Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Zopa

With more than 20 years' experience in software and management, most recently as CTO for online gaming firm PokerStars, Ronen Benchtrit becomes the new chief technology officer for Zopa. Benchetrit will direct Zopa's overall, growth-oriented technology strategy.

"I believe that Zopa is leading by example, with great innovative products and an award-winning team," Benchetrit said. "I hope to use my experience and skills to drive rapid growth for Zopa, making it accessible to an ever-growing number of customers and leading Zopa as a fintech pioneer."

Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana praised Benchetrit's record in promoting business growth, as well as his IT and technical skills, and says the new hire is "yet another building block in our drive to continue and accelerate Zopa's growth in changing the landscape of consumer financial products."

Before his work at PokerStars, Benchetrit was senior R&D projects manager and architect for Avaya. He was also…

Read more →

FinDEVr APIntelligence

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BehavioSec, Braintree, FinDEVr APIntelligence, Kabbage, PayPal, Xignite

Our FinDEVr New York developer showcase was a success! FinDEVr Silicon Valley will be held October 18 & 19 in Santa Clara. Register today and save.

Dev news

A modern-day Renaissance: APIs fuel a cultural shift in businesses.

The latest from FinDEVr New York 2016 presenters

Institutional Investor features Xignite and PayPal CEOs in the 2016 Tech-50 list of fintech technologists. CoinTelegraph names Braintree as a company that will shape the future of money. Markit Unveils Chartworks Suite. Inc’s look at global payment options features Braintree.

Alumni updates

IB Times features BehavioSec. Kabbage Revamps App to Enable Mobile On-Boarding for Loan Applications

Stay current on daily news from the fintech developer community! Follow FinDEVr on Twitter.

Read more →

Fintech Fundings: 35 Companies Raise $470 Million the Third Week of June

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

For the third week in a row, the number of deals flirted with the single-week record of 39. This week, 35 fintech companies worldwide raised $469 million the second week of June. Included were three Finovate alums:

Cachet Financial Systems recorded a $2.55 million convertible note to further its remote deposit business StockTwits took in $2 million for its trading information platform  Sezzle grabbed $500,000 to enhance its pay-by-bank-transfer service

The total number of deals YTD stands at 662, double last year’s 338. Total dollars raised YTD is now $16.8 billion, $9 billion more than the $7.8 billion raised during the same period a year ago.

——-

Fintech deals by size from 11 June to 17 June 2016:

Fenqile
Consumer microlender
Latest round: $235 million Series D
Total raised: $335 million
HQ: Shenzen, China
Tags: Consumer, lending, underwriting, alt-lending, purchase finance, ecommerce, installment loans
Source: FT Partners

Payoff
Credit card payoff loans
Latest round: $46.76 million Series C
Total…

Read more →

Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Polly Portfolio

What do you do when you need a friend to geek out with about financial news and investment-portfolio decisions? Create a bot, of course! Polly Portfolio, wealth management technology platform for asset managers, launched an investment chatbot for Facebook Messenger this week. The free bot, named Polly Chat, engages the user in a conversation about recent financial news headlines and creates a financial profile and customized trade ideas based on the user's responses.

In a blog post, the New York-based company said that it created Polly Chat because "it only makes sense to build a chat bot when you have something to chat about. We do." The company went on to explain that large financial firms have teams of research analysts who are very knowledgeable about economic developments but lack the ability to communicate the news to clients in an interactive way. Polly Portfolio added, "Our investment chat bot is a…

Read more →

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Actiance, BehavioSec, Boku, CardFlight, Lendio, Lighter Capital, Misys, NCR Corporation, NICE Systems, Polly Portfolio, Ripple, Sezzle, True Potential, Zopa

On Finovate.com

Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger Check out this week's FinDEVr APIntelligence. Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisers Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram

Around the web

Boku expands carrier billing service with new partnerships in Germany. NCR and Wells Fargo partner to develop next-generation ATM technology. Mizuho Financial Group to pilot Ripple for cross-border payments. NICE Actimize teams up with Tableau Software to combine business intelligence with financial crime-compliance technology. IB Times features BehavioSec. True Potential opens multi-asset portfolios to adviser market. Lendio partners with Townsquare to promote its alternative small business financing solutions. Misys relocates Texas office from Richardson to Plano to expand operations. CardFlight reports that more than 64% of its merchants are now EMV-enabled, more than 3x the national average. TechCrunch features Lighter Capital.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and…

Read more →

Capriza Raises $23 Million in Series C

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capriza

In a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, enterprise-mobility specialist Capriza has raised $23 million in new capital. Participating in the round, which takes the company's total to $73 million, were existing investors Charles River Ventures, Harmony Partners, and Tenaya Capital, as well as new investors Entre Capital and Vintage Investment.

"In the last 24 months, we have made enormous strides, and this latest round of funding is a testament to our momentum and our world-class customer list," Capriza CEO Yuval Scarlat said. "The world is shifting from mobile-first to mobile-only, and we believe organizations who make mobile applications a priority today are the ones that will win."

Left to right: Stephen Insdorf, senior solution engineer, and Ivan Prafder, VP, regional business development demonstrated the Capriza platform at FinovateFall 2015 in New York.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Capriza demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2015.…

Read more →

BlueVine Increases Maximum Credit Line, Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BlueVine

Small business financier BlueVine hired a new chief revenue officer and made changes to its business lines of credit and invoice-factoring this week.

CRO Eric Sager (pictured) comes to BlueVine with experience as head of sales at Square, and as a principal with Bain & Company. Sager said that he has spent his career "working to help small businesses succeed," and added that "access to timely and cost-efficient working capital" is one of their main struggles.

Palo Alto-based BlueVine has increased its maximum credit line for invoice factoring from $250,000 to $500,000; the maximum revolving line, Flex Credit, has risen from $30,000 to $50,000. The company, which is on track to fund $200 million in working capital this year, launched Flex Credit in April to expand beyond invoice factoring.

Founded in 2013, BlueVine debuted at FinovateFall 2014 where the company's CEO Eyal Lifshitz and VP of Operations Edward Castaño demoed invoice factoring. BlueVine…

Read more →

MaxMyInterest Unveils Laser App Integration to Speed Onboarding

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: MaxMyInterest

MaxMyInterest unveiled a new integration to make it easier for financial advisors to bring smart cash management to their clients. Leveraging forms automation and management technology from Laser App Software, advisors will be able use their own CRM systems to "pre-onboard" clients to the Max platform. The client's new Max account is linked to the advisor, whose read-only access to cash balance data ensures a holistic overview of cash and other accounts.

According to founder and CEO Gary Zimmerman, the integration helps advisers who are using leading CRM platforms to add MaxMyInterest as an option for their clients. Robert Powell, VP marketing and sales for Laser App, calls the technology a "one-of-a-kind front-end system" and says the partnership is a "great opportunity for us to learn from leading innovators."

MaxMyInterest's intelligent cash-management platform helps savers earn higher yields while maintaining FDIC protection. Like a robo-adviser intelligently rebalancing a stock portfolio, MaxMyInterest tracks interest rates…

Read more →

Finovate Debuts: Civic’s Identity Verification App Launches Public Beta

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Civic, Finovate Debuts

Identity network and fraud prevention company Civic offers a service that helps consumers confirm the use of their identity in real time. Today the company beta-launched its free consumer-facing app, marking the public availability of its identity network.

Civic debuted at FinovateSpring 2016 to help solve the person-not-present (PNP) problem (yes, CEO Vinny Lingham coined that phrase). "We've created a real-time identity-alerts service," Lingham said at the start of his demo. He went on to explain how the company seeks to help consumers manage their identities by having more control over the use of their Social Security number.

Civic users receive a $1 million identity-theft-protection policy, plus access to a free identity-theft consultant-hotline. Both services are good for the life of their membership. Users receive a push notification or email each time their Social Security number is used with one of Civic's partners. Civic's partners currently include background checking services GoodHire and Onfido. The company is working to…

Read more →

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: BlueVine, Capriza, Civic, Cortera, D3 Banking, Malauzai Software, MaxMyInterest, P2BInvestor, Zopa

On Finovate.com

MaxMyInterest Unveils Laser App Integration to Speed Onboarding Finovate Debuts: Civic’s Identity Verification App Launches Public Beta BlueVine Increases Maximum Credit Line, Appoints New Chief Revenue Officer Capriza Raises $23 Million in Series C

Around the web

Mashable features P2Binvestor CEO Krista Morgan for something outrageous she said at FinovateSpring 2013. Institutional Investor features entrepreneurs from 4 Finovate alums in the 2016 Tech-50 list of fintech technologists. SLK Group and D3 Banking form partnership. More Than 25 Financial Institutions Select Malauzai’s SmartwebApps for Desktop Cortera appoints Bob Maguire as chief revenue officer. Zopa names Ronen Benchetrit as CTO.

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.

Read more →

Pokemon Banking for Fun (and Profit?)

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Facebook, Sberbank, Youth market

The Pokemon Go craze doesn't surprise me at all. Both my boys grew up with the little beasts so I get their appeal, especially with the AR boost. But what I didn't expect to see were multiple financial institutions jumping on board, during the first week no less. And one, SberBank, that would pull off a clever product tie-in that might actually have a positive ROI.

Coinciding with the official countrywide Pokemon Go release (expected any day now), the Russian bank and insurer (and Finovate alum) is offering free accident insurance for anyone while they are playing the game. Users must register with the bank first (nice monetization through lead-gen) and provide evidence in the case of a claim (and some big costs).

The bank plans to use special game pieces called Lures, to drive players to branch locations. They are also providing additional bonuses…

Read more →

Cloud Lending Solutions Partners with Fujitsu

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Cloud Lending

Lending platform Cloud Lending Solutions recently announced a partnership with Japanese technology company Fujitsu. Fujitsu will help Cloud Lending Solutions distribute CL Originate, CL Lease, CL Loan, and CL Collections to its large and small business customers in Japanese and ASEAN markets.

Fujitsu EVP Hideki Kiwaki, corporate executive officer and vice head of global services integration, called the partnership an "important strategic initiative" for Fujitsu that "will enable rapid and flexible delivery of financial technology solutions that will eliminate the departmental silos slowing lenders down."

Cloud Lending will also work with Fujitsu Laboratories of America, which will contribute its "finance-related business knowledge and system-construction know-how." Fujitsu Laboratories of America will also help integrate the solution with existing systems.

In a press release Snehal Fulzele, CEO, Cloud Lending Solutions said, “Our partnership with Fujitsu will allow us to deliver advanced innovations in financial services to businesses in the Asian region including Japan.”

Fulzele debuted CL…

Read more →