Signicat Raises $2 Million to Build Out its Identity Assurance as a Service Technology

Signicat Raises $2 Million to Build Out its Identity Assurance as a Service Technology

Identity Assurance as a Service (IDAaaS) innovator Signicat has won phase two funding from Horizon 2020, the EU framework program for research and innovation. The $2 million grant (€1.6 million) will enable Signicat to continue development of its IDAaaS toolbox for use in Europe, and takes the company’s total funding to $3.9 million.

“A single digital ID market in Europe is vital so that financial service providers can easily offer their services across borders without the customer struggling to assert their identity,” Signicat CEO Gunnar Nordseth said. “Cross-border digital ID creates greater choice and convenience for the customer, and opens up new markets for financial institutions.”

Left to right: Business Development Director Robert Kotlarz and Product Expert Kåre Indrøy demonstrating Signicat Assure and Signicat Sign at FinovateEurope 2017.

The development of a single digital identity market for Europe is a goal for the European Commission by the second half of the decade, Signicat noted in a statement. Signicat’s IDAaaS technology, the first of its kind, will give financial service providers and e-commerce businesses the ability to verify new customer identities using electronic identity (eID) and digital verification of paper ID. IDAaaS also enables them to take advantage of a range of other solutions such as facial recognition.

Signicat secured phase two funds following successful completion of phase one, which was begun and funded by Horizon 2020 at the end of 2016. During phase one, Signicat partnered with Innopay to analyze the demand and potential for digital onboarding solutions in a set of European countries. The study uncovered areas where current European eID protocols were lacking in terms of providing sufficient information for effective digital onboarding, and indicated how Signicat’s IDAaaS technology could fill those gaps.

“While eIDAS is a step in the right direction, it does not yet go far enough,” Nordseth said. “Our vision is to integrate eIDs across Europe, making on-boarding customers simple for financial institutions and their customers, while still meeting KYC regulations.”

Founded in 2007, Signicat demonstrated its Signicat Assure and Signicat Sign identity verification solutions at FinovateEurope 2017. The company, which is based in Trondheim, Norway, earned a spot in the European Fintech 100 last September, and launched its mobile authentication solution, MobileID, last year in May. Also that month, the company partnered with Rabobank to launch a Digital Identity Service Provider (DISP) to provide a variety of online login, identity, and signature solutions. Check out our profile of Signicant from last spring: Signicat Delivers On Demand Digital ID Verification.

Juvo Receives Investment from Samsung to Boost Smartphone Usage Among Underbanked

Juvo Receives Investment from Samsung to Boost Smartphone Usage Among Underbanked

Mobile identity company Juvo has received an investment from Samsung NEXT, an off-shoot of Samsung that launched in 2013 to create new software and foster a startup culture at Samsung. The amount of the investment was undisclosed and adds to the San Francisco-based company’s $54 million in equity funding.

The bigger story here is that the investment is a strategic one. Samsung will bring Juvo access to billions of underbanked prepaid users across the globe. This will help Juvo enable MNOs to increase smartphone adoption among prepaid mobile subscribers.

Juvo was founded in 2014 with a mission to “establish financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded.” The company’s tag-line sums this up as, “access for all.”

In today’s press release, Steve Polsky, founder and CEO of Juvo, explained that the investment and alignment with Samsung NEXT is important because it allows Juvo “to further realize our vision by being among the first to integrate financial identity into a hardware device and, with it, offer unprecedented access to greater financial services.” He added, “Samsung opens a critical piece of the ecosystem for Juvo, and its world class organization, market expertise, and reach will accelerate the Juvo mission, putting sophisticated technology in the hands of unbanked people and provide financial access to those who need it most.”

“At Samsung NEXT, we’re focused on working with entrepreneurs and startups that are creating truly impactful software and services–software and services that will transform the way we, as humans, interact with our devices, each other and the world,” said Patrick Chang, Principal at Samsung NEXT Ventures. “Juvo’s impressive traction from mobile operators and consumers offers an opportunity for us to tap into the next billion customers through more comprehensive financial inclusion and accessibility.”

Polsky demoed Juvo’s Identity Scoring at FinovateFall 2016. The company empowers underbanked consumers by offering them a single identity with which to access financial services across the globe. Juvo also incentivizes financially underserved consumers to build credit and access financial services by extending microloans.

Since launch, the company has attained a reach of more than 500 million subscribers across four continents and is deployed in 25 countries. Last fall, Juvo partnered with Malaysian mobile virtual network operator, Tune Talk.

defi SOLUTIONS Lands $55 Million

defi SOLUTIONS Lands $55 Million

Loan origination solutions company defi SOLUTIONS just closed on $55 million in funding. The Series C round comes from Bain Capital Ventures, offering social proof along with a stamp of approval for defi’s suite of loan services. This is the Texas-based company’s first round of financing.

The primary capital portion of the investment will be used to accelerate product development, expand resources and facilities, and grow the number of employees by nearly 50% this year.

This comes at a time when there has been significant rise in auto lending, especially to sub-prime borrowers. Simultaneously, however, loan defaults are soaring as a result of hastily made loans. defi helps lenders take advantage of the opportunity while mitigating risk. Additionally, senior principal at Bain Capital Ventures, Brian Goldsmith explained, “defi delivers competitive advantages that enable forward-thinking lenders to own their processes and exceed their business objectives through one holistic platform.” Goldsmith added, “Our team is thrilled to support defi SOLUTIONS’ growth trajectory in a space that is primed to expand and remain competitive with the increased use of new technology.”

Founded in 2012, defi originally offered a flagship auto financing service. Since then, the company has broadened its offerings to include a full suite of configurable Software-as-a-Service loan origination solutions and has experienced a 70+% compounded annual growth rate. Most recently, defi has added a loan management and servicing system, an analytics and reporting system with dashboards for real-time reporting, a direct lending application portal, a digital loan document service with e-signature, and an online auto loan portfolio marketplace.

At FinovateSpring 2014, defi CEO and founder Stephanie Alsbrooks showcased the company’s loan origination solution for auto lenders. Last month, the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at the SMU Cox School of Business ranked the company number 37 on the top 100 fastest-growing privately-held businesses in the Dallas area.

Ledger Raises $75 Million in New Funding

Ledger Raises $75 Million in New Funding

In an oversubscribed Series B round led by Draper Esprit, cryptocurrency and blockchain security firm Ledger has raised $75 million (€61 million) in new funding. The investment takes the company’s total capital to more than $85 million.

“We initially designed our Ledger hardware wallet as an enabler for the blockchain revolution,” Ledger CEO Eric Larcheveque said. “Three years later, and with this Series B, we are reaching a significant milestone in our path to build a technological giant in the promising space of cryptocurrencies.”

Ledger plans to use the funds to scale its operations as demand for cryptocurrency and blockchain related products and services soars. Ledger’s Series B is one of the largest traditional Series B investments into blockchain and cryptocurrency-based technologies (ICOs aside). In addition to Draper Esprit’s backing, the round also featured participation from current investors, CapHorn Invest, GDTRE, and Digital Currency Group. Via the Draper Venture Network funds, Draper Associates, Draper Dragon and Boost VC, FirstMark Capital, Cathay Innovation, and Korelya Capital were also involved in the round.

Draper Esprit CEO Simon Cook called blockchain a truly revolutionary technology, and pointed out that security will be key to the technology’s future. “We believe that Ledger has built the world’s best security platform to manage private keys for all blockchain and crypto asset applications,” Cook said. Adding that Ledger’s technology  provides “security for cryptocurrency far beyond what I get from my bank,” Tim Draper, Founder of DFJ, the Draper Network said, “Ledger lets me take control of my currency rather than having to ask my bank.”

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Paris, France, and San Francisco, Ledger demonstrated Ledger Blue, a multicurrency hardware wallet for cryptocurrencies, at FinovateEurope 2016. Ledger Blue includes a touchscreen for improved UX/UI, but is still small enough to be easily handheld. The hardware wallet can be connected to a laptop, PC, or smartphone via USB or Bluetooth.

Last fall, Ledger announced a collaboration with Intel that enabled it to integrate its Blockchain Open Ledger Operating System (BOLOS) into Intel’s Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX). Introduced in 2016, BOLOS enables developers to build source code portable native applications around a secure core which both protects the core against application attacks and keeps applications isolated. The company called BOLOS “our way of turning bitcoin hardware wallets into personal security devices.”

Alkami Scores $70 Million in Series D Funding

Alkami Scores $70 Million in Series D Funding

In a round led by General Atlantic, and featuring participation from current investors S3 Ventures and Argonaut Private Equity, digital banking solutions provider Alkami has raised $70 million in new funding. The Series D round, which represents a strategic investment in the company, takes Alkami’s total capital to more than $116 million.

“In an era of digital transformation, our clients, who consist of credit unions and banks in the U.S., count on Alkami to inspire and power their digital strategies through enhancing value, growth, service, efficiency and relationships,” Alkami CEO Mike Hansen said. He added that the strategic investment from General Atlantic will “accelerate the delivery of our world-class technology and innovative solutions to our clients, ensuring Alkami remains synonymous with digital transformation in finance.”

Alkami enables financial institutions to take advantage of the latest trends in online and mobile banking technology through its cloud-based digital banking platform. With more than 4.5 million users across its community bank and credit union client base, Alkami provides a unified solution that works across devices and channels to deliver retail and business banking services, billpay, PFM, marketing, and more.

As part of the strategic investment, Raph Osnoss and Gene Lockhart will join Alkami’s board of directors. Lockhart is a Special Advisor of General Atlantic and former President and CEO of MasterCard Worldwide. He is also Chairman and Managing Partner of MissionOG, a technology investor that also participated in Alkami’s Series D. Osnoss is Vice President of General Atlantic, and praised Alkami’s “vision, technology, client success, and business model” as well as the way the fintech helped FIs better engage with their customers.

“Digital banking needs are evolving along with consumer and business behaviors,” Osnoss said. “And we believe Alkami is at the center of this industry-wide shift.”

Plano, Texas-based Alkami made its first Finovate appearance in 2009 as iThryv. In November, the company was highlighted as the 13th fastest growing company in Dallas by Southern Methodist University’s Cox Dallas 100 and ranked 66th fastest growing company in North America by Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500. Alkami announced a deployment of its digital banking platform with Veridian Credit Union ($3.4 billion in assets) late last fall, and in August, the company inked a deal with Mountain America Credit Union ($6.7 billion in assets) to integrate its digital banking technology with Mountain America’s existing core system.

Wealthfront Rakes in $75 Million

Wealthfront Rakes in $75 Million

Here’s a little-known fact about wealth tech player Wealthfront— the company debuted as KaChing in 2009, then changed its name and relaunched in 2011 as Wealthfront. Another fact about Wealthfront– the California-based company raised $75 million this week.

The financing was led by Tiger Global Management with participation from existing investors Benchmark Capital, DAG Ventures, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Social Capital, and Spark Capital. Wealthfront’s total funding now sits at $205 million. While the company has not disclosed its valuation, CB Insights valued it at $700 million in 2014.

In a blog post, Wealthfront founder and CEO Andy Rachleff said that the company will use the financing to help “pursue an even more aggressive push into software-based financial planning and financial services.” He added, “It will also allow us to accelerate our investment in our brokerage infrastructure which should enable us to build and launch new services even more quickly than the accelerated rate at which we did in 2017.”

Among Wealthfront’s new, 2017 offerings was Path, an automated financial planning solution. Path offers an interactive experience that allows users to explore different scenarios that may help them reach their goals. For example, users can input different decisions about their plans for their home once they retire– opting to stay put, downsize, or move to a more expensive home. “We started with retirement planning,” said Rachleff, “because there really aren’t any great options to forecast your financial future outside of basic ‘retirement calculators’ that require a lot of guesswork.”

Similar to Betterment and Personal Capital, Wealthfront offers an automated investment approach. However, the company differentiates itself in a couple of key ways. First, Wealthfront does not offer a hybrid wealth management product– that is, the company does not sell a tiered offering with access to certified financial advisors. Personal Capital has always offered this “high-touch” approach, and Betterment augmented its certified financial advisor offerings last summer. Second, Wealthfront has bundled fintech services by launching a Portfolio Line of Credit product– something unique among the top automated investment services.

Wealthfront allows users to invest up to $10,000 for free and currently manages $9.5 billion in assets for users across the U.S. Last June, the company was named in CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list.

Finovate Alums Garner $2.7 Billion in 2017, $730 Million in Q4 Alone

Finovate Alums Garner $2.7 Billion in 2017, $730 Million in Q4 Alone

Updated! Funding for fintechs is back on the rise. We tallied up equity funding in 2017 and our totals show that Finovate alumni pulled in $2.7 billion over the course of the year. This marks the fourth consecutive year alums passed the $2 billion mark and pushes the 4-year total to more than $10 billion. 

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Finovate alums raised more than $730 million, beating last year’s Q4 total by more than $30 million. Q4 2017 also marked a resumption of the strong Q4s of last year and 2014.

Previously Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q4 2016: More than $700 million raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2015: More than $302 million raised by 28 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $1.4 billion raised by 26 alums
  • Q4 2013: More than $294 million raised by 17 alums

Q4 2017’s largest equity investment was the $280 million raised by TransferWise in November. Coming in second place was the $130 million in capital raised by BlueVine in October. The top 10 overall investments for the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled $654.7 million or more than 90% of the total alum funding for the quarter.

Top 10 Equity Investments (equity only)

  1. TransferWise: $280 million
  2. BlueVine: $130 million
  3. Feedzai: $50 million
  4. Passport: $43 million
  5. Credit Sesame: $42 million
  6. BankBazaar: $30 million
  7. TrueAccord: $22 million
  8. Featurespace: $21.9 million
  9. BondIT: $18.3 million
  10. Simility: $17.5 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2017.

October 2017: More than $337 million raised by 12 alums

  • BankBazaar: $30 million – post
  • BLUERUSH: $1.3 million – post
  • BlueVine: $130 million – post
  • BondIT: $18.3 million – post
  • Credit Sesame: $42 million – post
  • Featurespace: $21.9 million – post
  • Feedzai: $50 million – post
  • Finn.ai: $3 million – post
  • Omnyway: $12.75 million – post
  • SelfScore: $12 million – post
  • Tink: $16.5 million – post
  • Wealthify: undisclosed – post

November 2017: More than $308 million raised by three alums

  • PayStand: $6 million – post
  • TransferWise: $280 million – post
  • TrueAccord: $22 million – post

December 2017: More than $89 million raised by eight alums

  • Avoka: $12 million – post
  • Financeit: undisclosed – post
  • NuCypher: $4.3 million – post
  • Passport: $43 million – post
  • Payoneer: undisclosed – post
  • Prevoty: $13 million – post
  • SBDA: undisclosed – post
  • Simility: $17.5 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the fourth quarter of 2017, 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.

Kantox Closes Debt Financing

Kantox Closes Debt Financing

Currency and risk management solutions company Kantox closed a venture debt financing deal late last month. Silicon Valley Bank supplied the funds to the U.K.-based company. The amount of the funding was undisclosed.

Craig Fox, Vice President at Silicon Valley Bank’s U.K. Branch said, “At Silicon Valley Bank, we love businesses that solve real problems, create value and lead their market. Kantox is doing just that, changing the game for how companies manage their FX risk. We are excited to be a part of this amazing growth story.”

In the press release, Kantox noted that partnerships between banks and fintechs are on the rise. “Banks are approaching fintechs because their technology is attractive to them,” the company said. For more on this idea, check out Forbes’ piece The Banks Wanted to Sink this Forex Fintech: Now They’re Vying for It’s Technology.

Philippe Gelis, Kantox CEO and co-founder, said that the agreement with Silicon Valley Bank is “the first step in the process of business and product partnership projects with financial institutions which have approached us interested in our technology.” As a continuation of this trend, Kantox is currently negotiating partnerships with banks in the U.K. and across Europe, anticipating many deals will close in 2018.

Gelis demoed Kantox Peer FX at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. The company’s 2,000 clients have leveraged Kantox’s foreign exchange management solutions to trade more than $5 billion in 20 countries. In November of last year, the company boosted its currency portfolio from 35 to 92, adding markets in Latin America and Asia. Founded in 2011, Kantox has raised $27 million.

Passport Raises $43 Million from Bain Capital

Passport Raises $43 Million from Bain Capital

Transportation mobile payments company Passport is starting 2018 with an extra $43 million in the bank. The North Carolina-based company closed the Series C round– an investment that brings Passport’s total capital to $60 million–  just before the holidays.

Today’s investment comes from Bain Capital, which joins previous investors Grotech Ventures, MK Capital and Relevance Capital. Bob Youakim, Passport’s founder and CEO, said that he sees the Bain Capital team as partners who “align really well with both our vision and our culture.”

In the press release, the company notes it will use the funding to evaluate strategic acquisition opportunities and bolster sales and marketing efforts. Youakim also said the investment, “gives us additional resources to expand quickly and strategically into new markets, innovate rapidly, and support our clients around the world.”

Proving its readiness for expansion, the company has already achieved notable growth. In the past three years, Passport has experienced 3.5x revenue growth and has expanded its staff to 100 employees in the past year with plans to add 50 more employees in 2018.

Founded in 2010, Passport offers mobile payment solutions for parking, transit, and tolling. To date, the company’s solutions have been adopted by more than 450 agencies in over 5,000 locations worldwide, including Chicago, London, Toronto, Boston, Vancouver, Portland, Montreal, and Miami. At FinovateEurope 2016, the company demoed its Mobile Ticketing for Transit solution. Last month, the company partnered with TransLink to develop and launch Park&Go, a free mobile payment app for Park & Ride users in Metro Vancouver.

Financeit Recapitalizaton Gives Goldman Sachs Majority Stake

Financeit Recapitalizaton Gives Goldman Sachs Majority Stake

Point-of-sale financing provider Financeit completed an investment round today with existing shareholder Goldman Sachs. The round gives the firm a majority stake in the Toronto-based fintech.

Michael Garrity, CEO and President of Financeit, said the investment was a sign of Goldman Sachs’ “continued confidence in our leadership team, our business model, our platform, and the ability to grow our service.” He highlighted the recent integration with Centah, a SaaS workflow and lead management solutions provider, as an opportunity to expand into the home improvement industry “from lead generation to closing the sale.”

Financeit helps merchants increase closing rates and transaction sizes by enabling them to offer customers affordable monthly or bi-weekly payment plans. The cloud-based technology provides a fast and transparent application process for consumers, and helps merchants better manage cashflow, get paid sooner, and offer customers additional payment options. Financeit is free to use, and requires no merchant fees.

But Financeit adds a twist. “We service the transaction on both sides,” Garrity explained during his Finovate demo. “On one side we have a set of merchant partners who rely on us to power sales at the point-of-sale every day with our innovative solutions. On the other side, we have a set of financial institutions who rely on us to originate and to manage these loans on their behalf in their name and within their compliance framework.”

Financeit most recently demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014, during which the company, in partnership with fellow Finovate alum FIS, launched its U.S.-compliant POS financing platform. Founded in 2011, Financeit was named to CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list in July and in June, the company received new funding capacity of $85 million from a “major Canadian life insurance company.” Since inception, the company has worked with more than 7,000 merchant partners in Canada and processed more than $2.5 billion in loan applications.

SBDA Group Closes Series A Investment Round

SBDA Group Closes Series A Investment Round

Banking personalization company SBDA Group has landed a Series A investment today. FinSight Ventures and Digital Space Ventures contributed to the round, the amount of which was undisclosed. This marks the company’s first ever VC funding round.

The U.K.-based company will use the investment to advance its AI-powered customer engagement solution for banks, grow its product suite, and expand its team. SBDA Group sees pending PSD2 regulation as an opportunity. And while the company has selected Europe as its target market, it also has plans to expand into North America. SBDA Group CEO Nikita Blinov said that the company is proud of their solution that “allows retail and corporate banks to take advantage of open banking reforms utilizing our personalised recommendations-based approach that gives a customer a reason to stick with his or her current bank, as switching banks becomes more frequent.”

At FinovateEurope 2016 Blinov, along with Chief Data Scientist Alexander Fonarev, and Project Manager Anna Laskovaya, demoed SBDA Customer Insight, a product that turns raw banking data – such as transactional histories – into targeted marketing and information for customer relationship management. The technology leverages 10,000+ external sources into 500+ facts and personalized AI-driven recommendations. Alexey Garyunov, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of FinSight Ventures, said, “SBDA’s AI technology helps banks and merchants make their product profiles relevant to each customer by solving any problems as they arise. It also identifies the most appealing communication channels with a customer.” Abdul Abdulkerimov, Founding Partner of Digital Space Ventures, added, “SBDA Group has huge potential for international growth and expansion.”

Founded in 2014, SBDA Group currently serves more than 10 top-tier banks and has processed more than 100 million customer profiles. The company was a finalist of BBVA’s Open Talent Artificial Intelligence 2017, and was a gold winner of the UniCredit international hackathon last year. We featured the company in our Fintech Filter for AI post earlier this year.

Simility Adds PayPal as Strategic Investor in Latest $17.5 Million Fundraising

Simility Adds PayPal as Strategic Investor in Latest $17.5 Million Fundraising

Fraud and risk management innovator Simility locked in $17.5 million in new funding today. The Series B was led by Accel and featured a strategic investment from fellow Finovate alum, PayPal. “This latest funding round will enable us to enter our next phase of growth by bolstering our world-class team of industry veterans in sales, customer success and data science to meet market demand,” Simility co-founder and CEO Rahul Pangam said.

Current investors The Valley Fund and Trinity Ventures also participated in the round, which brings Simility’s total capital to $25 million. Team members from Simility shared their thoughts on the funding and the future of the company in a blog post this morning.

“My team has helped turn our visionary idea into leads among banking customers,” Head of Latin America Sales Paulo Moura wrote. “This second round of funding means more to us than money; it’s also the touching realization that we’ve earned investors’ confidence in our viability as a company, not just a promising startup.”

Above: Simility Head of Engineering Ravi Sandepudi (left) and CTO/Co-Founder Kedar Samant (right) during their presentation “Fraud Mutates – Detect, Understand, and Block It” at FinDEVr London 2017.

“Everything follows from a great team, I’ve learned,” Simility co-founder and CTO Kedar Samant added. “This new funding round will empower Simility to grow our teams and scale up our operations so that more enterprises can better manage fraud and risk.”

Recent news from Simility only underscores the company’s commitment to adding talent. Simility hired Mick Martin as VP of Sales, named Glenn Cobb as VP of Solution Engineering in August, and brought onboard Lynn Strand as VP of Marketing – all in Q3 of this year. The company noted that today’s investment will enable it to grow its sales operations in the U.S., Brazil, and Europe, as well as expand its data science teams in Europe, and add to partnerships in Europe and India.

Founded in 2014, Simility is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. This summer at our developers conference FinDEVr London, Simility’s Kedar Samant (co-founder and CTO) and Ravi Sandepudi (Head of Engineering) led a presentation titled Fraud Mutates – Detect, Understand and Block It which explained how feature engineering and real-time fraud detection pipelines gives businesses the ability to adapt to evolving cyber threats.

Simility’s technology was featured in Network World’s New Products of the Week in March, the same month Simility unveiled its AI-powered Adaptive 3-D Secure solution. Adaptive 3-D Secure is designed to identify high-risk transactions, leveraging machine learning to examine a wide variety of attributes in real-time, including device fingerprinting, geolocation, and in-session behavioral analytics.