Finovate Blog

Maybe it’s passé to say another year was a “banner year” for investment in fintech. But there is no better way to describe the more than $3 billion in funding raised by Finovate alums in 2015.

We previewed our alum funding for 2015 a few weeks ago with a look at investment in European-based alums. Now we present the numbers for the entire world.

Finovate alums by year

• 2015: $3.1 billion, up 41%
• 2014: $2.2 billion, up 167%
• 2013: $825 million, up 83%
• 2012: $450 million

Highlights from 2015

• Worldwide, 116 Finovate alums raised $3.1 billion
• Credit Karma raised the largest amount of capital, pulling in $175 million in June. Kabbage came in second with $135 million in October.
• April may be poetry’s cruelest month, but for Finovate alums, it was the most lucrative with $400 million raised by 15 companies. January was a close second, with $340 million raised by 14 companies.
• April was also the biggest month for number of deals with 15. January, May, and July were a close second with 14 deals each.

Alum funding by month

December

• BankersLab closes on undisclosed amount in angel funding round
• CBANC Network garners $4 million in Series B funding
• Gusto, formerly ZenPayroll, closes on $50 million funding
• Onovative raises $1.2 million in new funding
• Rippleshot raises $1.2 million in round led by KGC Capital
• ThetaRay lands $5 million investment from Alibaba; partners with PwC
• Trizic raises $2 million to help advisors compete with algorithms
• Trulioo raises $15 million with help from American Express Ventures
• WorkFusion raises $14 million Series C Round Led by Nokia Growth Partners

November

• Figo announces new “seven-figure” financing round.
• iSignthis completes $10 million capital raise.
• Lighter Capital closes $9 million Series B funding round, raises $100 million to lend to tech startups
• Nous closes in on 350,000 fundraising goal [Update: Nous exceeds original goal, raises $750,000]
• Roostify garners $500,000 in funding from Wells Fargo Accelerator
• Tuition.io raises $5 million in Series A.

October

• Blooom announces $4 million Series A round led by QWDS Investors.
• CardFlight scores $4 million in Series A funding.
• Financeit closes undisclosed amount of funding from Goldman Sachs.
• IDology announces “significant,” strategic equity investment in Payfone.
• Kabbage’s fresh $135 million to help grow Karrot Consumer Lending Platform.
• Moven rounds up $12 million in funding for international expansion.
• *Praesidio raises $3.1 million.
• Ripple Labs makes waves: raises $4 million, rebrands & launches Interledger.
• MortgageTech is on the move as Roostify closes Series A round led by USAA.
• Spreedly raises $2.5 million in new funding.
• Stockpile hauls in $15 million in new investment.
• Xpenditure rakes in $5.7 million.
• WorldPay goes public; shares rally on trading debut.

September

• Alkami Technology earns $11 investment.
• Blooom wins grant from LaunchKC.
• Cloud Lending Solutions raises $8 million in Series A.
• Coinalytics earns $1 million in seed funding from The Hive.
• CoverHound completes $33 million Series C.
• Ellevest pulls in $10 million from Morningstar.
• InForcePro rakes in $4 million following Finovate debut.
• Kreditech raises €82 million in Series C investment led by J.C. Flowers.
• MX lands $4 million from CheckFree founder Pete Kight.
• Trading Ticket picks up $4 million in seed funding from Citi, Valar Ventures.
• Trunomi raises $3 million to solve KYC challenges.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Prosper signals Move into PFM with $30 Million Acquisition of BillGuard.

August

• AnchorID raises $800,000.
• CashStar raises capital: new investment boosts total to $50 million.
• Digital Retail Apps raises $1 million Canadian in round led by Texas Ventures.
• Artificial intelligence innovator, Kensho boosts total capital to $58 million.
• Mogl earns $8 million investment ahead of FinovateFall debut.
• Payoneer pulls in $50 million.
• Socure secures $2.3 million in debt financing.
• StockViews raises $16,000 in seed investment
• SumUp raises €10 million in round led by BBVA Ventures, Groupon, American Express.
• Tio Networks raises $1.7 million in private placement.
• New investment in Tyfone takes total capital to $12 million.
• VATBox locks up $24 million growth equity investment.

Mergers & Acquisitions: FutureAdvisor acquired by BlackRock.

July

• Platform-as-a-Service specialist Apprenda raises $24 million.
• BankBazaar scores $60 million in funding led by Amazon.
• Behalf closes $119 million Series B.
• New investment for Dealstruck boosts lending capital to more than $100 million.
• Expensify tallies up $17.5 million in funding to support its new fintech investment fund.
• Fastacash secures $15 million in Series B investment.
• Fenergo raises $75 million from Insight Venture Partners.
• The next fintech unicorn: rumored $150 million heading to Kabbage.
• A dash of good karma: Karmic Labs raises $5 million.
• Malauzai raises $11 million in venture funding.
• Nearex closes Series B funding.
• Radius raises $50 million in round led by Founders Fund.
• Realty Mogul builds $35 million in new funding.
• Revolut launches to public, announces $2.3 million in funding.
• ShopKeep rings up $60 million investment.
• Twilio raises $130 million in Series E round.

June

• Azimo lands $20 million Series B investment led by Frog Capital.
• Bright Funds closes seed round with $1.8 million investment.
• Cachet Financial Solutions completes $4.4 million private placement.
• CashSentinel closes seed round of undisclosed amount.
• New $175 million investment earns Credit Karma a $3.5 billion valuation.
• Currency Cloud cooks up $18 million in new funding round.
• Prairie Cloudware announces new round of investment.
• Signifyd raises $7 million in Series A investment.
• SumUp unveils new financing.

May

• Actiance picks up $28 million from new and existing investors.
• Bitcoin-based P2P lending platform Bitbond raises $670,000.
• Credit Sesame raises $16 million in new funding.
• EDO Interactive completes $20 million Series E round; names Badran CEO.
• Feedzai announces more than $17 million in new funding.
• FreeAgent to crowdfund $1.6 million funding round.
• ItBit raises $25 million, earns New York State Trust Charter ahead of Finovate debut.
• Kantox picks up $11 million in Series B, doubling total capital.
• LendKey adds $8 million in venture debt; reaches $800 million in loans
• PayItSimple receives $10 million line of credit.
• Planwise raises $750,000; nearly doubling total capital.
• Ripple Labs reels in $28 million, eyes Asia expansion.
• Trizic raises $3 million in seed funding from Operative Capital.
• Friction is good: Social network for credit innovator Vouch raises $6 million.
• WePay closes $40 million Series D round led by FTV Capital.

Honorable mention: Zenefits raises $500 million (company founded by serial entrepreneur Parker Conrad, founder of alums SigFig and Wikinvest).

April

• CurrencyFair springs $10.7 million more in funding.
• Dealstruck raises $8 million in funding, $50 million for new credit facility.
• Dream Payments raises $6 million in funding for mPOS technology.
• eToro secures $12 million investment from Commerzbank.
• EZBOB raises $45 million in new funding.
• Interactions raises more than $9 million in new funding.
• MoneyStream launches to public, receives $3.2 million in funding.
• MX raises $30 million in Series A investment.
• Patch of Land earns $23 million investment led by SF Capital Group.
• PayNearMe raises $14.7 million in new financing..
• Prosper pulls in $165 million in funding, boosting valuation to $1.9 billion.
• SigFig brings on new advisory board members and $1 million in funding.
• StockTwits earns $1.2 million investment.
• Britain’s second largest mobile wallet, Yoyo, pulls $10 million in funding.
• ZenPayroll raises $60 million in round led by Google Capital.

Mergers & Acquisitions: SaveUp purchased by Chicago-area entrepreneur, Paul J. Bart; Early Warning acquires Authentify

March

• Advanced Merchant Payments pulls in undisclosed amount of funding.
• Alt credit score startup, Aire, raises $1.1 million.
• Ayasdi raises $55 million in Series C funding.
• CoverHound raises $14 million in Series B.
• ID.me raises $3 million in new venture debt funding.
• Lendio raises $20 million in new funding to help finance small businesses.
• Linkable Networks rakes in $11.7 million.
• Q2 Holdings completes $116 million follow-on stock offering.
• Yapstone closes $60 million debt financing deal.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Multi-Factor Authentication Specialist Toopher Acquired by Salesforce; ReadyforZero Acquired by Avant in cash and stock deal; printer-giant Lexmark to acquire Kofax for $1 billion; LearnVest acquired by Northwestern Mutual for more than $250 million.

February

• AdviceGames raises $570,000 from Ibuildings.
• Betterment raises a fresh $60 million in round led by Francisco Partners.
• Bill.com raises $50 million, doubling total funding.
• Finsphere lands $1.8 million, partners with Visa.
• Micronotes receives $910k in funding.
• Pindrop Security raises $35 million.
• SecureKey raises $19 million in Series C.
• Payments platform Mozido adds $2.5 million to SimplyTapp’s Series B round.
• Xero raises $110 million from Accel Partners, Matrix Capital.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Samsung acquisition of LoopPay puts Apple Pay on notice.

January

• App Annie reels in $63 million.
• BlueVine grabs $18.5 million to increase small-business lending.
• Bolstr raises $1.7 million in seed funding.
• Coinbase raises $75 million from BBVA, USAA, NYSE, & others.
• Global Debt Registry raises $7 million in Series A round.
• Kofax raises $1.9 million in funding.
• Kreditech secures $200 million line of credit.
• LendingRobot pulls in $3 million to boost your Lending Club and Prosper portfolios.
• Renren leads $40 million funding round for Motif Investing.
• PeerTransfer secures $22 million in a round led by Bain Capital.
• Ripple Labs raises $30 million in Series A round.
• Spreedly raises $150,000 in new funding.
• Taulia’s fresh $15 million will fuel international growth.
• TransferWise raises $58 million in round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
• TrueLink raises $3 million in round led by Cambia Health Solutions.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Akimbo Financial acquired by Payment Data Systems.

---

*New alum; funds raised prior to Finovate appearance.

Funding that companies received before they first appeared at Finovate was not counted in overall totals.

Questions? Comments? Email us at research@finovate.com.