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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, BillGuard, BlinkMobile Interactive, blooom, DarcMatter, Feedzai, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, Personal Capital, SigFig, Swipely, TransferWise, Vanguard, Vouch, Wealthfront, Zooz

Around the web

  • Let’s Talk Payments features Feedzai, Swipely, BillGuard, Wealthfront, Jemstep, SigFig, and Vouch in its review of companies “pushing the envelope” in payment analytics.
  • Zooz partners with Avalara to bring tax-compliance tools to its payment platform.
  • Daily Fintech profiles DarcMatter and its plan to bring access to alternative investments to the accredited masses.
  • TransferWise sets world record for largest human currency symbol.
  • Bank Investment Consultant takes a look at Betterment, Personal Capital, Motif Investing, FutureAdvisor, Blooom, Wealthfront, and Vanguard in its look at how traditional advisers can compete against robo-advisers.
  • BlinkMobile Interactive wins best enterprise mobility solution at Cloud World Series Awards in London.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bento for Business, Betterment, EverSafe, Financial Guard, Global Debt Registry, MaxMyInterest, Nomis Solutions, Personal Capital, Vanguard, Wealthfront, WePay

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: Bento Builds Banking Solutions for Small Businesses
  • EverSafe and MaxMyInterest Present at Innovation Lab Demo Day in New York

Around the web

  • Bloomberg Business highlights Betterment, Financial Guard, Personal Capital, Vanguard, and Wealthfront in its look at robo-advisers.
  • Nomis Solutions teams up with BRG to help FIs improve their mortgage-retention strategies and provide more transparent pricing.
  • Success Story profiles WePay and its co-founder and CEO, Bill Clerico.
  • Global Debt Registry wins Stevie Award in the banking category of the American Business Awards.

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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Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums

Xignite Inside: Market Data Provider Powers Apple Watch Apps for Finovate Alums
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, SigFig, Xignite

Xignite_homepage_June2015

APIs from Xignite are helping four Finovate alums bring their technologies to the Apple Watch.

Betterment, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, and SigFig all have taken advantage of Xignite APIs to provide their Apple Watch-wearing customers with tools to help them stay on top of their investments and finances. The features enabled by the APIs range from real-time news alerts on stocks and the ability to place live stock trades, to monitoring spending and conducting portfolio maintenance.

Personal Capital CTO Fritz Robbins called Xignite’s APIs a “key piece” in its ability to provide its customers with timely, accurate information. Xignite CEO Stephane Dubois added that his company’s cloud platform was uniquely positioned to serve the “billions of devices coming online every day.”

Xignite_FEU2015_stage

Xignite CEO and founder Stephane Dubois demonstrated FactSet Fundamentals API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.

“We are proud to be enabling these firms to make this leap into different technological ventures with our comprehensive and unique delivery of market data through our APIs,” Dubois said.

A leading provider of market-data cloud-solutions, Xignite’s reputation as the data provider behind fintech’s most dramatic disruptors is well earned. Earlier this month, CNBC took a look at some of Xignite’s clients, putting six of them (including five Finovate alums) on its CNBC Disruptor 50 list. Among the winners of the Benzinga Fintech Awards in April, 17 of the nominees and 11 of the winners used Xignite’s cloud-based financial market data (on its own, Xignite won “Best in Show” runner-up.) Recent partnerships with BMO Financial Group, ChartIQ, and MSCI this spring have helped Xignite significantly expand the range and variety of market data it can provide to its clients.

Xignite demoed its FactSet Fundamentals API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London, and participated in the inaugural FinDEVr event in San Francisco in the fall of 2014. Founded in 2006, Xignite is located in San Mateo, California.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, BBVA, BehavioSec, Betterment, BrightScope, CashSentinel, Heckyl Technologies, Hedgeable, Ixaris, Lending Club, LendUp, Moven, On Deck Capital, Pindrop Security, Ripple, Top Image Systems, TSYS, Vanguard, VISA, Wealthfront, Zenmonics

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: TrueAccord Provides Kinder, Gentler Automated Debt Collection”
  • “HedgeCoVest Adds Two New Models to its Platform”
  • “CashSentinel Closes Seed Round of Undisclosed Amount”

Around the web

  • Dunkin’ Donuts, Fandango, Sundance Catalog and Williams-Sonoma now accept Visa Checkout.
  • Moven updates Android mobile app.
  • The Fintech blog features Q&A with LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff.
  • Bank Innovation profiles Hedgeable and its “one simple trick.”
  • Westpac Banking Corporation and New Zealand Banking Group are testing Ripple for payment transfers between subsidiaries.
  • Ixaris announces €4m Open Payments Ecosystem (OPE) project to support developers building payment apps.
  • TSYS to support Apple Pay when it launches in the U.K. in July.
  • Omnichannel account-opening solution from Zenmonics goes live at BBVA.
  • Austin Energy to adopt PaySecure platform from Acculynk.
  • Investopedia column on the “Top 5 Myths of Robo-Advisors” features Betterment, Wealthfront, and Vanguard.
  • BrightScope launches Fund Pages to provide detailed information about open-ended mutual funds.
  • Sam’s Club using Lending Club to offer financing to SMB customers.
  • FitSmallBusiness.com names OnDeck best provider of small business loans.
  • SunGard terminal selects Heckyl news and sentiment analysis.
  • Pindrop Security granted patent for phone antifraud and authentication technology.
  • Top Image Systems taps Bob Fresnel as new TIS Americas President.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Braintree, EyeVerify, Flint Mobile, FutureAdvisor, Hedgeable, Lending Club, LendingRobot, LendUp, Market Prophit, Motif Investing, PayPal, Plaid, planwise, Prosper, Qapital, Top Image Systems, TradeHero, TransferWise, TrueAccord, Trulioo, TSYS, Venmo, Wealthfront, WePay, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • “PayPal’s Braintree Tapped to Turn Pinterest Browsers into Consumers”
  • “EyeVerify’s Partnership with Turkish Reseller Yields Vodafone Contract”
  • “U.K.-based TransferWise: Growth and Metrics Updates“

Around the web

  • TradeHero updates mobile iOS app.
  • WSJ features how Venmo helps users instantly move money more cheaply.
  • Apple lists Xero among group of business apps Apple is using to market the iPad for use in business.
  • Indianapolis Business Journal looks at the rise of robo-advisors Betterment, Wealthfront, Hedgeable, and Motif Investing.
  • TSYS launches its Chip Card on Demand to help issuers make the transition through the October chip-liability shift.
  • Top Image Systems unveils its new mobile account opening and onboarding app, MobiENROLL.
  • Benzinga interviews Igor Gonta, CEO of Market Prophit, on the launch of his Twitter-based, social media, smart beta index.
  • Fox Business features Planwise, LendUp, Trulioo, Plaid, Wealthfront, TrueAccord, WePay, Flint, Lending Club, Prosper, LendingRobot, and FutureAdvisor in its roundup of “30 Hot Fintech Startups to Watch.”
  • New York Business Journal reviews its gamification strategy of PFM solution, Qapital.
  • Financial Times profiles LendUp and the “grubby end of U.S. debt.”

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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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Blackhawk Network, blooom, CashStar, D3 Banking, eMoney Advisor, Expensify, FIS, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, MaxMyInterest, mBank, Nomis Solutions, PayNearMe, PayPal, SimplyTapp, Sonavation, Temenos, Vanguard, Vantiv, Venmo, Wealthfront, Xero

Around the web

  • Glenbrook Partners’ whitepaper features PayNearMe.
  • mBank reports that six months after launching Light Branches, basic banking product sales have tripled in Light Branches compared to traditional branches.
  • PYMNTS features comments from Blackhawk Network, CashStar, FIS, SimplyTapp, and Vantiv on social commerce.
  • MasterCard partners with Premier Bank in expansion into Somalia.
  • Nomis Solutions launches upgrade of its price-optimization suite.
  • D3 Banking announces that its solution is now available in a hosted environment.
  • Blooom CEO and co-founder Chris Costello talks about his company’s relationship with Yodlee.
  • ThinkAdvisor features eMoney Advisor, Vanguard, Wealthfront, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, and Jemstep in a column on the changing environment for financial advisors.
  • Sonavation CTO Rainer Schmitt wins award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Communications Quality & Reliability.
  • TechCrunch features PayPal’s Venmo office.
  • Verizon Ventures welcomes SimplyTapp to its portfolio.
  • On the Money Radio’s Steve Pomeranz interviews MaxMyInterest CEO and founder Gary Zimmerman.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Actiance, Avoka, Betterment, Braintree, Global Debt Registry, Google, LendKey, NAMU Systems, Nomis Solutions, Placecast, SimplyTapp, Top Image Systems

On Finovate.com

  • Actiance Picks Up $28 Million from New and Existing Investors
  • LendKey Adds $8 Million in Venture Debt; Reaches $800 Million in Loans

Around the Web

  • SimplyTapp and Top Image Systems team up to bring HCE mobile payment technology to FIs in the Asia Pacific region.
  • Braintree integrates Android Pay into its v.zero SDK to ease merchant adoption.
  • Global Debt Registry unveils new API service to speed access to consumer-debt data and documents.
  • Avoka and NAMU earn “most innovative customer engagement” and “best customer experience” honors respectively at Citi Mobile Challenge.
  • Bible Money Matters reviews the new Betterment RetireGuide.
  • Placecast introduces its mobile data-management platform (DMP) as a stand-alone solution.
  • Nomis Solutions joins Center for Pricing and Revenue Management at Columbia University.

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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$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.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, Ayasdi, Betterment, Cortera, FIS, Forte Payment Systems, IDTheft 911, LearnVest, Market Prophit, Motif Investing, PayPal, Place2Give, ProfitStars, QuantConnect, SimplyTapp, Yodlee

Around the web

  • Market Prophit unveils its social market sentiment smart beta index.
  • Silicon India takes a look at Ayasdi’s plans to use the capital raised in its latest $55 million funding.
  • Financial Advisor IQ highlights Betterment and Motif Investing in its discussion of millennials and machines.
  • QuantConnect is now integrated with Interactive Brokers.
  • ProfitStars celebrates surpassing 600 FIs using its Remote Deposit Anywhere technology.
  • FIS wins Best Core Banking, Best Outsourcing Project honors at Asian Banker Technology Implementation Awards.
  • TechCrunch: Yodlee’s Joe Polverari writes about LearnVest and its acquisition by Northwestern Mutual.
  • ABC’s 7 On Your Side quotes IDTheft 911 founder Adam Levin on protecting your driver’s license from identity theft.
  • Connect Financial Software Solutions to provide real-time, P2P payments courtesy of new partnership with Acculynk.
  • Cortera announces new releases of eCredit Software.
  • Zoho partners with Forte Payment Systems to offer electronic payments directly with Zoho Finance apps.
  • Dexterity Ventures’ Place2Give releases GIVE_api v. 2.0.
  • Pymnts interviews SimplyTapp president and co-founder Ted Fifelski.
  • PayPal to be publicly traded on NASDAQ in Q2 2015 with its original stock ticker symbol PYPL.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, CAN Capital, Check Point, FutureAdvisor, itBit, LearnVest, Lending Club, MiiCard, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, Prosper, Seergate, SigFig, Wallaby Financial, Wealthfront, Yodlee

On Finovate.com

  • itBit Raises $25 Million, Earns New York State Trust Charter Ahead of Finovate Debut Next Week in San Jose

Around the web

  • The Fiscal Times features Wealthfront, Betterment, Personal Capital, FutureAdvisor, SigFig, and Motif Investing in a column on the rise of the robo-adviser.
  • FierceFinanceIT highlights Lending Club and Prosper in its look at growing investment in P2P lenders by Wall Street.
  • Version 3.5 of Wallaby Financial’s new Android app provides ambient alerts to help consumers save on gasoline.
  • MiiCard CEO James Varga quoted in a column on Edinburgh’s tech pioneers.
  • CAN Capital reaches milestone of $5 billion in working capital facilitated through its platform.
  • Report on fintech in The Economist references Lending Club among key disruptors.
  • Nokia partners with Checkpoint for telco cloud security.
  • MyECheck completes acquisition and integration of Seergate.
  • Yodlee adds LearnVest acquirer, Northwestern Mutual, as client.
  • Javelin Strategy & Research lists 4 trends to watch at Finovate next week. Come see them unfold live at FinovateSpring 12/13 May.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, iSignthis, MasterCard, MaxMyInterest, Motif Investing, PaySimple, Place2Give, Taulia, Vanguard, Wealthfront, Xero

Around the web

  • Xero’s new feature helps businesses manage their data with a new dashboard that displays a variety of benchmarking metrics.
  • Pymnts talks with Eric Remer, founder and CEO of PaySimple, about its holistic payments solution.
  • Taulia launches mentorship program for women.
  • iSignthis inks agreement with SolidTrustPay to provide identity and authentication services.
  • MasterCard acquires Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) for $600 million.
  • Business Solutions profiles security specialist, Arxan Technologies.
  • The Economist features MaxMyInterest, a solution for “yield-hungry savers.”
  • Nasdaq’s Street Authority contrasts Vanguard with “robo-advisers” including Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Motif Investing, and Wealthfront. Join Vanguard in San Jose in May for FinovateSpring 2015.
  • Place2Give launches Nepal Relief Fund.

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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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bazaarvoice, Betterment, blooom, Credit Karma, D3 Banking, Fiserv, FutureAdvisor, InComm, LendKey, Linkable Networks, Motif Investing, Quantopian, Stocktwits, Tradier, Trustev, TSYS, Wallaby Financial, Wealthfront

On Finovate.com

  • LendKey to Power Online Student Lending at Navy Federal Credit Union. See LendKey at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose in May
  • Credit Karma Now Serves Americans with Thin Credit Files

Around the web

  • D3 Banking taps Jeffrey Hale as chief business development officer.
  • Business & Leadership features “Irish success story” Trustev and its CEO and co-founder, Pat Phelan.
  • MarketWatch looks at Betterment, Blooom, FutureAdvisor, Motif Investing, and Wealthfront in its column on the “battle” between human and robo-advisers.
  • Northwest Community Credit Union to deploy Portico from Fiserv.
  • Wallaby Financial launches Wallaby for Apple Watch.
  • TSYS enables full-service payment-processing for American Express OptBlue program.
  • Bazaarvoice hires Sara Spivey as its new chief marketing officer.
  • WSJ mentions StockTwits’ role in social media for investing.
  • Fierce Finance IT: Tradier’s API platform sees explosion of firms looking to build robo-advisers.
  • Linkable Networks launches Omnyverse affiliate network with digital offers, promotions and incentives.
  • InComm enables Budget Mobile to offer Airfair Lifeline Reload services through 90,000 retail stores.

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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