Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide enhances its UP Merchant Payments solution with the purchase of technology assets from RevChip and TranSend.
  • Onfido to provide identity verification for P2P RV rental marketplace, RVshare.
  • Coinbase enables transactions via PayPal to 32 countries in Europe courtesy of new collaboration.

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 Alums Shine in 2019 Forbes Fintech 50 Roster

Finovate Alums Shine in 2019 Forbes Fintech 50 Roster

A baker’s dozen of Finovate alums has been honored this week with spots on the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50, an annual aggregation of what the editors called “the most innovative companies in fintech.”

Here are the Finovate alums that made the cut. Read the full list.

“Recognition as a leading innovator in fintech is tremendous validation for the hard work we’ve done at Marqeta to open the industry up to the possibilities and opportunities of modern card issuing,” company CEO and founder Jason Gardner said. Marqeta is among the 20 companies to make its first appearance on the Forbes Fintech 50 roster.

Also earning their first appearances on Forbes Fintech 50 roster are New York based mobile investment platform Stash and San Francisco supply chain payments innovator Tradeshift.

“Very excited to be included in the 2019 Forbes Fintech 50!,” Stash tweeted once the news was released at the start of the week, “Monday = made.”

“We made the list!” Tradeshift tweeted this morning.

Summarizing this year’s selection of top fintechs, the editors noted that while 19 out of the 50 fintechs featured are unicorns with valuations of more than $1 billion, a nearly equal amount – 20 startups – are making their first showing on Forbes top fintech list. The two areas where newcomers were more prevalent, according to the editors, were payments technology and startups serving the un- and underbanked.

Coinbase Buys Data Enabling Startup Blockspring

Coinbase Buys Data Enabling Startup Blockspring

Blockspring, a San Francisco-based start-up enabling data collection through APIs, has been acquired by Coinbase, the giant crypto online exchange, reports Henry Vilar of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Financial details were not disclosed. Blockspring will continue to operate as an independent company and its products will continue to operate for current and new customers without changes.

Paul Katsen, co-founder of Blockspring, said the firm was attracted by Coinbase’s commitment to establishing an open financial system and the strength of its engineering team, led by Tim Wagner.

Wagner was formerly part of AWS Lambda, a service that launched soon after Blockspring unveiled a tool for developers to build APIs without needing to touch any servers. Lambda made this product, to a certain extent, superfluous, and forced the firm to reconsider its strategy.

That’s when Blockspring redirected its core business to help get data from APIs into productivity tools, as the firm took advantage of the proliferation of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and end-user computing.

“Making the technical simple and accessible is what we’ve always been about at Blockspring,” said Katsen on the acquisition.

The firm’s products can be used for purposes such as building lists and repositories for recruitment, marketing/sales, and reporting.

Blockspring is a Y Combinator alumnus, and has so far raised $3.5 million from investors that include SV Angel and a16z, both of which are Coinbase investors.

Coinbase, which has acquired and backed companies from around the world, and seems to be aiming high after October’s $300 million raise.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Coinbase demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2014.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Women in Fintech: “Pursuing Growth and Pursuing Profits Are Not Mutually Exclusive.”
  • New Threats, New Solutions: BioCatch Joins Anti-Vishing Fight.

Around the web

  • Clinc partners with Ford to bring voice recognition to its automobiles.
  • B2B digital marketing executive Nicky Senyard joins Voleo’s board of directors.
  • CSO Online reviews enterprise email security platform GreatHorn.
  • Coinbase offers cross-border wire transfer service to high-volume customers to help them fund their accounts.

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

  • Exate, FutureFlow, Anorak Join FinTech Innovation Lab London.

Around the web

  • Klarna announces collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg.
  • OutSystems earns a spot on G2 Crowd’s 2019 Best Software Companies roster.
  • IHS Markit partners with AcadiaSoft to support initial margin management.
  • Coinbase acquires data collecting and management specialist, Blockspring.

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

Around the web

  • Roostify announces enhanced Americans with Disabilities Act  (ADA) compliance for all consumer-facing aspects of his platform.
  • Coinbase adds six new European markets: Andorra, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, and Lithuania.

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

  • OnDeck Expands to Equipment Financing.

Around the web

  • Australia’s Volt Bank goes live with Temenos digital banking platform.
  • Finastra taps Eric Duffaut as President and Global Head of Operations.
  • BlueRush reports record level of business activity in its fiscal 2019 Q1 report.
  • Sezzle earns a spot on American Inno’s list of the Top Minnesota Startups Fundings of 2018.
  • Coinbase adds four Ethereum tokens – Dai (DAI), Golem (GNT), Maker (MKR), and Zilliqa (ZIL) to its Coinbase Pro 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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Alums Digital Onboarding, ForwardLane, and SizeUp Join MassChallenge’s 2019 FinTech Inaugural Program.
  • CB Alerts Portal from Ethoca Helps Carte Bancaires Merchants Fight Fraud.

Around the web

  • Agreement Express and TD Ameritrade Institutional deliver straight-through account opening to Veo Platform.
  • Gusto’s Flexible Pay is now available to employees directly in Texas through a newly created subsidiary Gusto Capital LLC.
  • AlphaPoint announces support for Stellar Lumens.
  • Lincoln Financial Group unveils new partnership with eMoney Advisor.
  • Sezzle hires former Target, TD Bank executive Jamie Kirkpatrick as its new Chief Risk Officer.
  • Averon co-founder and COO Lea Tarnowski earns finalist spot in Banking Technology Awards’ Women in Technology Leadership category.
  • Coinbase introduces instant PayPal withdrawals for U.S. customers.
  • Ripple and UAE Exchange team up to launch blockchain-powered cross-border remittance payment services in Asia in early 2019.

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

  • Boku Acquires Mobile ID and Authentication Company Danal

Around the web

  • CU Broadcast interviews Larky CEO Gregg Hammerman on what credit union CEOs are prioritizing for their members’ engagement today.
  • IdentityMind protects FIs with virtual currency risk assessment.
  • 32 fintechs graduate from Envestnet | Yodlee’s incubator.
  • Token brings Open Banking to Mena region.
  • Coinbase continues to explore support for new digital assets.
  • The city of Rye, NY partners with Passport to manage parking.
  • Mortgage Cadence integrates Radian’s mortgage insurance service into its Enterprise Lending Center solution.
  • The CX Show interviews SaleMove co-founder and CEO Dan Michaeli about creating contact center leaders.
  • TechCrunch interviews Transferwise cofounder and CEO Kristo Käärman on growing money transfers despite global turbulence.
  • Pendo Systems partners with Azimuth GRC and Global Comply.

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

  • Yandex.Money Moves Mobile Wallet Forward with Moven Enterprise.

Around the web

  • Jumio won gold award for Security Software Enterprise Product of the Year at the 2018 Best in Biz Awards
  • FamZoo redesigns card to make it more teen friendly.
  • Coindesk reports: Coinbase Quietly Opened Its OTC Crypto Trading Desk This Month.

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.

Coinbase Raises $300 Million, Becomes Unicorn 8x Over

Coinbase Raises $300 Million, Becomes Unicorn 8x Over

In its largest round of funding to-date, digital currency wallet Coinbase closed a $300 million investment today. The Series E equity round, which brings the company’s total funding to just over $525 million, was led by Tiger Global Management. Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain, and others also participated.

In a blog post announcement, the company said it plans to use the funds ” to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets.” Specifically, Coinbase will expand globally, offer more crypto assets, focus on utility applications for cryptocurrencies, and bring institutional funds into the cryptocurrency space.

Asiff Hirji, Coinbase president and COO, commented on the optimism for the future of crypto. “We see Coinbase’s growth as validation that the ecosystem will only continue to grow in size, influence and impact — ultimately ushering in a more open financial system for the world,” Hirji said. The funding brings with it a spike in Coinbase’s valuation.

The company became a unicorn valued at $1.6 billion after its previous funding round in August of last year and announced today that it is now worth over $8 billion. And that valuation is not unfounded– Coinbase has done a lot over the course of the past year to earn its 8x boost in valuation. Among its news-making accomplishments, the company launched Coinbase Custody to help institutional investors store digital assets, acquired Memo.AI and Earn.com, launched Coinbase Commerce, was granted an e-money license from the FCA, launched its own venture fund, and launched institutional grade solutions for cryptocurrency trading.

Founded in 2012, Coinbase demoed Instant Exchange at FinovateSpring 2014. The company was founded in 2012. Brian Armstrong is CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Coinbase Raises $300 Million, Becomes Unicorn 8x Over.

Around the web

  • The Financial Brand features Michigan First CU’s tech powered by Insuritas.
  • eToro lists Binance Coin (BNB) on its platform.
  • Leading Libyan private bank selects Temenos to power Islamic growth.
  • Lendio announces the opening of a Lendio franchise in Utah.

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.