This is an important initiative for our industry and for the state of user security,” Dashlane CEO Emmanuel Schalit said, “Collectively, we are committed to increasing user security and believe that the best way to do this is to champion open source security projects.” According to a Dashlane spokesperson, more information on the project, including technical documentation and code will be made public soon.

With more than five million users of its technology, Dashlane provides a free consumer app for use on a single device and a premium service for use on an unlimited number of devices for $39.99 a year. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in New York City, Dashlane demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2013. The company launched its Spaces for Mobile solution in July and introduced its redesigned app for iPhone and iPad in June. In May, Dashlane raised $22.5 million in a round led by TransUnion that took the company’s total capital to more than $52 million. And in March, the company announced that former Fab.com executive David Lapter was joining Dashlane as its new CFO.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Google demonstrated its Google Advisor technology at FinovateFall 2011. The company also participated in the inaugural FinDEVr New York developers conference this spring with a presentation titled “TensorFlow Machine Learning with Financial Data on the Google Cloud Platform.”

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