Funding

StockViews Raises $355k in Seed Funding, Adds Fidelity’s Balk as Chairman

StockViews Raises $355k in Seed Funding, Adds Fidelity’s Balk as Chairman
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, StockViews

Stockviews_homepage_March2016

Stock market research platform Stockviews has raised £250,000 ($355,000 USD) in seed funding. Participating in the round were angel network Craigie Capital, the London Co-Investment Fund, and former head of Fidelity International, Thomas Balk, who will join Stockviews’ board of directors as chairman.

Stockviews CEO Tom Beevers called Balk’s decision to join the company “a huge validation of this new approach to equity research.” Beevers praised Balk’s 25 years of experience in global asset management, including 16 years at Fidelity. “We’re delighted to have such a high-caliber executive heading up our board,” Beevers said.

Stockviews_stage_FS2015_2

Pictured: StockViews CEO and Founder Tom Beevers demonstrated his company’s technology at FinovateSpring 2015.

Balk spoke to StockViews’ ability to help improve sell-side research, which he said “has long had a poor reputation for generating results.” Focusing on the competition among fund managers as a main driver of interest in new technologies, Balk sees StockViews as becoming the “leading marketplace for high-quality, independent investment research.”

The news comes almost a year since StockViews made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015. The company’s platform connects individual stock market investors with more than 500 independent equity analysts who make their research available online. The “StockViews Signal,” launched at FinovateSpring 2015, provides a straightforward buy or sell signal for stocks based on the aggregated recommendations of the platform’s highest-rated analysts.

Founded in 2014, StockViews is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fintech Fundings: 29 Companies Raise $76 Million Week Ending March 3

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money_keyWhile we continued the streak of 20 or more weekly deals (now = 9), we had a sub-$100 million week for the first time this year. The $76 million raised was the lowest total in a non-holiday week since the first week of March a year ago (who knew the 9th week was so slow?).

However, there were 11 deals with undisclosed funding amounts, notably a “double digit millions” D-round for AuxMoney, which had also raised nearly $200 million in previous rounds. So, the weekly total may well have surpassed $100 million.

Nine weeks into 2016, the total raised is $5.4 billion, more than double the $2.4 billion invested during the same period last year. And more telling, the number of deals is up 90% (227 vs. 119 in 2015).

Two Finovate alums raised new cash:

Here are the fintech deals by size from 27 Feb to 4 Mar 2016:

iAngels
Equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $14 million
Total raised: $16.25 million
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: Consumers, SMB, accredited investors, equity investing, startups
Source: Crunchbase

Centage
Spending and forecasting software for small businesses
Latest round: $13.5 million Series A
Total raised: $23 million
HQ: Natick, Massachusetts
Tags: SMB, management accounting, business intelligence, BI
Source: FT Partners

OurCrowd
Crowdfunding/VC hybrid platform
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $35 million
HQ: Jerusalem, Israel
Tags: Consumers, SMB, accredited investors, equity investing, startups
Source: Crunchbase

InstaPartners
Receivables financing platform
Latest round: $8.7 million Seed
Total raised: $8.7 million
HQ: Milano, Italy
Tags: SMB, lending, loans, underwriting, factoring, receivables financing, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Roofstock
Platform for investing in single-family rental properties
Latest round: $7 million
Total raised: $13.25 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumers, SMB, lending, real estate, mortgage, investing, alt-investments
Source: Crunchbase

RentMoola
Rental payments network
Latest round: $5 million
Total raised: $5 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumers, SMB, renters, landlords, real estate, payments, billpay, invoicing
Source: Crunchbase

Figo Pet Insurance
Digital pet insurance
Latest round: $4 million Series A
Total raised: $8 million
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Consumers, insurance, pets
Source: Crunchbase

Wunder
Crowdfunding platform for solar projects
Latest round: $3.6 million
Total raised: $4.82 million
HQ: Boulder, Colorado
Tags: Consumers, SMB, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

ChangeIt
Charitable payments platform
Latest round: $2.2 million Seed
Total raised: $2.2 million
HQ: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumers, non-profits, SMB, payments, giving
Source: Crunchbase

iQuantifi
Robo-adviser software for financial institutions
Latest round: $2 million Angel
Total raised: $2.5 million
HQ: Franklin, Tennessee
Tags: Consumers, SMB, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Desposify
Deposit management for landlords and their tenants
Latest round: $1.53 million Seed
Total raised: $1.53 million
HQ: Dublin, Ireland
Tags: Consumers, SMB, renters, landlords, real estate, payments, deposit management
Source: Crunchbase

Mondo
U.K.-based challenger bank
Latest round: $1.42 million crowdfunding (CrowdCube)
Total raised: $11.7 million
HQ: California
Tags: Consumers, banking, debit cards, savings accounts
Source: FT Partners, PaymentsCardsandMobile

Propellr
Individual investment service
Latest round: $1.14 million
Total raised: $1.14 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumers, investing, trading, alt-investments
Source: Crunchbase

Candis
Cloud-based accounting service
Latest round: $1.1 million Seed
Total raised: $1.1 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: SMB, accounting, bookkeeping, accounts receivables, payables, invoicing, billing
Source: Crunchbase

Anchor ID
Identity management
Latest round: $260,000 Convertible note
Total raised: $1.1 mil
HQ: Kingston, New York
Tags: Enterprise, security, passwords, authentication, identity, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Bonsai
Invoicing, payment, and bookkeeping service for freelancers
Latest round: $120,000
Total raised: $120,000
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, accounting, business intelligence BI, invoicing, billing, accounts receivables, Y Combinator (W16)
Source: TechCrunch

STILT
Alt-lender targeting ex-pats
Latest round: $120,000
Total raised: $120,000
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumers, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer, Y Combinator (W16)
Source: VentureBeat

Verity.io
Document storage in the blockchain
Latest round: $23,000 Seed
Total raised: $23,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumers, SMB, security, blockchain, bitcoin, document management
Source: Crunchbase

AuxMoney
P2P loan marketplace
Latest round: Undisclosed Series D (described as “double digit millions“)
Total raised: $198 million
HQ: Dusseldorf, Germany
Tags: Consumers, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

BitPesa
Mobile payments platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Nairobi, Nigeria
Tags: Consumers, SMB, payments, merchants, POS, mobile, acquiring, P2P, person-to-person
Source: Crunchbase

iiPay
Payroll services
Latest round: Undisclosed Private Equity
Total raised: $1.3 million prior to latest round
HQ: Cheltenham, England, UK
Tags: SMB, employees, HR, payments
Source: FT Partners

LandBay Partners
P2P platform for mortgage
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $2.4 million prior to latest round
HQ: London, England, UK
Tags: Consumers, mortgage, home buying, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer
Source: FT Partners

OrthoFI
Financing platform for dental patients
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $3.7 million
HQ: Denver, Colorado
Tags: Consumers, SMB, dental practice, financing, lending, loans, underwriting
Source: FT Partners

PawnHero
Digital pawn shop
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: California
Tags: Consumers, lending, secured loans, underwriting, pawn
Source: Crunchbase

Pepperstone Financial Services
Online forex trading service
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Camberwell, Australia
Tags: Consumers, SMB, fx, foreign exchange, trading
Source: FT Partners

RealBest
German real estate platform
Latest round: Undisclosed Series C
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: Consumers, home buying, mortgage
Source: Crunchbase

Second Horizon (Kxter)
Crowdfuding platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Las Vegas, Nevada
Tags: Consumers, SMB, lending, loans, underwriting, investing, peer-to-peer
Source: Crunchbase

StockRadars
Mobile stock investing information
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Thailand
Tags: Consumers, investing, trading, information, analytics, insight
Source: Crunchbase

Tauro Wealth
Investing information
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumers, investing, wealth management, information services
Source: Crunchbase

 

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

WorkFusion Raises $14 Million Series C Round Led by Nokia Growth Partners

WorkFusion Raises $14 Million Series C Round Led by Nokia Growth Partners
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, WorkFusion

WorkFusion_homepage_Mar2015

Here’s some investment news we missed when it broke in late December: WorkFusion, a company that combines machine learning and crowdsourcing to automate business processes, raised $14 million in Series C investment. The round was led by Nokia Growth Partners, and featured participation from existing investors Greycroft Partners, iNovia Capital, Mohr Davidow Ventures, and RTP Ventures.

The investment takes WorkFusion’s total capital to more than $36 million. The company says the new funding will help fuel its business development initiatives around the world.  

WorkFusion_stage_FF2014

Pictured: WorkFusion CEO Max Yankelvich demonstrating his company’s Active-Learning Automation technology at FinovateFall 2014 in New York.

Calling 2016 “the year of automation,” Yankelvich pointed out that WorkFusion’s customers have reduced operational costs by 60% and gained what he called “business agility.” For financial services companies, WorkFusion’s SaaS technology is deployed for customer onboarding, claims processing, and compliance, among other processes.

Among the more recent financial services companies to deploy WorkFusion’s technology is fellow Finovate alum, Markit, which announced its partnership with the machine learning specialist in February. The company has been profiled recently in the New York Business Journal, as well as in  AlleyWatch, which features a Q&A with WorkFusion VP of Marketing, Adam Devine.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in New York City, WorkFusion demonstrated its Active-Learning Automation platform at FinovateFall 2014. Eighteen out of the top 20 information services businesses use WorkFusion’s technology, as do leading financial, global commerce, and business process outsourcing providers. Check out our Finovate Debut post featuring WorkFusion.

 

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finagraph Picks Up Investment from Moody’s

Finagraph Picks Up Investment from Moody’s
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BBC Easy, Finagraph, Funding, Fundings

Finagraph_homepage_Mar2016

The small business intelligence and analytics platform Finagraph has earned an investment from Moody’s, giving the rating service and research firm a minority stake in the Seattle-area company.

According to Mark Almeida, President of Moody’s Analytics, the investment is based on the company’s desire to help FIs that lend to SMEs. Almeida explained:

“Finagraph’s technology and insight into small business financials enable us to accelerate our efforts to transform the way lenders interact with small businesses, helping bankers make better, faster lending decisions for the growing SME market.”

Finagraph_BBCEasy_stage_FS2013

CEO James Walter (left) and VP of Sales Corey Ross demonstrated their platform at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco (a.k.a. BBC Easy).

Known as BBC Easy when it demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2013, Finagraph provides business owners with tools that help them see trends in working capital, find hidden cash, and monitor risk indicators such as declining cash or a rising expenses vs revenues ratio.

Finagraph’s Financial Dashboard plays well with accounting systems such as Xero and QuickBooks and, as of mid-February, is now available for free. Finagraph also offers financial skills training through its Finagraph Academy, and courtesy of its new relationship with Moody’s, Finagraph will provide business credit scores based on Moody’s Analytics Risk Quality or MARQ.

Finagraph was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The amount of Moody’s investment was not disclosed. The company will gain a seat on Finagraph’s board of directors are part of the deal.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fintech Fundings: 31 Companies Raise $560 Million Week Ending Feb 26

By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money_keyAnyone saying funding to the fintech sector is slowing, isn’t looking at the same data we are. For the eighth straight week, more than 20 fintech companies raised new rounds.

Two months into the new year, the total raised is $5.3 billion, more than double the $2.4 billion invested during the same period last year. And more telling, the number of deals is up 82% (198 vs. 109 in 2015).

The 31 companies funded this week set a new weekly record surpassing the old mark set 4 weeks ago. A total of $557 million was raised with $400 million headed to a single company, health insurance newcomer Oscar. The overall total included $28 million in debt.

Four Finovate and FinDEVr alums raised new cash:

Here are the fintech deals by size from 20 Feb to 26 Feb 2016:

Oscar
Health insurance provider
Latest round: $400 million Private Equity
Total raised: $727.5 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, employers, human resources, employee benefits, healthcare, insurance
Source: Crunchbase

Namely
HR, benefits, and payroll platform
Latest round: $30 million
Total raised: $107.8 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: SMB, human resources, employees, benefits, insurance
Source: Crunchbase

MoneyMe
Australian alt-lender to consumers
Latest round: $21.7 million Debt
Total raised: $22.4 million (including $21.7 million debt)
HQ: Australia
Tags: Consumer, loans, lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Signifyd
Fraud protection for e-commerce
Latest round: $20 million Series B
Total raised: $31 million
HQ: San Jose, California
Tags: Enterprise, security, fraud protection, risk management, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

AppCard
Loyalty card platform
Latest round: $20 million Series B
Total raised: $26.5 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: SMB, loyalty, rewards, payments, point of sale, merchants, POS
Source: Crunchbase

RealtyShares
Online marketplace for real estate investing
Latest round: $20 million Series B
Total raised: $31.9 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, investing, real estate, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

Borrowell
Alt-lender for Canadian consumers
Latest round: $6.4 million Debt
Total raised: $11.8 million (including $6.4 million debt)
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Consumer, lending, loans, underwriting, Equitable Bank (investor)
Source: Crunchbase

Real
Digital real estate broker
Latest round: $6 million
Total raised: $7.5 million
HQ: Houston, Texas
Tags: Consumer, agents, home selling, brokers, CRM, real estate
Source: Crunchbase

Juspay
Mobile & online payments in India
Latest round: $5.8 million
Total raised: $5.8 million
HQ: Kormangala, India
Tags: SMB, payments, mobile, POS, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

CREXi
Commercial real estate platform
Latest round: $4.3 million Seed
Total raised: $4.3 million
HQ: Venice, California
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, commercial real estate, CRM, deal flow, mortgage
Source: FT Partners

Captain401
401(k) platform for small businesses
Latest round: $3.5 million Seed
Total raised: $3.6 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, retirement planning, 401(k), savings, investing, deposits, Y Combinator
Source: Crunchbase

Vanare
Wealth management platform for advisors
Latest round: $3.5 million Series
Total raised: $6.85 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Advisors, B2B2C, investing, wealth management, CRM, trading
Source: Crunchbase

Spreedly
Credit card vault to work with multiple payment gateways
Latest round: $3 million Series
Total raised: $5.5 million
HQ: Durham, North Carolina
Tags: SMB, merchants, developers, credit/debit cards, payments, API, security, ecommerce, Finovate alum, FinDEVr alum
Source: Finovate

FinLocker
Loan application & document sharing service
Latest round: $2.25 million
Total raised: $2.25 million
HQ: Missouri City, Missouri
Tags: Enterprise, B2B2C, lending, loan applications, document processing, originations, mortgages
Source: Crunchbase

Mintos
P2p lending marketplace
Latest round: $2.2 million Seed
Total raised: $2.2 million
HQ: Riga, Latvia
Tags: Consumer, SMB, lending, loans, underwriting, investing
Source: Crunchbase

Hepster
Digital insurance distributer
Latest round: $2 million Seed
Total raised: $2 million
HQ: Cape Town, South Africa
Tags: SMB, merchants, point of sale, POS, insurance
Source: Crunchbase

Finomial
Funds management platform
Latest round: $1.64 million
Total raised: $5.05 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Enterprise, mutual funds, alternative investments, CRM, investor relations
Source: Crunchbase

Ribbet.me
Blockchain-based rewards platform
Latest round: $1.5 million Seed
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, SMB, blockchain, bitcoin, rewards, smart contracts
Source: Crunchbase

Kwanji
Money transfer price comparisons 
Latest round: $700,000 Equity crowdfunding
Total raised: $1.9 million
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: SMB, payments, investing, remittances, FX, discovery, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

MOVO (MovoCash)
Mobile banking & payments platform
Latest round: $700,000
Total raised: $700,000
HQ: Palo Alto, California
Tags: Consumer, B2B2C, mobile, P2P payments, person-to-person
Source: FT Partners

Kard
Credit card rewards optimization 
Latest round: $600,000 Seed
Total raised: $600,000
HQ: New York City
Tags: Consumer, loyalty, payments, rewards, PFM, personal finance, credit/debit cards, spending
Source: Crunchbase

OpenGamma
Improving capital efficiency for derivatives trading
Latest round: $500,000 Debt
Total raised: $23.2 million (includes $2.75 million debt)
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Enterprise, risk management, trading, investing, compliance
Source: Crunchbase

Obsidian Solutions
Investment management portal
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $516,000
HQ: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tags: Enterprise, advisors, investment management, CRM, investor relations
Source: Crunchbase

Trusted Knight
Data security for financial institutions
Latest round: Undisclosed Series B
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Annapolis, Maryland
Tags: Enterprise, security, fraud protection, risk management, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Finagraph
Financial data and BI for small businesses
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Mercer Island, Washington
Tags: SMB, business intelligence, analytics, data analysis, accounting, Moody’s (investor), Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

DevCharge
Facilitating payments to machines
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Brno, Czech Republic
Tags: SMB, IoT, developers, payments
Source: Crunchbase

Finance Buddha
Loan-comparison site
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, SMB, price comparison, loans
Source: FT Partners

Jurnal.id
Online accounting service
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia
Tags: SMB, accounting, bookkeeping, billing, invoicing, receivables, payables
Source: Crunchbase

LoanZen
Receivables financing for small business
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: SMB, lending, commercial loans, factoring, receivables financing, trade finance, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

Peloton
Rich media and communications provider to financial institutions
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: $2 million (prior to latest round)
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Enterprise, document management, marketing, communications, media, R.R. Donnelley (investor)
Source: FT Partners

PinClick
Indian real estate platform
Latest round: Undisclosed Seed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Bangalore, India
Tags: Consumer, real estate, property search, mortgage, lead gen
Source: Crunchbase

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Trusted Knight Lands Series B Funding, Acquires Sentrix Web Technologies Assets

Trusted Knight Lands Series B Funding, Acquires Sentrix Web Technologies Assets
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Trusted Knight

TrustedKnightHomepage

Data security company Trusted Knight closed a Series B financing round this week. The amount of the funding was undisclosed, and specific investors were not named.

SentrixLogoThe Maryland-based company will use the funds to expand sales and marketing efforts and accelerate product development.

In addition to the funding, Trusted Knight announced it has acquired Massachusetts-based Sentrix, a company that aims to protect against vulnerability exploits and DDoS attacks. The acquisition brings Sentrix’s Cloud-DMZ, a solution that offers an alternative to a web-application firewall.

TrustedKnightKlotniaThe acquisition was finalized in December.

Also this month, Trusted Knight hired Doug Klotnia (pictured) as COO. Klotnia is an industry veteran with 15 years of experience operating and leading businesses. Prior to joining Trusted Knight, he was president of vPromos, a card-connected loyalty and mobile-marketing company.

Trusted Knight launched its Protector Crime Software at FinovateSpring 2013. Protector blocks malware to prevent criminals from getting to sensitive data. The company was founded in 2010. Joseph L. Patanella is CEO.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Signifyd Raises $20 Million in Series B Led by Menlo Ventures

Signifyd Raises $20 Million in Series B Led by Menlo Ventures
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Signifyd

Signifyd_homepage_Feb2016

Along with participation from Allegis Capital, IA Ventures, QED Investors, and individual investors, Bill McKlernan and Tim Eades, anti-fraud specialist Signifyd has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Menlo Ventures.

“We’re saving our customers millions of dollars in revenue, and merchants of all sizes are taking note,” Signifyd’s CEO and co-founder Rajesh Ramanand said in a statement about the funding. He pointed out that the Series B round is coming only seven months after the company’s successful Series A round as evidence of the company’s growing traction, adding, “We believe the technology we’re applying to e-commerce is the technical foundation for the next generation of insurance products.”

The funding takes Signifyd’s total capital to $31 million.

Signifyd_stage_FS2013

Rajesh Ramanand, Signifyd co-founder and CEO, demonstrated his company’s Guaranteed Payments solution at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

Signifyd will use the new funding to drive growth, scale infrastructure, and “continue to expand its team of world-class fraud experts.”

Signifyd helps e-commerce merchants fight fraud with a tool called the Social Graph. The Social Graph helps merchants determine whether or not the person behind an online transaction is who they say they are. The technology provides merchants with a clear “Accept/Decline” determination on the online customer’s identity, and Signifyd agrees to accept any liability in the event that an “Accepted” transaction is discovered ultimately to be fraudulent. Signifyd calls it “insurance for e-commerce.”

The funding news comes just days after Signifyd announced that it was extending its integration with Shopify Plus. Earlier this month, the company was honored as a finalist in the 2016 BIG Innovation Awards sponsored by the Business Intelligence Group.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd made its Finovate debut at our spring conference in 2013.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Spreedly Secures $3 Million Financing Round

Spreedly Secures $3 Million Financing Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Spreedly

SpreedlyHomepage

Payments software startup Spreedly closed a $3 million round of funding this week.

Contributors to the round include existing investors, along with Belgian venture fund Emerge, and Harold Mechelynck, a new investor.

The North Carolina-based company, which prides itself on concentrating solely on software for payments, now boasts a total of $5.5 million in funding since it was founded in 2008. The company plans to use the new funds to expand operations, accelerate product development, and introduce new features.

Along with the increase in its venture capital investments, Spreedly has grown as well. On an annualized basis, the company handles a total of $3 billion in transactions, up from $1 billion in June 2015. Spreedly CEO Justin Benson comments on the company’s growth:

Since focusing our business on creating new opportunities for merchants, platforms and payment providers to work together, we’ve substantially increased our customer base, the number of transactions we conduct, and our future potential.

Originally focused on subscription-based payments, Spreedly pivoted in 2013 to launch a credit card vault in the cloud. The new platform enables businesses to securely tokenize client credit card information for repeat transactions across any of the 100+ payment gateways it supports, all while remaining PCI compliant. The company handles 1+ million transactions every month for its 300 clients.

At FinovateSpring 2014, Spreedly’s CEO Justin Benson and Business Development Brendon Prebble showed off the company’s new payment-distribution method and card-on-file updater.

Most recently, at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015, Spreedly CTO Nathaniel Talbott explains how Spreedly’s APIs help navigate the payments ecosystem.

https://finovate.wistia.com/medias/6bzxyw48uo

For more developer-focused presentations, check out our FinDEVr developer showcase in New York on March 29 & 30, 2016. Register by Friday to save on early bird price and lock in your spot.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fintech Fundings: 21 Companies Raise $215 Million Week Ending Feb 19

Fintech Fundings: 21 Companies Raise $215 Million Week Ending Feb 19
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

money_keyAlthough we saw one high-flying fintech unicorn crash to earth this week, the fintech sector continued to attract significant capital with 21 companies raising $214.8 million, for an $11 billion annual run rate. The total included at least $15 million in debt.

Three Finovate and FinDEVr alums raised new cash and one exited:

Seven weeks into the new year, fintech companies have raised $4.7 billion in equity and debt worldwide, more than double the $2.2 billion in the same period last year. And the number of deals is up 70% (167 compared to 98 in 2015).

Here are the fintech deals by size from 13 Feb to 19 Feb 2016:

StoneEagle Services (VPay)
B2B payments platform
Latest round: $76 million
Total raised: $76 million
HQ: Richardson, Texas
Tags: SMB, B2B, ACH, electronic payments, virtual card, insurance claims
Source: FT Partners

Aria Systems
Billing platform
Latest round: $50 million Series E
Total raised: $132.3 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: SMB, billing, payments, invoicing, recurring payments
Source: Crunchbase

EQIS
Wealth management platform
Latest round: $15 million Private Equity
Total raised: $21.2 million
HQ: San Rafael, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, advisors, investing, wealth management
Source: Crunchbase

UniRush (RushCard)
Prepaid card issuer
Latest round: $15 million Debt
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Houston, Texas
Tags: Consumer, SMB, loans, credit, lending, underwriting, personal finance management, energy-consumption management
Source: FT Partners

Marvelstone Tech
Infrastructure for financial services companies
Latest round: $12.4 million Seed
Total raised: $ million
HQ: Seoul, South Korea
Tags: Enterprise, B2B, banks, wealth managers, investment firms, core technology
Source: FT Partners

PayActiv
Real-time payroll solution
Latest round: $9.2 million
Total raised: $13 million
HQ: San Jose, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, employers, HR, employee benefits, payments, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Harmoney
P2P lending marketplace
Latest round: $8.5 million Series B
Total raised: $16.2 million
HQ: Auckland, New Zealand
Tags: Consumer, lending, loans, crowdfunding, underwriting, credit, investing
Source: FT Partners

Mondo
Digital bank
Latest round: $7.25 million
Total raised: $10.4 million
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Consumer, bank, mobile, challenger, neo-bank
Source: Crunchbase

BUX
Simple stock trading platform
Latest round: $6.9 million Series
Total raised: $10.7 million
HQ: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tags: Consumer, investing, stock trading, equities, gamification
Source: Crunchbase

AQ Metrics
Risk management and compliance software
Latest round: $3.25 million
Total raised: $3.25 million
HQ: Maynooth, Ireland
Tags: Consumer, insurance, automobile lending, cars
Source: FT Partners

StudentLoan Genius
Student loan repayment as a benefit for employers
Latest round: $3 million Seed
Total raised: $3 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: Consumer, SMB, student loans, payments, HR, employee benefit
Source: Crunchbase

ModoPayments
Digital payments plaform
Latest round: $2 million Angel
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: Richardson, Texas
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, merchants, funds transfer, FinDEVr alum
Source: Finovate

Chainalysis
Compliance layer for value exchange
Latest round: $1.6 million Seed
Total raised: $3.2 million
HQ: New York City
Tags: SMB, enterprise, security, privacy, blockchain, cryptocurrency, database, bitcoin
Source: Crunchbase

Covercy Technological Trading
International remittances
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, FX, funds transfers
Source: FT Partners

SnoopWall
Security solutions for mobile apps and online services
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1.85 million
HQ: California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, security, privacy, cybersecurity, FinDEVr alum
Source: Crunchbase

HomeSpotter
Real estate discover mobile app
Latest round: $925,000 Convertible Note
Total raised: $3.95 million including above note
HQ: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, home buying, chatbot, real estate, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Droplet
Mobile loyalty and payments
Latest round: $640,000
Total raised: $2.73 million
HQ: London, England, UK
Tags: Consumer, SMB, rewards, payments, merchants, location-based
Source: FT Partners

Buddy
Point-of-purchase financing 
Latest round: $500,000 Seed
Total raised: $500,000
HQ: Bengaluru, India
Tags: Consumer, SMB, loans, credit, lending, underwriting
Source: Crunchbase

RealKey
Home buying & mortgage process management
Latest round: $100,000 Seed ($7 million valuation)
Total raised: $100,000
HQ: California
Tags: Consumer, real estate agents, home buying, mortgage, discovery, search
Source: Crunchbase

Metromile
Pay-per-mile automobile insurance
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: $14 million previously
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, insurance, automobile lending, cars
Source: FT Partners

Verb
Mobile trading app
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, equities
Source: Crunchbase

—–
Image licensed from 123rf.com

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Modo Payments Closes $2 Million in Funding

Modo Payments Closes $2 Million in Funding
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Funding, Modo Payments

ModoHomepage

Payments connection startup Modo Payments closed on a fresh $2 million in funding this week.

Notable contributors to the round include:

  • Tim Keith: CEO of Central Texas Partners
  • John Beletic: partner at Oak Investment Partners
  • Jay Kassing: owner of fintech company Marquis

ModoCOINToday’s round, when added to the Texas-based company’s 2014 Seed round of $2 million, brings its total funding to $4 million.

The Dallas Business Journal discussed Modo’s growth with the startup’s CEO Bruce Parker, who stated, “Over the course of the year, we’re looking to double on almost every dimension*…. Last year, we did $1.7 million in bookings.”

Additionally, Parker noted that Modo will partner with a PayPal competitor this spring, connecting it to U.S. retailers.

Modo’s new initiative, dubbed COIN, works as the “plumbing” in the payments industry. COIN sends money from just about any source, whether it’s a legacy system or new, cloud-based system, and delivers it to any destination. Modo describes COIN as a “shipping container” for intermodal payments.

Modo CEO Bruce Parker describes COIN in his FinDEVr San Francisco presentation titled, Mobile Payments are Dead . . . Long Live Digital Payments.

ModoDEVr15Demo

Modo CEO Bruce Parker at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

*Meaning everything from bookings to employees.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

PayActiv Raises $9 Million in Series A

PayActiv Raises $9 Million in Series A
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Fundings, PayActiv

PayActiv_homepage_Feb2016

In a round led by SoftBank Capital, financial wellness specialist PayActiv has raised $9.2 million in new funding. The investment will help the company grow its suite of turnkey, workplace-based, financial wellness solutions.

Combined with a $4.35 million seed round from the summer of 2014, the Series A brings PayActiv’s total capital to more than $13 million.

PayActiv CEO and Founder Safwan Shah emphasized the potential for expansion when discussing both his company’s 2015 as well as the recent investment. “With this funding, we will continue to expand and enhance our innovative wellness programs that help all workers lead a better life with security, dignity, and savings,” Shah said.

PayActiv_stage_FS2015

Pictured: PayActiv CEO and founder Safwan Shah demonstrating the MyMo intelligent cash flow management app at FinovateSpring 2015.

PayActiv’s MyMo app is an intelligent, cash-flow management tool that gives workers the ability to get advances on future paychecks, as well as pay bills, transfer money, and top up prepaid mobile phones. PayActiv refers to this as helping close the “timing gap” between earning and spending, freeing earned income that is – from a cash-flow perspective – “stuck in traffic.” The app is available in both iOS and Android, and requires no changes in either incumbent IT or payroll systems. In addition to helping keep employees away from often predatory payday lenders, PayActiv’s MyMo can help workers build or rebuild credit, as well as help them manage their finances more efficiently.

Founded in January 2013 and headquartered in San Jose, California, PayActiv demonstrated MyMo at FinovateSpring 2015. The company was featured in an American Banker column on budgeting apps last November, the same month founder and CEO Shah was interviewed by TechnologyAdvice on the subject of income smoothing and real-time income access.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fintech Fundings: 21 Companies Raise $260 Million Week Ending 12 Feb

Fintech Fundings: 21 Companies Raise $260 Million Week Ending 12 Feb
By Jim Bruene Posted on
Categories: Funding

pig_sunglasses_money_croppedDespite turmoil in global equity markets, the fintech sector continued its 3-year bull market with 21 companies raising $259.1 million, for a $12 billion annual run rate. The total included at $46 million in debt. And demonstrating the global nature of financial services, only three deals were out of California (Xignite, Renew Financial, and Vast).

Three Finovate alums raised new cash:

Six weeks into the new year, fintech companies have raised $4.5 billion in equity and debt worldwide, 2.5 times the $1.9 billion in the same period last year. And the number of deals is up 70% (146 compared to 86 in 2015).

Here are the fintech deals by size from 6 Feb to 12 Feb 2016:

Renew Financial
Financing for renewable energy and conservation projects
Latest round: $70 million Series D
Total raised: $102.2 million
HQ: Oakland, California
Tags: Consumer, SMB, loans, credit, lending, underwriting, personal finance management, energy consumption management
Source: Crunchbase

Maestro Health
Employee benefits and health insurance services
Latest round: $53 million
Total raised: $53 million
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Employers, benefits, HR, payments, healthcare, insurance, health savings accounts
Source: Crunchbase

WorldRemit
Worldwide remittances
Latest round: $45 million Debt
Total raised: $147.7 million (includes $45 million debt)
HQ: London, England, U.K.
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, remittances, P2P transfers, person-to-person
Source: Crunchbase

Riskified
Underwrites and guarantees high-risk credit card transactions
Latest round: $25 million Series B
Total raised: $30.7 million
HQ: Tel Aviv, Israel
Tags: SMB, merchants, underwriting, credit/debit cards, acquiring, fraud, security, risk management
Source: Crunchbase

Xignite
APIs powering financial services
Latest round: $20.5 million Series C
Total raised: $36.2 million
HQ: San Mateo, California
Tags: Enterprise, SMB, API, developers, integration, back-end, investing, wealth management, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Payleven
Mobile point of sale
Latest round: $10 million Series D
Total raised: $25.2 million
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Tags: SMB, payments, mPOS, acquiring, merchants, credit/debit cards
Source: Crunchbase

SwervePay
Healthcare and automobile payment solutions
Latest round: $10 million Series B
Total raised: $11.6 million
HQ: Chicago, Illinois
Tags: Consumer, SMB, payments, mobile, insurance, healthcare, automobile dealers, merchants
Source: Crunchbase

RKSV
Online stock brokerage
Latest round: $4 million Series A
Total raised: $4 million
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, stocks, equity
Source: Crunchbase

Qapital
Digital banking app
Latest round: $3.5 million
Total raised: $5.3 million
HQ: New York City; Stockholm, Sweden
Tags: Consumer, systematic savings, deposit, PFM, personal finance management, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

Stash
Digital investment advisor
Latest round: $3 million Seed
Total raised: $4.5 million
HQ: New York City, New York
Tags: Consumer, investing, trading, mobile
Source: Crunchbase

Qvinci
Accounting add-on for financial reporting
Latest round: $2.4 million
Total raised: $5.8 million
HQ: Austin, Texas
Tags: SMB,Quickbooks, accounting, financial management
Source: Crunchbase

Shopbox
Point-of-sale technology for food businesses
Latest round: $2.2 million
Total raised: $2.2 million
HQ: Copenhagen, Denmark
Tags: SMB, POS, payments, credit/debit cards, restaurant merchants, acquiring
Source: Crunchbase

Trussle
Online mortgage advisor
Latest round: $1.6 million
Total raised: $1.6 million
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, refi, lead gen, price comparison
Source: FT Partners

Agreement Express
Automates client onboarding in financial services
Latest round: $1 million Debt
Total raised: $1 million Debt
HQ: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Tags: B2B, consumer, compliance, sales, onboarding, UX, Silicon Valley Bank (lender)
Source: Crunchbase

Vast
Home and auto purchase decision-making tools
Latest round: $1 million
Total raised: $1 million
HQ: San Francisco, California
Tags: Consumer, B2B, lending, mortgages, auto loans, home purchasing, real estate, automobile buying
Source: Crunchbase

Homie
P2P marketplace for home selling
Latest round: $700,000
Total raised: $700,000
HQ: Salt Lake, Utah
Tags: Consumer, mortgage, home purchase, real estate, peer-to-peer
Source: FT Partners

OFF3R
Crowd-funding aggregator
Latest round: $690,000 Seed
Total raised: $690,000
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Tags: Consumer, SMB, investing, peer-to-peer, equity, loans, lending
Source: Crunchbase

SurBTC
Chilean bitcoin exchange
Latest round: $300,000 Seed
Total raised: $300,000
HQ: Santiago, Chile
Tags: Consumer, payments, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, blockchain, virtual currency
Source: FT Partners

Capzest
Digital lender
Latest round: $200,000
Total raised: $200,000
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, SMB, loans, credit, lending, underwriting
Source: FT Partners

SwipeStox (Naga Group AG)
Social investing application
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Tags: Consumer, investing, mobile, trading, social, Hauck & Aufhäuser (investor), Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

Turtlemint
Insurance price-comparison site
Latest round: Not disclosed
Total raised: Unknown
HQ: Mumbai, India
Tags: Consumer, insurance, lead gen, discovery, price comparison, automobile, health, motorcycle
Source: Crunchbase

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook