Flint Raises $6 Million in Series B Funding

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A big month for Flint Mobile just got a bit bigger with news that the mobile payments company just raised $6 million in funding from new and existing investors.

The round was led by Digicel Group, and included participation from Storm Ventures, SVG Partners, and True Ventures. Flint’s total capital raised stands at $9 million, which includes $3 million from a round completed in May 2012.

Flint plans to put the new capital to use by (1) adding new talent, (2) boosting customer acquisition efforts, and (3) accelerating R&D in the mobile payments space. Co-founder and CEO Greg Goldfarb said that Flint will remain “focused on empowering the ‘non-countertop’ businesses that operate outside of store (environment) and have different requirements (from traditional retail).”
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Today’s announcement comes on the heels of news that Flint was releasing its Android app, and that the company had swapped out its card reader for a camera, as well. Goldfarb also noted that Flint had experienced transaction volume growth of more than 10x in less than year.
From some perspectives, Digicel Group may seem like an unlikely source of capital for Flint. Digicel is not especially active when it comes to funding startups, and has a role of its own as a global communications provider in more than 30 markets. That said, Digicel considers Flint to provide the kind of “pure digital app model” that represents an “inevitable market shift” in the way payments will be made in the future.
Founded in April 2011, Flint demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2012 show in San Francisco. See the company’s presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News– October 25, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCardFlight wins best startup at New Jersey Tech meetup.
  • Firmology interviews Jason Richelson, CEO of ShopKeep POS.
  • Humanitarian organization Oxfram partners with TransferWise to help British Indians avoid fees.
  • InComm launches Cashtie cloud match service.
  • Flint raises $6 million in Series B funding.
  • Taulia was recently announced as a 2013 Bully Award winner.
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.

Payments, Mobile, Security, Social: A Look Ahead to FinovateAsia 2013

How many ways will the presenters of FinovateAsia 2013 express “innovation in fintech” this year?

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Finovate returns to Singapore on November 14th for a one-day showcase of the latest in financial technology. And many of the themes that have defined the fintech conversation in 2013 will be well-represented at this year’s event:

Mobile
From banks looking to onboard college students on campus to merchants making transactions in the field, companies are focused on providing superior mobile user experiences.
Payments
Lower costs and greater efficiencies remain key goals. Minimize friction. Maximize security. Reduce cart abandonment. Increase and personalize customer engagement. 
Security and Social
Acquisitions in the security space and the headline-grabbing IPOs of social media startups suggest major rewards for those companies able to make the marriage between what’s public and what’s private work for everyone. 
Register here and join us November 14th for FinovateAsia 2013. And if you’re looking for more information about our upcoming event in Singapore, visit our FinovateAsia 2013 FAQ page or email us with your questions at asia@finovate.com.

Are Utilities Ready for Mobile BillPay? Industry Leaders Weigh-in via Check Survey

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Check surveyed* more than 50 utility company professionals in October, asking them about their utility’s mobile billpay strategy.

Or lack thereof. The survey revealed that only 25% of the respondent’s utility companies provided mobile bill pay options for their customers.

But what may be most interesting about the survey are the aspirations that utility company professionals have and challenges they see when it comes to broader adoption of mobile billpay technology. Consider the responses:
Among those professionals who wanted a mobile billpay option, the reasons why were:
  • 51% – To reach customers more effectively through their preferred channel
  • 24% – To decrease billing costs, including paper costs
  • 18% – To increase customer engagement
  • 7% – To collect money faster and optimize cash flow
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Asked for the top challenges to broader mobile billpay implementation in the utilities industry, the same professionals responded:
  • 47% – Vagueness and/or uncertainty about the company’s mobile strategy
  • 29% – Lack of IT resources and/or IT prioritization
  • 17% – Budget
  • 7% – Security and/or compliance concerns
Overcoming these challenges involves building business cases that examine the risk/reward of partnering with existing mobile billpay companies on one hand, and building or buying their own billpay solutions on the other hand. In reaching out to bring mobile billpay to more utility consumers, Check has partnered with Desert Water Agency, Irvine Ranch Water District, and Alltel.
Formerly Pageonce, Check demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2010 in San Francisco. The company announced the addition of expedited payments in June, and successfuly completed a $24 million dollar Series C funding round in September.
* Check conducted its online survey in October 2013. The survey included responses from 57 utility company professionals whose firms serve more than 2 million customers.

Finovate Alumni News– October 24, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFiserv to offer clients Guardian Analytics’ FraudMAP solutions.
  • Lending Club CEO, Renaud Laplanche, named a winner of Ernst & Young’s Venture Capital Award of Excellence.
  • PayPal and Blackhawk Network join forces to bring gift card services to the digital wallet.
  • Manilla User Survey: Consumers Want Bills in One Place and Banks with Bill Management.
  • Payments, Mobile, Security, Social: A Look Ahead to FinovateAsia 2013.
  • Are Utilities Ready for Mobile BillPay? Industry Leaders Weigh-in via Check Survey.
  • Locaid featured in American Express Open Forum column on attracting mobile customers with geofencing.
  • SeedInvest “thrilled” by new rules proposed for equity crowdfunding.
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.

Manilla User Survey: Consumers Want Bills in One Place and Banks with Bill Management

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If the idea of having all your bills in one central location sounds good to you, then you’re not alone.

Respondents in a recent user survey* by account management specialist Manilla ranked this feature near the top of the “convenience scale” with it comes to handling bills.

For Jim Schinella, CEO of Manilla, this is evidence that “consumers value the ‘everything in one place’ paperless experience that Manilla provides.”

Consumers can use Manilla to manage household finances such as utility bills, subscriptions, and travel rewards programs. The technology is free, and can be accessed online at Manilla.com, as well as via iOS and Android mobile apps.
       
Other top metrics from the survey:
  • 84% users prefer online statements to paper mail
  • 70% of respondents use online bill pay
  • More than half of all users receive more than 75% of their statements electronically
How important should this be to banks? More than 40% of the respondents believed having Manilla integrated into their bank’s website would increase their bank bill pay use. Said Schinella, “from the beginning, we felt that Manilla’s powerful digital mail capabilities fit naturally inside a bank experience.”
Manilla was last on stage in September as part of FinovateFall 2013. The company was in the news recently with the announcement of its Bill Manager integration with AOL. Read more here.
*Manilla surveyed more than 1000 users by email over the course of several days in October.

Dwolla to Offer Its Second Credit Product, a Cardless Credit Service Called Dwolla Cash

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Alternative payments company Dwolla took another step into the credit arena this week. Its recently-announced partnership with Alliance Data Systems resulted in the creation of a new credit service called Dwolla Credit.

It previously dabbled in the credit space with the launch of Instant two years ago. Instant is an opt-in feature that, for a monthly subscription of $3, lends users up to $5,000 for one month with no interest.

Through the recent partnership, the Des Moines-based startup will offer consumers and merchants a cardless credit product. Dwolla Credit users can spend advanced funds at any of the 40+ (and growing) ecommerce merchants in Dwolla’s online “Storefront.”

When shopping at participating Storefront merchants, Dwolla Credit users will be able to simply select the “Pay with DWOLLA” button, login, and complete their purchase. Transactions will cost merchants Dwolla’s traditional fee (25 cents per transaction, or free for transactions $10 and under). Merchants will receive funds instantly in their Dwolla account.

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Dwolla Credit is currently in beta, but users can request to be put on the wait list. The product will be available to the general public in early 2014.

To learn more about Dwolla, watch its FinovateSpring 2012 demo where it debuted FiSync.

Finovate Alumni News– October 23, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgOnline trading community tradimo and ayondo form partnership to offer tradimo users an alternative to active trading.
  • Tradeshift announces Dynamic Discounting as latest early payment offering to suppliers and buyers.
  • Dwolla partners with Alliance Data Systems to launch Dwolla Credit.
  • Wall Street & Technology takes a look at Fenergo’s report on client on boarding.
  • Zopa profiled in Yahoo Finance UK column on peer-to-peer lending.
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.

FinovateAsia 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 2

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Here’s a sneak peek of five more companies who will demo at FinovateAsia next month in Singapore. These companies each gave us a glimpse of what they plan to demo.

If you missed our first sneak peek, check it out here. We’ll post the remaining companies in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned.  

To see all 37 companies demo live at FinovateAsia, get your ticket here.


ArthaYantraLogo.jpgArthaYantra’s Arthos is an online personal finance platform that replaces the traditional human advisor and provides holistic advice instantly.

Features: 
    • Online personal finance platform with instant, actionable advice
    • Replaces the need for a traditional human advisor
    • Create a financial plan, implement recommendations, and monitor performance
Why its great: 
Instant and end-to-end financial planning without visiting a traditional human advisor  

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Nitin B Vyakaranam
Founder and CEO of ArthaYantra with 14 years of BFSI and IT sector experience across countries. Holds multiple patents and is an avid personal finance writer. Earned an MBA from Indian School of Business.
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Sunil Lingareddy
Co-Founder and CFO of ArthaYantra. A serial entrepreneur and mentor with business interests in financial services, pharma, real estate, energy and infrastructure. Earned an MBA from Indian School of Business.

LinkedIn


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Customer XPs is a leading real-time technology solution provider to banks worldwide. It will demonstrate paperless branch banking and intelligent queuing solution.
Features: 
    • Improved teller efficiency and productivity by intelligent queue processing
    • Improved customer experience by reduction in wait time
    • Reduced error rate
Why it’s great: 
It’s solution creates efficient queuing and paperless banking in branches. Quick deployment of the solution can be on mobile devices, tablets and PCs.

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Rivi Varghese
Rivi is the CEO and has around 15 years of experience in the IT product industry. Rivi has international experience across 20+ countries and is credited with delivering at least 12 new-to-the-world products.
LinkedIn 










KofaxLogo.jpgKofax enables customer acquisition directly from the mobile device and, recognizing the importance of consumer engagement, Kofax will demonstrate on-boarding for an impactful customer experience.


Features:
    • Meet and service the customer via the mobile channel
    • Reduce operating costs and minimize drop-off rates
    • Build competitive advantage while increasing growth and profitability
Why it’s great:
Kofax Customer Onboarding improves the agility and profitability of your bank’s customer on-boarding processes by engaging customers via mobile devices.  

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Drew Hyatt
Drew is a domain expert in mobile image capture. He works directly with top-tier FSI companies to develop mobile image capture solutions that integrate with and enhance their mobile strategies.

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Dimitri Seneca Snowden
Dimitri is a visual strategist who leads solution innovation at Kofax. He has more than 13 years of experience in user interface design, user experience design and universal design.







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Mobexo is reshaping the way we think about payment and financial services.
Features:
    • Mobile-specific security technology
    • Merchant portal, low-cost CRM system
    • Payment processing without additional hardware
Why it’s great:
Mobexo connects smartphone users to the physical and digital commodities of their lifestyles, without security and privacy issues and the inconveniences of traditional payment instruments.  

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Sopheap Lao
Founder and CEO of Mobexo, Sopheap has over 16 years as a Senior Accounting and Finance Consultant where he founded Heuristis Business Consulting. Sopheap is also an Open Source Evangelist.





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Jean-Marc Ly 
Jean-Marc is a serial entrepreneur from Silicon Valley and founded several startups that have been incubated in AcceleratorHK and Science Park incu-app. He is a startup advocate and mentor.



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Pixeliris’ CopSonic enables contactless sonic and ultrasonic communication between smart devices for mobile payment and passwordless authentication available on phones and smartphones.
Features:
    • It turns any phone into a mobile payment device
    • It is truly contactless and entirely secure thanks to One Time Password and strong authentication
    • It replaces standard online passwords
Why it’s great:
With Copsonic, pay anywhere with any phone.  

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Brian Roeten (pictured)
Brian joined the team in 1999. Today, his experience and skills enable him to manage the company’s innovating international hightech projects.
Emmanuel Ruiz

Since he founded the company in 1995, Emmanuel Ruiz has initiated all innovations, from our first audio broadcasting systems to the recent sonic and ultrasonic contactless communication technology.


Stay tuned on the Finovate blog where we will publish parts 3 and 4 of our Sneak Peek series in the weeks leading up to November 14.

Finovate Alumni News– October 22, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgUS Storage Centers and PayNearMe unveil convenient electronic cash payments for self-storage tenants.
  • Actiance expands partnership with ZL Technologies to deliver enterprise and public social data into unified archive.
  • Blackhawk Network to acquire InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions.
  • Cachet Financial Solutions launches CheckRisk Pro, a tool to mitigate RDC risk.
  • Netbanker: Simple to launch bluetooth-based P2P payments.
  • The American Bankers Association endorses Q2’s enterprise solutions for secure virtual banking.
  • Flint Mobile announces launch of swipe-free mobile payment app for Android.
  • Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at Motif’s “design-it-yourself investing.”
  • TechWorld Australia features P2P currency exchange innovator, CurrencyFair.
  • Fenergo, Aite Group report: Capital market firms prefer centralized client onboarding.
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.

Showing Our Age: A Look at FinovateAsia 2013 Demo Company Launch Timeline

At Finovate, we’ve seen how great innovation comes from companies of all ages. All we have to do is look at the Best of Show winners from FinovateAsia 2012. The founding dates of the winners ranged from 1858 (NAB, the parent company of UBank) to 2012 (SocietyOne).

We don’t know who will win Best of Show at FinovateAsia in Singapore this year, but looking at the launch date of the 37 companies taking the stage November 14, we found a 28-year spread. 

Here they are in reverse chronological order with funding amounts, if disclosed:

2013- 2012
  • BlueKite: 2013
    Total Funding: $1.5 million Seed funding
2011-2008
  • KlickEx: 2011
    Total Funding: $1.3 million
  • Mambu: 2011
    Total Funding: $2 million Series A

2007 or earlier
  • Yodlee: 1999
    Total Funding: $124 million
  • BehavioSec: 1998
    Total Funding: $2 million (€1.5 million)
  • Kofax: 1985
    Public LON: KFX

To learn more about each of these companies, check them out here and come see their live demos in Singapore on November 14.

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All numbers and funding information sourced from Crunchbase.com

Finovate Alumni News– October 21, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgAlvaro Soltero of Leaf takes a look at the future of payments.
  • Forbes.com features an interview with Brett Meyers, CEO of CurrencyFair.
  • MasterCard launches TravelController to improve expense reconciliation.
  • TSYS, PayPal, & PaySimple listed in top 10 multi-currency processing solutions for October.
  • Lendio launches beta version of Lendio for the loan specialist.
  • FORMFREE and Equifax partner to streamline borrower asset checks.
  • Prepaid Resources announces formation of Trefoil Technology.
  • TransferWise tops £1 million ($400,000 USD) mark in international money transfers.
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.