FinTech at TechCrunch Disrupt

imageThis past week, NYC hosted TechCrunch’s semi-annual tech event. TechCrunch Disrupt covers the entire tech spectrum from software to 3D printers to gaming and ecommerce. Generally, the financial vertical accounts for 2% to 3% of the companies involved. That said, several notable fintech companies have done well there. Notably, Mint won the first event in 2007. And in 2011, both InvoiceASAP (demoing at Finovate next week) and BillGuard (see post) made it to the final round, (with BillGuard finishing second overall).  

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Startup Battlefield
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This year, three of the 30 "battlefield" companies that made it one stage were in fintech. One of those, Zenefits, was one of seven finalists called back to demo again to the judging panel. Enigma a public-dataset discovery and analytics startup, was the eventual winner.

1. OK’d by PaidPiper (description | demo)

  • Kids payment tracking and authorization service
  • Partnering with Vantiv
  • Mobile first…team has mobile background
  • Can also be used by small biz with their employees
  • Charging parents 5% of value transferred (non-starter…needs to get to monthly subscription)

2. Trustev (description | demo)

  • "Social fingerprinting" to provide a "Trustev score" pulled from social media and other data sources
  • $20 billion lost in 2012 by online merchants
  • 27% of all online orders are reviewed by humans for potential fraud
  • Call themselves "Stripe for fraud"

3. Zenefits — Battlefield Finalist (description | demo)

  • Free, comprehensive HR-benefits platform, monetized with health insurance commissions only
  • Displaces client company’s health insurance broker to fund the free HR services
  • Co-founded by Wikinvest’s Parker Conrad
  • Y-Combinator alum
  • Typically, small customers can pay up to $2,000 per year for similar services

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Startup Alley Tradeshow
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The "startup alley" is the tradeshow floor where more than 100+ startups and event sponsors have tables to talk to interested parties. There were eight more fintech companies there:

  • ePaisa: Mobile POS startup
  • EXP Commerce: Futures market for consumer products
  • PayTango: YC company authorizing payments with fingerprint biometrics
  • Peela: Brazilian gift card provider "gift cards on steroids"
  • Purchext: Parental spending control system using sale receipt capture/OCR (now) and/or NFC (soon)
  • Taclaro.com: Brazilian online insurance supermarket
  • TouchtoPay : Fingerprint-based payment system
  • YourCapital: Algorithmic financial advice for DIYers

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Panel Discussion
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Financial subjects come up throughout the program, for example three VCs over the three days mentioned that they were putting money into Bitcoin. But there was only one focused financial-services session, a panel entitled, Show Me the Money.

Panel members: PayPal (Hill Ferguson, VP), Stripe (John Collison, Co-founder), Gumroad (Sahil Lavinga, Founder)

  • PayPal launched "login with PayPal" today
  • Stripe is powering Walmart’s new Goodies food-subscription service
  • PayPal used to buy $7 billion annually in digital goods (music, online gaming, etc)

What’s New in the FinovateSpring 2013 Mobile App?

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We’ve updated our mobile app just in time for FinovateSpring. If you haven’t downloaded it already, use the links below or search Finovate in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It’s available for free on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Before the show, attendees and followers of FinovateSpring 2013 have access to:

    • Agenda
    • Presenting companies previews
    • Ability to manage your Finovate schedule with calendar integration

On the first day of the event, the app will update to unveil the complete details of all 72 new products. Use the app to:

    • Contact presenters by email or phone using the integrated contact feature
    • Take notes on each company
    • Save your personal rating for each company
    • Bookmark presenters for quick reference
    • Search within the app

Lending Club Lands $125 Million Investment from Google and Foundation Capital, Is Now Valued at $1.6 Billion

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Google and Foundation Capital made a $125 million investment in online P2P lending platform, Lending Club at a valuation of $1.6 billion. Google executive David Lawee now sits as an observer on the Lending Club board.

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The $125 million was used entirely to buy out existing investors, who sold 15% to 20% of their shares. No net new funds were added.

Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche confirmed that Lending Club is readying for an IPO in 2014.

Lending Club demoed at Finovate three times, most recently at Finovate Startup 2009. Check out Finovate’s 2012 CEO interview with Laplanche here.

miiCard Partners with Bitcoin Exchange Platform, Tradehill

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Yesterday, online identity verification service miiCard announced a partnership with Tradehill, the first U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange platform.

Through the partnership, Tradehill is using miiCard’s identity-as-a-service platform to verify users’ identities online, which helps it comply with AML and KYC compliance standards.

Tradehill has already integrated, tested and deployed miiCard for its first product Prime.The whole process took fewer than 3 days.

To learn more about miiCard, watch its FinovateEurope 2012 demo.

Finovate Alumni News– May 3, 2013

  • Newfination hosts Coverhound CEO Basil Enan who talks about its online insurance service.
  • ProgrammableWeb interviews Michael Sconfield, Developer Evangelist of Dwolla API.
  • Caribbean360 reports that the Inter-American Development Bank is testing Entrepreneurial Finance Lab’s psychometric method of testing creditworthiness.
  • Fort Mill Times takes a look at TipRanks. See them demo at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
  • Bazaarvoice appoints former Convio Inc. CEO Gene Austin as president.
  • PayMobl reviews Pageonce mobile bill payment app.
  • Innovation Agency launches new features for Innovation Café to make it easier to manage and keep users up to date
  • Realty Mogul wins top honors at Founder Showcase pitch competition.
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.

Announcing FinovateAsia 2013 — Register Now to Watch the Future of Asian Fintech Debut in November!

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We’re very excited to announce that on November 14th we will be returning to Singapore to showcase the latest innovations in Asian financial technology at our second annual FinovateAsia conference.

Last year, FinovateAsia welcomed an inaugural crowd of 350 executives who witnessed 35 new fintech innovations debut via our signature demo-only format. The feedback from both presenters and attendees was overwhelmingly
positive and we expect the event to grow significantly this year.

The videos of the last year’s FinovateAsia demos are in the Finovate Archives if you want to revisit the 2012 innovations and whet your appetite for this November.

If your company is interested in debuting your latest and greatest at the premier Asian event for fintech innovation, please email us at [email protected] for more details.

If you’re interested in attending FinovateAsia to watch the future of fintech unfold live on stage, tickets are now on sale for the event at the lowest price that we’ll offer.

We’ll see you in Singapore in November!

P.S. If you can’t wait until then to learn about the latest in financial technology there are still a few tickets left for FinovateSpring (less than 2 weeks away in San Francisco!).

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

FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: BankersHub, Celent, Finance on Windows, and The Emerging Finance

Webby Awards Honor Finovate Alums Among Web’s Best

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So what do fintech innovators, and Finovate alumni, like Mint, Manilla, and Dashlane have in common with the likes of the Chrome Web Lab, Tom Hanks’ Electric City, and Cracked.com?

How about earning honors from the esteemed judges of the 2013 Webby Awards?

Thumbnail image for ManillaLogo.jpgManilla made the most of its showing at the 17th Annual Webby Awards, picking up honors in three categories (Utilities & Services, Web Services & Applications, and Financial Services/Banking). But the biggest winner among the Finovate-affiliated nominees was Mint. Mint won the Webby People’s Voice award in the Financial Services/Banking category, along with earning an honor in the Best User Experience category.

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Also representing well at the Webby Awards was Dashlane, coming in for Web Services & Applications honors, and a trio of Finovate alumnus that impressed judges in the Financial Services/Banking category: LearnVest, UBank’s PeopleLikeU, and Kapitall.


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The Webby Awards have been given out every year since 1996 by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). The Academy includes among its members such luminaries as David Bowie, Vint Cerf, and Arianna Huffington. 

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The Webbys provide two major awards per category: the Webby Award and the Webby People’s Voice Award. The latter award is determined by an online vote.

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Learn more about our Webby Award-winning alumni at our demo pages.
ManillaFinovateFall 2012
MintFinovate 2007
DashlaneFinovateFall 2012
LearnVestFinovateFall 2012
KapitallFinovateFall 2010

Dwolla Receives $16.5 Million in Series C Funding, Its Biggest Investment Yet

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Yesterday, payment network Dwolla announced it received its largest investment so far, $16.5 million in funding.

This Series C round was led by Andreessen Horowitz who’s Partner, Scott Weiss, has joined Dwolla’s board. 

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Additional investors include:

    • Village Ventures
    • Thrive Capital
    • Union Square Ventures

The new installment brings Dwolla’s total funding to just under $23 million. The Iowa-based startup plans to use the new round to grow business development to larger customers.

Four previous rounds include:

    • Angel, November 2009: $250k
    • Grant, March 2010: $55k
    • Series A November 2010: $1 million
    • Series B February 2012: $5 million

In its coverage, TechCrunch reports some of Dwolla’s recent growth figures:

    • Annual transaction processing run rate is a billion dollars
    • It has 250k account holders. This is up from 80k in early 2012.
    • It has more than 100 large customers
    • It will open its fifth office, located in San Francisco, this June

To learn more about Dwolla, check out its live demo from FinovateSpring 2012.

Announcing FinovateAsia 2013 — Register Now to Watch the Future of Asian Fintech Debut in November!

fa-btn4-over.png

We’re very excited to announce that on November 14th we will be returning to Singapore to showcase the latest innovations in Asian financial technology at our second annual FinovateAsia conference.

Last year, FinovateAsia welcomed an inaugural crowd of 350 executives who witnessed 35 new fintech innovations debut via our signature demo-only format. The feedback from both presenters and attendees was overwhelmingly
positive and we expect the event to grow significantly this year.

The videos of the last year’s FinovateAsia demos are in the Finovate Archives if you want to revisit the 2012 innovations and whet your appetite for this November.

If your company is interested in debuting your latest and greatest at the premier Asian event for fintech innovation, please email us at [email protected] for more details.

If you’re interested in attending FinovateAsia to watch the future of fintech unfold live on stage, tickets are now on sale for the event at the lowest price that we’ll offer.

We’ll see you in Singapore in November!

P.S. If you can’t wait until then to learn about the latest in financial technology there are still a few tickets left for FinovateSpring (less than 2 weeks away in San Francisco!).

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

FinovateAsia 2013 is partners with: BankersHub, Celent, Finance on Windows, and The Emerging Finance

On Deck Announces $17 Million Expanded Series D Round

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The latest funding for On Deck Capital comes courtesy of PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Industry Ventures, and Google Ventures, which led the round. The announcement is the second of its kind this year for On Deck, which raised $42 million in funding from Institutional Venture Partners in February.

The company’s immediate plans for the capital are practical: building products and adding staff. But longer-term On Deck remains focused on playing a growing role in the lending requirements of the five million small businesses in the United States.

Here are a few metrics from On Deck:

  • Raised $59 million in funding so far in 2013; $100 million to date
  • Increased its repeat customers by 34% in 2012
  • Loaned $400 million since inception
  • Grew distribution partners to 300% to 1,500 nationwide in 2012

On Deck was founded in 2007, and is headquartered in New York. Their small business loans range from $5,000 to $150,000, with terms extending as long as 18 months. Businesses that have been operating for longer than one year, and have annual revenues of at least $100,000 are eligible.

On Deck was among the companies to take part in FinovateSpring 2012. See them in action here.

Finovate Alumni News– May 2, 2013

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNewfination interviews Adhil Shetty, founder and CEO of BankBazaar.
  • Pymnts.com features TipRanks Financial Accountability Engine. Join TipRans in San Francisco for FinovateSpring.
  • Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth talks about hyper growth in Europe.
  • InvestmentNews columnist takes a look at Finect. See them demo at FinovateSpring in May.
  • Yodlee forms partnership with London fintech incubator Level39.
  • Virtual Piggy wins The National Parenting Center’s 2013 Seal of Approval under the Websites category. See it demo live at FinovateSpring.
  • Signifyd receives the Merchant Risk Council’s 2013 Emerging Technology Award in the startup company category. Come see it demo live at FinovateSpring.
  • Engadget reports: PayPal and Discover expand partnership, will reach 2 million stores by year-end.
  • PandoDaily looks at Xero’s stealth period.
  • Billhighway partners with the Automation Alley Fund organization.
  • Braintree hires Google Wallet co-creator &
    former Square employee Rob von Behren as lead software engineer.

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– May 1, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgNewfination interviews Waspit’s CMO, Kasey Kaplan, to discuss how the service is helping students manage their money.
  • The National Business Review looks at Yodlee’s aggregation.
  • Prosper sees best month for loan originations, reaching $20.2M in loans for April, & $500M since inception.
  • PC Mag recommends using Dashlane as a password manager.
  • StreetInsider takes a look at Finect’s public beta launch. Join them for FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
  • Directions Magazine interviews Locaid CEO Rip Gerber on geofencing. See Locaid demo at FinovateSpring in May.
  • IntelliResponse wins 2013 CRM Excellence Award from CUSTOMER magazine. See them demo at FinovateSpring.
  • OneID chief security officer Jim Fenton weighs in on two-factor authentication. See them demo at FinovateSpring.
  • ASTD.org puts Kashoo at the top of its list of “must-have” small business apps.
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.