Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “PayPal’s Early Valuation Tops $44 Billion”
  • “Monitise to Emphasize API, On-Site Solutions in Strategy Shift”

Around the web

  • Xero to offer foreign invoice payments via new partnership with Midpoint Holdings.
  • Loop featured in profile of Samsung Pay.
  • PYMNTS.com takes a look at PayPal CEO Dan Schulman’s conversation with the Financial Times.
  • Gulf News Banking highlights Zopa in its review of the rise of P2P business lending.
  • Ferratum Group selects Mambu to Power SME Lending.
  • Top Image Systems to deploy an automated multichannel and mobile data-capture project for online financing company that provides funds to India-based SMBs.
  • Lighter Capital closes 100 deals.
  • CDApress recommends FamZoo to help kids understand personal finance skills.
  • Credit.com blog lists Global Debt Registry as a tool to help get rid of an old debt.
  • Better ATM Services CEO Todd Nuttall quoted in Australian Times column on how technology delivers a growing share of bank services.
  • The Bitcoin News interviews the new online marketing manager for Bitbond, Chris Grundy.
  • Wall Street Journal features PsychSignal in a review of stock market sentiment and social media.
  • Inc. feature on Silicon Prairie highlights Blooom, Hip Pocket, and Dwolla.
  • Rise in tech investment in the United Kingdom credited to companies like Azimo and Currency Cloud in London’s fintech sector.
  • Forbes column on investing for millennials features Hedgeable.
  • Realty Mogul adds two new vice presidents of commercial real estate.

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.

Alumni News– November 3, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMoney on Toast to outsource its administration to Equiniti Wealth Solutions.
  • Mitek announces Restrictive Endorsement feature to reduce risk of duplicate check deposits.
  • Azimo opens up money transfer service to Kenya’s M-Pesa.
  • Better ATM Services signs agreement with ATM manufacturer, Genmega.
  • Ixaris teams up with United bank for Africa (UBA) to bring its virtual card platform to 20 markets in Africa.
  • Socure scores $2.5 million to overcome evil with good.
  • Yantra Financial Technologies integrates Ripple Protocol into risk management system.
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.

Where the Alums Are: A Remembrance of FinovateSpring Past

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It is hard to believe that it is almost time for FinovateSpring 2014.

There’s still plenty of time for you to get your tickets to our upcoming event in San Jose, California on April 29 and 30. Our final Sneak Peek preview post is up, all the companies who were prepping under the radar are now out of stealth, and we can’t wait for you to see what this year’s spring crop of fintech entrepreneurs and innovators has in store.

Before we do, however, let’s take a moment to take a look back at last year’s FinovateSpring alums. As we scrolled through blog archives, several themes jumped out: the appetite for startups remains as passionate as ever, with three of our Spring 2013 alums being acquired by such financial sector potentates as Intuit and PayPal. And venture capitalists continue to see innovation in this space as a more than worthwhile investment, with 20 separate fundings for Spring 2013 alums

We’ve grouped the achievements into four categories: Exits, Fundings, Awards, and Acquisitions. Enjoy!

EXITS
  • Jack Henry buys Banno for undisclosed sum
  • The rumors are true: eBay’s PayPal acquires Braintree for $800 million in cash
  • Intuit buys tax planning/preparation specialist GoodApril
  • TaxAct acquires Balance Financial
FUNDINGS
  • CardFlight secures $1.6 million in seed funding from ff Venture Capital
  • Encap earns seven-figure investment from ProVenture Seed
  • EyeVerify earns $2.3 million in Series A funding
  • Jemstep raises $4.5 million in Series A round
  • Kabbage brings in $270 million in debt financing to provide small businesses with funding of their own
  • Kabbage brings in $75 MIllion in debt financing
  • Leaf raises $20 million from Heartland Payment Systems
  • Alternative lender LendUp raises $14 million in new funding
  • D3 Banking creator Lodo Software Brings in $3 million
  • Narrative Science secures $11.5 million in Series C funding
  • OpenCoin wins investment from Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners
  • P2BInvestor raises $1.2 million in Series A round
  • PayNearMe leverages Family Dollar Partnership; raises $20 million
  • PayNearMe raises $10 million in Series D funding, launches Express Merchant Onboarding Option
  • Prestadero raises 5 million pesos ($400,000 USD) in first round of funding
  • Quantopian raises $6.7 million in Series A round
  • Realty Mogul raises $9 million in round led by Canaan Partners
  • SeedInvest raises $2 million in crowdfunded investment campaign
  • SeedInvest Raises $1 million in round Led by Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network
  • Zooz Closes $2 million Series A round Led by XSeed Capital
AWARDS
ACQUISITONS
  • OpenCoin acquires SimpleHoney
  • Kofax acquires data integration software provider Kapow Technologies
  • NICE to acquire Causata to enhance customer experience management

Finovate Alumni News– January 24, 2014

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgPersonal Capital “zips past the $350 million mark,” reports growth rates of +10% month-over-month.
  • Inc. features Kabbage’s growth & how it has extended $200+ mil in funding to SMBs in just 2.5 years of operations.
  • FINalternatives looks at P2P lending growth and evolution, including Lending Club and Prosper.
  • Ovum research report highlights ACI Worldwide’s leadership in payment switching industry.
  • MarketWatch features Better ATM Services in report on the next generation of ATMs.
  • CSI globalVCard named a finalist in two categories in 2014 Stevie Awards.
  • RTE News takes a look at Irish fintech startups including CurrencyFair and Trustev. Watch Trustev demo its technology at FinovateEurope 2014.
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 — January 14, 2014

  • ACI Worldwide announces its point to point encryption (P2PE) solutions now supported by VeriFone, Ingenico, and Equinox.
  • New contract with Advanced Network helps Better ATM Services grow its reseller network.
  • Netbanker reports: Moven Offers Free Ride, but Only to New Uber Customers.
  • Industry analyst Ovum names Backbase a Market Leader for next generation digital banking platforms.
  • Linkable Networks partners with marketing content publishers to form The Linkable Network, its new card-linked shopper marketing network.
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– December 5, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgDwolla announces partnership with Fiverr by giving away free Fiverr gigs.
  • FinovateEurope 2014 Presenting Companies Revealed.
  • Intuit to Acquire Docstoc, Small Business Document Startup.
  • Better ATM Services rolls out reseller network and announces first agreement with Express Teller Services.
  • TSYS earns spot on the National Conference on Citizenship’s The Civic 50.
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– June 20, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgTitan Bank and Congressional Bank now buying loans through the Lending Club platform.
  • Nexonia integrates its expense reports solution with Bill.com.
  • Mexican Airline Volaris adds SafetyPay to payment method options.
  • Prosper reduces maximum loan percentage to 50% for investors in any one loan.
  • Geezeo signs Corporate America Family Credit Union.
  • Andera’s oFlows platform will be the new account opening technology for Intuit’s financial institution clients.
  • Check (formerly Pageonce) announces expedited payments.
  • Consumer Reports takes a look at the growth of Better ATM Services.
  • Wallaby releases version 2.0 for iPhone with new interface, Foursquare integration.
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– June 19, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgBRE Bank, operator of mBank launches “new mBank”, which is based on Meniga´s PFM.
  • U.S.-based life insurance carrier expands use of Kofax solutions by investing an additional $550k to automate document processing.
  • Personal Capital introduces new dashboard features.
  • Bank Innovation visits Dwolla’s new office in NYC.
  • The Next Web reports: Simple launches its Goals feature on the iPhone.
  • Ping Identity named in IDG’s Computerworld 2013 Best Places to Work in IT.
  • Zopa cuts personal loan rate to 4.9%.
  • QuantConnect adds FX, US equity tick data; raises capital.
  • MicroStrategy to partner with Hortonworks to improve Apache Hadoop usability.
  • ixaris shows off its new look and rebranding.
  • Web AppStorm reviews Kashoo’s cloud-based accounting technology.
  • eDeposit teams up with DoubleBeam to integrate mobile account enrollment and eCheck deposits into eDeposits mobile payment network.
  • LICUOS named a finalist in the Next Bank Madrid – Innotribe Startup Disrupt.
  • Fox Business News features Arxan CEO Mike Dager on mobile banking security.
  • Better ATM Services CEO Todd Nuttall talks about the “real lessons” from the Cyprus financial crisis.
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.

Better ATM Services Bridges the Gap Between ATMs and Prepaid Cards

Thumbnail image for BetterATMLogo.jpgThis post is part of our live coverage of FinovateSpring 2013.

From Mesa, Arizona, the Better ATM Services team is here to present their ATM-dispensed, prepaid VISA gift card technology.
“Better ATM Services has bridged the gap between ATMs and prepaid cards. Better ATM Services worked with major credit card payment networks to develop thinner, yet durable 3-panel cards that can roll through ATM cash mechanisms, yet function like normal payment cards at point-of-sale terminals. We also worked with major ATM manufacturers to develop very minor modifications that allow existing ATMs to select, load, activate, and dispense these new cards. This new card design is now approved for use by financial institutions throughout the U.S., and international approvals are underway. Financial institutions can now automate their prepaid programs through their existing ATM fleets.”
Product Launched: January 2012
HQ Location: Mesa, Arizona
Company Founded: 2006
Metrics: Privately held; 8 employees
Presenting Todd Nuttall (CEO) 

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FinovateSpring 2013 Sneak Peek: Part 3

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This is the third part in our continuing Sneak Peek series that gives a glimpse into what each company will demo live on stage at FinovateSpring.

Don’t miss part 1 and part 2 published earlier this month. 

See the full demos live at FinovateSpring next month. Get your ticket here

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Better ATM Services’ groundbreaking technology enables ATMs to dispense new, flexible prepaid cards just like cash, opening the world’s fleet of 2.3 million ATMs to the prepaidBetterATMLogo.jpg marketplace.

Features:

    • Visa and others are adopting this new distribution channel
    • Consumers love the 24/7 convenience of ATMs for prepaids
Why it’s great: Financial institutions can recapture 50%+ of customers now going elsewhere for prepaids, increasing their share of the $549 billion prepaid market.

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Bright Funds is a solution for effective charitable giving management, combining the sophistication of investing with the intuitive, engaging experience of modern web services.
Features:
    • The Bright Funds Charitable Giving Portfolio
    • The Bright Funds Impact Timeline
    • Bright Funds Public Profiles for Giving
Why it’s great: Bright Funds brings an investment approach to charitable giving.

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FamZoo’s online family banking system helps parents teach kids good money habits.
Features:
    • Family pack of affordable, widely accepted prepaid cards
    • Integrated family finance tools build good habits
    • Co-branded option delivers targeted offers
Why it’s great: FamZoo solves the “kids and money” problem for parents: prepaid cards that work together, not alone.

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Intuit delivers banking software and technology solutions for financial institutions.
Features:
    • Gives banks better insight to serve customers
    • Blurs lines between PFM/banking 
    • Learn what Mint has in store for personal business
Why it’s great: Intuit now offers the best PFM solution for all users – whether it is through Mint.com or financial institutions.

LeapScoreLogo.jpg

LeapScore is financial advice for the rest of us.
Features:
    • Tailored help and advice for each individual
    • Empowers people to take more control over finances
    • Sets meaningful goals
Why it’s great: a comprehensive score that, for the first time, represents “who” you are financially.

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MicroStrategy provides online banking without usernames or passwords, instant identity validation over the phone: Usher radically changes the way IDs, cards, and keys are issued and carried.
Features:
    • Mobile phone-based digital credentials
    • Multi-factor verification including voiceprints
    • Secure out-of-band authentication
Why it’s great: Usher: an extraordinary array of identity-management services that reduce fraud, protect identities and improve customer experience.
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MoneyDesktop redefines the way millions of people interact with their finances by developing technologies that drive financial engagement between account holders and financial institutions.
Features:
    • Leverage aggregated PFM user data 
    • Segment and target your user base
    • Increase conversion rates and loan volume
Why it’s great: Insight and Target provide financial institutions with a groundbreaking new way to market and drive adoption of their most valuable services.
OneID eliminates the need for usernames and 

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passwords, while delivering a secure, compliant identity system that’s easy for your customers to use.

Features:
    • Secure, one-click login with no password
    • Customizable two-factor authentication
    • Easy cross-selling with automatic form-fill
Why it’s great: Convenience of one-click login. Security of public key cryptography. Flexibility to meet financial institutions’
needs. Identity as it should be.

QuantopianLogo.jpg

Quantopian is the world’s only browser-based algorithmic trading platform, democratizing finance by reducing barriers to entry and providing quants the tools and support needed to profit from their ideas
Feature:
    • Combines historical data, algo simulation, live market data, brokerage integration and algo development into a simple workflow
Why it’s great: Allows quants to put their ideas and algorithms to work and profit from them with the click of a button

RefundoLogo.jpg

Refundo is designed to revolutionize the way people do banking and extend mainstream banking advantages to underbanked and unbanked communities across the nation.
Features:
    • Open an FDIC-insured bank account in seconds using your smartphone. 
    • Send money to your friends and family quickly and securely.
Why it’s great: Finally a new way to manage your money. And by new, we mean better.


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Yandex.Money’s Twym is a quick and convenient way to send money via Twitter.
Features:
    • Easy-to-use interface for collecting money
    • You don’t have to leave Twitter
    • Other users can repeat payments in one click
Why it’s great: Twym makes transferring money simple and fun.

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Yseop’s artificial intelligence software writes just like a human being, but at a speed of over a thousand pages per second and in multiple languages.
Feature:
    • Yseop boosts the productivity of your business teams by automating the delivery of best practices and personalized expertise.
Why it’s great: Yseop creates a new age where financial services delivered to customers are driven by artificial intelligence and human collaboration.
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For more information on being a part of FinovateSpring 2013, see our FAQ. To register, visit out FinovateSpring page here.

Finovate Alumni News– March 28, 2013

  • Forbes places Dwolla CEO, Ben Milne, on the 2013 Disruptors list.
  • Lifehacker reviews Credit Karma for Android.
  • TIBCO Software partners with Aditi Tech to bolster enterprise social, e-commerce solutions.
  • Outright’s 300,000 users surpass 2 billion transactions.
  • Bank Innovation reports: Capital Access Network’s Online Lending Platform, CapTap, Coming to Tablet Soon.
  • Waspit wins second place award in PYMNTS.com Innovation Project’s Best in Show.
  • Monitise CMO Carl Tsukahara interviewed by David Murphy in Mobile Marketing.
  • SeedInvest is among the crowdfunding innovators featured in crowdfundattny blog.
  • Pymnts.com interviews Mark Miles of CSI globalVCard on the business of B2B payments.
  • E&S Consulting blog takes a look at the evolution of Green Dot’s GoBank. Be sure to catch Green Dot at FinovateSpring in May.
  • Better ATM Services wins 2013 Paybefore Award for Visa prepaid gift card program.
  • PC Mag’s SecurityWatch features EyeVerify and its solution to the problem with passwords.  EyeVerify will be demoing their authentication technology at the upcoming FinovateSpring event in San Francisco.
  • Programmable Web takes a look at recently published APIs including one from OneID. Join OneID this May in San Francisco for FinovateSpring.
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.