FinovateSpring 2016 in the Press

FinovateSpring 2016 in the Press
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016

FSPressEven if you attended FinovateSpring in San Jose last week, it’s likely you need a recap of the 72 demos from companies across a range of fintech industries. We saw everything from using the blockchain to create an identity for underserved populations to checking your net worth on VR.

Fortunately, we had plenty of press representatives on the ground to offer us a full report:

ABA Bank Marketing
On the Floor at Finovate
by Grace Dinn

Australian Financial Review
Blockchain is over-hyped but still part of the solution
by David Rowe

Bank Innovation

Barron’s 
Two New Employee Benefits Aimed at Millennials
by Theresa W. Carey

Beyond the Arc Blog

Business Weekly
Adams Hub investment still showing promise

The Cointelegraph
Russia’s Largest Bank Adopts Blockchain, Develops App for Conversational Commerce
by Alisa Tciriulnikova

Crowdfund Insider
OurCrowd Launches Social Investor App. Invest in Equity Crowdfunding Offers on Your Smartphone
by JD Alois

Cryptonoticias
Los Finovates del 2016 han sido Conquistados por la Blockchain
by Mariano Puigvert

Earnix blog
Fresh Focus From FinTech During FinovateSpring 2016
by Marc Trudeau

The Financial Brand
Using Digital Lending Solutions to Fuel Growth
by David Gerbino

Fintech Business
Fintech’s Woodstock
by Aleks Vickovich

FP Pad
FPPad Bits and Bytes for May 13
by Bill Winterberg

Handelsblatt
Wie Banken sich selbst überflüssig machen
by Axel Postinett

Ignition Wealth

Javelin
What to Look for at Finovate in Silicon Valley
by Mark Schwanhausser

Members Development Company
FinovateSpring 2016– MDC and Owner Insights

Kofax blog
Finovate Spring 2016: 4 Ways to KYC with Robotic Process Automation
by Darren Collins

LinkedIn Pulse
My Finovate State of Mind
by Sandhya Krishnamurthy

meetinvest blog
meetinvest report from Silicon Valley

OurCrowd blog
Introducing the new OurCrowd social investor app!

PayActiv Blog
PayActiv Awarded Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2016

Roboadvisor Pros

Sezzle blog
Sezzle’s Fintastic Finovate Experience
by Mia Bernad

Student Loan Genius blog
Finovate, 401(k)’s, and the Future of Student Loans
by Tony Aguilar

William Mills Agency Blog

Thanks to everyone who attended and covered the show. Check out our other FinovateSpring coverage, Tales from the Tweet Side and Best of Show Winners Announced.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avalara, ayondo, Banno, Bazaarvoice, Check Point, FutureAdvisor, Geezeo, Matchi, NuData Security, OutsideIQ, SayPay, Symbiont, Tagit, Zenmonics

On Finovate.com

  • “Tagit Locks in More than $8 Million in New Funding”

On FinDEVr.com

  • “Symbiont to Help Delaware Embrace the Blockchain”

Around the web

  • “OutsideIQ Launches Real-Time Risk Monitoring Tool”
  • Check Point launches free Security Checkups for Australian and New Zealand enterprises.
  • Business Insider covers the birth of BlackRock’s FutureAdvisor.
  • NuData Security more than doubles behavioral transaction volume in the past year, following rapid adoption of its NuDetect solution.
  • Ayondo doubles Revenues in 2015 to £7.3 million.
  • Jack Henry extends Banno platform to Windows 10.
  • Avalara discusses plans to use blockchain technology to track asset ownership.
  • Matchi to host the Liberty Fintech Challenge 2016.
  • CIO.com quotes Bazaarvoice CMO Sara Spivey on marketing to millennials with user-generated content.

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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FinovateSpring 2016: Tales from the Tweet Side

FinovateSpring 2016: Tales from the Tweet Side
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016

Twitterlogo_lightblueFrom expressing in real-time the “wow effect” of live fintech demos to the way a 140-character limit sharpens the wit of some of our industry’s most clever and insightful, our showtime Twitter feed #Finovate was certainly one of the stars of FinovateSpring 2016.

We’ve always loved the passion and energy of our Twitter followers, whose observations—on everything from the profundity of using blockchain to help the underbanked to the novelty (and utility) of a dancing ninja mascot—almost turn #Finovate into “the show within the show.”

See for yourself. And while we’ll let you pursue some of the cheekier tweets from the week on your own, we hope you’ll enjoy this innovative, revolutionary, game-changing, omnichannel, Uber of Twitter review posts.

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Our next event is FinovateFall 2016, September 8 & 9 in New York City. But don’t wait until the fall to join our fintech community on Twitter. Follow us @Finovate today!

And if you’re looking for something a little more developer friendly, check out our showcase of developer tools at FinDEVr, which will take place October 18 & 19 in Silicon Valley. Keep up with our FinDEVr alums on Twitter @FinDEVr.

 

 

 

 

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DriveWealth, i-exceed, Klarna, Persado, Quantopian, TD Ameritrade, Xpenditure

On Finovate.com

  • “FinovateSpring 2016: Tales from the Tweet Side”

Around the web

  • i-exceed Technology celebrates its fifth anniversary.
  • Quantopian launches weekend hackathon.
  • Xpenditure board member Jonas Dhaenens awarded ICT Personality of the Year by Data News.
  • BankNxt interviews Sebastian Siemiatkowski on the origins of Klarna.
  • Persado announces new Chief Operating Officer, Greg Dale.
  • Entrepreneur profiles DriveWealth and TD Ameritrade in a look at finalists for the Benzinga Fintech Awards 2016.

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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Fiona Tee Takes the Helm as Currency Cloud’s New CFO

Fiona Tee Takes the Helm as Currency Cloud’s New CFO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud

CurrencyCloud_homepage_May2016

Currency Cloud has a new Chief Financial Officer.

Formerly CFO of fellow Finovate alum Intelligent Environments, Fiona Tee (below) will bring more than 20 years of experience as a senior finance professional to the London-based global payments processor. At Currency Cloud, Tee will lead international development of the company’s finance, human resources, compliance, and operations. She will also be involved with helping Currency Cloud forge partnerships in pursuit of expansion in the U.S. and Asia.

CurrencyCloud_FionaTeeCurrency Cloud CEO Mike Laven praised Tee’s “deep understanding of the payments industry” which he credited to the diveristy of her executive background. Prior to Intelligent Environments, Tee worked as CFO at Omnico Group, and has held executive positions at MasterCard, Anite, and Mondex International. She is a graduate of the Imperial College London and has an ACA certification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales.

“For me, the CFO role extends far beyond taking care of the numbers,” Tee said. Describing herself as “commercially focused” with a reputation as an “entrepreneurial CFO” she added, “I’m looking forward to working in close partnership with the strategic and commercial teams (to) help guide Currency Cloud on its ambitious journey.”

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, U.K., Currency Cloud processes $15 billion in payments annually via its payment engine. The company’s solution powers more than 125 platform customers, with more than 150,000 end customers using the service. Currency Cloud processes payments in more than 40 currencies and operates in 212 countries. With investors Anthemis Group, Anthem Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, Notion Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, and XAnge Private Equity, Currency Cloud has raised $35 million in funding.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud, Fidor Bank, Green Dot, TransferTo

On Finovate.com

  • “Fiona Tee Takes the Helm as Currency Cloud’s New CFO”

Around the web

  • Partnership between TransferTo and Barri Financial Group to enable real-time money transfers in El Salvador.
  • Green Dot launches online lending marketplace, Green Dot Money.
  • Technology from Fidor Bank to drive new mobile banking service from Telefonica Germany.

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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FinovateSpring 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateSpring 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BanQu, Best of Show, FinovateSpring 2016, LendingRobot, PayActiv, Quid, SaleMove, Silver6

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Heading into FinovateSpring 2016, we knew that one of the big themes would be the use of video for everything from authentication to improving customer engagement. And it seems like the hundreds of votes cast in our FinovateSpring 2016 Best of Show awards saw it the same way. Of the six Best of Show trophies awarded on Wednesday afternoon, two went to companies—SaleMove and Silver6—that are helping to make visual technology a bigger part of fintech innovation.

In fact, the more we think about it, the more we see how Best of Show award winner Quid—with its interactive maps that help businesses better navigate big data—is part of this larger trend toward leveraging the visual. Whether to better connect customers and clients with merchants and advisers, or to help make data more accessible and actionable, when it comes to fintech innovation, the “eyes” have it.

Our Best of Show voters were also impressed by the way innovators are using technology to solve the challenges of refugee populations and the underbanked (BanQu); the cash-flow struggles of working families (PayActiv); and even to help middle-class investors better track their finances across peer lending platforms (LendingRobot). This year’s Best of Show vote is real testament to both the diversity and social engagement that defines fintech in 2016. And truth told, it is a beautiful thing to see.

So let’s take a closer look at the award winners for Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2016 (in alphabetic order):

BanQu - true vector copyBanQu for its blockchain-based identity platform that enables financial inclusion and empowers the underbanked to join the global economy.

 

 

LendingRobot copyLendingRobot for its dashboard that helps investors track investments across peer lending platforms like Lending Club and Prosper.

 

PayActiv Logos CMYKPayActiv for its real-world alternative to payday loans that gives workers access to earned but unpaid wages.

 

Quid copyQuid for its web-based intelligence platform that leverages big data analytics, natural language processing, and network science to turn data searches into visual explorations.

 

SaleMoveSaleMove for its engagement platform that creates high-touch customer interactions using video, voice, and chat.

 

Silver6 copySilver6 for its financial video platform that enables businesses to use video personalization to provide custom communications.

 

We hope you enjoyed FinovateSpring 2016. We had a great time hosting this year’s event and are already looking forward to our return to San Jose next year. Many thanks to all those who supported, attended, sponsored, partnered with, and demoed their latest and greatest innovations live on stage. We’ll see you again in 2017!

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from FinovateEurope 2015 are here. Best of Show winners from FinovateSpring 2015 are here. Best of Show winners from FinovateFall 2015 are here. Best of Show winners from FinovateEurope 2016 are here.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fiserv, IBM, Tuition.io, Vera, Virtual Piggy

On Finovate.com

  • “FinovateSpring 2016 Best of Show Winners Announced“
  • “Vera Reels in Strategic Investment; Adds Former Veritas CEO & Founder to Board”

Around the web

  • Virtual Piggy appoints John R. Coyne as its new CEO.
  • Envestnet | Yodlee initiates strategic partnership with African incubator, AlphaCode.
  • Fiserv launches accounting suite, Prologue Financials.
  • Tuition.io announces support for repayment of Federal Parent PLUS loans.
  • IBM unveils Watson for Cyber Security in collaboration with eight leading universities.

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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Vera Reels in Strategic Investment; Adds Former Veritas CEO & Founder to Board

Vera Reels in Strategic Investment; Adds Former Veritas CEO & Founder to Board
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Vera

VeraSecurity_homepage_May2016 What a week for Vera! Within hours of the data security startup’s Finovate debut, the company announced that it had landed a strategic investment from Capital One Growth Ventures. The investment adds to Vera Security’s oversubscribed Series B round, taking the company’s total funding to $35 million.

The Series B was led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with existing investors Amplify Partners and Battery Ventures also participating. Vera_MarkLeslie

The funding news comes with word that former Veritas Software founder, chairman, and CEO, Mark Leslie (pictured right) will join Vera’s board of directors. A 30-year veteran of the Silicon Valley technology scene who served as president and CEO of Synapse Computer and Rugged Digital Systems in the 1980s, Leslie called Vera a leader among a “new class of security startups working  globally to secure data in a completely new way.”

Speaking for Capital One Growth Ventures, Adam Boutin praised Vera’s “elegant solution for securing data through its entire lifecycle” that avoids compromising access, control, or transparency. “We are thrilled to invest in Vera and have been impressed with their team and their ability to build a solution that balances complex functionality with ease-of-use,” Boutin said.

With more than a quarter-of-a-million users at Fortune 500 companies in verticals ranging from finance to manufacturing to entertainment, Vera specializes in providing data protection and encryption that both tracks and secures digital content across apps, devices, users, and platforms in real-time. Emerging from stealth just over a year ago, Vera was a finalist in the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox Contest in February, the same month the company was named one of the 20 coolest cloud security vendors of the 2016 Cloud 100 by CRN. Also in February, Vera teamed up with Richard Fleischman and Associates (RFA) to provide U.S. hedge funds, private equity firms, and asset managers with its advanced data security technology. Vera unveiled its cloud-based IRM-as-a-Service (Information Rights Management-as-a-Service) platform in March, enabling businesses to “protect and manage access to any data generated by custom-built business applications.”

Led by CEO Ajay Arora, Vera demonstrated its data security technology at FinovateSpring 2016. The video of the company’s demo will be available soon.

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Welcome to FinovateSpring 2016: Day 2

Welcome to FinovateSpring 2016: Day 2
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016

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Day Two of FinovateSpring is here! We hope you enjoyed Day One of the conference and are looking forward to another morning and afternoon of live demos and great networking.

Wednesday will feature three sessions of demos from 32 presenting companies. So grab a cup of your favorite morning beverage and join us for what promises to be a fascinating look at the future of fintech today.

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s agenda:

Registration opens at 8 a.m.

Demo Session 5: 8:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

Intermission with refreshments: 10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Demo Session 6: 10:45 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.

Lunch: 12:05 p.m. – 1 p.m.

Demo Session 7: 1 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.

Networking with open bar & appetizers: 2:40 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Best of Show Awards Ceremony: 4:15 p.m.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2016. Videos of the live demos will be available in our video archives in a few weeks.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Corezoid, Jack Henry, Jumio, Personetics, Q2

On Finovate.com

  • “Welcome to FinovateSpring 2016: Day 2″

Around the web

  • Personetics launches its Personetics Anywhere chatbot, enabling FIs to provide personalized service to customers via popular messaging apps.
  • Q2 Holdings unveils its cloud-based, open API platform for developers, CorePro.
  • Jack Henry & Associates announces availability of Banno Mobile for Windows 10 and launch of Banno People, a user profile management solution.
  • Corezoid’s platform-as-a-service technology now available in the U.S. and Western Europe.
  • Jumio agrees to acquisition by Centana Growth Partners.

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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Welcome to FinovateSpring 2016: Day 1

Welcome to FinovateSpring 2016: Day 1
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2016

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You made it to FinovateSpring! Now what?

We have a full show today packed with plenty of fintech to explore. Tickets are still available at the registration desk. If you can’t make it today but want to come tomorrow we have special one-day tickets available (ask at the registration desk).

Here’s today’s lineup:

Registration opens at 8:00 a.m.

8:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Intermission & refreshments

10:45 a.m. – 12:05 p.m.

Lunch 12:05 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.

2:20 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. Intermission & refreshments

2:50 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.

4:10 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Networking, open bar & appetizers
Best of Show winners will be announced on day two.

All demo videos will be available for free in a few weeks in our video archives.

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