CoverHound Completes $33 Million Series C

CoverHound Completes $33 Million Series C

Coverhound_homepage_Sep2015

Move over robo-advisers and alternative lenders, there’s a new destination for investment dollars in the fintech space.

Digital insurance-comparison and -shopping platform CoverHound announced today that it closed a $33.3 million Series C round. The investment takes the company’s total funding to more than $53 million, giving CoverHound a valuation of more than $100 million.

CoverHound_screen_FF2013_1The round was led by ACE Group and featured participation by existing investors, American Family Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Core Innovation Capital, Route 66 Ventures, and RRE Ventures.

CoverHound CEO Keith Moore emphasized his company’s commitment to the comparison-shopping model as the “fastest and smartest way” for consumers to buy property and casualty (P&C) insurance. The company plans to use the capital to invest in new talent, specifically in product management and engineering, as well as new products for SMEs and entrepreneurs. CoverHound also plans to emphasize adding insurance carriers to its platform and finding partnerships in new states.

2015 has been a banner year in funding for CoverHound. This spring, the company announced a successful $14 million Series B round that included news of its Google Compare partnership. CoverHound currently provides auto, homeowners, renters, and motorcycle insurance from more than 20 carriers including Progressive, Safeco, Travelers, and MetLife. The company says it has experienced new customer policy growth of more than 168% in 2015.

As part of the investment, James D. Robinson III, RRE Ventures’ co-founder and general partner, will join the CoverHound board. Robinson was CEO of American Express from 1977 to his retirement in 1993.

Founded in May 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, CoverHound demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2013 in New York.

FinovateFall 2015 in the Media

FinovateFall 2015 in the Media

PressRoomIMG

Although FinovateFall 2015 is over, it left behind plenty of new innovations, piles of fresh business cards, and a plethora of press coverage.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and especially those who spent long hours covering the event on their publication.

Below is the press coverage; if we’ve missed any, please send to [email protected].

———

American Banker
Can an App Fix Debt Collectors’ Image? This Startup Thinks So
by Mary Wisniewski
Link
Dominant Theme at Finovate: Authentication Needs Fixing
by Penny Crosman
Link

Bank Innovation
FinovateFall, Day One: All Aboard the Mobile Train
by Phillip Ryan
Link

FinovateFall, Day Two: Tackling the Identity Problem
by Phillip Ryan
Link

Why Marketplace Lending Is Set to Boom
by JJ Hornblass
Link

Barlow Research Associates
Innovations to Excite: Business Banking Customers Benefit
by Donna Arce
Link

Beyond the Arc blog
Innovation in Financial Services—FinovateFall 2015
by Stephen Ramirez
Link

Byte Academy
Finovate History—Behind One of The Largest FinTech Conferences
Link

The Latest Fintech Innovations for Millennials
By Millennial EH
Link

Celent blog
Mobile, onboarding among dominant themes at FinovateFall 2015
by Dan Latimore
Link

Why Banks Should Pay Attention to “Assistant as an App”
by Stephen Greer
Link

Centrumpr.pl
Finanteq z główną nagrodą na Finovate w Nowym Jorku (in Polish)
Link

CSTMR
FinovateFall 2015: Day 1, Recap + 5 Highlights (and some interesting tidbits)
by Rory Holland
Link

FinovateFall 2015: Day 2, Recap + 8 Winners
by Rory Holland
Link

FierceFinanceIT
Open APIs continue to gain steam
By Renee Caruthers
Link

The Financial Brand
Account Opening and Onboarding Solutions Dominate Finovate
by Jim Marous
Link

Finextra
Reflections on FinovateFall: Mobile, Money and Millennials
by Dan Glessner
Link

The Fintech Blog
Fintech’s Zeitgeist
by Michael Halloran
Link

Forbes
5 New Tech Tools to Save Money and Invest Better
Richard Eisenberg
Link

Do-It-Yourself Securitization of Marketplace Loans with Startup Ldger
by Amy Feldman
Link

SMB Cash Advance Firm MCC, Rebranded as Bizfi, Wants to Matchmake Small Businesses and Lenders
by Amy Feldman
Link

Javelin Strategy and Research blog
FinovateFall 2015 Prequel–A Smorgasbord of Fintech Snark
by Nick Holland
Link

Ldger blog
How We Prepared for our First Finovate
by Hyung Kim
Link

Le Temps
New York, nouveau pôle d’attraction pour la fintech (in French)
by Yves Hulmann
Link

Let’s Talk Payments
BIZFI launches API and White-label Solutions to Increase Small Business’s Access to Capital at Finovate New York
by LTP Team
Link

Members Development Company
MDC Attends Finovate
Link

Money Summit
FinovateFall 2015, Day One: Live Blog
by Jon Ogden
Link

Finovate Fall 2015, Day Two: Live Blog
by Jeff Meredith
Link

New York Business Journal
Horrible banking is reimagined by these 12 N.Y.C. Fintech startups
Link

Millennial banking startup and e-commerce innovator take top N.Y.C. Finovate honors
by Michael del Castillo
Link

Next Avenue
5 New Tech Tools to Save Money and Invest Better
by Richard Eisenberg
Link

NextFin
Fintech Autumn Tour: conferences, lectures and panel discussions on the state of things
by Hartmut Giesen
Link

The Paypers
Socure introduces facial authentication solution
Link

Xignite, 21 innovators to launch the #FintechRevolution API Ecosystem
Link

Pymnts.com
Are Sound Waves the Future of Mobile Payments?
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Recap: How Fintech Companies Pitch Innovation
Link

Making the Mobile Wallet the ‘Better Way’ to Pay
Link

Why Soundpays Says Sound Waves are the Way to Pay
Link

Quisk blog
Reflections on FinovateFall: Mobile, money and millennials
by Dan Glessner
Link

TechDay News
Finovate History—Behind One of the Largest FinTech Conferences
by Emily Hunt
Link

The Latest Fintech Innovations for Millennials
by Emily Hunt
Link

WealthManagement.com
Twenty-three Wealth Management Innovations at Finovate Fall 2015
by Ryan W. Neal
Link

TheWealthNet
First the robo-adviser, now comes the digital private bank (paywall)
Link

William Mills Blog
FinovateFall 2015 Day 1: Video Recap
by William Mills and Stephen Ramirez
Link

FinovateFall 2015: Final Recap
by William Mills and Stephen Ramirez
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Interview with Steven Ramirez and David Eads, CEO of Gro Solutions
by Stephen Ramirez
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Live Blog—Day 1
by William Mills, Stephen Ramirez, and K.T. Mills
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Live Blog—Day 2
by William Mills, Stephen Ramirez, and K.T. Mills
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Morning Video Recap Day 1
by William Mills and Stephen Ramirez
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Video Interview: William Mills and CCG Catalyst
by William Mills
Link

FinovateFall 2015 Video Preview
by William Mills
Link

WMA CEO William Mills Discusses FinovateFall 2015—Video Preview
by William Mills
Link

Yodlee Interactive blog
Amazing App: How HelloWallet Improves Financial Wellness
by Jenna Cheng
Link


FinovateFall 2015 is sponsored by The Bancorp, CapitalSource, Envestnet, Financial Technology Partners, Hudson Cook, KPMG, and Zions Bank.

FinovateFall 2015 is partnered with Aite Group, American Bankers Association, Bank Innovators Council, BankersHub, bobsguide, Breaking Banks, California Bankers Association,Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Celent, The Cointelegraph, CrowdFundBeat, ebanking news, HotWire, IDC Financial Insights, Javelin Strategy & Research, Let’s Talk Payments, Mapa Research, Mercator Advisory Group, Mergermarket, The New Economy, NYPAY, The PAYPERS, SME Finance Forum, and World Finance.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “CoverHound Completes $33 Million Series C”
  • “Trading Ticket Picks Up $4 Million in Seed Funding from Citi, Valar Ventures”

Around the web

  • Engage Financial Technology, formerly OnBudget, powers BBVA’s new ClearSpend mobile budgeting app.
  • Eastern Bank to pilot Stratos partner program.
  • PYMNTS considers BlueVine’s approach to factoring.
  • CellTrust named a finalist for Arizona Technology Council’s 2015 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Awards.
  • SecureKey brings its SecureKey Concierge authentication and ID verification service to the U.S.
  • Temenos executive James Redfern joins eWise as Global Head of Sales.
  • Geezeo unveils new API website with revised REST API and .NET SDK.
  • ShopKeep acquires Ambur, an mPOS software specialist.
  • TIO Networks forms TIO Telecom Solutions, a new division focused on the needs of network operators.
  • ThreatMetrix experiences 50% increase in mobile volume since Sep 2014.
  • Kanto X hits $2+ billion in currency-exchange transactions.
  • Check Point and AirWatch partner to secure the future of the mobile enterprise.
  • 7-Eleven and PayNearMe launch PayNearMe Bill Pay app, a full-service bill-payment center.

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.

FinDEVr Preview: Corezoid

FinDEVr Preview: Corezoid

FinDEVr2015LogoV2DateFinDEVr Previews highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms and integrations at the second annual FinDEVr, 6/7 October.

Corezoid.com is a cloud operating system that allows companies to build a digital core.
Corezoid

Why it’s a must-see
Corezoid is a platform for building agile processes that are triggered by real-time events. Corezoid is a PaaS tool for creating IT solutions with the use of automata-based programming with explicit state selection. Corezoid is now available for global access on the Amazon Marketplace. Developers from all over the world can create their own digital core.


Check out more of today’s Previews:

FinDEVr Preview: Enterprise Engineering Inc.

FinDEVr Preview: Enterprise Engineering Inc.

FinDEVr2015LogoV2DateFinDEVr Previews highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms & integrations at the second annual FinDEVr, 6/7 October.

Enterprise Engineering Inc. (EEI) will be presenting its Trusted Network Platform, an advanced data-aggregation and -management software, consisting of both a core engine and an API. This technology drives innovation across industries enabling clients to offer leading products and services to the market, as well as gain insight from the information that is available.

EEIHomepage

Why it’s a must-see
Experience a unique, trusted data-aggregation platform that powers the client experience and digital intelligence for the top-tier financial firms. The Trusted Network flexibly addresses multichannel, multiprotocol requirements for all financial solutions. Watch as they access this real-time data via direct connect and other traditional channels.


Check out more of today’s Previews:

FinDEVr Preview: Aerospike

FinDEVr Preview: Aerospike

FinDEVr2015LogoV2DateFinDEVr Previews highlight companies presenting new developer tools, platforms & integrations at the second annual FinDEVr on 6/7 Oct.

Aerospike will present examples of projects that are best served by their decision-engine, which is a NoSQL approach. Aerospike will highlight common data-modeling pitfalls, plusses and minuses of different NoSQL solutions, and examples of hardware deployment and costs.

 

AeroSpikeHomepage
Why it’s a must-see:
Learn how internet companies—adtech, retail, and social—have built real-time decision and pricing systems based on stateless compute-nodes and a fast, scalable NoSQL data-layer. The new stack will provide access to more data (petabytes) and supports agile, innovative algorithms and libraries that allow fintech companies to build offerings.


Check out more of today’s Previews:

Fintech Fundings: 24 Companies Raise $560 Million Week Ending 18 Sep 2015

Fintech Fundings: 24 Companies Raise $560 Million Week Ending 18 Sep 2015

39872916_sThe money-flow into fintech continued unabated this week with more than a half-billion ($557 million) raised by 24 companies. It was the eighth week this year that total fundings surpassed the $500-million mark. Year-to-date fintech firms have raised $13 billion.

The total included one new alum, Praesidio, which will be presenting its security and fraud-control integrations at next month’s FinDEVr. The Seattle-based startup raised $3 million to bring its total funding to $5.3 million. Also, long-time alum Alkami Technology picked up $11 million on Friday to further their e-banking solutions business.

Here are the fundings by size from 12 Sep to 18 Sep 2015:

AvidXchange
Automated billpay and accounts-payables solutions
HQ: Charlotte, North Carolina
Latest round: $225 million Series E
Total raised: $225+ million
Tags: Bill payment, accounting, SMB, payments, billing
Source: Crunchbase

Clover Health
Health insurance targeting seniors
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $100 million
Total raised: $100 million
Tags: Consumer, health insurance, seniors
Source: Crunchbase

LightSpeed
Point-of-sale system
HQ: Montreal, Canada
Latest round: $61 million
Total raised: $126 million
Tags: SMB, payments, POS, acquiring, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

Compass
Real estate marketplace
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $50 million
Total raised: $123 million
Tags: Consumer, home buying, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Oscar
Health insurance
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $32.5 million
Total raised: $327.5 million
Tags: Consumer, health insurance, SMB, Google (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

Aspiration
Online investment platform
HQ: Marina Del Rey, California
Latest round: $15.5 million
Total raised: $20 million
Tags: Consumer, investing, socially conscious, low-fee, wealth management
Source: FT Partners

Lumity
Health insurance selection for enterprises
HQ: San Mateo, California
Latest round: $14 million
Total raised: $14 million
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, insurance, benefits, human resources, HR
Source: Crunchbase

Fundera
Small-business loan marketplace
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $11.5 million Series B
Total raised: $14.9 million
Tags: SMB, lending, commercial loans, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Alkami Technology
Digital banking solutions
HQ: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Latest round: $11 million
Total raised: $54 million
Tags: Online banking, mobile, Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

Compte Nickel
French neo-bank
HQ: France
Latest round: $11.5 million
Total raised: $11.5 million
Tags: Consumer, debit card, banking, transaction account
Source: FT Partners

MarketInvoice
Receivables financing marketplace lender
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Latest round: $7.7 million
Total raised: $28.1 million
Tags: SMB, lending, underwriting, P2P, peer-to-peer, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Mighty
Financing to plaintiffs awaiting legal settlments
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $5.3 million Series A
Total raised: $5.3 million
Tags: Consumer, legal, lending, loans, credit
Source: Crunchbase

Auger
Open-source predictions marketplace
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $4.7 million
Total raised: $4.7 million
Tags: Cryptocurrency, blockchain, Ethereum, security, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Satispay
Mobile payments
HQ: Milan, Italy
Latest round: $3.5 million
Total raised: $11.2 million
Tags: Consumer, payments, mobile, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Praesidio
Cloud-based security for financial institutions
HQ: Seattle, Washington
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $5.3 million
Tags: Enterprise, security, fraud, risk management, FinDevR 2015 presenter
Source: Crunchbase

CompareIt4Me
Financial services comparison site
HQ: Dubai
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3.3 million
Tags: Consumer, personal finance, price comparison, lead generation
Source: Crunchbase

PeerIQ
Risk management for P2P lending
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $8.5 million
Tags: Enterprise, lending, credit, underwriting, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

AlphaClone
Stock trading strategies
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $2.3 million Series A
Total raised: $4.6 million
Tags: Consumer, advisers, investing, trading, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

Bux
Simple mobile-trading app
HQ: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Latest round: $1.9 million
Total raised: $3.8 million
Tags: Consumer, trading, mobile, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Advizr
Financial planning software
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $1.7 million Seed
Total raised: $1.7 million
Tags: Advisers, wealth management, personal financial management
Source: Crunchbase

Besepa
Direct debit management services
HQ: Madrid, Spain
Latest round: $200,000
Total raised: $300,000
Tags: Payments, billpay, SMB, accounts receivables, invoicing, billing
Source: Crunchbase

EquityZen
Secondary market for private equity
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, private companies, trading, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Mubble
Automatic bill payment for prepaid cards
HQ: Bangalore, India
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Consumer, prepaid, debit cards, payments, billpay
Source: Crunchbase

RateGator
Mortgage marketplace
HQ: Saratoga Springs, New York
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Consumer, lead gen, lending, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

—–

Graphic image licensed from 123rf.com

Coinalytics Earns $1 Million in Seed Funding from The Hive

Coinalytics Earns $1 Million in Seed Funding from The Hive

Coinalytics_homepage_Sep2015

Feeling sour on cybercurrencies? Coinalytics now has one million more reasons why you should be a blockchain—if not Bitcoin—believer.

The Palo Alto-based blockchain-analytics specialist has raised $1.1 million in seed funding from The Hive. The Hive is an incubator that specializes in working with companies that develop technologies for “data-intensive enterprises.” And these days, when you hear “data-intensive,” think blockchain. According to Fabio Federici, Coinalytics CEO, technologies like those built by his company will play a major role in “break(ing) down a significant barrier for mainstream adoption of the blockchain.”

Coinalytics has developed a platform that helps businesses gain valuable intelligence, analytics, and risk assessment from the blockchain. The platform relies on advanced machine learning, pattern recognition, and distributed systems, providing businesses in industries ranging from online payments to financial services with real-time transaction information that is both secure and private.

The investment takes the company’s total capital to $1.3 million raised in three rounds.

While blockchain is synonymous with Bitcoin for many, Federici pointed out that the virtues of the blockchain extend beyond Bitcoin, potentially to any instance where value is exchanged, including not only financial services, but also supply-chain management and the internet of things.

FinDEVr2015LogoV2DateFounded in 2014, Coinalytics will use the new capital to drive growth, including building out technology and sales teams. Coinalytics will make its FinDEVr debut next month in San Francisco.

FinovateFall 2015: A Week in Tweets

TwitterLogo_blue_newAfter every Finovate, it’s always fun to re-visit the event through the insight and wit of our community of passionate fintech professionals on Twitter. And FinovateFall 2015 is no different.

Surprise and excite our savvy family of more than 23,000 followers on Twitter with your demo, and the accolades will come early and often. On the other hand, woe unto the unfortunate presenter who fails to grab the audience’s attention within the first 60 to 90 seconds.

Fair, but firm. Tough, but tolerant of the occasional gaffe or mid-demo technology hiccup. Often irreverent, but always ready to give a tip of the hat to true innovation, that’s our crowd. And the truth is, our Finovate conferences just wouldn’t be the same without ’em.

So let’s take a look at some of the more creative, colorful, and consequential tweets of the FinovateFall 2015 week that was. And be sure to make us a part of your Twitter community by following us @finovate.


Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • edo Interactive brings its card-linking technology to the Rewards Network.
  • ZenPayroll changes its name to “Gusto,” adds health care and worker’s compensation to its services.
  • Boku partners with Japan’s Ueshima Coffee Company to allow customers to top up coffee cards using their mobile phones.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions receives approval from its issuing bank and MasterCard to offer Select Mobile Money for corporate clients.
  • KPMG and Matchi form alliance to enhance access to financial innovation.
  • Radius Bank partners with Prosper to direct customers interested in personal loans to the marketplace lender and receive referral fees.
  • Eastern Bank to pilot Stratos partner program.
  • Handpoint receives undisclosed investment from Icelandic VCs Eyrir Sprotar and Frumtak to fuel U.S. expansion.
  • WePay launches ACH-transfer capability to expand its payment-type platforms offered to customers.

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “FinovateFall 2015 Best of Show Winners announced

Around the web

  • OnDeck and Intuit join forces to launch $100 million lending-fund for small businesses. See Intuit at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco in October.
  • The Appzillon Banking Solution from i-exceed technologies earns deployment at two banks in India.
  • Azimo and TransferTo team up to provide mobile top-up services in more than 100 countries.

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.

FinovateFall 2015 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateFall 2015 Best of Show Winners Announced

BoS_TrophiesShot_FF2015

The Best of Show votes for FinovateFall 2015 have been cast and counted! After two days and 70 live demos of the latest in fintech innovation, our attendees made their opinions known as to which companies earned “Best of Show” (see footnotes for voting methodology).

This year at FinovateFall, it was the debuting companies that made some of the biggest impressions on our record-setting Finovate audience. Of the eight companies to take home “Best of Show” honors, five of them were making their very first appearance on the Finovate stage.

So with a hearty “Congratulations!” let’s meet the Best of Show winners of FinovateFall 2015 (in alphabetic order):

BlockstackioLogoBlockstack.io for its technology that enables financial services and other enterprises to set up and build applications on a private, hosted blockchain.

 

dymeDyme for its innovative method for helping people start a savings habit and fund their life using text messaging.

DynamicsLogoDynamics for its fully programmable interfaces—stripe, EMV, NFC—for use in next-generation payment cards.

 

FINANTEQLogoFinanteq for its SuperWallet that helps banks take full advantage of their potential by integrating m-commerce and remote services with mobile banking.

HedgeableLogoHedgeable for its private banking platform for millennials.

 

HelloWalletLogoHelloWallet for its Retirement Explorer solution, an approachable and actionable online planning tool that helps employees model and work toward specific retirement outcomes.

SaleMoveSaleMove for its Engagement Platform and OmniCall technologies that enable online consumers to engage live with businesses as if they were face-to-face.

Soundpays_logo_FF2015Soundpays for its patent-pending technology that allows the app to recognize ultrasonic and sonic waveforms even in extremely noisy environments.

We had a great time at FinovateFall 2015 and hope you enjoyed the show, as well. Thanks, as always, to everyone who attended, sponsored, partnered with and demonstrated their latest technologies at FinovateFall 2015. We’ll see you next year!


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 eight companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballot 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.