TradeHero Launches in China on iOS and Android

TradeHero Launches in China on iOS and Android

TradeHeroLogoSm.jpg

Just in time for the IPO of Chinese commerce giant, Alibaba, TradeHero has announced that its virtual stock market platform is now available for Chinese traders and investors, whether they prefer iOS or Android.

Although just announced this week, the Chinese version of TradeHero that runs on iOS allegedly has been available since April. The Android version, which can be downloaded from app store at Baidu and Tencent as well as at Google Play, is the more recent arrival. But there’s no denying that having Chinese versions for both platforms will go a long way toward helping spread adoption of the technology, with more than 400,000 users in more than 100 countries already on board.

TradeHero_homepage
TradeHero also announced new features for Version 2.0, including expanded access to the trade details of other traders, changes in the way some features are paid for, and an improved user interface that puts a new emphasis on social sharing and networking.
A virtual trading community, TradeHero leverages mobile technology to provide real-time push notifications and gamification to model stock market trades and performance. Users of the platform can track top traders, who themselves can monetize their TradeHero experience by selling real-time alerts to others on the platform. 
The app is free to download and use.
TradeHero is ranked the #1 finance app in 75 countries, and is in the top 10 of financial apps in 114 countries. Based in Singapore and founded in August 2012, the company demoed its virtual stock market platform at FinovateAsia 2012. See a video of the presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News– May 9, 2014

  • Q2ebanking releases first quarter results with 2014 Q1 revenue of $16.8 million, up 31% YOY.
  • Stockr voted Top 100 Website by PC Magazine.
  • Dell Services improves enterprise mobility offerings with Kony partnership.
  • Silicon Slopes: MoneyDesktop snags AtTask executive for EVP of Sales.
  • MasterCard launches “auWallet” prepaid card program for APMEA region in partnership with KDDI.
  • Nymeo Federal Credit Union to deploy account processing technology from Fiserv.
  • Klarna, Provenir launch project to combine fraud risk decisioning with compliance, risk management automation.
  • Entrepreneurial digital startup hub, 1871, features Rippleshot.
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.

FinovateSpring: Behind the Scenes with CUneXus, ID.me, and Venovate

FinovateSpring: Behind the Scenes with CUneXus, ID.me, and Venovate

We’ve had a blast following up on the news buzz created by the 68 companies we saw demo at FinovateSpring 2014 last week in San Jose. Now we get to report on a few more details of companies that demoing at Finovate for the first time. 

Today, we’re taking a closer look at:

We’ll have further coverage in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!


What they do
CUneXus’ Perpetual Loan Approval product gives financial institutions a way to show borrowers a constant view their borrowing power across multiple loan products. It pre-approves the customer instead of simply providing a prediction of what the loan payment and terms may be, if the loan is accepted.
This constant pre-approval can create stickiness by keeping the lending institution in the top of the consumer’s mind when they are ready to make a decision about a loan or credit card. And, since the approval automatically changes with the consumers’ financial standing, it is a more efficient way to customize loan promotions.

Stats

    • FI client size ranges from $400 million to $2 billion
    • Launched in December 2013
The experience
The web and mobile screenshots below show the variety of offers the end consumer sees. The platform shows everything from credit cards to auto loans, to personal loans. Since the platform is dynamic, it will change the offers depending on the consumers’ financial situation. 
For example, if the consumer accepts the offer on the car loan, the platform will automatically rescind the offer on the RV or motorcycle loan.
CUneXuswebandMobilePhoto2

CUneXus also uses geolocation to target the end user when it matters– at the point of their decision. For example, after a user has been standing at a car lot for longer than 5 minutes, FIs using CUneXus can send them a push notification reminding them of the loan offer for which they are pre-qualified.

CUnexusmobilephoto2
Since the system pre-approves users, activating the offer is easy:
CuNexus3Mobiles
After selecting the type of loan and amount, users need only to enter their phone number and when they would like to talk to an agent. To speed the process, they have the option to take a picture of a recent pay stub as proof of income.
Beyond creating more borrower transparency, CUneXus makes loan distribution more efficient for the lending institution. The automation of the loan offer, combined with carefully timed push notifications, can drive more revenue from online and mobile banking.

What they do
ID.me works a bit like PayPal for affiliate groups such as students or veterans. Its network proves that the user is affiliated with the group so that merchants can target these specific groups with discounts and rewards, without the hassle of making them prove their identity.
At FinovateSpring, ID.me showed how its identity verification can be used at the physical point of sale, as well as online.
Stats
    • Financing: $16M
    • Federal Grants: $2.8M
    • Employees: 29
    • Revenues (Run Rate): $4M
    • Registered Users: 475,000
The experience
The user selects their affiliate group and adds the required information to verify their affiliation. In the screenshot of the web interface below, Blake has already verified his affiliation as an army veteran. ID.me also gives him the option to verify himself as a student or first responder to receive additional merchant benefits. 
Once he is verified, he is prompted to link a credit card with his account.
 
IDme02DeskTopLink
After the user is verified as a member of the affiliate group and has linked their card, they can receive rewards at the physical point of sale, as well as online.
The screenshot below shows the iPad interface of a brick and mortar merchant’s POS system. After swiping the credit card that he previously linked to ID.me, the user (Blake) automatically received the merchant’s discount for veterans.
Since this merchant has card-linked rewards enabled, the transaction was seamless. Blake did not need to know that the merchant offered special discounts for veterans and the merchant did not need to ask Blake for proof that he is a veteran.
IDme03TabletThankYou
Below is a snapshot of some of the more than 70 merchants that ID.me is partnering with. CEO Blake Hall advised me to keep an eye out this summer, when ID.me will release news of a slough of new big-name merchants.
IDme01DeskTopHome

What they do
The Venovate (venture + innovate) platform seeks to make the investing process more transparent, accessible, and efficient. It has a two-pronged approach:
1) For investors 
It curates alternative investment opportunities and serves as a broker so accredited investors can directly invest in them. Venovate carefully vets the list to ensure the opportunities are compliant and have a good likelihood of positive returns.
2) For fundraisers
The platform enables alternative investment funds and private companies to raise funds from $200,000 and up on its platform. Venovate verifies the accreditation of investors before allowing them to invest (non-accredited investors can still join, but are in view-only mode; they are not allowed to invest).
The online platform makes it easy for both parties with search capabilities and e-signature functionality.
Stats
    • Can reduce the fundraising process from 10 months to 10 weeks
    • Launched in April 2014 at FinovateSpring
The experience
When creating their profile, the investor selects the type of investments they are interested in, as well as the dollar range and the number of investments they are willing to make per year. Additionally, the platform shows the investor’s accreditation status and investment history in the upper right hand corner.
This is useful for fundraisers, who are given full visibility to these details before deciding who they will allow to invest in their project.
2 - Venovate - Investor Profile
Venovate’s company directory serves as a resource for investors to search companies seeking investment. It provides high-level information on companies, with an option to drill down into more specific detail.3 - Venovate - Company Directory
Each fundraising company has its own profile that provides more details for interested investors. The deal profile below shows relevant information about the deal. It covers basics such as description and minimum investment amount. It also shows the valuation cap, the number of current investors and the number of users currently watching the investment.

4 - Venovate - Deal Profile

Venovate announced its public beta at FinovateSpring, along with an investment from Studio 9+, an accelerator program based in Silicon Valley.


Stay tuned for more behind the scenes features next week.

Correction: RevolutionCredit Announces Investment from Accion Venture Labs

Correction: RevolutionCredit Announces Investment from Accion Venture Labs

revolutioncredit_logo_rgb.jpg

If there’s such a thing as life after death, I think I want to come back as an alternative lender.

Or anything in that ecosystem for that matter. Venture capitalists are eager to spend big money on the fortunes of a growing number of alternative lenders. Big banks are looking to make deals and partnerships. And now investors are beginning to pay more attention to some of the other players in the fintech alt lending jungle.

RevolutionCredit, which specializes in credit decisioning, is a richer company today courtesy of an undisclosed investment from Accion Venture Lab. The Lab is a $10 million effort from Accion International designed to support those startups that are promoting financial inclusion through their technology. Both seed funding and mentoring are included as part of the initiative.
RevolutionCredit_homepage
RevolutionCredit works by combining gamification, education, and forward-looking behavioral data to provide insights into which potential borrowers are more likely to successfully pay back their loans. Specifically, RevolutionCredit says that it can distinguish higher quality borrowers from lower quality borrowers even when traditional metrics like credit scores are the same or similar. 
CEO Zaydoon Munir claims that RevolutionCredit can reduce delinquency by 30% and increase retention by more than 67%. The platform, which is currently available by invitation only, has been tested in pilot environments with lenders, credit card companies, and billers.
RevolutionCredit demoed as part of the FinovateFall 2013 conference in New York last year. Zaydoon Munir is founder and CEO. Watch the company’s presentation here.

Motif Investing Raises $35 Million in Move Toward Wealth Management Market

Motif Investing Raises $35 Million in Move Toward Wealth Management Market

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for motiflogo.jpg

What’s good for the retail investor may be even better for the professional wealth manager.

That’s the strategy of Motif Investing, the two-time Finovate Best of Show winner that just announced raising $35 million in funding from new investors. With an innovative investment product originally pitched toward everyday investors, the company has quickly outgrown its retail-oriented origins to take on the larger, and potentially more lucrative, wealth management market, as well.

Participating in the round were Balderton Capital, a venture capital firm out of Europe, as well as JPMorgan Chase and Wicklow Capital. With previous support from investors ranging from Goldman Sachs to Foundation Capital, Motif’s funding total stands at $86 million.
Motif_homepage_new
Motif says that the additional capital will help the company expand internationally, citing the participation of Balderton, as well as support continued technological innovation, particularly with regard to the Advisor platform.
On this note, Motif’s move toward wealth management was anticipated by their FinovateSpring appearance in San Jose. The company’s Advisor platform makes it easy for wealth managers to build, manage and rebalance motifs for their clients. The platform also features new social technology to help improve communication between advisor and advised.
Motifs are combinations of up to 30 stocks that can be traded as a single investment product, much like an exchange-traded fund (ETFs). The combination of the product’s ability to meet a real investor desire for personalization with smooth and eye-coddling user experience and interface helps distinguish Motif from its competitors. While motifs are a treat for the creative investing mind, they are also easy to build, easy to track, and easy to trade.
Motif Investing first appeared on the Finovate stage in the fall of 2013, picking up Best of Show honors with their debut demo. The Motif team continued its winning ways this spring, earning another Best of Show trophy at the FinvoateSpring conference in San Jose.
The full video of Motif Investing’s demo last week will be available later this month.

Coinbase’s Acquisition of Kippt to Bring Usability to Bitcoin

Coinbase’s Acquisition of Kippt to Bring Usability to Bitcoin
Coinbase_lo_res_logo

The news that bitcoin exchange Coinbase has acquired startup Kippt is one of the more positive stories to come out of the bitcoin community in recent weeks.

In an amount-undisclosed deal that consisted of stock and cash (but sadly, no bitcoin that we know of), Coinbase will be acquiring a company with which it already has a significant relationship. Members of the Kippt team reportedly have been working on branding for Coinbase, as well as developing a Coinbase app gallery.

Kippt’s reputation was built on its social bookmarking and messaging products. Both services will remain available, though there will be changes (such as the end of the paid Kippt Pro plan). Coinbase hopes to leverage the talent of Kippt to create a bitcoin that is friendlier to merchants and consumers alike.
In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Kippt co-founders Jori Lallo and Karri Saarinen wrote: “For the first time, designers and developers like us can now re-imagine the way financial transactions and products are designed and built.”
Fun fact: Coinbase and Kippt are members of the same 2012 Y Combinator class.
Founded in July 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase holds more than 1 million consumer wallets and enables bitcoin transactions for 28,000 merchants. The company specializes in removing exchange-rate risk from bitcoin transactions. This further reduces a source of friction for merchants and consumers using the virtual currency.
Coinbase is a recent Finovate alum, having debuted on the Finovate stage during the Spring show in San Jose last month. Video of the company’s demo will be available soon.

Finovate Alumni News– May 8, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBoku partners with Deutsche Telekom to power the MNO’s payments offerings, provide it with a mobile app, and give customers the ability to pay for digital goods and services simply using their existing mobile phone account.
  • ProfitStars named among the 2014 Best Places to Work in Kentucky.
  • American Banker: Andera Acquisition to Bolster Bottomline’s Digital Banking Business.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions files initial registration statement with the SEC looking to raise $20 million through a public stock offering.
  • MasterCard Accelerator for European startups announces May 16 deadline.
  • Motif Investing raises $35 million in move toward wealth management market.
  • RevolutionCredit announces $10 million investment from Accion Venture Labs.
  • Coinbase’s acquisition of Kippt to bring usability to bitcoin.
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.

MasterCard Accelerator for European Startups Announces May 16 Deadline

MasterCard Accelerator for European Startups Announces May 16 Deadline

Are you a European startup with seed funding and a beta program ready to go?

If so, MasterCard’s Start Path Accelerator program may be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

The Start Path Accelerator program will give up to eight startups the opportunity to spend four months in Dublin working with MasterCard. The companies will also be mentored by program partners like Asos and Capital One. The goal of the program is for each startup to develop a pilot project with MasterCard or a MasterCard partner during the period.
MasterCard_StartPath
Startups will also receive €35,000 to help cover expenses while working in Ireland.
MasterCard says that companies participating in the program will have “direct access” to the company’s wealth of knowledge and experience. We also know that MasterCard’s knowledge and experience with incubators and accelerators likely has been enhanced through their work with other successful programs such as FinTech Collective and Techstars.
If you’re interested, there’s no time like the present to apply. The deadline for applications is Friday, May 16.

BBVA Compass Teams Up with OnDeck to Better Score Small Biz Borrowers

ondeck_logo_new.jpg

The only thing keeping pace with the investment interest in alternative lenders from Prosper to Kabbage may be the growing partnership interest from banks.

Earlier this week we reported on the deal between Lending Club and Union Bank. Today we learn that BBVA Compass will be working with OnDeck to develop better ways to provide loans to its small business clients.

Specifically, BBVA Compass will be relying on OnDeck’s OnDeck Score. This technology allows banks and financial institutions to review thousands of relevant data points, including social data points, to help determine a would-be borrower’s suitability for a given loan.
This new initiative is a big deal for OnDeck, and represents the first such collaboration with a bank the size of BBVA Compass. Founded in 2007 and led by CEO Noah Breslow, OnDeck made headlines a month ago when it announced a $77 million funding round led by Tiger Capital. The company specializes in combining loan underwriting analysis with the merchant’s own business data to determine a potential borrower’s creditworthiness faster than traditional lenders.
The average loan from OnDeck is $40,000, and loans can run as high as $250,000. Terms range from as little as three months to two years. The company demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2012.

Finovate Alumni News– May 7, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgiFactor and Striata partner to offer robust push ebill solution to utilities.
  • Kingdom Trust and Bancbox partner to streamline the crowdfunding and P2P lending platform experience for the IRA investor.
  • Alternative lending pays up: Kabbage raises $50 million, Prosper pulls in $70 million.
  • Actiance extends Socialite to include Google+ & YouTube.
  • VentureBeat looks at the rise of P2P lending of many Finovate alums and predicts $1 trillion in loans by 2025.
  • App Annie now lets app developers track ads, app store optimization.
  • TradeHero launches a Chinese version, bringing the stock market game to traders in China.
  • Lend Academy speculates Prosper now valued $600 million, up from a $100 million valuation around eight months ago.
  • Personal Capital reaches 500,000+ registered users. Now is tracking over $70+ billion in & is managing $500 million in assets for clients.
  • Credit Sesame offers Target customers free ID protection, credit monitoring and credit scores without deadlines.
  • Jack Henry Banking’s Core Director processing platform deployed by Oklahoma State Bank and The Bank of Clovis in New Mexico.
  • BBVA Compass teams up with On Deck Capital to better score small business borrowers.
  • WSJ Personal Technology column recommends Dashlane as the “best way to manage online passwords.
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.

LendUp Gets $50 Million Credit Debt Facility

Thumbnail image for LendUpLogo.jpg

With so many venture capitalists throwing money at alternative lenders in recent days, is it any surprise that they’ve begun hurling credit cards at these innovators, as well?

LendUp announced today that it has raised a $50 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital. This comes just a few months after picking up $14 million from Google Ventures and QED Investors in November.

LendUp co-founder Sasha Orloff credits rapid growth for the fresh funding needs of his company. He points to month-over-month growth between 10-20%, as well as expansion into Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Tennessee as evidence that LendUp will make good on its goal of launching in a new state every two weeks, and originating 300,000 loans this year.
A pioneer in socially responsible lending, LendUp provides a source of money for those typically unable to borrow through banks and credit unions. LendUp combines financial education, gamification, and better loan terms than those typically offered by traditional non-bank lenders to build a business that serves rather than avoids non-prime borrowers.
LendUp was founded in 2011, and launched its platform a year later. The company was part of FinovateSpring 2014 in San Jose, California, where they demoed their technology. Video of LendUp’s demo will be available soon.

Leaf Appoints Sarah McCrary as CEO

Leaf Appoints Sarah McCrary as CEO
SMcCrary_LeafnewCEO

Sarah McCrary has been appointed CEO of Leaf. She formerly held the position of Chief Operating Officer, and will replace outgoing co-founder and CEO Aron Schwarzkopf.

Becoming “the small business owner’s best friend” is how Sarah characterized her goals for Leaf, the mobile, point-of-sale tablet that gives merchants greater flexibility in choice of payment providers. 

The platform allows business owners to create a virtual store with customers, inventory, and employees, and features a variety of productivity apps geared toward small businesses. Many of these apps have been created by third-party developers.

Thumbnail image for LeafLogo.jpg

Sarah McCrary spent six years at Heartland Payment Systems, and another four at Allied Data Systems previous to her joining Leaf as COO. While at Heartland, she co-invented the company’s end-to-end encryption technology, E3. In a statement, Leaf says they hope to leverage her expertise and background to grow sales and drive technological innovation in a small business POS space.
Leaf’s relationship with Heartland Payment Systems is a close one. Heartland invested $20 million in the mobile POS platform developer last October, and is involved with both selling the platform and developing new Leaf apps.
Leaf demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2013 conference in San Francisco. See the company’s demo here.