Funding

Location Identity Leader Incognia Secures $15.5 Million to Help Fight Identity Fraud

Location Identity Leader Incognia Secures $15.5 Million to Help Fight Identity Fraud
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Incognia
  • Mobile fraud prevention specialist Incognia, which made its Finovate debut in May at FinovateSpring, has raised $15.5 million in Series A funding.
  • The capital will be used to help fuel the company’s growth; Incognia currently has 200 million mobile users in more than 20 countries worldwide.
  • Incognia leverages location and motion sensors to create a unique “location footprint” for trusted users that rivals other authentication methods in accuracy.

In a round led by Point72 Ventures, mobile identity company Incognia has secured $15.5 million in Series A funding to help fight identity fraud. The investment will help fuel the Palo Alto, California-based company’s continued growth, building on the 200 million mobile users in more than 20 countries currently protected by Incognia’s technology.

“Today’s authentication and fraud detection solutions aren’t working for the user, or for businesses, and the market is looking for more innovative technologies,” Incognia founder and CEO André Ferraz said. “Incognia is pushing the frontier of identity assurance and authentication to deliver increased security with minimal user friction.”

Incognia leverages location signals and motion sensors on an individual’s mobile device to help combat identity fraud. The technology creates a privacy-first location identity that is unique to each user and acts like a “location fingerprint” that effectively differentiates trusted users from fraudulent ones. The company says that its solution, which can be deployed in industries ranging from fintech and crypto to gaming and social media, is 10x more accurate than FaceID in terms of uniquely identifying users. Further, Incognia notes that the technology has a false acceptance rate of less than 1 in 17 million.

“We’re emerging as the global location identity leader, effectively combating the increasing fraud on mobile around the world,” Ferraz added. “We’re dedicated to enabling our customers to deliver frictionless mobile experiences without compromising security and privacy.”

Incognia made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022 in May. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its frictionless fraud prevention solution for mobile apps combats identity fraud without bringing additional friction to the authentication process. The technology’s zero-factor authentication requires no action from the user in order to provide a highly accurate risk assessment with low false acceptance rates.

Founded in 2020, Incognia also recently introduced its new location-based liveness spoofing detection solution module. The offering prevents biometric liveness spoofing during the onboarding process. This particular form of fraud is often used by cybercriminals to create “money mule” accounts for money laundering – as innovative fraudsters have turned to liveness spoofing to get around selfie-based liveness detection algorithms. The challenge of liveness spoofing has become even greater with the availability of cheap – or even free – deepfake video technology. Incognia’s location-based liveness spoofing detection module is designed to prevent these deepfake attacks in real-time.

“As fraudsters advance their techniques to trick liveness detection tools, it is critical that there is a solution on the market that can successfully combat the use of deepfakes at onboarding,” Ferraz said.

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Payments Solution Provider SumUp Raises $624 Million at a Valuation of $8.5 Billion

Payments Solution Provider SumUp Raises $624 Million at a Valuation of $8.5 Billion
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, SumUp
  • E-commerce payments enabler SumUp raised $624 million (€590 million) in a combination of equity and debt financing this week.
  • The funding round was led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities.
  • This week’s investment gives SumUp a valuation of $8.5 billion (€8 billion).

In a round led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities – and featuring participation from funds managed by BlackRock, btov Partners, Centerbridge, Crestline, Fin Capital, and Sentinel Dome Partners – e-commerce payments innovator SumUp has secured an investment of $624 million (€590 million). The funding gives the London-based company a valuation of $8.5 billion (€8 billion). SumUp co-founder Marc-Alexander Christ said in a statement that the capital will “enable us to continue to build out our product ecosystem, expand into new markets, (and) pursue value-adding acquisitions.”

The funding was a 50/50 mix of debt and equity and includes SumUp’s first equity infusion since 2017. The company’s total funding stands at $1.6 billion – most of which is debt financing. SumUp secured €750 million in debt funding in 2021.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Christ called the company’s new valuation “true and fair”. This statement comes months after it was reported that SumUp was seeking an investment that would give the company a significantly higher valuation – to the tune of $21 billion (€20 billion). Christ suggested that the current valuation reflects “the price people put on the company in the worst of markets” and that SumUp’s valuation was unlikely to move any lower in the future.

SumUp won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. In the years since, the company has grown to serve more than four million businesses with its payment solutions that range from card readers and point of sale solutions to business accounts and invoicing. The company began this year teaming up with Worldpay from FIS to support its global expansion efforts. SumUp will use Worldpay’s global acquiring services, including authorization, clearing and settlement, dispute management and data insights.

Also this year, SumUp announced a referral deal with Latin American and European e-commerce platform PrestaShop. The partnership gave “hundreds of thousands” of merchants on the PrestaShop platform access to SumUp’s product suite of payment solutions and business tools. Nearly 300,000 websites rely on PrestaShop’s technology, and the company sees its collaboration with SumUp as part of its strategy to enable more merchants to launch and scale their businesses.

“By partnering with PrestaShop, we will continue to expand our support for digital transformation of small businesses, by ensuring their products and services are also available online for their customers,” SumUp Head of Sales and Partnerships James Henry said. “Our partnership will enable merchants with a seamless and secure payment experience for all major credit and debit cards, an important tool in enabling small business success in today’s environment.”

Founded in 2012, SumUp is headquartered in London. Daniel Klein is founder and CEO.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Autobooks Lands $50 Million in Funding to Boost Bank Distribution

Autobooks Lands $50 Million in Funding to Boost Bank Distribution
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Autobooks, Daily news, Funding
  • Autobooks has received $50 million in a Series C funding round led by Macquarie Capital.
  • The investment more than doubles Autobooks’ total funding raised, boosting it to $98 million.
  • Autobooks won Best of Show for its demo at FinovateFall 2021.

Payment and accounting platform Autobooks raked in $50 million in a Series C round led by Macquarie Capital with additional support from new and existing investors Baird Capital, Commerce Ventures, Draper Triangle, MissionOG, and TD Bank. The investment more than doubles the Michigan-based company’s total raised, boosting that figure to $98 million.

Autobooks plans to use today’s funding to accelerate distribution into the U.S. banking market.

Autobooks serves more than 60,000 small businesses with a range of tools including digital payment acceptance, online invoicing, online enrollment, accounting, bookkeeping, financial reporting, billpay, and more. The company’s embedded receivables platform for small businesses enables digital invoices, payment acceptance, and automated accounting directly within their mobile banking suite.

To facilitate this, Autobooks integrates its tools with a range of digital banking providers, making its services available to over one third of the U.S. market. Companies that offer Autobooks’ invoicing and payment acceptance tools to their small business clients include Alkami, Bottomline, CSI, FIS, Jack Henry, NCR, and Q2.

In addition to helping small businesses, Autobooks also has the potential to benefit banks. TD Online Accounting, which is a whitelabeled version of Autobooks’ technology, has seen deposits from its 700+ small business clients increase 65%. Simultaneously, the firm has experienced a 2x increase in product usage.

“Businesses are increasingly looking for simple, bundled solutions to get paid and automate their back-office. If the bank can’t offer these services quickly, businesses will (and have) gone elsewhere,” said Autobooks Cofounder and CEO Steve Robert. “To maintain primacy, banks must optimize legacy merchant service programs to include digital payment acceptance tools that feature self-service onboarding. Autobooks makes this possible through our payment facilitation (payfac) model, which can be enabled within days by industry leading partners.”

Autobooks averages more than 10,000 monthly enrollments and has surpassed $40 billion in transaction volume. From 2021 to 2022, the company has experienced 5x revenue growth, 3x employee growth, and 6.5x bank partner growth. Autobooks won Best of Show for its demo at FinovateFall 2021.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Pure IT Credit Union Services Receives $6.8 Million in Funding to Help CUs Leverage Technology to Compete, Serve Members

Pure IT Credit Union Services Receives $6.8 Million in Funding to Help CUs Leverage Technology to Compete, Serve Members
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • CUSO Pure IT Credit Union Services received an investment of $6.8 million this week from a group of credit unions.
  • The funding will be used to help expand Pure IT’s ability to help credit unions leverage technology to compete with other financial institutions and to better serve their members.
  • The investment comes a few months after Pure IT announced an acquisition of Purity Technology.

Technology-based credit union service organization (CUSO) Pure IT Credit Union Services announced an investment of $6.8 million. The funding came from a coalition of seven credit unions – including Lone Star CU, Union Square CU, DEXSTA CU, People’s Trust CU, Linn Area CU, Ardent CU, and fellow CUSO Envisant.

“What bigger compliment can you have than your own clients investing in your,” Pure IT Credit Union Services co-founder and CEO Jack Smith said. He added that it was part of Pure IT’s mission to “help the industry achieve maturation and evolution to stay relevant and serve even more members.”

The new funding will be used to expand Pure IT’s work in helping credit unions leverage technology to compete for, and better serve, more members.

Headquartered in Texas, Pure IT Credit Services was founded in 2016. Formed initially as a partnership between a credit union and a collection of technology services professionals, the company has grown into a credit union IT services and consulting firm that helps assess a credit union’s IT environment, enabling its clients to focus on business strategy, operations, and serving their members.

Earlier this year, Pure IT Credit Services acquired Texas-based IT services company Purity Technology. The purchase will enable Pure IT to deliver more secure, “modern mobility services” to a greater number of credit unions

“(Purity’s technology) helps smaller institutions and mid-sized institutions that don’t have IT people or don’t have full-time IT resources or are thinking about using ‘Mom and Pop’ down the street for their IT support ” Smith said in an interview with CU Broadcast host Mike Lawson. “This gets them secure and compliant … ‘Mom and Pop’ aren’t going to know what a financial institution needs … (Purity) is a built-in, support service that actually solves that issue for a lot of (different sized) credit unions that don’t have that sophistication internally.”

Photo by Pixabay

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Voice Verification Solution Provider Illuma Labs Secures Investment from NYCUA and UsNet

Voice Verification Solution Provider Illuma Labs Secures Investment from NYCUA and UsNet
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Illuma Labs
  • Illuma Labs, maker of the Illuma Shield voice verification platform, raised new funding this week from NYCUA and UsNet.
  • The amount of the investment was not disclosed. The funding comes one year after Illuma Labs secured $2.5 million in funding from the Curql Fund.
  • This week’s funding comes one month after the company partnered with Posh Technologies to win the “Next Big Thing” award from NACUSO (National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations) and Co-Op Solutions.

Voice authentication innovator llluma Labs secured new funding this week. The company announced that the New York Credit Union Association (NYCUA) and its affiliate UsNet, have teamed up to invest in the Plano, Texas-based company and support further development of its flagship Illuma Shield voice verification solution.

The amount of the investment was not disclosed. The company raised $2.5 million in funding from the Curql Fund just over a year ago

A Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), Illuma Labs considers credit unions to be its key customers, investors, and partners. The company’s Illuma Shield technology enables call centers to leverage passive voice authentication to improve the user experience, guard against fraudsters, and boost operational efficiency by reducing call handle times, hold times, and abandon rates. A cost-effective, easy to deploy, and simple to use solution for mid-size financial institution call centers, Illuma Shield analyzes the unique aspects of a speaker’s voice and their communication device to create an AudioPrint that can be used to verify identity on subsequent calls. The AudioPrint process happens in the background, during normal conversation, without requiring the speaker to answer security questions or recite passphrases.

“This technology uses state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Voice Biometrics to address three of the top concerns for credit unions today,” Illuma Shield founder and CEO Milind Borkar said. “The platform improves member experience by emulating the warm welcome of a brick-and-mortar visit while offering a very high level of protection against account takeovers. Cutting out the security Q&A process also creates operational efficiency by shortening call times. The infusion of investment from NYCUA and UsNet is highly valued since it helps us expand to serve even more credit unions.”

A Finovate alum since 2019, Illuma Labs announced a partnership with SCE Credit Union, a $1 billion institution with more than 60,000 members in Southern California and Southern Nevada, in May. Also that month, Illuma Labs and Posh Technologies collaborated to win the “Next Big Idea” award from NACUSO and Co-Op Solutions. The partnership combined the passive voice authentication of Illuma Labs’ Illuma Shield and Posh Technologies’ conversational AI IVR to help call centers cope with high call volume and talent shortages.

“Posh’s conversational AI and Illuma’s voice biometrics is a combination that makes sense,” Posh co-founder Karan Kashyap said. “As we do our parts as CUSOs to bring transformative technology to the credit union market, our partnership will enhance member security for credit unions while offering a streamlined authentication experience for the caller – a win-win. We look forward to a bright future with Illuma Labs.”

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Backbase Secures $128 Million Investment from Motive Partners

Backbase Secures $128 Million Investment from Motive Partners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Backbase, Daily news, Funding
  • Backbase raised $128 million (€120 million) in growth equity funding this week.
  • The round was led by private equity firm Motive Partners, and gave the company a valuation of $2.6 billion (€2.5 billion).
  • Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform enables banks and credit unions to leverage a cloud-based platform to offer bank customers seamless digital experiences.

Engagement banking platform Backbase secured $128 million (€120 million) in growth equity funding from private equity firm Motive Partners. The investment gives the company, which made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall 2021, a valuation of $2.6 billion (€2.5 billion). The funding also marks Backbase’s first-ever funding event since its founding in 2003.

“Today is a major milestone for more than 2,000 Backbasers and 150 customers around the world, to celebrate the incredible progress we made,” Backbase founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter said in a statement. “With this partnership, we’re even better equipped to drive our Engagement Banking vision to the next level.”

The investment from the “founder-friendly” firm will enable Backbase to commit more resources to its Engagement Banking solution, helping power the company’s mission to “re-architect” banking in a customer-focused way. Backbase’s technology gives banks and credit unions the ability to move away from disconnected, point and channel solutions. Instead, with Backbase’s cloud-based platform, financial institutions can build frictionless customer journeys across all stages of the customer lifecycle from onboarding and servicing to lending and expanding wallet share.

With more than 150 financial institutions around the world using its technology, Backbase gives banks and credit unions the ability to quickly digitize and transform their customer-facing operations to meet the expectations of increasingly digitally-savvy banking customers. At its most recent Finovate appearance last fall, Backbase demonstrated a customer onboarding solution that consolidated a customer’s finances via direct deposit, billl pay auto linking, and debit card account opening. The technology showed how financial institutions can get key insights into their customers and empower them to take more control over their financial lives.

“Backbase’s proven track record of entrepreneurship and organic growth will continue,” Jouk said. “Our formula is simple: focus on the needs of our customers and empower highly skilled teams to deliver. We’re changing a big industry, which is hard work. Having critical mass and market momentum allows us to stay laser-focused. Together we’re making it happen.”

Founded in 2003, three-time Finovate Best of Show winner Backbase maintains a global headquarters in Amsterdam.

Photo by SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Suze Orman’s New Startup SecureSave Raises $11 Million for its Workplace Emergency Savings Account

Suze Orman’s New Startup SecureSave Raises $11 Million for its Workplace Emergency Savings Account
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Secure
  • SecureSave raised $11 million in strategic funding this week, taking its total capital raised to $14.7 million.
  • The Kirkland, Washington-based company offers workplace-based emergency savings accounts.
  • SecureSave made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring.

SecureSave, a new workplace savings program provider that made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2021, has secured $11 million in a strategic funding round led by Truist Ventures. Truist Ventures is the venture capital division of Truist Financial. Also participating in the round were Stearns Financial Services Inc. and cryptocurrency platform FTX.

The investment brings SecureSave’s total capital to $14.7 million. The new capital will be used to support partnership expansion as well as further development of the company’s flagship emergency savings solution.

“This new investment is a reflection of the rapid adoption and incredible customer demand we’re seeing for SecureSave’s unique emergency savings platform and underscores the industry and investor confidence in our vision,” SecureSave CEO and co-founder Devin Miller said. “Amidst the economic uncertainty over the last two years, companies both large and small recognize (that) an ESA is as critical as an 401(k) or an HSA and not just for retention or for recruiting, but also because poor financial health is impacting companies’ bottom line.”

Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and founded in 2020, SecureSave offers a new type of workplace savings program that helps workers build and maintain an emergency savings account. Emergency savings accounts are funded automatically through regular payroll deductions – as well as matching contributions from the employer – and ESA holders can instantly access their funds at any time. SecureSave’s ESA also offers bonuses to accountholders for reaching financial goals and savings targets. The company reported that the average SecureSave accountholder saves $103 per month in their account and tops $400 in savings within the first four month of opening their ESA.

“While the pandemic demonstrated why an emergency savings account was a necessity, the impact of the current inflationary environment is having on employees is bringing home this point even more,” SecureSave Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder Suze Orman said. “I could not be more proud for SecureSave to better meet the needs of those in financial distress by offering an employer matched emergency savings account.”

Photo by Joslyn Pickens

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Irish Fintech TransferMate Secures Unicorn Status with $70 Million Investment

Irish Fintech TransferMate Secures Unicorn Status with $70 Million Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • TransferMate is fintech’s latest unicorn, having secured $70 million in funding this week and earning a valuation of more than $1 billion.
  • TransferMate’s platform enables businesses and individuals to make cross-border payments in more than 201 countries and more than 140 currencies.
  • Headquartered in Ireland, TransferMate was founded in 2010.

With a new investment of $70 million, Ireland-based, cross-border B2B payments company TransferMate has become the country’s latest fintech unicorn.

The funding round featured the participation of U.K. pension fund giant Railpen. This week’s funding brings TransferMate’s total capital raised to $130 million and gives the company a valuation of more than $1 billion.

“By combining our technology and our global license network, we empower software providers, banks, and fintechs to deliver payments dramatically faster and cheaper than the traditional SWIFT system,” TransferMate co-founder and Executive Chairman Terry Clune said. “We will use this investment to continue to recruit senior financial talent who can help broaden our customer base.”

A global B2B payments infrastructure-as-a-service company, TransferMate specializes in streamlining, digitizing, and automating the manual operations required in order to facilitate the payments process. Used by banks, software companies, and fintechs alike, TransferMate’s embedded payments technology enables businesses to grow globally and pay locally. The company’s world-class compliance program, powered by a sizable portfolio of payment licences, features embedded security tools to defend against fraud and money laundering, and provides predictive risk assessments and real-time response solutions.

“Our commitment to deliver real-time transparency and speed when businesses are conducting cross border payments has resulted in TransferMate becoming the global B2B payment infrastructure of choice for the world’s leading procure-to-pay and spend management platforms,” TransferMate CEO and co-founder Sinead Fitzmaurice said. “This investment will allow us to accelerate our mission to drive innovation as businesses seek to digitize their B2B payments within the core software that they use to conduct their day-to-day activities.”

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Kilkenny, Ireland TransferMate is a subsidiary of Clune Technology Group. Last fall, the company announced a partnership with ComplyAdvantage, a specialist in customer onboarding and transaction screening and monitoring.

Photo by Lukas Kloeppel

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Caribou Raises $115 Million for Auto Refinance Tech

Caribou Raises $115 Million for Auto Refinance Tech
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Auto loan refinance company Caribou received $115 million in Series C funding last week.
  • The company now boasts $190 million in total funding and touts a $1.1 billion valuation.
  • Caribou will use the funds to further invest in its platform, create new products, and expand its team.

Auto loan refinance company Caribou closed on $115 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round late last week. The investment brings the Washington, D.C.-based company’s total raised up to $190 million and boosts it into the fintech unicorn club with a valuation of $1.1 billion.

Goldman Sachs led the round, which drew contributions from new investors Innovius Capital and Harmonic. Existing investors, including Accomplice, CMFG Ventures, Curql Fund, Firebolt Ventures, Gaingels, Moderne Ventures, Motley Fool Ventures, and others also contributed.

Caribou will use today’s funding to further invest in its platform, create new products, and expand its team.

Formerly known as MotoRefi, Caribou was founded in 2016. The company helps its customers save an average of over $100 per month on their car payments by partnering with lenders and facilitating refinances. Caribou partnered with SoFi in April of last year to white-label its auto refinancing technology for SoFi’s 3.8 million customers. The company also offers a digital insurance marketplace that lets users browse quotes from a range of auto insurance providers.

“With the costs of car ownership soaring, and macroeconomic headwinds negatively impacting people’s finances, we believe that it’s more important than ever to help people save money,” said Innovius Capital CEO Justin Moore. “Caribou has established itself as the go-to platform to refinance their auto loan and we are excited for all that is to come.”

Over the past four years, Caribou has refinanced more than $1.5 billion in loans and scaled its workforce from 40 employees to 500. Kevin Bennett is CEO.

Photo by Joris Beugels on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Payroll, Benefits, and HR Management Innovator Gusto Secures Series E Round Extension

Payroll, Benefits, and HR Management Innovator Gusto Secures Series E Round Extension
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Gusto
  • TechCrunch and Pitchbook are reporting that HR innovator Gusto has raised an extension on its Series E round.
  • The company’s Series E round, launched in 2021, was led by T. Rowe Price Associates, and totaled $175 million.
  • The amount of the extension was not disclosed, but it is believed to be in the neighborhood of $55 million.

TechCrunch is reporting that HR technology company – and Finovate alum – Gusto has secured an extension of its 2021 Series E funding round. That round featured an investment of $175 million and was led by T. Rowe Price Associates. The amount of capital in the extension announced this week has not been disclosed, but TechCrunch suggests that the sum “appears to be around the $55 million mark.” Ahead of this week’s extension announcement, Gusto had a valuation of nearly $10 billion, and now has more than $746 in total funding.

Gusto offers an all-in-one platform to enable businesses to successfully automate and manage their HR operations. This includes a full-service payroll capability, as well as employee benefits management, hiring and onboarding, talent management, and timecards and attendance. The platform also provides insights and reporting that support anonymous team surveys, customizable reports, automatic compliance alerts, and more.

The company, launched in 2012, made its Finovate debut as ZenPayroll in 2014. Rebranding one year later as Gusto, the company has since grown into a fintech unicorn with more than 200,000 business customers nationwide. Gusto processes tens of billions of dollars in payroll every year while providing employee benefits – including health insurance and 401(k) accounts – that help companies provide an optimal environment for their workers.

Gusto began the year with an announcement that Whiz Consulting, based in Dallas Texas, launched its Gusto Payroll Services offering. Also in January, Gusto announced the appointment of former GitHub and Tesla executive Mike Taylor as its new Chief Financial Officer. This spring, Gusto reported that performance management software provider Engagedly would offer a seamless integration with its platform.

“We are excited to partner with Gusto, a leader in the people management platform,” Engagedly President and co-founder Sri Chellappa said. “As a partner, Gusto will help our joint clients leverage the vast power of Engagedly for employee engagement, people development, learning and performance management, and providing a seamless and holistic employee experience.”

Gusto is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Co-founder Joshua Reeves is CEO.

Photo by Henry & Co.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking

Token Raises $40 Million for Open Banking
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Token
  • Open banking expert Token landed a $40 million Series C investment.
  • The round, which was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap, boosted the company’s total funding to $90 million.
  • Among Token’s clients are BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Open banking innovator Token.io closed a $40 million Series C funding round this week. The investment was co-led by Cota Capital and TempoCap and boosted Token’s total funding to $90 million.

New investors Element Ventures, MissionOG, and PostFinance also pitched in, along with existing contributors Octopus Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures, and SBI Investments. 

Token will use the capital to shift consumer habits from traditional payment methods like cards and wallets to open banking-enabled account-to-account (A2A) payments. Specifically, the company aims to enhance its APIs for Variable Recurring Payments and open finance functionality.

“With this investment, we will continue to expand open banking connectivity and push the boundaries of functionality beyond regulatory requirements to make A2A payments a mainstream payment method,” said Token CEO Todd Clyde.

Founded in 2016, Token is focused on driving the shift from traditional payment methods– such as cash and credit cards– towards bank payments. The company’s platform works towards this mission by enhancing open banking connectivity across Europe and supporting existing payment providers.

“Token’s A2A payments offering delivers faster and more secure payments than traditional methods while at a lower cost,” said TempoCap Investment Partner Adam Shepherd. “Token’s technology is enabling an impressive set of payment providers to offer seamless experiences for their merchant customers and, in turn, end users.”

Token’s client list includes BNP Paribas, HSBC, Mastercard, Nuvei, Paysafe, Ecommpay, Rewire, Coingate, Sonae Universo, Volt, and Vyne.

Photo by Tim Douglas

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Credit Risk Management Innovator AKUVO Secures Investment from a Trio of Credit Unions

Credit Risk Management Innovator AKUVO Secures Investment from a Trio of Credit Unions
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Three credit unions – VyStar CU, BCU, and Reseda Group – have invested in credit risk management specialist AKUVO.
  • Terms of the funding were not disclosed.
  • The new capital will help AKUVO further develop its credit risk and delinquency management platform, Aperture.

Credit risk and delinquency management specialist AKUVO announced a new investment not from the world of venture capital, but from the land of membership-powered credit unions. The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but the names of the credit unions involved in the funding have been: VyStar Credit Union, BCU, and Reseda Group, a wholly-owned CUSO (credit union service organization) of Michigan State University Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU).

The funding will enable AKUVO to further develop its collection and credit risk platform, Aperture. The cloud-based, API-enabled portfolio risk and delinquency management solution provides streamlined information for quick and easy research and leverages robotic processing to offer businesses a 20% improvement in collector efficiency, a 15% reduction of effort for speciality processes, a 10% reduction in collection workload, and a 10% increase in manager efficiency.

“Our goal is to empower members to discover financial freedom, and I am optimistic AKUVO’s data science solutions will help us accelerate our ability to do just that,” BCU EVP and COO Jim Block said. “We anticipate rapid growth over the next decade, and the Aperture platform has the promise to scale with our membership.”

With $5.5 billion in assets, BCU is based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, in the greater Chicago area. BCU is the smallest (by assets) of the three credit unions involved in AKUVO’s funding this week. Reseda Group is part of $6.8 billion MSUFCU and this investment represents the second time the institution has invested in AKUVO (the first being in January of this year).

“AKUVO’s Aperture platform will change the way we provide members with individual credit solutions that maximize recoveries,” MSUFCU Chief Risk Officer Jim Hunsanger said. “Aperture’s data-based decisioning also ensures we meet regulatory and legal requirements. We’re excited to be an AKUVO client and early investor.”

VyStar Credit Union, based in Jacksonville, Florida, has $12 billion in assets, and is one of the 15 largest credit unions in the country. Speaking on behalf of the firm, VyStar’s SVP of Loan Administration Eric Weatherly said that the investment in AKUVO will “allow us to be a greater force for change for our members and the credit union community.”

Courtesy of the investment, each of the three credit unions involved will have a representative on AKUVO’s board of directors. Headquartered in Pennsylvania, AKUVO was founded in 2019.

Photo by imustbedead

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook