Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avoka, Gold Bullion International, Guide Financial, Jack Henry, Kantox, Lending Club, Misys, PayPal, Ripple, Silanis Technology, Taulia, True Potential

On Finovate.com

  • Kantox Picks Up $11 Million in Series B, Doubling Total Capital
  • Guide Financial Acquired by John Hancock Financial

Around the Web

  • Misys unveils its in-memory analytics engine, FusionBanking Insight.
  • True Potential launches its Apple Watch app.
  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia begins testing Ripple as intra-bank transfer solution.
  • Michigan-based Isabella Bank to deploy workflow suite from Jack Henry & Associates.
  • Lending Club CEO talks about the brand-building benefits of going public.
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory partners with eSignLive from Silanis Technology for end-to-end digital e-contracting.
  • Bankless Times features Avoka and its friction-minimizing, customer-onboarding technology.
  • PayPal to provide Touch ID support for its iOS app.
  • Gold Bullion International announces expansion into Asia.
  • eBay partners with Taulia to launch Preferred Supplier Program.

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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Finovate Debuts: SayPay Combines Voice Recognition and Biometric Authentication

Finovate Debuts: SayPay Combines Voice Recognition and Biometric Authentication
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015, SayPay

SayPayHomepage

SayPay Technologies uses biometric authentication to give users an easy way to pay bills, check out online, and log into their online banking website.

Statistics:

  • Headquartered in Pleasanton, California
  • Founded in February 2014
  • Millions of production users in 40+ countries
  • Functions in English, Spanish, and Mandarin

At FinovateSpring 2015, the Pleasanton, Calif.-based startup announced a partnership with VoiceVault to leverage the biometric company’s ViGo product for voice authentication.

SteveDemoingSayPay
SayPay Technologies founder Steve Hoffman gave a personal demo of SayPay at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose

How it works
SayPay offers voice-based authentication for three main use-cases: bill pay, e-commerce checkout, and online banking login. For all use cases, SayPay identifies the user’s phone, authenticates their voice, and provides authorization for the interaction.

SayPay authentication works on more mobile devices than a fingerprint, which requires the user to have a fingerprint scanner on their device.

Use cases

1) Bill pay

After financial institutions integrate SayPay’s white-labeled API into their mobile banking app, clients receive push notifications on their phone to alert them when a bill is due.

Upon opening the push notification, the user views the bill within the bank’s app. At that point, they either set a reminder, pay the bill, or schedule a payment.

When ready to pay the bill, the customer is shown an 8-digit numerical code, unique for each transaction, and which expires if not used. After the client speaks the code, SayPay verifies the code and simultaneously authenticates the voice.

SayPayBillerMobile

To finalize and schedule the payment, the user selects Confirm and views the receipt. The simple user experience improves cash flow for billers because they receive payment more quickly.

2) E-commerce checkout authentication
Just like SayPay for bill pay, the e-commerce checkout technology authenticates users by sending them a unique code for each transaction, then has them voice the code into their phone.

When shopping at an online merchant that uses SayPay, the customer enters their phone number or SayPay ID into the SayPay option, then selects Request Code.

SayPayCheckoutIMGBasket

There is no password needed to complete the transaction. The customer simply speaks the one-time code they were presented with on the checkout screen, selects Confirm Purchase, and the transaction is complete.

SayPayCheckoutMobile

According to Steve Hoffman, SayPay CEO, 64% of all online-initiated checkouts end in abandonment. SayPay reduces this statistic by eliminating data entry, thereby streamlining/hastening the process, especially important for mobile consumers.

3) Online banking login
Financial institutions can use SayPay across the enterprise: from ACH and P2P payments, to online login and step-up authentication, and bill pay.

SayPayAccountLogin

Using SayPay as an online banking-login solution, banks offer an improved customer experience with enhanced security.

In lieu of entering traditional online banking log-in credentials, a user simply enters his or her SayPay ID and reads out loud the 8-digit code shown on the mobile device. Once authenticated, SayPay logs the user into the online bank account.

SayPayLogin

 

Security
Because SayPay relies on biometrics, it has inherent three-factor authentication. The three factors include the user’s phone, the SayPay code, and the user’s voice. The startup uses 256-bit encryption and never stores personal information on the user’s device.

Additionally, e-commerce and online banking login interactions are out-of-band when customers use SayPay on their laptop.

International Growth
SayPay sees opportunity in the Asia Pacific market, specifically Hong Kong, and is considering international expansion in that direction.

Expansion into more biometrics
As the quality of voice biometrics technology continues to improve, SayPay expects other biometrics to follow the same quality growth curve. For this reason, it hopes to adopt new biometric solutions as they become mainstream. While SayPay has launched with the VoiceVault partnership, it hopes to license its technology to other biometric service providers to plug in other biometric solutions.

Farther in the future, the company plans to expand by offering its API to vendors in different verticals such as healthcare. It also plans to move into wearables, once adoption picks up.

SayPay launched its bill pay and web sign-in offerings at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

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Unnamed “Leading Global Engineering Firm” Commits More than $1 Million in Kofax Solutions

Unnamed “Leading Global Engineering Firm” Commits More than $1 Million in Kofax Solutions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kofax

Kofax_homepage_May2015

Newly acquired image-processing specialist Kofax has a million-dollar secret admirer.

The company this spring agreed to be purchased by printing giant Lexmark for $1 billion and today announced it had picked up more than $1.2 million from a “global engineering, architecture, and environmental firm.” The revenue is tied to licensing of two Kofax solutions: Total Agility and MarkView that the unnamed firm will use to “streamline operations, automate manual processes” and cut costs. The order also comes within days of Kofax’s acquisition officially closing on 21 May.

Onboarding employees is one of the ways Kofax anticipates the investing firm will use the technology, says Howard Dratler, EVP of field operations for Kofax. Drawler says “accelerating this process” can be key to helping companies grow faster and “gain a competitive advantage.”

Total Agility is a smart process application development and deployment platform. The technology connects systems of record (ERP and ECM) with systems of engagement to provide multichannel capture, dynamic case management, business intelligence, analytics, and more. With MarkView, institutions can better enforce corporate policies and procedures by embedding best practices workflows into key business operations such as accounts payable.

An innovator in the field of smart process applications (SPA), Kofax develops technologies that help institutions move away from expensive, error-prone manual processes toward automated, digital, business operations. The goal is to make it easier for institutions and corporations to more effectively engage customers, employees, and the public at large. With more than 1,400 employees and more than 20,000 customers, Kofax has a global network of more than 800 partners in more than 75 countries around the world.

Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Kofax is a six-time Finovate alum. The company most recently demonstrated its mobile capture platform for onboarding at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bitbond, Coinbase, DarcMatter, EZBOB, Identity Theft 911, Jemstep, Kabbage, Lending Club, Lendio, Mitek, Oink, On Deck Capital, P2BInvestor, Prosper, Quisk, SayPay, Silanis Technology, SocietyOne, Toshl, TradeHero, TransferWise, TrueAccord, Wealthfront

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: SayPay Combines Voice Recognition and Biometric Authentication

Around the web

  • ColoradoBiz talks with Entrepreneur of the Year finalist: Krista Morgan, CEO and co-founder of P2Binvestor.
  • TechCrunch column on bitcoin and the remittance market references Coinbase and TransferWise.
  • PYMNTS.com highlights OnDeck, Lending Club, and Prosper in its look at the changing relationship between banks and alternative lenders.
  • Business Insider: SocietyOne thinks Australia is big enough for a bunch of small players.
  • TradeHero parent partners with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to launch the SGX StockWhiz 2015 contest.
  • Bitbond, Wealthfront, and TrueAccord listed among six rising fintech startups.
  • Lendio-powered Staples business loans surpasses $1 million in funding for 43 SMBs across the U.S.
  • Quisk short-listed for Red Herring’s Top 100 North America award.
  • Fox Financial Planning Network picks Jemstep’s Advisor Pro as automated investment service platform for its AdvisorTouch Symphony program.
  • The Hanover Insurance Group teams up with Identity Theft 911 to provide businesses with better defense against data breaches.
  • FearlessMen.com reviews small business lender, EZBOB.
  • etcAndroid spotlights Toshl Finance Budget and Expense app 1.7.21.
  • FundSERV to integrate e-SignLive from Silanis into its eDOCS solution.
  • Mitek to acquire IDchecker, a global identity verification solutions provider.
  • Oink featured in USA Today’s list of five financial musts for college grads.
  • Accredited Investor Markets interviews DarcMatter CEO Sang Lee.
  • Kabbage partners with Sage payment solutions to launch Sage small business loan powered by Kabbage.

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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Feature Friday: Free Financial Consults for BankMobile VIPs

Feature Friday: Free Financial Consults for BankMobile VIPs
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Premium-level Products, Service

bankmobile_watchYou can’t imagine how many times I’ve gone to Google looking for results to “bank + VIP” and similar searches. The bifurcation of digital banking into a free standard service and a fee-based gold version has been one of my longest-standing, and so far, lousiest predictions (for example, my 2006 rant). So I was pretty intrigued when I saw the email pitch from BankMobile’s PR folks about its new VIP offering (press release).

The digital-bank division of Pennsylvania-based Customers Bank (powered by Finovate alum, Malauzai), which has grabbed 3,000 accounts in its first four months, added two perks to anyone who drops $1,500 or more into their checking account each month:

  1. ATM rebates: Unlimited reimbursement for use of any of 400,000 U.S. ATMs
  2. Free Financial Coach: Unlimited consults with a financial adviser

The ATM rebate is pretty standard and makes sense for a digital-only player. But the unlimited free financial coaching is a unique feature I’ve not seen before.

On the surface, it’s an awesome benefit. Who doesn’t want the ability to check in with “a person with a wealth of knowledge and tools to help you reach your financial goals”? But, it’s going to take some effort to convince BankMobile’s young customer base to trust these advisers. I am hopeful the bank will get those folks blogging, tweeting, facebooking, instagramming and just generally answering customer questions in public to build credibility.

Final thoughts: I think BankMobile is on to something here: recognizing loyal direct-deposit users with additional benefits. But I also think the bank should add a monthly or annual fee for the VIP option. Like many card programs, the fee can (should?) be waived the first year (or more). The fee would give the account more credibility, more perceived value and eventually measurable revenue that can be plowed back into more value-adds.

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DRAFT, Fidor US, Roostify to Present Solutions at Yodlee Ynext Incubator

DRAFT, Fidor US, Roostify to Present Solutions at Yodlee Ynext Incubator
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: DRAFT, Fidor Bank, Roostify

Yodlee_Interactive_homepage_May2015

Out of the eight fintech startups slated to demonstrate their technologies at Yodlee’s Ynext Incubator Demo Day next week, three are Finovate alums.

DRAFT, Fidor US, and Roostify will join five other fintech colleagues at the Ynext Demo Day event on 27 May 2015 at the JCC in Palo Alto, California. As part of their participation in the program, each company gained free access to Yodlee Interactive’s API interfaces for a year, as well as six months’ worth of mentoring, support, and guidance in areas like capital-raising and product development.

DRAFT made its Finovate debut earlier this month at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose. The company’s mobile investment-analysis technology is targeted toward mass affluent millennials, and leverages crowdsourced data to help them make better financial and investment decisions.

Roostify demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2014. The company’s solution helps lenders process loans faster while reducing risk and “demystifying” the home mortgage process for buyers.

Fidor US is a branch of the innovative, tech-savvy German bank, Fidor Bank, and represents the company’s strategy to bring its “branchless banking platform” to the United States. Fidor Bank demoed at FinovateEurope 2011 in London.

Yodlee is a long-time Finovate and FinDEVr alum, and multiple Best of Show award-winner. The company’s last appearance on stage was at FinovateSpring 2015.

Also participating in Demo Day are Accredify, Evolved Bookkeping, OCX, Telito, and VOATZ.

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$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015

$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, AdviceGames, Aire, App Annie, Ayasdi, Betterment, Bill.com, BlueVine, Bolstr, Coinbase, CoverHound, Finsphere, Funding, Fundings, Global Debt Registry, Kofax, LendingRobot, Lendio, Linkable Networks, Micronotes, Motif Investing, peerTransfer, Pindrop Security, Q2, Ripple, SimplyTapp, Spreedly, Taulia, TransferWise, TrueLink Financial, Xero

cartoonmoneystackThe biggest surprise in our look at first-quarter funding is that the $677 million amassed by 29 Finovate alums was more than 20% of the $3.2 billion invested in the entire worldwide fintech sector.

The $677 million raised was $85 million (+14%) above the same quarter a year ago, and more than triple the first quarter of 2013.

Q1 2015 was also $133 million above the $544 million mark set in the fourth quarter of 2014.

It will be worth watching to see if this record-setting first quarter for Finovate alum fundraising will be a sign of more great things to come for capital-raising in 2015.

Top 10 Overall Investments

  1. Xero: $111 million in February
  2. Coinbase: $75 million in January
  3. Betterment: $60 million in February
  4. TransferWise: $58 million in January
  5. App Annie: $55 million in January
  6. Ayasdi: $55 million in March
  7. Motif Investing: $40 million in January
  8. Ripple Labs: $30 million in January
  9. Bill.com: $50 million in February
  10. Pindrop Security: $35 in February

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q1 2015: More than $676 million raised by 29 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $544 million raised by 25 alums
  • Q1 2014: More than $600 million raised by 8 alums
  • Q1 2013: More than $155 million raised by 14 alums

January: More than $275 million raised by 14 alums

February: More than $264 million raised by 8 alums

March: More than $136 million raised by 7 alums

If you are an alum that raised money in the first quarter of 2015, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Avoka, BancVue, CashStar, DRAFT, EyeVerify, Fidor Bank, Fuze Network, ID.me, Jwaala, Klarna, Larky, MiiCard, Motif Investing, P2BInvestor, Patch of Land, Prosper, Ripple, Roostify, SocietyOne, Trizic, WattzOn

On Finovate.com

  • DRAFT, Fidor US, Roostify to Present Solutions at Yodlee Ynext Incubator
  • $680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015

Around the web

  • BizJournals lists BancVue as one of Austin’s Best Places to Work in 2015.
  • American Banker interviews James Varga, CEO of miiCard, on sharing identity information.
  • Motif adds new trading alerts.
  • P2Binvestor selected as new network company by Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado (BENCO).
  • MaineBiz takes a look at CashStar and its new offices in downtown Portland.
  • Mountain America rolls out its new biometrics login technology courtesy of EyeVerify.
  • Fuze Networks acquires LiveMinutes’ online workspace platform.
  • Jwaalla celebrates signing its 100th credit union client, Palisades FCU.
  • Business Insider looks at how Klarna and its one-click payment technology could help save the newspaper business.
  • Reid Hislop tapped as new chief marketing officer at Avoka.
  • Inc. Magazine features ID.me CEO Blake Hall in a column on veteran entrepreneurs.
  • Equities.com talks crowdfunding and real estate with Jason Fritton, Patch of Land CEO.
  • Financial News interviews Ripple CEO, Chris Larsen on the future of the financial infrastructure.
  • SocietyOne has originated more than $30 million on its platform since launching in 2011.
  • Prosper announces record first quarter, with $595 million in loans through the platform, up 200% from Q1 2014.
  • WattzOn to help Montana residents save on energy expenses via the Bozeman Energy Smackdown.
  • Larky selected by the Kentucky Bankers Association to provide mobile local rewards program for member banks.

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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Aaaand, Action! FinovateSpring 2015 Videos Now Available

Aaaand, Action! FinovateSpring 2015 Videos Now Available
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2015

FS15Balcony

FinovateTheatreIf you live in the U.S., you may be looking forward to spending your long Memorial Day weekend catching up on Finovate demo videos in your backyard theatre.

No? Well, even if you don’t have a backyard theatre, this weekend is the perfect time to watch some live demo videos from FinovateSpring 2015, which was held in San Jose, Calif., last week.

As of today, all 71 demo videos are now added to the Finovate archives. If you weren’t able to attend last week’s event in San Jose, it’s a good time to see what you missed.

For a solid start, we’ve linked the videos of our seven Best of Show winners:

Alpha Payments Cloud

AlphaPaymentsCloudVideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avoka

AvokavideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money Amigo

MoneyAmigoVideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moven

MovenVideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAMU Systems

NamuvideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoeboxed

ShoeboxedvideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stratos

StratosvideoIMG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again to all the companies that delighted our audience on the Finovate stage, sat with the audience, or sauntered around the networking hall. We couldn’t do this without all of you and we’re looking forward to FinovateSpring 2016!

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Edo Interactive Completes $20 Million Series E Round; Names Badran CEO

Edo Interactive Completes $20 Million Series E Round; Names Badran CEO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: edo Interactive

edointeractive_homepage_May2015

In a round led by Baird Capital, VantagePoint Capital Partners, and Nashville, Tennessee-area investors, edo Interactive has raised $20 million in new funding. The Series E round takes the company’s total capital to more than $93 million.

In addition to the funding, edo Interactive announced a new president and CEO. Souheil Badran will take the helm from Ed Braswell, who founded the company in 2007; Badran remains with edo Interactive as executive vice chairman.

The new funding will be used to speed up development of edo Interactive’ s technology and products, expand sales and marketing, and explore business development and strategic partnerships, such as with Visa Europe, announced October 2014.

Badran previously worked as senior vice president and general manager for World Payments, and SMB of commerce for Digital River. He also served as SVP and general manager at First Data Corporation, VP and GM at VeriSign, and director of commercial banking at Digital Insight. Braswell pointed to this experience in welcoming Badran to the company he founded: ” Souheil has successfully developed global payment solutions and built businesses in the payments and commerce space,” Braswell said. “This expertise, combined with a proven track record of increasing revenues and profits, makes him an ideal match for edo.”

edo Interactive specializes in helping merchants provide personalized offers that are readily available via credit, debit, or mobile device. The company’s card-linked offers platform gives merchants insight into customer behavior and helps make future offers and rewards ever more in line with shopping habits. Edo has more than 200 banks enrolled on its platform, with a total cardholder reach of more than 200 million customers. The company’s more than 500 merchant partners include Whole Foods Market, Crate & Barrel, and The Body Shop.

edo Interactive last appeared on the Finovate stage as part of FinovateSpring 2012 in San Francisco. The company demonstrated its GeoCommerce Offers technology that enables a purchase at one merchant to trigger an offer or reward at another nearby merchant in real-time.

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Fintech Fundings: 25 Companies Raise $450 Million Week Ending May 22

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

This money_treeweek, 25 companies raised $447 million ($362 million equity; $85 million debt). That’s the highest weekly number of companies funded since we began tracking in August 2014. It was a broad mix of sub-sectors, from crypto (Ripple) to alt-lending (Argon, eProdigy, Bitbond), payments (Wepay, Face++), fraud protection (Feedzai), personal finance tools (Credit Sesame, Planwise) and more.

The nearly half-billion this week brings the May total to $1.6 billion. And so far this year, more than $7 billion has been invested in the fintech sector. You can see the weekly reports here.

It was also a record week for Finovate alumni fundings with 9 companies raising $161 million (look further down the page for full details):

  • WePay $40 million
  • Actiance $28 million
  • Ripple $28 million
  • EDO Interactive $20 million
  • Feedzai $17.5 million
  • Credit Sesame $16 million
  • PayItSimple $10 million (line of credit)
  • Planwise $750,000
  • Bitbond $670,000

eProdigy Finance
Tools and programs for alt-lending to businesses
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $100 million Private Equity
Total raised: $100 million
Tags: Lending, credit, underwriting, SMB
Source: Crunchbase

Argon Credit
Online consumer alt-credit
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Latest round: $75 million debt
Total raised: $85.1 million ($5.1 million equity; $80 million debt)
Tags: Credit, underwriting, consumer, P2P, peer-to-peer, marketplace lending, personal loans
Source: Crunchbase

WePay
Payment services for online marketplaces
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Latest round: $40 million Series D
Total raised: $74.2 million
Tags: Payments, platforms, SMB, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Actiance
Enterprise communications platform
HQ: Redwood City, California
Latest round: $28 million
Total raised: $43.6 million
Tags: Analytics, enterprise, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Ripple Labs
Open source payment network
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $28 million
Total raised: $37 million
Tags: Cryptocurrency, virtual currency, currency exchange, Open Coin, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Face++
Payments via facial recognition
HQ: Bejing, China
Latest round: $25 million
Total raised: $47 million
Tags: Mobile payments, security, biometrics, Alibaba (customer)
Source: NFC World

EDO Interactive
Card-linked rewards and offers
HQ: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest round: $20 million
Total raised: $93.5 million
Tags: Merchant-funded rewards, debit cards, credit cards, advertising, Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

Feedzai
Fraud-protection solutions for the enterprise
HQ: San Mateo, California
Latest round: $17.5 million Series B
Total raised: $22 million
Tags: Security, fraud protection, big data, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Credit Sesame
Credit reports and debt management
HQ: Mountain View, California
Latest round: $16 million Series D
Total raised: $35.4 million
Tags: Credit, credit scores, debt management, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Stride Health
Health insurance selection
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $13 million Series A
Total raised: $15.4 million
Tags: Insurance, lead gen, cost comparison, marketplace
Source: Crunchbase

Justworks
Payroll and benefits platform
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $13 million
Total raised: $20 million
Tags: Payments, SMB, enterprise, HR, payroll
Source: FT Partners

PayItSimple
Financing at the point-of-sale
HQ: Herzliya, Israel
Latest round: $10 million Debt
Total raised:$10+ million
Tags: Credit, underwriting, POS, merchants, SMB, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Stox
Financial data for consumers
HQ: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Latest round: $8 million Series A
Total raised: $8 million
Tags: Investing, analytics, data
Source: Crunchbase

Palico
Online network for private equity community
HQ: New York City, New York
Latest round: $7.3 million
Total raised: $7.3 million
Tags: Investing, social network, private equity, institutional investors
Source: Crunchbase

YCharts
Investment analytics
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Latest round: $6 million
Total raised: $14.7 million
Tags: Investing, data analytics, charting
Source: Crunchbase

Zeek
Giftcard and retail voucher marketplace
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Latest round: $3 million Series A
Total raised: $3 million
Tags: Prepaid cards, gift cards
Source: Crunchbase

digitalBTC
Virtual currency
HQ: Bentley, Australia
Latest round: $2.8 million
Total raised: $2.8 million
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency
Source: Crunchbase

Funding Options
Financing search & matching service for businesses
HQ: London, United Kingdom
Latest round: $1.9 million ($6.5 million valuation)
Total raised: $1.9 million
Tags: lending, lead gen, SMB
Source: FT Partners

Planwise
Home buying tools
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: $750,000
Total raised: $1.6 million
Tags: Mortgage, real estate, debt management, refi, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Bitbond
Bitcoin-denominated P2P lending
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Latest round: $670,000
Total raised: $900,000
Tags: P2p, peer-to-peer lending, underwriting, Bitcoin, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Magick
Online financial and FX trading
HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark
Latest round: $300,000
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Trading, investing, FX, currency trading
Source: FT Partners

Public Fund Investing Tracking & Reporting (PFITR, LLC)
Public fund accounting and analytics
HQ: St. Louis, Missouri
Latest round: $50,000
Total raised: $800,000
Tags: Accounting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Oradian
Microfinance solutions provider
HQ: Zagreb, Croatia
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: P2P, underbanked, financial inclusion
Source: FT Partners

Pro Securities LLC (no website)
Alt-stock exchange
Old Bridge, New Jersey
Latest round: Undisclosed sale of 25% of company to Overstock
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Investing, trading, Overstock (investor)
Source: FT Partners

Tilt (formerly CrowdTilt)
Money collection and management for groups
HQ: San Francisco, California
Latest round: Undisclosed at $400 million valuation
Total raised: $37+ million
Tags: Crowdfunding, social money management, P2P, peer-to-peer
Source: FT Partners

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FreeAgent to Crowdfund $1.6 Million Funding Round

FreeAgent to Crowdfund $1.6 Million Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FreeAgent

FreeAgentHomepage

FreeAgent, a cloud accounting provider with a mission to democratize accounting for U.K.-based microbusinesses and freelancers, today announced its plan to crowdfund its next funding round. The company has listed its $1.6 million (£1 million) goal with crowdfunding platform, Seedrs, and is offering 3.21% equity in exchange.

FreeAgentSeedrs2

The news broke this morning in London, and 82 investors have already contributed 36% of FreeAgent’s goal amount (as of 7:19 p.m. GMT). The company has 60 days to raise the remaining funds.

If investors contribute the remaining 64% (approximately $1 million) within 60 days, FreeAgent will use the funds to accelerate product development and acquire more micro-business and freelance customers. The company raised $5 million in debt financing in April and is currently valued at $47 million (£30 million).

Opting out of a traditional venture capital round, the Edinburgh-based company crowdsourced the funding to enable its 40,000 customers to invest, and to potentially attract more small business owners and accountants. Investors can take a stake in FreeAgent from as little as $16 (£10) per share.

FreeAgent co-founder/CEO Ed Molyneux says “who [is] better to help us achieve our vision of ‘democratizing accounting’ than our customers? We chose crowdfunding because we want to make it straightforward for them—as well as other small business owners—to invest in FreeAgent.”

FreeAgent debuted its financial health insights at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

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