Advanced Merchant Payments

Check Out Who Took Home Top Honors at Last Night’s European Fintech Awards

Check Out Who Took Home Top Honors at Last Night’s European Fintech Awards
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, AdviceGames, Aire, Azimo, Backbase, BehavioSec, Cloud Lending, ebankIT, eToro, ETRONIKA, eWise, Fenergo, Holvi, Idea Bank, InvoiceSharing, Kantox, Klarna, Kontomatik, Kreditech, Mambu, mBank, Meniga, Nutmeg, Qumram, Scalable Capital, Smart Engine, TransferWise, Trustly, Xpenditure, Zopa
GroupPhoto(Photo credit: http://www.fintech.nl/)

Last night in Amsterdam the 2016 European Fintech Awards celebrated innovators shaping the future of finance. A total of nine awards were presented to companies selected by a panel of judges for the quality of their pitch.

Four of the winners are Finovate and FinDEVr alums, including BehavioSec, who won the overall award of Best European Fintech Company of 2016:

BehavioSec
Category: Risk, Intelligence, and Security
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Founded: 2009
FinovateFall 2015 demo
FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 presentation

Backbase
Category: Innovative Banking Software
HQ: The Netherlands
Founded: 2003
FinovateEurope 2016 demo

Kreditech
Category: Financial Inclusion
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Founded: 2012
FinovateSpring 2014 demo

Xpenditure
Category: Best of Show, selected for the best pitch
HQ: Mechelen, Belgium
Founded: 2011
FinovateEurope 2016 demo

A total of 29 Finovate and FinDEVr alums were recognized in the European Fintech Top 100 list. Companies awarded on this list were selected by a combination of online public votes (weighted 25%) and a panel of judges (weighted 75%).

  • AdviceGames
  • Kantox
  • Aire.io
  • Klarna
  • AMP Credit Technologies
  • Kontomatik
  • Azimo
  • Kreditech
  • Backbase
  • Mambu
  • BehavioSec
  • mBank
  • Cloud Lending Solutions
  • Meniga
  • ebankIT
  • Nutmeg
  • eToro
  • Qumram
  • ETRONIKA
  • Scalable Capital
  • eWise
  • SmartEngine
  • Fenergo
  • TransferWise
  • Holvi
  • Trustly
  • IdeaBank
  • Zopa
  • InvoiceSharing

The European Fintech Awards are organized by Amsterdam-based publishing company Alex van Groningen BV. The company offers a great explanation of the awards: “The purpose of the FinTech awards is not to scientifically prove who are the best FinTech companies. The judging is primarily based on the judges’ individual ideas and views on the nominating companies using their expertise, knowledge and ideas.”

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

$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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Dwolla, edo Interactive, FreeAgent, HelloWallet, Insuritas, Intuit, Kabbage, NICE Systems, PayPal, Receivables Exchange, SumUp, TD Ameritrade, Tradier, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

  • FreeAgent to Crowdfund $1.6 Million Funding Round
  • edo Interactive Completes $20 Million Series E Round; Names Badran CEO, President

Around the web

  • Halliburton Federal CU to use Insuritas to launch insurance agency.
  • Receivables Exchange appoints James W. Toffey as new CEO.
  • PayPal, Xero, Intuit, HelloWallet, & TD Ameritrade win 2015 Webby Awards.
  • TransferWise launches updated Android app with one-tap payments for more than 360 currency routes.
  • SumUp releases SumUp terminal payment SDKs for iOS and Android.
  • AMP Credit Technologies appoints chief technology officer.
  • Dwolla launches ability to schedule recurring payments for a specific day, recurring schedules, and cancellation criteria.
  • NICE Systems sells its cyber and intelligence division to Elbit Systems for $158 million.
  • Photos from FinovateSpring 2015 last week are now available on the Finovate Flickr feed.
  • OptionNET Taps Tradier for Rollout of Trading Directly from Their Platform.
  • Kabbage partners with Sage Payment Solutions to create small business loan offering.
  • PayPal’s OneTouch checkout service now supports all merchants using BigCommerce, even when consumers don’t have the PayPal app installed.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Coinbase, Currency Cloud, Digital Insight, Expensify, Fiserv, MasterCard, Ripple, SocietyOne

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Digital Insight to provide Touch ID functionality in mobile banking apps.
  • Coinbase unveils its bitcoin exchange and wallet service in the U.K.
  • The Currency Cloud appoints former Deutsche Bank CIO, Mitchel Lenson, to non-executive director.
  • Green Dot Bank chooses MasterCard as its transaction processor and network gateway.
  • Columbia Bank picks Fiserv DNA for its account-processing platform.
  • The Finanser interviews CEO and co-founder of Ripple Labs, Chris Larsen.
  • AMP Credit Tech launches Amplifi Capital to directly finance unsecured loans to under-served small businesses in the U.K.
  • Expensify debuts new automatic statement-reporting feature.
  • ComputerWorld: SocietyOne makes case for 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.

 

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Arxan Technologies, Azimo, Bionym, EyeVerify, Holvi, IntelliResponse, Jack Henry, Kashoo, Klarna, Quantopian, SAGE SA, Silanis Technology, Sonavation, Taulia, TIO Networks, TransferWise, Uncategorized

On Finovate.com

  • “CardFlight Unveils EMV-Ready Chip Readers for SwipeSimple”

Around the web

  • Sonavation launches its IDKEY biometric security key that uses 3D Surface Scan Ultrasound technology.
  • CMSWire interviews Michael Laurie, co-founder and VO of product strategy at Silanis Technology.
  • iExpats takes a look at Azimo in a column on the costs of foreign currency transfers.
  • Arxan Technologies Security Solutions architect Matt Clemens talks mobile app security on Federal News Radio.
  • PaymentsSource’s look at “strange mobile security methods” features EyeVerify and Bionym.
  • IntelliResponse wins bronze at 9th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.
  • Jack Henry & Associates to be honored at Cedar Falls Business & Industry Association event.
  • Now Digital Network reviews Kashoo in column on ways to streamline small business accounting.
  • Computing U.K. features TransferWise and its use of big data to drive its social media marketing.
  • The CoinFront reports on Klarna’s “experiments” with bitcoin.
  • AMP Credit Technologies wins “Highly Commended Award for Best Initiative in Financial Inclusion” at the 6th Retail Banker International Asia Trailblazer Awards in Singapore.
  • TIO Networks now has 1+ million registered members in its direct-to-consumer user base.
  •  Taulia names Cedric Bru as new CEO.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding

Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Funding

AMPHomepage2

Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP), a company that provides banks technology to offer loans to their small business customers, pulled in an undisclosed amount of funding today from Route 66 Ventures.

The new installment is a follow-on round to the $5 million Series A round received in November 2014 from SBT Venture Capital.

Hong Kong-based AMP enables banks and merchant acquirers to originate and manage small business loans. The loans are  made to serve small businesses that are too large for a consumer loan and too small for a traditional small business loan.

AMP will use the new funds to accelerate the development of its lending platform.

AMP, which operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom, debuted its small business lending solution for banks at FinovateEurope 2014. Check out the live demo:

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, Advanced Merchant Payments, Ayasdi, CardFlight, Google Cloud Platform, HelloWallet, Innosect, Innovation Agency, Kabbage, Malauzai Software, PayStand, Roostify, TSYS, Uncategorized, Yodlee

On Finovate.com:

  • Kabbage Expands to Australia in New, White-Label Collaboration with Kikka Capital.
  • Advanced Merchant Payments Pulls in Undisclosed Amount of Funding.
  • Ayasdi Raises $55 Million in Series C Funding.

Around the Web:

  • Yodlee joins FinTech Sandbox as data partner.
  • Acculynk unveils new mobile wallet authentication service for issuers and providers.
  • Innosect (formerly Innovation Café) acquires Clientific.
  • 5+ Community FIs to launch Apple Watch offering powered by Malauzai. Come see its live demo at FinovateSpring in San Jose May 12-13.
  • CardFlight Announces Availability of EMV-Ready Chip Card Readers for SwipeSimple Mobile Point-of-Sale Solution.
  • Rajesh Bhat, Co-founder at Roostify, shares what he learned from Yodlee Interactive Incubator Boot Camp 1.
  • Google Cloud Platform introduces Google Cloud Launcher, where you can launch open source packages configured by Bitnami or Google Click to Deploy.
  • HelloWallet launches Emergency Savings Calculator.
  • Orchard Platform and Kabbage Announce Partnership to Provide Investors’ Access to Karrot Consumer Loans.
  • PayStand mobile iOS app now available to allow credit card, check and Bitcoin payments.

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.

 

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, Advanced Merchant Payments, Aire, Azimo, Bluefin Payment Systems, Cloud Lending, Currency Cloud, CurrencyFair, Expensify, Fastacash, FutureAdvisor, ID.me, InComm, On Deck Capital, ThreatMetrix, TransferWise, Uncategorized

On Finovate.com:

  • ID.me Raises $3 Million in New Venture Debt Funding
  • Alt-Credit Score Startup, Aire, Raises $1.1 Million.

Around the Web:

  • Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union chooses online banking platform from ACI Worldwide.
  • Finextra’s Future Money Focus interviews Thomas DeLuca, CEO of Advanced Merchant Payments.
  • BBC column on Technology of Business features Azimo, Currency Cloud, CurrencyFair, and TransferWise in a discussion on the currency transfer business.
  • Forbes.com profiles Singapore-based Fastacash.
  • PYMNTS features ThreatMetrix’s latest whitepaper.
  • Shentel integrates InComm’s CashTie API to facilitate bill pay at retail locations.
  • Financial Planning features FutureAdvisor’s freemium model.
  • Expensify launches new policy editor design.
  • Forbes features OnDeck Capital as one of three lesser-known strategies to secure business financing.
  • Bluefin Payment Systems to power payment processing for Clubworx software platform.
  • Cloud Lending Solutions announces agreement with BDO Solutions to bring its non-bank online lending platform to East Africa.

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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Advanced Merchant Payments Brings in $5 Million in First Funding Round

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, Funding

AMPLogo.jpg

Yesterday, as we began looking forward to FinovateEurope, we heard news from a 2014 alum, Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP).

AMP, a company that provides banks with alternative lending options for small-and-medium (SMB) businesses, pulled in a fresh $5 million this week. The funding, a first for the Hong Kong-based company, comes from SBT Venture Capital.

AMP operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines, and has recently expanded into the UK, participating in London’s Level39 fintech accelerator. It plans to use the funding to further internationalize and scale the business.

AMPHomepage.jpg

Founded in 2009, AMP helps financial institutions offer financing to small business customers by managing some or all stages of the loan process, including:

    • Qualification
    • Verification
    • Credit scoring
    • Approval
    • Disbursement
    • Daily repayment
    • Risk monitoring

AMP debuted its small business lending solution for banks at FinovateEurope 2014.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Alums Among SWIFT Innotribe’s Startup Challenge Finalists

Finovate Alums Among SWIFT Innotribe’s Startup Challenge Finalists
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, CurrencyTransfer, Fastacash, LendingRobot, Mambu, Wallaby Financial
InnotribeLogo

With more than 280 companies applying, and 47 companies selected to compete, the Innotribe Startup Challenge is down to the top 15 companies that will move on to the Grand Finale. And six of the companies to advance are Finovate alums.

Sibos

The Innotribe Startup Challenge is part of Sibos, the conference held by SWIFT each year. The goal of the Challenge is to help what the contest categorizes as “startups” and “innovators” get access and exposure to the broader fintech community. Events are held in London, Singapore, and New York during which competing companies pitch their innovations to industry experts and fintech investors. 

The Grand Finale will be held on October 1 at Sibos. The winning companies – one “early stage startup” and one “growth-stage innovator” – will receive a prize of $50,000 USD.
The six Finovate alums among the finalists are below.
Thumbnail image for AMPLogoHiRes.jpg

“Innovator”
Founded: 2009
HQ: Hong Kong, China

Thumbnail image for currencytransferLogoNew.jpg

“Startup”
Founded: 2013
HQ: London, UK

Thumbnail image for fastcashlogo.jpg

“Innovator”
Founded: 2012
HQ: Singapore
“Startup”
Founded: 2012
HQ: Seattle, WA

Thumbnail image for MambuLogo.jpg

“Innovator”
Founded: 2011
HQ: Berlin, Germany

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Wallaby_logo.jpg

“Innovator”
Founded: 2011
HQ: Pasadena, CA
Said Fabian Vendenreydt, Head of Markets Management, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute at SWIFT said “Since it started in 2011, the Innotribe Startup Challenge has provided a huge opportunity to our community to understand and support this innovation.” 
For more information about the Innotribe’s Startup Challenge, visit their page here.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Advanced Merchant Payments Joins FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific

Advanced Merchant Payments Joins FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments
amp_logo_LI

The 2014 FinTech Innovation Lab Asia Pacific has announced the latest set of fintech startups to participate in its accelerator program. And FinovateAsia 2013 alum Advanced Merchant Payments is among them.

Advanced Merchant Payments specializes in providing short-term, unsecured financing for small and medium-sized businesses. AMP also provides SMEs with accounts receivable financing and cash-flow management services. Loans can be approved as quickly as five days, and terms typically range from 90, 180, 270, or 360 days. The company lends to a variety of businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, from retailers and wholesalers to contractors and equipment providers.

AMP_homepage
The Innovation Lab was developed by Accenture and launched in June of this year. The program is geared toward “early-state” companies with technologies designed for the Asia Pacific market. The program lasts for 12 weeks and includes mentoring, panel discussions, and workshops led by industry veterans and fintech professionals – as well as networking opportunities for incubator participants.
Sushil Saluja, senior managing director for Financial Services at Accenture suggested that the kind of technologies chosen by the lab selection committee are indicative of the kind of solutions FIs and customers alike are looking for. Saluja pointed specifically to “data security, analysis, and risk assessment” as areas where innovation could “make a real difference in the everyday lives of people” in the region.
Joining Advanced Merchant Payments will be:
    • AtCipher.com
    • Beijing Wecash Wonder Technology
    • FinSuite
    • I Think Security
    • iDGate
    • Jocata Financial Advisory & Technology Services
    • OxBranch.
Among the FIs supporting the FinTech Innovation Lab are Bank of America, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Barclays, China Construction Bank (Asia), Credit Suisse, DBS, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Ping An, and UBS.
Based in Hong Kong and founded in 2009, Advanced Merchant Payments has provided more than $25 million USD in loans to small businesses. The company demoed its technology at FinovateAsia 2013. See a demo of Advanced Merchant Payments at work here.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Alumni News– September 2, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, BBVA, blooom, IDology, Jumio, Knox, Micronotes, ReadyForZero, SocietyOne, Top Image Systems
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMobile payments app from BBVA earns more than 250,000 downloads since launch last December in Spain.
  • Knox Payments picks up $625,000 in venture round funding. See them demo at FinovateFall 2014 in New York this month.
  • Issuer Direct chooses Top Image Systems to drive incoming document automation.
  • P2P lender, SocietyOne, to offer free credit scores to customers.
  • Micronotes‘ Cross-Sell interview marketing platform now automatically reports Net Promoter Score.
  • Advanced Merchant Payments 1 of 8 fintech startups to enter the FinTech Innovation Lab in Asia-Pacific.
  • Jumio and IDology announce partnership to enable verification via government-issued ID in card-not-present situations.
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.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook