Jemstep Raises $4.5 Million in Series A Round

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Jemstep

Thumbnail image for JemstepLogo.jpg

A big week for Finovate alumni funding looks likely to finish on a strong note with news that Jemstep has raised $4.5 million as part of a Series A round of investment.

The funding included participation from existing investors as well as new investor, Caleo Capital. Jemstep’s total funding now stands at $15 million. The company plans to use the additional capital for new hires, broadening distribution, and overall product development.

Jemstep launched its Portfolio Manager in January (and presented the technology at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May). The company’s solution helps individuals plan for retirement by analyzing current portfolio holdings, recommending an alternative portfolio that improves upon the current portfolio, and providing an Action Plan that lets investors know exactly what to buy, what to sell, and what to hold.

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Jemstep Portfolio Manager also helps investors minimize tax exposure, reduce fees, and stay on top of their portfolios via the system’s constant monitoring and user alerts. The company is headquartered in Los Altos, California. Kevin Cimring and Michael Blumenthal serve as Joint CEOs. Simon Roy is Jemstep’s President.
The online financial advisory firm was among an octet of Finovate alumni highlighted in a September Wall Street Journal feature on the advisory industry. Take a look at that feature here.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 4, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Braintree, CardFlight, Geezeo, Kantox, Mitek, Motif Investing
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgDel-One Federal Credit Union to offer PFM powered by Geezeo.
  • GigaOm reports: Braintree’s cross-app payment service Venmo Touch comes to the U.K.
  • BBVA blog features Philippe Gelis, founder and CEO of Kantox.
  • Bank Innovation calls CardFlight “a dongle with a difference.”
  • The Financial Brand takes a look at mobile photo account opening via Mitek.
  • Motif Investing CEO talks about motif building in an interview with NBC.
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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Fintech Accelerator SixThirty Unveils Inaugural Class of Four Startups

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

Earlier this week, a new fintech accelerator emerged out of the Silicon Prairie. St. Louis-based SixThirty announced its inaugural class of four fintech startups, selected from a pool of 100 applicants, that will take part in the 16-week incubator program that starts next Monday.

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This fall, SixThirty will invest a total of $400k in four participating startups:

Hedgeable, Matthew Kane and Michael Kane

Hedgeable is a next generation Vanguard, providing low cost, risk managed investment products in response to the Financial Crisis.
 
MiiCard, James Varga
Through a patented process, miiCard leverages access to online financial accounts to verify an individual’s identity beyond a photo ID through a simple process that occurs completely online in five to ten minutes.
See miiCard’s FinovateFall 2013 demo.
Upside, Tom Kimberly and Juney Ham
Upside uses innovative financial science and beautiful UI to provide goal-based investment management to mass affluent young professionals.
XYverify, Elliot Klein

XYverify enables consumers, merchants and financial institutions to reduce costs and prevent fraud via a mobile authentication platform.

Along with each receiving $100k, the companies will have access to mentorship and connections to top financial services firms. Four more companies will be selected for the Spring program. The application window for that program will open in mid-December.

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Third Quarter 2013 Funding for Finovate Alumni — More than $171 Million Raised

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, Check, ERN, FTRANS, Kofax, LearnVest, Lendio, Meniga, Moven, Narrative Science, Numbrs, P2BInvestor, Ping Identity, Prestadero, Prosper, SafetyPay, Socure, SumUp, Taulia, Wipit

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The third quarter of 2013 revealed that even during the sleepy days of summer, the business of putting capital into the coffers of fintech innovators remained as busy as ever.

Finovate alumni were the beneficiaries of more than $171 million during July, August, and September. This brings the total year-to-date funding for Finovate alumni to at least $526 million (some of the funding amounts were undisclosed).

Here is the Q3 summary for 2013:

July — More than $63 million raised by eight companies
August — More than $26 million raised by six companies
September — $82 million raised by nine companies
Note: Fundings prior to a Finovate appearance not included. Questions? Comments? Email us at julie@finovate.com or david@finovate.com.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 3, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Banno, FIS, Kabbage, Leaf, MasterCard, SmartyPig, ValidSoft, Xero, Zooz
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgValidSoft releases latest addition to the VALid suite of telecommunication based security products, Zero Latency Correlation.
  • Kabbage partners with Xero to provide SMBs capital based on their online accounting data.
  • Faces of Innovation features Wade Arnold, Banno CEO.
  • FIS Global signs agreement to market ARM Insight’s Prepaid Management Platform.
  • MasterCard announces partnership with Parkeon to provide merchant offers, loyalty services via smart parking terminals.
  • PYMNTS.com interviews ZooZ VP for business development, Noam Inbar.
  • ISO & Agent talks about Moolah LLC’s deployment of Leaf’s LeafPresenter POS tablets.
  • SmartyPig announces CorePro, the next generation of its savings solution which helps companies integrate savings accounts into their existing solutions.
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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Last Chance for FinovateAsia 2013 Early-Bird Tickets!

By Eric Mattson Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized

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With FinovateAsia 2013 fast approaching in only 6 weeks, it is incredibly exciting to see how the event is shaping up.

We’ve just announced our awesome lineup of innovative companies who will be demonstrating the best new ideas in fintech. Their innovations leverage major trends including everything from big data to biometrics, gamification to visual analytics and much more.

In addition, the audience is growing on a daily basis with leading bank execs, major investors, expert industry analysts and cutting-edge fintech entrepreneurs. From the beginning Finovate events have attracted the most innovative minds in fintech and this FinovateAsia promises to continue that trend.

Don’t believe me? Here is just a small sample of the organizations that have signed up to attend already.

  • American Express
  • ANZ
  • Bain & Co.
  • Bank BTPN
  • Bank of Singapore
  • Bank Respublika
  • BOC Group
  • CIMB Bank
  • Credit Suisse
  • EFMA
  • Forrester Research
  • Goldman Sachs
  • IDC Financial Insights
  • INSEAD
  • Intel Capital
  • Mastercard
  • Maybank
  • Mergermarket
  • Microsoft
  • OCBC
  • RBS
  • S&P Capital IQ
  • Security Bank
  • Singtel
  • Standard Chartered
  • Suncorp Bank
  • TMB
  • UBS
  • UOB
  • And many more!

If you’re interested in coming to watch the future of Asian fintech unfold live on stage, tickets are now on sale at the discounted early-bird ticket price through this Friday, October 4th.

Please get your ticket ASAP to lock in the discount and your spot as space is limited!

We’ll see you in Singapore in November!

FinovateAsia 2013 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Life.SREDA, Standard Chartered Bank, and Visa

FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: Aite, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, BeSuccess, Celent, The Emerging Finance, Finance on Windows, FSClub, SME Finance Forum, Timetric and Visible Banking.

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Last Chance for FinovateAsia 2013 Early-Bird Tickets!

By Eric Mattson Posted on
Categories: FinovateAsia 2013

fa-btn4-over.png

With FinovateAsia 2013 fast approaching in only six weeks, it is incredibly exciting to see how the event is shaping up.

We’ve just announced our awesome lineup of innovative companies that will be demonstrating the best new ideas in Asian fintech. Their innovations leverage major trends including everything from big data to biometrics, gamification to visual analytics and much more.

In addition, the audience is growing on a daily basis with leading bank execs, major investors, expert industry analysts and cutting-edge fintech entrepreneurs. From the beginning Finovate events have attracted the most innovative minds in fintech, and this FinovateAsia promises to continue that trend.

Don’t believe me? Here is just a small sample of the organizations that have signed up to attend already.

  • American Express
  • ANZ
  • Bain & Co.
  • Bank BTPN
  • Bank of Singapore
  • Bank Respublika
  • BOC Group
  • CIMB Bank
  • Credit Suisse
  • EFMA
  • Forrester Research
  • Goldman Sachs
  • IDC Financial Insights
  • INSEAD
  • Intel Capital
  • Mastercard
  • Maybank
  • Mergermarket
  • Microsoft
  • OCBC
  • RBS
  • S&P Capital IQ
  • Security Bank
  • Singtel
  • Standard Chartered
  • Suncorp Bank
  • TMB
  • UBS
  • UOB
  • And many more!

If you’re interested in coming to watch the future of Asian fintech unfold live on stage, tickets are now on sale at the discounted early-bird ticket price through this Friday, October 4th.

Please get your ticket ASAP to lock in the discount and your spot as space is limited!

We’ll see you in Singapore in November!

FinovateAsia 2013 is sponsored by: The Bancorp, Citi Ventures, Financial Technology Partners, Life.SREDA, Standard Chartered Bank, and Visa

FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: Aite, The Asian Banker, BankersHub, BeSuccess, Celent, The Emerging Finance, Finance on Windows, FSClub, SME Finance Forum, Timetric and Visible Banking.

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CardFlight Secures $1.6 Million in Seed Funding from ff Venture Capital

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CardFlight

Thumbnail image for cardflightlogolowres.jpg

A big funding week for Finovate alumni just got bigger: innovative payment processor CardFlight (FinovateSpring 2013) just announced that it had raised $1.6 million in seed capital.

The funding was led by ff Venture Capital. Also participating were:

  • Payment Ventures
  • Apostolos Apostolakis
  • Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator
  • Plug & Play Ventures
  • Great Oaks Venture Capital
CardFlight provides an offline payment processing solution billed as the “easiest way to integrate card-present payments into your mobile app.” The company’s encrypted card reader works with almost any iOS or Android device. And with CardFlight’s secure SDK, the technology supports most payment processors including First Data, Stripe, and TSYS.
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Who needs this stuff? According to Derek Webster, founder and CEO of CardFlight, everything from event ticketing to CRM apps are the kind of environments that can benefit from offline payment processing options. Interestingly, the majority of CardFlight’s clients are larger businesses looking white-label the company’s technology and maintain full control of the user experience. Said Webster, “our clients can integrate mobile payments into their apps in a matter of hours, while still customizing their mobile application and other solutions exactly how they wish.”

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Quantopian Raises $6.7 Million in Series A Round

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Quantopian

Thumbnail image for QuantopianLogo.jpg

In a week that already has seen funding announcements from Finovate alums, azimo and Leaf, here comes news that Quantopian (FinovateSpring 2013) is also on the receiving end of a major capital infusion.

Quantopian announced today that the company had secured $6.7 million in its latest funding round. Participating in the Series A were Khosla Ventures and seed capital investor, Spark Capital. This puts Quantopian’s total capital at more than $8 million. The company raised $2.1 million in seed financing at the beginning of the year.

Quantopian Live Trading provides quantitative traders and investors with a browser-based algorithmic trading platform. Users can build and share their own algorithms, as well as take advantage of historical backtesting and real-time, simulated trading features. The technology also allows traders to execute their algorithms directly from the Quantopian platform itself.

       
The company has a userbase of 10,000, which has racked up more than 600,000 years in backtested trading strategies. The platform requires some technical coding skill, but the service is free and includes features that allows users to “clone algorithms” rather than building algorithms from scratch.
Quantopian is led by co-founders John Fawcett (CEO) and Jean Bredeche (CTO), and is headquartered in Boston.

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Online Lender Kabbage Partners with Cloud Accounting Software Provider Xero to Provide SMBs Capital Based on Their Online Accounting Data

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Kabbage, Xero

KabbageLogo.jpg

Two Finovate alums are joining forces to better provide online small businesses with working capital.

Atlanta-based Kabbage announced yesterday that it has partnered with New Zealand-based Xero to use small business’ accounting data to underwrite loans.

XeroLogo.jpg

Through this partnership, Xero’s customers will be able to receive an answer on an underwriting decision in fewer than 10 minutes.

This is Kabbage’s fourth major underwriting and distribution partnership in the past six months. Integrations with Authorize.net, Quickbooks, Stripe have also provided enhanced ways to underwrite small business loans.

Kabbage debuted its Quickbooks financing platform at FinovateSpring earlier this year.

Xero showcased its Business Identification method at FinovateSpring 2011.

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Finovate Alumni News– October 2, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, BehavioSec, Billhighway, FIS, Quantopian, Tradeshift
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBillhighway 3-peats with “Metropolitan Detroit Best and Brightest Company to Work For” 2013 win.
  • BehavioSec awarded DARPA Phase 2 contract.
  • Spend Matters interviews Tradeshift CEO, Christian Lanng.
  • ACI Worldwide embraces Experian Decision Analytics decisioning solution.
  • FIS announces partnership with Australian debit card system eftpos to build payments hub.
  • Quantopian raises $6.7 million in Series A round.
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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Leaf Raises $20 Million from Heartland Payment Systems

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Leaf

Thumbnail image for LeafLogo.jpg

Hiring more talent and accelerating development of its point-of-sale payment processing systems is what Leaf plans to do with the $20 million in new funding from Heartland Payment Systems.

The financing is a major step up from the $4 million in funding the company had as of its FinovateSpring appearance in May.

Leaf specializes in providing a mobile payment platform for small businesses. The company’s LeafPresenter tablet accepts payments, provides business analytics, and makes it easier for businesses to transact with customers using a variety of payment options.

Aron Schwarzkopf, CEO and co-founder of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Leaf, says that he expects his company to be processing payments at an annualized rate of $500 million by the end of 2013. 

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Heartland Payment Systems is a national payments provider, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey. The company processes more than 11 million transactions daily, and more than $80 in payments a year.
As part of the deal, Heartland will sell Leaf via its 800-member salesforce, and also will develop apps for the platform.
As noted in Xconomy’s coverage of the announcement, Heartland has been active in the fintech startup market, helping LevelUp gain national exposure for its mobile payment app.

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