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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 21, 2015
Categories: Alpha Payments Cloud, Credit Karma, Fiserv, iSignthis, Monitise, Plaid, SumUp, Top Image Systems, Trulioo, Zopa

On Finovate.com

“SumUp Brings its mPOS Technology to America”

Around the web

iSignthis and TikForce enter agreement for identity services.

Banks and merchants connected through Alpha Payments Cloud’s AlphaHub now have access to the iSignthis suite of services.

Functional Geekery interviews Plaid engineer David Chambers.

Power supplier ENEL to deploy TIS’s automated accounts payable and accounts receivables processing-solution across Russia.

TechCrunch Cribs features Credit Karma’s office.

Telefonica to work with Monitise in its transition to a cloud-based business.

Nigel Morris of QED Investors to join Zopa board of directors.

Fiserv launches wealth-management partnership with InvestEdge.

Trulioo, was named Top Innovator at the Integrate 2015 conference.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Xpenditure Raises $5.7 Million in Series A

By David Penn Posted on October 20, 2015
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Xpenditure

FinovateEurope 2014 alum Xpenditure has just raised $5.7 million in new funding. The investment takes the Belgium-based expense management solution provider’s total capital to more than $9 million.

The Series A round was led by a variety of private investors, including current shareholder Bart Swanson, along with Lorenz Bogaert, Toon Coppens, and Jonas Dhaenens.

Writing about the investment at the Xpenditure blog, company CEO and co-founder Boris Bogaert said the investment comes as the company is poised for growth in Europe and beyond. Bogaert added that Xpenditure plans on “doubling the team in the next four months” as well as making additional investments in technology.

From left: Co-founder and COO Wim Derkinderen and Head of Product Koen Christiaens demonstrated Xpenditure at FinovateEurope 2014.

Xpenditure specializes in providing alternatives to traditional, often manual, expense report management. Or, as Bogaert is quoted in TechCrunch, “We want to kill the monthly expense report.” He pointed out that creating worthwhile solutions requires more than simply recreating manual processes in digital form, as some software companies have tried to do.

Instead, Xpenditure provides businesses with a solution that handles the entire expense management process from receipt to accounting. Xpenditure’s mobile app allows users to scan and upload receipt data directly to their online account. A dashboard enables transparency and easy expense management. Businesses can generate PDF reports or create them within their accounting and ERP software such as Intuit’s QuickBooks and Xero.

Founded in 2011 and officially launched in March 2013, Xpenditure demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2014 in London. The company has offices in New York, Brazil, Germany, and Belgium, and serves customers in more than 22 countries around the world.

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Finovate Debuts: LendKey Enhances Lending-as-a-Service for Local Banks & Credit Unions

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 20, 2015
Categories: Finovate Debuts, LendKey

Having positioned itself as a lending-as-a-service provider, LendKey’s online lending platform connects thousands of banks and credit unions with consumers in a single loan marketplace.

Company facts:

Used by 310+ lending institutions
Raised more than $800 million in funding for loans to 35,000+ borrowers
Raised $23.5 million in equity
Has 100+ full time employees
Headquartered in New York City

Using the LendKey Network, borrowers submit a single credit application that reaches multiple lending institutions, resulting in a single hard-credit inquiry into the borrower’s credit score, thereby saving time. In real time, users receive multiple offers for consumer loans. LendKey makes it easy for them to sort and apply for the offers, without ever leaving the platform.

The LendKey Network currently focuses on:

Student loans
Auto loans
Home-improvement loans

Choosing an offer

Using a student-loan-refinance example, the user enters the amount of their loan, current monthly payment, credit score, ZIP code, and school attended. Using those pieces of information, LendKey lists loan offers from local, community lenders that they may be eligible for.

1) Browse

Lenders show estimated monthly payment, term, and rate, based off the five data points the user furnished. To narrow down the number of offers, the user enters additional information, citizenship status, degree level, graduation date, and income. As additional data is added, the list of offers becomes more customized. This helps consumers get a better understanding of what factors affect their eligibility.

2) Customize

If the user sees an offer they like, they enter additional personal information. LendKey then performs a soft credit-check, which further customizes the rates offered.

Two aspects make this process unique:

Transparent: User sees all loans and rates for which she is eligible in a single place
Educational: User sees which personal factors affect the offers extended

3) Compare

After the soft credit-pull, users can narrow down offers by rate, payment amount, loan term, and type of rate (variable or fixed), and determine if they want a co-signer. Once all fields are entered and the user selects an offer they like, they are ready to apply.

4) Complete

For a seamless experience, the entire loan-application process takes place inside the LendKey site. Here’s the process:

Fill out application
Review application
Answer KDA questions to confirm identity
Prove graduation and income
Select which loans to refinance
Set up ACH payment authorization
Esign disclosures

Once these steps are finalized, LendKey pays off the user’s existing loans, and the debtor enters into the repayment phase.

Banks and credit unions receive a turnkey online lending solution that broadens their portfolio by reaching new borrowers across multiple asset classes. While the bank sets the underwriting rules, LendKey holds the paper on the loan.

Many lenders affiliated with LendKey are new to online lending. LendKey facilitates the lending institutions’ involvement by using in-house expertise to adapt their underwriting for the online audience.

What’s new and next
LendKey expects plenty of future growth in student lending. While the company plans to continue in that space, it recently began offering home improvement and auto loans. It sees lots of room for expansion in all verticals.

In April, LendKey signed Navy Federal Credit Union to power student loan consolidation and private student loan offerings for its members.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 20, 2015
Categories: CardFlight, FIS, Fiserv, Insuritas, LendKey, mCASH, On Deck Capital, Xpenditure

On Finovate.com

Finovate Debuts: LendKey Enhances Lending-as-a-Service for Local Banks & Credit Unions.

Xpenditure Raises $5.7 Million in Series A.

Around the web

OnDeck again expands its partnership with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity to support access to capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Norway’s SpareBank 1 acquires mCash for an undisclosed amount.

FIS launches Banking on Demand, targeting Indian banks and FIs.

First Hawaiian Bank to deploy digital banking, payments, and PFM solutions from Fiserv.

CardFlight and Cayan team up to provide EMV-ready mPOS solutions.

Deere Employees Credit Union hires Insuritas to open and manage its turnkey insurance agency.

Banking Technology features multiple Finovate and FinDEVr alums Readers Choice Awards.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Fintech Fundings: 23 Companies Raise $372+ Million; 2 IPOs Raise $5.9 Billion Week Ending 16 Oct 2015 16

By Jim Bruene Posted on October 19, 2015
Categories: Uncategorized

It was a blockbuster week in fintech with more than $6 billion in new funds flowing to the sector. The vast majority, $5.9 billion, was raised in the IPOs of two mega payment processors: FinDEVr alum Worldpay ($3.3 billion) and First Data ($2.6 billion), which went public for the second time in its 44-year history.

The 23 private companies raised well over $372 million given that six of the rounds were not disclosed (so are not included in the total).

In addition to WorldPay, 7 other Finovate alums raised money, including Kabbage ($135 million); Stockpile ($15 million); Moven ($12 million); Xpenditure ($5.7 million); Blooom ($4 million); Payfone (undisclosed); and Roostify (undisclosed).

The YTD total raised is now more than $21 billion, or about $15.3 billion, excluding the two blockbuster IPOs.

Here are the deals by size from 10 Oct through 16 Oct 2015:

WorldPay
Payment processer
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $3.3 billion IPO
Total raised: Unknown (carved out of Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010)
Tags: B2B, payment processing, FinDEVR alum
Source: NY Times, Finovate

First Data Corporation
Payment processing
HQ: Atlanta, Georgia
Latest round: $2.56 billion IPO
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Enterprise, payments
Source: TechCrunch

Kabbage
Alt-lender to small businesses
HQ: Atlanta, Georgia
Latest round: $135 million at $1 billion valuation
Total raised: $600 million
Tags: SMB, lending, underwriting, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Symphony
Secure messaging for financial services
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $165 million
Tags: Enterprise, messaging, investing, advisers, wealth management
Source: Re/Code

Opendoor
Residential real estate trading
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $80 million at $580 million valuation (per WSJ)
Total raised: $110 million
Tags: Consumer, real estate, home buying, home selling, investing
Source: Crunchbase, Wall Street Journal

Stockpile
Gift cards backed with public company equity
HQ: San Jose, California
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $15 million
Tags: Consumer, savings, investing, gift card, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Moven
Mobile-optimized neo-bank
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $12 million
Total raised: $23 million
Tags: Consumer, retail banking, prepaid, mobile, neo-bank, debit card, white label, B2C, B2B2C, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Wynd
Electronic payment solutions
HQ: Paris, France
Latest round: $7.9 million
Total raised: $7.9 million
Tags: SMB, payments, processing, merchants, loyalty, ecommerce
Source: FT Partners

Xpenditure
Expense-management solutions for small businesses
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $5.7 million
Total raised: $5.7 million
Tags: SMB, PFM, accounts payables, employees, accounting, Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

Zwipe
Fingerprint-authenticated payment card
HQ: Oslo, Norway
Latest round: $5 million
Total raised: $7.5 million
Tags: Consumer, credit/debit cards, biometrics, security
Source: Finovate

Blooom
401(k) management
HQ: Leawood, Kansas
Latest round: $4 million Series A
Total raised: $4.1 million
Tags: Consumer, 401(k), retirement savings, tax-advantaged, wealth management, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Concord
Real-time investment strategies
HQ: Boston, Massecheusetts
Latest round: $2.7 million
Total raised: $2.7 million
Tags: Enterprise, investing, wealth management, data analytics
Source: FT Partners

WeGoLook
Asset verification
HQ: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $3.25 million
Tags: Enterprise, lending, insurance, risk management, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Faira
Real estate technology
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Latest round: $1.37 million Seed
Total raised: $1.53 million
Tags: Consumer, real estate, home buying, mortgage
Source: FT Partners

Funderbeam
Tracking investments in startups
HQ: Tallinn, Estonia
Latest round: $750,000
Total raised: $2.2 million
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, investing, wealth management, data
Source: Crunchbase

Scorechain
Bitcoin compliance solutions
HQ: Luxembourg
Latest round: $600,000
Total raised: $600,000
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, cryptocurrency, blockchain
Source: FT Partners

Factom
Using the blockchain for managing records
HQ: Austin, Texas
Latest round: $400,000 Seed
Total raised: $1.54 million
Tags: Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency
Source: Coinbase

RewardStock
Card rewards management
HQ: Raleigh, North Carolina
Latest round: $350,000 Seed
Total raised: $350,000
Tags: Consumer, credit cards, rewards, travel
Source: Crunchbase

Hyperledger (division of Digital Asset Holdings)
Blockchain
Latest round: $50,000 Innotribe Prize
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Consumer, blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin
Source: Coinbase

Payfone
Mobile identity to support payments
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $46 million
Tags: Enterprise, IDology (investor), security, risk management, payments, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Roostify
Simplifies home buying
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, home, real estate, PFM, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

HealthiPASS
Medical payments processing and management
HQ: Lombard, Illinois
Latest round: Undisclosed Series A
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Health care, insurance, payments, processing, medical, processing
Source: FT Partners

iZettle
Mobile point-of-sale services
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Latest round: Undisclosed Series D
Total raised: $176 million
Tags: SMB, small business, merchants, acquiring, payments, mPOS, cards
Source: FT Partners

Lenddo
Alternative loan underwriting models
HQ: New York City, Hong Kong
Latest round: Undisclosed Series B
Total raised: $14+ million
Tags: Enterprise, underwriting, credit, lending, analytics, API, Life.SREDA (investor)
Source: FT Partners

Rong360
Chinese financial services platform
HQ: Beijing, China
Latest round: Undisclosed Series D
Total raised: $60+ million
Tags: Consumer
Source: FT Partners

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IDology Announces “Significant” Strategic Equity Investment in Payfone

By David Penn Posted on October 19, 2015
Categories: IDology, Payfone

IDology, an identity-verification specialist out of Atlanta, has made a strategic equity investment in mobile authentication startup and fellow Finovate alum, Payfone.

Terms were not immediately available, but the investment was described as “significant” by IDology, according to reporting at American Banker. And as part of the investment, IDology has integrated Payfone’s network authentication into its ExpectID Mobile solution.

With this move, IDology will add both network authentication and transaction monitoring to its ID verification and anti-fraud solutions. ExpectID Mobile works by establishing a persistent mobile identity for each consumer that can be maintained through multiple life cycle change events. The mobile identity is resistant to mobile fraud tactics and can be created with or without ID verification.

IDology CEO John Dancu added that the partnership reflects IDology’s commitment to mobile technology that “strike(s) a balance between convenience and security” and provides “frictionless access to products and services.” Payfone CEO Rodger Desai called IDology an “excellent strategic partner” and said the new relationship also would be an opportunity for his company to fight fraud in markets such as alternative finance and payment gateways.

Recent headlines for IDology include the fall 2015 launch of its email validation technology, ExpectID Email in September, and picking up the Southeastern Software Association Impact Award from the Technology Association of Georgia in the Technology Solutions Provider category in May. A finalist in the 2015 Business Intelligence Group (BIG) Innovation Awards, Payfone made a major pivot two years ago to focus its technology away from payments and toward authentication. Read more about Payfone in an interview with Desai in the New York Business Journal.

Founded in 2003, IDology demoed its ExpectID Enterprise solution at FinovateFall 2012 in New York. Payfone also made its Finovate debut at the fall conference in New York in 2012. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in New York City, the company demonstrated its 1 Touch Checkout solution.

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Worldpay Goes Public; Shares Rally on Trading Debut

By David Penn Posted on October 19, 2015
Categories: WorldPay

With a successful FinDEVr 2015 behind us, and an exciting FinovateEurope 2016 around the corner, it is hard for us to hide our excitement over the IPO of FinDEVr 2015 newcomer, Worldpay. The British payment processor went public last week on the London Stock Exchange, opening at 240 pence ($3.68) per share on Tuesday and ending the session up more than 5% at 253 pence. Later in the week, shares were trading above 260 pence.

Worldpay, which is owned by private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital, has earned a valuation of more than $7 billion (£4.8 billion). The company offered 900 million shares, and is expected to raise more than £2 billion through the IPO, more than £947 million of which will return to WorldPay.

As the Financial Times reported, the Worldpay IPO was the biggest initial public offering in the U.K. in two years, and the largest ever of a private equity owned company in the U.K.

Worldpay SVP and Head of Strategy Chester Ritchie demonstrated Worldpay’s Securenet API at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco.

Worldpay CEO Philip Jansen referred to the public offering as a milestone, but contextualized it with investments the company itself has made to build its business. “We have already invested over £1 billion in our technology, people, and capabilities,” Jansen told the FT. “(We’ve) become an advanced and sophisticated technology-led organization with great potential.”

Worldpay was created out of the Royal Bank of Scotland as a standalone entity in 2010. With revenues of more than £860 million ($974 million USD) in 2014, the company processes more than 30 million mobile, online, and card transactions daily. The company’s IPO contrasts with that of First Data, a U.S. payment processor that also went public this week in the largest pubic offering of the year (First Data sought to raise $3.7 billion). Shares of First Data failed to gain traction with investors, with the stock finishing the week slightly below its IPO price of $16.

Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley led the offering with Lazard serving as financial adviser for Worldpay.

For its FinDEVr debut earlier this month, Worldpay introduced its Securenet API. The technology enables developers to add secure payments to websites, apps, and mobile devices. Worldpay’s experience with APIs includes winning Best New Product of the Year in the SMB category of the Best in Biz Awards 2015 International for its payments-integration solutions.

Live video of Worldpay’s FinDEVr presentation will be available soon.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on October 19, 2015
Categories: BBVA Compass, blooom, Cloud Lending, CurrencyFair, Expensify, Fastacash, IDology, Interactions, Kantox, Payfone, PayPal, Persistent Systems, SnoopWall, TransferWise, WorldPay

On Finovate.com

“IDology Announces “Significant,” Strategic Equity Investment in Payfone“

“Worldpay Goes Public; Shares Rally on Trading Debut”

Around the web

Fastacash announces strategic investment in Myanmar-focused, MyPAY.

American Banker interviews CEO Manolo Sanchez, BBVA Compass.

Persistent Systems announces technology partnership with Municipal Corporation.

Independent.IE features CurrencyFair, Expensify, and PayPal in a review of 20 PFM apps.

Fox Business interviews Blooom President Greg Smith on the future of 401(k) plans.

Silicon Review lists SnoopWall as 1 of 20 fastest growing security companies.

The Hindu features Cloud Lending Solutions’ co-founder Snehal Fulzele.

Interactions wins bronze Stevie Award in the Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year category. This is its fourth consecutive Stevie Award.

Slush.org interviews Kristo Kaarmann, TransferWise co-founder.

The Culture Trip highlights Kantox in its review of successful Barcelona startups.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Lending Club Launches SME Multi-draw Line of Credit

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 16, 2015
Categories: Lending Club

In a move that expands its SME financing, Lending Club announced it will extend multi-draw lines of credit to small-business borrowers.

The new multi-draw option enables borrowers to withdraw only the funds they need, as they need them—instead of extending all funds up front and charging interest on the full sum from the start of the term. Lending Club charges a 1% to 2% fee each time borrowers draw down on the line of credit.

It is free to apply for and open a line of credit—ranging from $5,000 to $300,000 with interest rates starting at 6%—and there is no hard credit inquiry.

Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche says the platform’s new multi-draw line of credit “gives small-business borrowers a predictable, flexible, low-cost way to access credit ‘on demand’ if and when they need it.”

To qualify for the new offering—tested in beta for the past few months with Alibaba.com and Ingram Micro customers—the borrowing company must have been operating for at least two years and have $75,000/year in revenue.

Lending Club debuted at FinovateFall 2007 in New York. Check out its retro launch demo here.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on October 16, 2015
Categories: blooom, Cloud Lending, Lending Club, Thomson Reuters, Tradeshift

On Finovate.com

“Lending Club Launches SME Multi-draw Line of Credit”

Around the web

Cloud Lending Solutions announces underwriting and origination upgrades.

Inc. lists Blooom as one of five non-Silicon Valley startup rocket-ships you need to know about.

Thomson Reuters and Samsung to collaborate on mobile security, intelligent IT for the enterprise.

Tradeshift opens up its e-invoicing solution for users of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Blooom Announces $4 Million Series A Round Led by QED Investors

By David Penn Posted on October 15, 2015
Categories: blooom, Funding, Fundings

In its first outside-capital raise, personal investment-management platform Blooom has hauled in $4 million. The Series A round was led by QED Investors, a firm that has invested in a variety of fintech startups—and Finovate alums—in recent years, ranging from Braintree and Credit Karma to Prosper and LendUp.

Also participating in the round were DST Systems Inc., Commerce Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and UMB.

Blooom Co-Founders Chris Costello and Randy AufDerHeide demonstrated at FinovateFall 2014.

Blooom operates in one of the more interesting niches in personal investment management, 401(k) accounts. Unlike other investors, many 401(k) account holders never asked for them—they were simply a job benefit. As such, 401(k) investors represent a potentially huge market of investors who need help managing these accounts wisely.

The company’s leadership team includes former investment banker Greg Smith who penned the notorious “Why I am Leaving Goldman Sachs” piece for the New York Times in 2012. Now president of Blooom, Smith feels he is finally with an organization that “aligns with his values” and the issues of customer service and putting clients first he wrote about in his critical NYT op-ed.

Blooom works by giving investors a short questionnaire about their current financial status, risk tolerance, and investment preferences. Consumers can take advantage of the free 401(k) comparative analysis or sign up for ongoing account management, including rebalancing and allocation adjustments. Price is either $1 a month for clients with account values below $20,000, or $15 a month for larger accounts.

Read more about Blooom in its Finovate debut feature from last fall.

Recent headlines for Blooom include winning a grant last month from LaunchKC. The company has been profiled in Forbes, highlighted as a member of the “Silicon Prairie” in Inc, and referred to as “the future of retail savings” by COOConnect.

Founded in February 2013 and headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, Blooom demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2014 in New York .

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Mortgagetech on the Move as Roostify Closes Series A Round Led by USAA

By David Penn Posted on October 15, 2015
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Roostify

While deal-terms were not disclosed, we learned late Wednesday that mortgage-transaction technology innovator Roostify has wrapped up a Series A investment round led by USAA.

“Roostify is innovating the home-buying process for consumers and lenders through a platform that brings simplicity and efficiency to something that sorely needs it,” said Michael Smith, USAA executive director for corporate development.

Roostify CEO Rajesh Bhat asserts the solution “brings a user friendliness to the process that benefits lenders and applicants by streamlining the process. (It cuts) the time to close loans and lessens errors in the applications.”

From left: Roostify Lead Engineer Jonathan Kirst and CEO Rajesh Bhat demonstrated at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, California.

Also participating in the funding were Colchis Capital and “two tier-1 banks.” Bhat said the funding will help grow the technology and bring more lenders to the platform.

Roostify simplifies the challenging process of buying a home for all parties involved. Home-buyers using the platform benefit from 100% transparency and greater control over the process, resulting in greater accountability and lower costs. Lenders can approve and process more loans faster using Roostify, having processed thousands of applications through the platform since its launch in early 2014.

Founded in March 2013 and headquartered in Burlingame, California, Roostify made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose.

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