Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Microsoft Marketing Vet Jeremy Korst Joins Avalara as New CMO.

Around the web

  • New York-based BizFi reaches $2 billion in originations.
  • LTP: Trulioo CEO Stephen Ufford writes about the problem of gift card fraud.
  • Boku extends partnership with Microsoft to support carrier billing to France.
  • Exostar teams up with Taulia to bring supply chain finance to the aerospace and defense industry.
  • Avoka, SocietyOne, and SuiteBox named finalists for Fintech Business Awards.
  • HBR: Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel writes about talking chatbots.
  • Quantopian recognized by Boston Globe as a “Company to Watch in 2017.”
  • Let’s Talk Payments features Kontomatik’s successful 2016.
  • Dashlane to support Intel Software Guard Extensions to help protect your passwords with hardware-enhanced security.
  • OurCrowd marks 4 years, $320m raised, 100 startups, 9 exits.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “P2P Lender Zopa to Launch Challenger Bank”
  • “Finovate/FinDEVr Alums Featured Among Monitise FINkit Platform Partners”
  • “Veridium Brings Hand Recognition Authentication to Mobile-Only Dutch bank, bunq”

Around the web

  • Co-founder of Markit, Rony Grushka, joins Algomi’s board of directors.
  • FinDEVr alum Quovo launches its account-authentication API.
  • Juvo teams up with Cable & Wireless to provide mobile credit services in the Caribbean.
  • Mastercard partners with Ratnakar Bank to launch Masterpass QR in India.
  • Thomson Reuters unveils its Thomson Reuters Pricing Service Evaluation Score (TRPS) to support pricing transparency.
  • LendingTree acquires credit card comparison and education provider, CompareCards.
  • Pirean wins security innovation of the year at the U.K.’s 2016 IT Industry Awards.
  • SafetyPay to power payment solutions for Payzoff.
  • NatWest deploys BioCatch behavioral biometrics technology.
  • Boku provides direct carrier billing in Japan for Spotify.

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

On Finovate.com

  • Live Safe and Prosper: The Themes of FinovateAsia 2016

Around the web

  • Algomi partners with Euronext to develop corporate bond trading network.
  • Fiserv adds SAS endpoint protection from CrowdStrike to its cyber security suite.
  • Top U.K. mobile wallet Yoyo picked by Caffé Nero for its mobile payment and loyalty rewards program.
  • Avoka unveils new analytics module, Transact Insights, to support digital account opening.
  • New partnership with Swisscom enables Boku to provide carrier biting for users of Spotify.
  • Overbond integrates fixed-income market-data from Thomson Reuters.

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

On Finovate.com

  • FinovateFall: Mapping the Future of Fintech Today
  • Payworks Raises $4.5 Million Series A
  • Mastercard Says “Me Too” to Visa’s PayPal Partnership

Around the web

  • Top Image Systems Signs Two Accounts Payable Automation Deals Valued at Over $480,000
  • EU-based mobile payments company SumUp achieves profitability.
  • Let’s Talk Payments interviews Boku CEO Jon Prideaux.
  • ACI Worldwide brings UP Retail Payments to Erste Bank Hungary.
  • Braintree to offer Visa Checkout.
  • ayondo relaunches website with new design and features to improve trading experience.
  • TransferWise announces tripling of revenues in first public annual report.

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.

Boku Lands $13.75 Million in Venture Funding

Boku Lands $13.75 Million in Venture Funding

Boku_homepage_September2016

In a venture round featuring investments from new and existing investors, direct carrier billing and mobile payments leader Boku has raised $13.75 million in additional funding. The financing brings Boku’s total capital to $91 million, and will help fuel the company’s global growth. Participating in the venture round were existing investors Khosla Ventures, Benchmark Capital, NEA, Index Ventures, and DAG Ventures. Additional new and existing investors from the U.K., the U.S., and Asia were also involved.

“Carrier billing is evolving from being a niche product for phone-centric content into a mainstream payment method used by the world’s major brands for all types of digital products,” Boku CEO Jon Prideaux explained. With most customers of carrier billing traditionally coming from developing countries where access to credit and payment cards can be a challenge, Prideaux noted that the company has experienced “explosive growth” in more developed markets, thanks largely to partnerships it has forged with merchants and carriers.

“The world’s biggest tech companies see tremendous potential in the power of the phone as a source of funds,” Prideaux added. He said the combination of improved technology and increased awareness are two trends driving greater adoption of carrier billing as a viable payment option in both emerging and developed markets.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Boku demonstrated its mobile payment service at FinovateEurope 2011. The company announced a partnership with Google that will make carrier-billing a payment option on Google Play in Lithuania, as well as an agreement that brings direct carrier billing to Windows 10 phones in both the U.K. and Italy. Boku announced that it would power carrier billing for Spotify in Germany and Italy and do the same for Google Play with four new partners in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Boku Lands $13.75 Million in Venture Funding

Around the web

  • Tradeshift, Taulia, and GoodData earn spots on Battery Ventures/Glassdoor’s “50 Highest Rated Private Cloud Companies to Work For” roster. See GoodData next week at FinovateFall in New York.
  • Sesloc FCU picks Symitar Episys core system from Jack Henry & Associates for in-house processing.
  • Q2 announces redesign of its corporate website.
  • First Annapolis interviews Cardlytics CEO Scott Grimes, co-founder.
  • NCR honored by 2016 Industrial Design Excellence Awards.
  • NuData Security Included in Industry Analyst Reports by Gartner for Fraud Detection
  • Top Image Systems names Brendan Reidy CEO.
  • Worldpay renews Ingenico terminal contract.

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

On Finovate.com

  • PrivatBank’s Partnership with InComm Initiates Launch of Prepaid Products in Ukraine
  • Obloco Beta Tests Expense Reporting Solution with Washington Trust Bank
  • SocietyOne Has Facilitated $38 Million in Personal Loans in 2016
  • PayPal Partners with Xero to Support B2B Invoice Payment

Around the web

  • Boku partners with Google to enable carrier billing as payment option on Google Play in Lithuania.
  • Ghana-based startup, Sovereign Bank, deploys T24 core-banking system from Temenos.
  • CenturyLink to host SatuitCRM and SatuitCRA software as part of new agreement.
  • Risk Ident CEO Robert Valerio appointed to European Advisory Board of the Merchant Risk Council (MRC).
  • Fortune features PayPal, MasterCard, and IBM on its list of companies that will change the world.
  • Nikkei Asian Review looks at how Japanese banks will leverage Ripple.

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

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: How the Kore Bots Deliver More than Your Average Chatbot
  • DriveWealth Expands APIs for Wealth Managers
  • Braintree, Finicity, and Twilio Take Top Honors at API World Awards

Around the web

  • BankBazaar wins “Emerging Brand of the Year” and “CEO of the Year” at seventh CMO Asia Awards.
  • Fintech News Switzerland highlights Currency Cloud and Zopa in a look at London’s top rising fintech stars.
  • Boku brings direct carrier billing to Windows 10 phones in the United Kingdom and Italy.
  • Markit enhances WSO software suite to offer new levels of automation for syndicated loan market.

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

On Finovate.com

  • Polly Portfolio Launches Investment Chatbot for Facebook Messenger
  • Check out this week’s FinDEVr APIntelligence.
  • Zopa Taps Ronen Benchetrit for CTO
  • Sezzle Adds Former PayPal Executives as Advisers
  • Actiance Now Supports Compliance for Instagram

Around the web

  • Boku expands carrier billing service with new partnerships in Germany.
  • NCR and Wells Fargo partner to develop next-generation ATM technology.
  • Mizuho Financial Group to pilot Ripple for cross-border payments.
  • NICE Actimize teams up with Tableau Software to combine business intelligence with financial crime-compliance technology.
  • True Potential opens multi-asset portfolios to adviser market.
  • Lendio partners with Townsquare to promote its alternative small business financing solutions.
  • Misys relocates Texas office from Richardson to Plano to expand operations.
  • CardFlight reports that more than 64% of its merchants are now EMV-enabled, more than 3x the national average.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “Big Blue Backs Mobile Banking in Rural China”
  • “BRIDGEi2i Closes Series A Funding Round”
  • “NICE Funding! CallVU Raises $3 Million”
  • “Ping Identity Acquired by Vista Equity Partners”

Around the web

  • “Check Point Named Leader for Vision and Execution in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Firewalls”
  • Boku brings mobile carrier billing to U.K. sports and entertainment venues.
  • Thomson Reuters launches FX benchmark service.
  • Monitise no longer plans to sell its marketing content business Markco Media.
  • “Jack Henry & Associates and Inlet Partner to Bring Enhanced eBill Functionality to 4,000 Financial Institutions”
  • Wealthfront introduces its 529 College Savings Plan.
  • Intelligent Environments teams up with Queen’s University Belfast’s Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT).
  • Wall Street Journal features Tuition.io in a look at how employers are providing low-cost loans to employees.
  • Ally Financial announces completion of TradeKing acquisition.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “Cardlytics Launches Syndicated Audiences”

On FinDEVr.com

  • Chain Launches Open Source Blockchain Protocol.

Around the web

  • ReadWrite features Tyfone’s launch of a new challenge at MIT focused on Internet of Things (IoT) security.
  • “Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche Receives Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award”
  • Cointelegraph interviews Alexander Vityaz, founder of Corezoid and head of e-commerce at PrivatBank.
  • PayPal’s Venmo processed $3.2 billion in total payments volume in Q1 2016, an increase of 154% year-over-year.
  • Infosys Finacle teams up with Samsung SDS to give mobile banking customers better authentication technology.
  • A look at APIs in the robo-adviser industry by Bank Innovation underscores the role played by Xignite.
  • “Kasasa Wins Multiple Hermes Creative Awards”
  • Pendo Systems unveils version 3.1 of its data exploration, discovery, and analysis platform.

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.

Boku to Power Carrier Billing for Spotify in Germany and Italy

Boku to Power Carrier Billing for Spotify in Germany and Italy

BOKUHomepage2016

San Francisco-based Boku has formed a partnership with Spotify to facilitate carrier billing in Germany and Italy for the music-streaming company. The agreement includes every major carrier in Germany and one of the leading Italian MNOs.

The two companies have already teamed up in the United Kingdom, and this is the first extension of that partnership. The recent geographical expansion now offers 90 million mobile subscribers across Europe the ability to pay for Spotify Premium subscriptions using only their mobile phone number.

In a press release announcing the expansion, Boku CEO Jon Prideaux spoke of the success Boku has had thus far in Europe:

In the U.K., the default payment method for new Spotify users has changed from credit card to carrier billing … . These new carrier agreements across Europe not only speak to the global appeal of Spotify’s streaming music service, but also the growing appeal of carrier billing for Europeans as a payment method that can now be implemented as a stored payment method in the exact same manner as a credit card.

BOKUwebPOS

Boku’s Checkout offers customers the option of paying via carrier billing at the online point-of-sale (see example above). The company works with 300+ mobile operators in 60+ countries and demoed its mobile payment service at FinovateEurope 2011 in London.