Fintech Fundings: $110 Million Raised by 13 Companies Week Ending 4 Dec 2015

Fintech Fundings: $110 Million Raised by 13 Companies Week Ending 4 Dec 2015
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

dollar_money_signAs we head into the final four weeks of 2015, private investment into the fintech sector is just under $18 billion for the year—or $24 billion including the First Data, Worldpay and Square IPOs.

Two Finovate alums were among the 13 companies raising money this week:

In total, the 13 companies pulled in $112.7 million, all equity.

Here are the deals by size from 28 Nov through 4 Dec 2015:

Tyro Payments
Point-of-sale payment processor
Latest round: $72 million
Total raised: $104 million
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Tags: Merchants, SMB, acquiring, mobile, POS, mPOS, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

Progressa
Short-term online consumer loans
Latest round: $11.4 million Series A
Total raised: $11.4 million
HQ: Vancouver, Canada
Tags: Consumer, lending, payday, underwriting, loans
Source: Crunchbase

Clearpool Group
Electronic trading software
Latest round: $8 million
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Enterprise, investing, trading
Source: FT Partners

Mirador Financial
Small business lending technology
Latest round: $7 million Series A
Total raised: $9.7 million
HQ: Portland, Oregon
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, lending, underwriting, loans
Source: Crunchbase

ThetaRay
Threat detection solutions for financial institutions
Latest round: $5 million Series C
Total raised: $15 million
HQ: Jerusalem, Israel
Tags: Enterprise, big data, security, Alibaba (investor), Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Bee
Mobile bank/card
Latest round: $4.6 million
Total raised: $4.6 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, prepaid debit card, neo-bank, challenger bank, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Social Change Rewards
Rewards platform emphasizing personal wellness
Latest round: $2 million
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Toronto, Canada
Tags: Consumer, rewards, gamification, cards, health care
Source: Crunchbase

Onovative
Marketing automation and analytics for financial institutions
Latest round: $1.0 million Series A ($3 million valuation)
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: Louisville, Kentucky
Tags: Consumer, marketing, analytics, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

ETNetwork
Digital receipts platform
Latest round: $1.2 million
Total raised: $1.2 million
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Enterprise, merchants, SMB, PFM, transactions, debit/credit cards
Source: Crunchbase

ExpenseBot
Platform
Latest round: $150,000
Total raised: $325,000
HQ: North Ridgeville, Ohio
Tags: Consumer
Source: WhoGotFunded

Zize (formerly Tete)
Blockchain-based bitcoin analytics
Latest round: $100,000 Angel
Total raised: $100,000
HQ: Genova, Italy
Tags: Enterprise, cryptocurrency, big data, analytics, blockchain
Source: Crunchbase

iQapla
Automated trading tools
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Madrid, Spain
Tags: Consumer, trading, investing, stock market
Source: Crunchbase

OmegaFI
College fraternity and sorority financial management platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Columbus, Georgia
Tags: Nonprofit, accounting, bookkeeping, billpay, invoicing
Source: FT Partners

 

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ThetaRay Lands $5 Million Investment from Alibaba, Partners with PwC

ThetaRay Lands $5 Million Investment from Alibaba, Partners with PwC
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ThetaRay

Thetaray_homepage_Dec2015

Israeli anti-fraud and cybersecurity specialist ThetaRay has locked in a $5 million investment from Chinese e-commerce titan, Alibaba. The investment is part of a larger $20 million round-in-progress that includes participation from General Electric, Jerusalem Venture Partners, and Poalim Capital Markets, along with other investors.

ThetaRay’s technology specializes in detecting and preventing advanced persistent threat (APT), which is a type of network attack designed to steal information rather than simply destroy or damage a network or organization. The company’s solution also works against “zero-day” attacks—attacks via security vulnerabilities unknown to the vendor—within minutes of detection.

Thetaray_stage_FF2015

Pictured: ThetaRay VP of Product Udi Solomon demonstrated the ThetaRay platform at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

ThetaRay this week announced a new partnership with PwC, a global advisory firm specializing in audit and assurance, tax, and consulting services. The Global Joint Business Relationship will make ThetaRay technology a part of PwC’s advanced data-analytics service, and is PwC’s first with an Israeli cybersecurity firm.

“Using ThetaRay’s technology, we can help businesses utilize existing big data to discover opportunities, mitigate risks and increase revenues and profitability,” said Yaron Blachman, PwC Israel’s leader of technology and forensics consulting.

Founded in April 2013, with offices in Israel and the U.S., ThetaRay demonstrated its fraud and credit risk solution at FinovateFall 2015. The company was named “Most Innovative Industrial Internet Technology” at the Minds + Machines 2015 Conference sponsored by General Electric.

 

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Onovative Raises $1.2 Million in New Funding

Onovative Raises $1.2 Million in New Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Onovative

Onovative_homepage_Dec2015

Onovative, which introduced its Core iQ bank marketing software at FinovateSpring earlier this year, has raised $1.2 million in a second round of funding. The investment takes the company’s total funding to more than $1.6 million.

“We’re very excited by the early reception of Core iQ in the marketplace,” said Onovative co-founder and CEO Michael Browning. “[We] feel that this round of funding gives us the ability to continue to achieve our vision of providing community banks and credit unions with software that is simple to use and affordable.”

Onovative_stage_FS2015

Pictured (left to right): Onovative co-founders Michael Browning and Clay Turner demonstrated Core iQ at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

The round was led by the Bluegrass Angels Fund. Also participating were the Sequel Fund, the Enterprise Angels Community Fund, the Kentucky Enterprise Fund, and Commonwealth Seed Capital, along with individual investors. Onovative says the funds will go toward “fuel[ing] sales growth and product development.” As part of the investment, Onovative relocated from its offices in Jeffersonville, Indiana, to its new headquarters in downtown, Louisville, Kentucky.

Onovative’s Core iQ helps FIs leverage their customer data to create personalized, sophisticated marketing campaigns, including automated distribution of print mail, email, and SMS text messages and outbound phone calls. Currently deployed in banks and credit unions across the U.S., the platform automates cross-selling and marketing communication for more than one million accounts a day.

Founded in June 2013, Onovative demonstrated its Core iQ technology at FinovateSpring 2015.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BancVue, Meniga, NICE Systems, Radius, TradeHero, wipro, Xero, Zopa

Around the web

  • Financial Times talks with Zopa CEO Giles Andrews and his plan to disrupt banks.
  • Wipro acquires Cellent in 73 million euro deal.
  • Actimize from NICE Systems reaches 150 million customer milestone with its anti-fraud, cybercrime protections.
  • Radius launches improvements to its Global Payroll tool by introducing a way for employers to consolidate payroll across jurisdictions.
  • Xero introduces podcast series for small business.
  • Tech in Asia names Tradehero one of five interesting startups from Singapore.
  • Meniga partners with Bankdata to provide personal finance management to 11 banks in Denmark.
  • First Castle Federal Credit Union partners with BancVue.

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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Mobino Inks Partnership with Paymit

Mobino Inks Partnership with Paymit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Mobino

Mobino_homepage_Dec2015

Mobino will soon be available to customers of the Swiss payment system, Paymit. The partnership was announced during an industry event this week by Mobino CEO Jean-François Groff and Thomas Landis, head of Paymit’s Exploration Team.

Interviewed by ICT Journal, Groff said that his company had been in discussion with Paymit for awhile, helping develop “a Swiss standard for mobile payment.” The goal of the partnership is to create joint interfaces that will support P2P payments for users of both Mobino and Paymit apps.

Mobino_stage_FEU2015

From left: Mobino CTO Alvaro Fussen and CEO Jean-François Groff demonstrated Mobino Cash at FinovateEurope 2015.

Paymit launched its P2P payment service in Switzerland this spring, and by summer, it had been deployed by six banks. The technology enables anyone in Switzerland with a Swiss phone number to send and receive money via smartphone. Mobino Cash is a universal mobile payments technology that supports P2P money-transfers and e-commerce, and is easily integrated into POS systems for in-store use. Groff developed the technology in an effort to replicate the speed, directness, and anonymity of cash in a digital form. Talking about the technology in an interview with FutureBanking, Groff referred to the platform as “having an ATM in your pocket.” The agreement will enable Paymit users to access Mobino Cash via direct debit from their bank account.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, Mobino demonstrated Mobino Cash at FinovateEurope 2015. The company reports 20,000 users and 150 merchants are using the technology.

Join us in London for FinovateEurope 2016. Visit our registration page today and save your spot for our annual European fintech conference, 9/10 February.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Green Dot, Jack Henry, Mambu, Mobino, On Deck Capital, QuantConnect, Quantopian, TipRanks, Tradier

On Finovate.com

  • “Mobino Inks Partnership with Paymint”

Around the web

  • JPMorgan announces partnership with OnDeck Capital.
  • Nigeria-based consumer-finance firm, RenMoney, to deploy cloud banking solution from Mambu.
  • Green Dot plans to launch new loan marketplace in 2016.
  • Freedom CU ($673m) chooses core processing technology from Jack Henry & Associates’ Symitar.
  • Smarter Analyst features Tradier, QuantConnect, TipRanks, and Quantopian.

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 Developers, Lock in Presale Savings for the Very First FinDEVr in NYC

Fintech Developers, Lock in Presale Savings for the Very First FinDEVr in NYC
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr 2016 New York

FinDEVrNY16-V1(wdate)

All the leaves are brown and the skies are gray, but here at Finovate we are already dreaming about our upcoming spring developer conference, FinDEVr New York 2016.

On March 29 & 30, we bring FinDEVr east to showcase the newest tools and technologies, APIs, case studies, and more. FinDEVr features some of the industry’s top software engineers and CTOs, technology architects and evangelists sharing their work and insights in 15-minute TED-style presentations with code, slides, and live demos. If you love the “tech” in fintech, FinDEVr is the place to be.

Take advantage of big presale savings of $400 by reserving your spot at FinDEVr New York 2016 by this Friday.

And to whet your appetite, here is a look at a handful of the more than 50 companies presenting at the event in March. Stay tuned for more!

Slide1

And if you’re a company or innovator interested in presenting at FinDEVr New York 2016, or at a future FinDEVr event, please contact us at newyork@findevr.com.

FinDEVr New York 2016 is partnered with BankersHub, BayPay Forum, Bitcoin Magazine, bobsguide, Byte Academy, Celent, Mercator Advisory Group, and Women Who Code.

 

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Q2 Acquires Social Money in $10 Million Deal

Q2 Acquires Social Money in $10 Million Deal
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Q2, Q2ebanking, Social Money

Q2_homepage_SocialMoney_Dec2015

Q2 Holdings just got social.

The virtual banking solution provider today announced it will acquire fellow Finvoate alum Social Money for $10.6 million. Q2’s President and CEO Matt Flake said the “strategic” acquisition will help its customers “expand their reach, grow market share, and engage account holders.”

Formerly known as Smarty Pig, Social Money helps financial services companies better engage their customers by offering them savings solutions such as GoalSaver, a customized, goal-directed and bank-audited saving system. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, Social Money is geared toward millennials and gen-Y consumers, a point underscored by Flake. “The digital banking experience matters when it comes to reaching millennials and retaining existing account holders,” he said, adding that Q2 is committed to serving the “increasingly digital modern consumer.”

SocialMoney_stage_FS2012b
Social Money CEO Scott McCormack demonstrated GoalSaver at FinovateSpring 2012.

The Social Money acquisition is the second for Q2 in 2015. In July, Q2 Holdings acquired anti-fraud, risk-management specialist Centrix Solutions for $20 million. Q2 is still studying how it will integrate Social Money’s portfolio into its offerings, saying it plans to provide a “rebranded suite of Social Money technologies” in 2016. For its part, Social Money sees the acquisition as an opportunity to continue helping community banks and credit unions “establish direct-to-digital capabilities in the future,” according to CTO Adam Anderson.

Q2’s solutions are used in more than 275 community banks and credit unions. At their Finovate debut, FinovateSpring 2011, Q2 demoed its risk and fraud analytics technology. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Q2 Holdings was founded in 2005.

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FinDEVr APIntelligence

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinDEVr APIntelligence

Developer news

  • New study by Axway and APIdays—”Banking APIs: The State of the Market”—features API-centric technologies used by leading banks and FSOs.

The latest from FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 presenters

  • Intuit partners with Fundbox to provide invoice financing for SMEs.
  • Marx Noctor of Arxan Technologies explains the importance of protecting apps “down to the source code” in CBR Online.
  • Markit and CLS unveil new streamlined process for cross-currency swaps settlement.
  • TradeStreaming podcast interviews Xignite’s Stephane Dubois on providing stock-market data to the fintech industry.
  • American Banker takes a look at American Express and its preparations for a “boom in mobile payments.”
  • JPMorgan announces partnership with OnDeck Capital.

Alumni updates

  • CO-OP Financial Services to help credit unions deploy MasterPass from MasterCard.
  • Tradier reaches milestone: 100 financial services firms are now directly integrated with Tradier’s brokerage platform.

Stay up to date on news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter today!

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Financial Guard, Global Debt Registry, ING Direct, Intuit, MasterCard, Misys, Nostrum Group, Q2, Q2ebanking, Social Money

On Finovate.com

  • “Fintech Developers, Lock in Presale Savings for the Very First FinDEVr in NYC”
  • “Q2 Acquires Social Money in $10 Million Deal”
  • Check out the latest developer news in this week’s edition of “FinDEVr APIntelligence”

Around the web

  • Employee Benefit News features Financial Guard in a discussion on the rise of robo-advisers.
  • Misys unveils its next-generation capital markets trading platform in the cloud, Misys FusionCapital.
  • CO-OP Financial Services to help credit unions deploy MasterPass from MasterCard.
  • ING expands its host card emulation (HCE) mobile payment service to all of its customers in the Netherlands. Join ING in London for FinovateEurope 2016.
  • Intuit partners with Fundbox to provide invoice financing for SMEs.
  • Technical.ly Delaware profiles Global Debt Registry.
  • Nostrum Group urges personalization in digital lending in new report on digital finance. See Nostrum at FinovateEurope 2016 in February.

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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Zopa Partners with Equifax, Boosting its Risk-profiling Capabilities

Zopa Partners with Equifax, Boosting its Risk-profiling Capabilities
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Equifax, Zopa

ZopaZopa_homepage_Dec2015

Zopa teamed up with credit reporting agency and fellow Finovate alum Equifax to improve the way Zopa determines the creditworthiness of potential borrowers. According to Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana:

Equifax has extensive experience of the P2P sector. Its in-depth understanding of our business needs, coupled with the strength of its data, plays a vital role in ensuring we offer the best customer experience possible.

Of all the innovative methods for risk profiling—from big data to social media—the information available from credit reference agencies like Equifax remains as critical for online lenders as it is for offline lenders. And while Zopa and Equifax have been working together since 2005, Janardana says that the new agreement gives Zopa “deeper insights into customer behavior” and should result in a better-performing loan portfolio for Zopa, along with better rates for many customers.

Zopa_TV_Ad

Craig Tebbutt, head of alternative lending at Equifax, praised Zopa’s role in helping drive P2P lending in the United Kingdom. Tebbutt suggested that 2016 would be a “key year” for Zopa, pointing to the rise in institutional funding and the arrival of the Innovative Finance Individual Savings Accounts (IFISA) in early April. Investors will be able to set up IFISA accounts through P2P lenders like Zopa and earn tax-free interest from lending portions of their savings to SMEs on the platform.

Facts and stats from Zopa:

  • Over £1 billion lent to U.K. customers
  • More than 50,000 active lenders
  • More than 150,000 borrowers
  • Most loans exceed £7,000
  • Staff of 150

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in San Francisco, Zopa demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2008. Making its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2011 in New York, Equifax demonstrated Equifax Complete, its interactive score-estimator and score-monitoring solution.

Join hundreds of fintech fans in London in February for FinovateEurope 2016. Our two-day conference returns to Old Billingsgate Market Hall on February 9 & 10. Visit our registration page today and save your spot.

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Prosper’s BillGuard Unlocks Premium Features for All Users

Prosper’s BillGuard Unlocks Premium Features for All Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, Prosper

BillGuardHomepage

Fresh on the heels of being acquired by Prosper in October, the expense-management and fraud-tracking application BillGuard made some of its most popular premium features available for free, including:

  • Unlimited card monitoring (previously limited to one credit or debit card)
  • Free tracking of TransUnion credit scores

Prior to today’s announcement, BillGuard offered three versions: freemium, BillGuard Pro, and BillGuard Ultimate. The company is paring down to two services by retiring its Pro service. All Pro users will be upgraded to Ultimate at no additional cost.

In today’s announcement, Prosper also hinted at its future plans for BillGuard:

In the months ahead, we will be releasing our initial BillGuard-Prosper product integrations which will take BillGuard to a whole new level of financial control and well-being. We can’t wait to share it with you.

San Francisco-based BillGuard, which launched in 2011, has helped its 1.4 million users flag more than $70 million in unauthorized charges.

BillGuard last presented at FinovateSpring 2012 where it debuted BillGuard FI. Prosper presented at FinovateSpring 2009 as well as the inaugural Finovate in 2007.

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