PeerTransfer Secures $22 Million in a Round Led by Bain Capital

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PeerTransfer, a company that makes it easier for international students to pay their tuition bills, should now have an easier time paying its own bills, thanks to a new installment of funding. 

Today, the Boston-based company brought in a $22 million Series D round led by Bain Capital. Previous investors Spark Capital, Devonshire Investors, Accel Partners, and QED Investors also contributed.

The new installment, which almost doubles its previous total, brings peerTransfer’s total raised to $43 million. It plans to use the new capital to expand coverage and penetration at schools in Australia, Asia, Canada, the U.K., and U.S. and advance its payment platform.

Matt Harris, Managing Director at Bain Capital, will join peerTransfer’s board.

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PeerTransfer enables students from 200+ countries and territories to pay their tuition and room & board using bank transfers and credit and debit cards on its payment platform. It is partnered with 600 schools across 10 countries.

Since launching in 2009, the company has processed over $1 billion in international payments and is adding 50 new clients per quarter. During the first half of the 2014/15 academic year, it doubled year-on-year revenue and reached profitability. Alex Finkelstein, General Partner at Spark Capital states that peerTransfer is poised for even faster growth and expansion.

As for the rest of the academic year, CEO Mike Massaro states that the company is on track to deliver $1 billion in cross-border payments processed for the full year. 

PeerTransfer recently won the 2014 BostInno’s 50 on Fire Award. It demonstrated its international payment solution at FinovateSpring 2011.

Fintech Fundings: 14 Companies Raise $80 Million First Week of 2015

The new year started strong with $81 million raised across 14 fintech companies. It was a very international week with all but $6 million of the total headed outside the United States. The group included soon-to-be-Finovate-alum, iSignThis, an Australian payment security startup appearing at FinovateEurope next month.
Here are the deals from Jan 1 though Jan 8 by size:
Mobile payments for the unbanked
Latest round: $30 million
Total raised: $30 million
Tags: Underbanked, unbanked, mobile, payments, Singapore
Source: Crunchbase
Lending marketplace in Hong Kong
Latest round: $20 million
Total raised: $20 million
Tags: Peer-to-peer lending, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing, Hong Kong, China
Source: Crunchbase
Indian mobile payments startup
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $10 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, ecommerce, Secunderabad, India
Source: Crunchbase
UK-based mortgage lender
Latest round: $7.8 million
Total raised: $8.0 million
Tags: Mortgage, lending, underwriting, Liverpool, UK
Source: FT Partners
Lending marketplace in India
Latest round: $4 million
Total raised: $4 million
Tags: Peer-to-peer lending, P2P, credit, underwriting, investing, Gurgaon, India
Source: Crunchbase
iSignThis

Payment security technology
Latest round: $3.1 million
Total raised: $3.1 million
Tags: Security, mobile, payments, Collingwood, Australia
Source: Paypers
Alternative consumer lender
Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3 million
Tags: Lending, credit, underwriting, social, San Francisco, California
Source: FT Partners
Automatically manage your bank account balance
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Online banking, PFM, money management, personal finance, Oakland, California
Source: Crunchbase
IFAN Financial (aka iPin Technologies)
Online debit payments 
Latest round: $1.0 million
Total raised: $1.0 million
Tags: Payments, debit card, mobile, San Diego, California
Source: FT Partners
LibertyX (previously Liberty Teller)
Enables Bitcoin purchases offline 
Latest round: $400,000
Total raised: $400,000
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, payments, SMB, point-of-sale, POS, Boston, Massachusetts
Source: Crunchbase
 
Socially responsible payments platform
Latest round: $125,000
Total raised: $125,000
Tags: Payments, non-profit fundraising, Edina, Missouri
Source: Crunchbase
Online payment platform for subscriptions
Latest round: $47,000
Total raised: $47,000
Tags: Invoicing, bill payment, SMB, accounting, payments, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Source: Crunchbase
Geolocation services for payments industry
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $800,000+
Tags: Mobile, security, local, notifications, customer service, Melbourne, Australia
Source: Crunchbase
Digital equity shares management
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $1.8+ million
Tags: Investing, equity, stock, cap table management, Mountain View, California
Source: Crunchbase

Finovate Alums Raise More than $2.2 Billion in 2014

Finovate Alums Raise More than $2.2 Billion in 2014

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Finovate alums raised more than $2.2 billion in financing in 2014.  More than three-quarters ($1.8 billion) was equity and a quarter ($400 million) was debt.  

The tally for 2014 shows that financiers continue to find fintech a worthwhile destination for their capital. After bringing in more than $825 million in 2013, Finovate alums increased their fundraising by more than 70% this year.

Here are a few highlights:

Most Raised in a Single Round: The biggest single raise of 2014 is best looked at three different ways. In terms of the best overall job of fundraising, Kabbage’s $270 million debt financing stands out. Lending Club’s $865 million IPO is tops in the “IPO Category” (with On Deck Capital’s $200 million IPO coming in second). Taking home top honors for best single venture round is Credit Karma ($85 million in March), with a $75 million raise from TradeShift and $70 million raise from Prosper close behind.

Biggest Quarter: The biggest quarter for fundraising was Q4, in which more than $1.4 billion was raised. The fourth quarter featured major fundings for Credit Karma ($75 million) and BlockChain ($30.5 million), as well as major IPO-related investments from Lending Club ($865 million), Yodlee ($75 million), Monitise ($77m), and On Deck ($200 million).

Biggest Month: The biggest non-IPO fundraising month was April, where more than $333 million was raised. The majority of the month’s fundraising gains came courtesy of the $270 million in debt financing secured by Kabbage. Including IPOs puts December at the top of the list, courtesy of the IPOs of Lending Club ($865 million) and On Deck.


Q1 – More than $233.4 million raised by eight companies

January

February

March

Q2 – More than $458 million raised by eight companies

April

May

June

  • None

Q3 – More than $194 million raised by 17 companies

July

August

September

Q4 – More than $1.4 billion raised by 26 companies

October

November

December

Fintech Fundings: 6 Companies Raise $21 Million Week Ending Dec. 26

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As expected with the holidays, just $21 million was invested in the fintech sector last week. It was the smallest week since we began tracking in August. The total included one Finovate alum, Bellevue, Washington-based Finsphere, which added nearly $2 million for its mobile identification technology.
The deals from 20 Dec to 26 Dec 2014, by order of size:

QwikCilver Solutions
Stored-value card technology
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $10 million
Tags: Credit & debit cards, prepaid, merchants, SMB, Bangalore, India
Source: Crunchbase

Aspiration
Investment management for middle-class consumers
Latest round: $4.5 million
Total raised: $4.5 million
Tags: Investings, robo-advisor, EFT; Los Angeles, California
Source: FT Partners

BitGold
Gold investing via digital currencies
Latest round: $3.5 million
Total raised: $3.5 million
Tags: Bitcoin, payments, cryptocurrency, investments; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Source: Crunchbase

Finsphere
Mobile identify solutions
Latest round: $1.8 million
Total raised: $32.5 million
Tags: Security, mobile, authentication, identification; location, Bellevue, Washington, Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners

Finanzarel
Spanish working-capital financing marketplace
Latest round: $830,000
Total raised: $830,000
Tags: Alt-financing, working capital, factoring, P2P, person-to-person, investing, SMB; Barcelona, Spain
Source: Crunchbase

GoCoin
Merchant solutions for accepting digital currencies
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $2+ million
Tags: Bitcoin, payments, cryptocurrency, merchants, POS, acquiring; Singapore
Source: FT Partners

Fintech Fundings: 17 Companies Raise $510 Million Week Ending Dec. 19

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Last week was surprisingly busy given how close it was to the year-end holiday freeze. But two blockbuster deals, $250 million to Swedish payment company Adyen and $200 million raised in an IPO from Finovate alum OnDeck, made it one of the biggest weeks of the year.
In total, $512 million was raised by 17 fintech companies. Here there are in order of deal size (from Dec. 13 to Dec. 19):

Adyen
Multi-channel payments company
Latest round: $250 million
Total raised: $266 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, online, POS, merchants, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Source: Crunchbase

OnDeck
Online lending to small-and-medium businesses 
Latest round: $200 million (IPO)
Total raised: $610 million (of which $230 million is debt)
Tags: Lending, alt-lender, SMB, underwriting, New York City, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Money Forward
Japanese personal financial management services
Latest round: $12.6 million
Total raised: $17.6 million
Tags: PFM, money management, personal accounting, Tokyo, Japan
Source: Crunchbase

PeerNova
Blockchain technology
Latest round: $8.6 million
Total raised: $8.6 million
Tags: Blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, identification, trust, security, San Jose, California
Source: FT Partners

Zaio Corporation
Online real estate appraisals
Latest round: $8.2 million
Total raised: $13.5 million
Tags: Lending, mortgage, appraisal, compliance, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Source: FT Partners

CardCash
Online giftcard exchange
Latest round: $6 million (debt from Sterling National Bank)
Total raised: $12 million (of which $6 million is debt)
Tags: Prepaid cards, gift cards, debit, Brick, New Jersey
Source: Crunchbase

InvestX
Private equity marketplace for retail investors
Latest round: $5.2 million
Total raised: $5.2 million
Tags: Investing, wealth management, private equity, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Source: Crunchbase

FolioMetrix
Investment management and research
Latest round: $5 million
Total raised: $5 million
Tags: Investing, wealth management, analytics, Portland, Oregon
Source: Crunchbase

Lendable
Consumer loan marketplace
Latest round: $3.9 million
Total raised: $3.9 million
Tags: Lending, P2P, person-to-person, investing, London, UK
Source: Crunchbase

Prairie Cloudware
Mobile payment platform for financial institutions
Latest round: $3.2 million
Total raised: $4.9 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, digital, enterprise, Omaha, Nebraska
Source: Crunchbase

Triotech
Mobile money transfers

Latest round: $3 million
Total raised: $3 million
Tags: Mobile, funds transfer, payments, Gurgaon, India
Source: FT Partners

Hello Digit
Savings automation tools
Latest round: $2.5 million
Total raised: $2.5 million
Tags: Deposits, savings, PFM, retirement, San Francisco, California
Source: Crunchbase

Splitwise
Expense sharing software
Latest round: $1.4 million
Total raised: $1.4 million
Tags: Expense management, mobile, billing, payments, PFM, Providence, Rhode Island
Source: Crunchbase

Qapital
Mobile budgeting & spending tools
Latest round: $1.3 million
Total raised: $1.6 million
Tags: PFM, money management, online banking, mobile, alt-lender, SMB, underwriting, Stockholm, Sweden, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate

Blispay
Stealth payments company (we presume)
Latest round: $1.2 million
Total raised: $1.2 million
Tags: Payments, Forest Hill, Maryland
Source: Crunchbase

BlueFin Payment Systems 
Integrated payment platform
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Mobile payments, merchants, SMB, Atlanta, Georgia, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase

FreeATM
ATM finder and advertising aggregator
Latest round: Unknown
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Marketing, advertising, ATM, Brooklyn, New York
Source: FT Partners

BehavioSec Lands $6 Million Led by Northzone and Octopus Investments

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In the past few years, we’ve witnessed the evolution of security beyond usernames and passwords. Founded in 2009, BehavioSec is one of the forerunners of this trend; making security invisible to the end user.

Today, the Swedish company announced $6.2 million (€5 million) round led by Northzone and Octopus Investments. Existing investors, Conor Venture Partners and Partner Invest Norr, also contributed.

A 2011 installment of $500k and a 2008 round of $1.2 million bring BehavioSec’s total funding to almost $8 million.

BehavioSec plans to use the funds to:

    • Accelerate international growth
    • Expand presence in the U.K. and U.S.
    • Support existing clients
    • Invest further in existing products
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The uptick in recent security hacks has brought about increased approval for the use of biometrics. From Apple’s TouchID to Nymi’s Nymi Band, companies and customers are growing accustomed to using physical assets for authentication. BehavioSec takes a slightly different approach. Instead of authenticating using a person’s physical attributes, it verifies an identity by passively observing how they interact with their device.

This week, BehavioSec welcomes three new board members: Simon Andrews of Octopus, Bjorn Stray of Northzone and Chris Barchak of Conor Venture Partners.

BehavioSec has won awards most recently at FinovateEurope 2014 and FinDEVr. It has won Best of Show at FinovateAsia 2013 and FinovateSpring 2012.

SocietyOne Closes $20 Million Series B Funding Round

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Australian P2P lending company, SocietyOne, closed a Series B funding round this week. The amount is officially undisclosed, but according to the Australian Financial Review, the round totals $20 million ($25 million AUD). This new installment comes just 10 months after it closed an $8.5 million round.

Contributors to the new round include Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), News Corp Australia and Australian Capital Equity. Reinventure, the Westpac-funded venture capital manager that took a $5 million equity stake in SocietyOne in February, also helped furnish the round. Reinventure contributed another $5 million to this week’s Series B round.

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The funding comes amid the buzz surrounding Lending Club’s IPO. The California-based company is expected to start trading on the NYSE next week at $10 to $12 per share valuing it at more than $4 billion (see our previous coverage here).

Lending Club’s success bodes well for SocietyOne. James Packer, a representative from SocietyOne’s new investors states, “We have seen first-hand the power of technology in reshaping the media industry and I am excited about the potential of technology, led by the team at SocietyOne, to help reshape the financial services industry in Australia.”

SocietyOne’s ClearMatch technology uses risk-based pricing to offer borrowers a rate that is up to 5% lower than bank loans. It debuted ClearMatch at FinovateAsia 2012 where it won Best of Show.

Fintech Fundings: 17 Companies Raise $167 million Week Ending Nov 28

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It was a short week in the United States with many on holiday Thursday and Friday, so U.S.-based activity was slowed. But the rest of the world more than made up for it. Of the total $167 million raised ($152 million equity, $15 million debt), only $28 million (17%), was to US-based companies. And most of that ($25 million) was to Finovate alums Kensho ($15 million) and Narrative Sciences ($10 million). Another alum (from the first Finovate back in 2007), Monitise, scored $77 million from strategic investors, Santander, MasterCard and Telefonica. 
Here are the deals from Nov 22 to Nov 28 in order of size:
Mobile payments
Latest round: $77 million (post-IPO equity)
Total raised: $232 million (public)
Tags: Mobile, payments, SMB, Santander (investor), MasterCard (investor), London, UK, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase
Indian real estate platform
Latest round: $30 million
Total raised: $30 million
Tags: home buying/selling, mortgage, Noida, India
Source: Crunchbase
Data analytics for securities and investing
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $25.5 million
Tags: Analytics, big data, investing, Goldman Sachs (investor), Cambridge, Massachusetts, Finovate alum
Source: FT Partners
Russian mobile payment processor
Latest round: $15 million (debt)
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Account receivables, financing, credit, SMB, payments, acquiring, Russia
Source: FT Partners
Data analytics with automated report generation
Latest round: $10 million
Total raised: $32.4 million
Tags: Big data, analytics, sales, proposals, AI, USAA (investor), Chicago, Illinois, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate
Japanese cloud-based accounting service
Latest round: $8.5 million
Total raised: $8.5 million
Tags: SMB, accounting, money management, Tokyo, Japan
Source: Crunchbase
French mobile payments company
Latest round: $4.5 million
Total raised: $4.5 million
Tags: Mobile, prepaid, loyalty, merchants, SMB, Paris, France
Source: Crunchbase

Canadian mobile payments and ecommerce
Latest round: $2.2 million
Total raised: $2.2 million
Tags: Mobile, ecommerce, merchants, SMB, acquiring, Vancouver, Canada
Source: Crunchbase
Lending technology
Latest round: $2.0 million
Total raised: $3.5 million
Tags: Lending, credit, underwriting, Portland, Oregon
Source:&nbs
p;Crunchbase
Mobile virtual giftcard system
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $2.5 million
Tags: Mobile, gifting, prepaid, loyalty, merchants, Toronto, Canada
Source: Crunchbase
Mobile document capture technology
Latest round: $775,000
Total raised: $9.6 million (public)
Tags: Mobile, imaging, remote capture, security, account opening, Irvine, California, Finovate alum
Source: Crunchbase
Bitcoin wallet
Latest round: $300,000
Total raised: $300,000
Tags: Mobile, gifting, prepaid, loyalty, merchants, Toronto, Canada
Source: Crunchbase
Bitcoin bookkeeping 
Latest round: $3,000
Total raised: $3,000
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, Berlin, Germany
Source: Crunchbase
E-wallet software
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Mobile, payments, wearables
Source: FT Partners

Medical payments 
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Healthcare, payments, insurance, Woodbridge, Illinois
Source: Crunchbase
B2B mobile payments
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: B2B, payments, SMB, Mumbai, India
Source: FT Partners
Ultra-high-net-worth segment intelligence and prospecting
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: UHNW, investing, wealth management, sales & marketing, Singapore
Source: FT Partners

Advanced Merchant Payments Brings in $5 Million in First Funding Round

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Yesterday, as we began looking forward to FinovateEurope, we heard news from a 2014 alum, Advanced Merchant Payments (AMP).

AMP, a company that provides banks with alternative lending options for small-and-medium (SMB) businesses, pulled in a fresh $5 million this week. The funding, a first for the Hong Kong-based company, comes from SBT Venture Capital.

AMP operates in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines, and has recently expanded into the UK, participating in London’s Level39 fintech accelerator. It plans to use the funding to further internationalize and scale the business.

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Founded in 2009, AMP helps financial institutions offer financing to small business customers by managing some or all stages of the loan process, including:

    • Qualification
    • Verification
    • Credit scoring
    • Approval
    • Disbursement
    • Daily repayment
    • Risk monitoring

AMP debuted its small business lending solution for banks at FinovateEurope 2014.

Fintech Fundings: 16 Companies Raise $82 Million Week Ending Nov 21

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With no blockbuster fundings ($25 mil+), the weekly total of $82 million was the fourth-lowest since we began tracking August 1. However, the overall number of companies was 16, making it a busy week. 
And we were glad to see one Finovate alum, Advance Merchant Payments ($5 mil) on the list. In addition, there was a future Finovate alum, Buttercoin. The hot cryptocurrency startup will be demoing at FinovateEurope in February. 

Here are the deals in order of size from Nov. 15 to Nov 21

Value exchange technology
Latest round: $21 million
Total raised: $21 million
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain, payments, Montreal, Canada
Source: Crunchbase
Merchant advances in the digital media industry
Latest round: $15 million
Total raised: $50 million
Tags: Lending, merchant, credit, underwriting, Beverly Hills, California
Source: Crunchbase
Zibby, integrated lease-to-own financing for online purchases
Latest round: $10 million (includes some debt)
Total raised: $10 million (includes some debt)
Tags: Lending, ecommerce, shopping, credit, New York City
Source: FT Partners
Digital currency technology
Latest round: $7.2 million
Total raised: $7.2 million
Tags: Bitcoin, payments, cryptocurrency, remittances, San Francisco, California
Source: Crunchbase
Home search platform
Latest round: $6.0 million
Total raised: $7.1 million
Tags: Real estate, home buying, mortgage, Mountain View, California
Source: Crunchbase
Powers small unsecured SMB loans at banks
Latest round: $5.0 million
Total raised: $5.0 million
Tags: Lending, Alt-lending, SMB, underwriting, installment loans, Hong Kong, Finovate alum
Source: Finovate
Working capital financing through accounts payable financing
Latest round: $4.7 million
Total raised: $4.7 million
Tags: Financing, billing, credit, accounts payables, London, UK
Source: Crunchbase
Commercial loan and lease information provider
Latest round: $4.4 million
Total raised: $10 million
Tags: Commerial lending, underwriting, data, real estate, New York City
Source: Crunchbase
French online and mobile payments processor
Latest round: $4.1 million
Total raised: $6.8 million
Tags: Payments, mobile, digital, merchants, acquiring, SMB, Paris, France
Source: FT Partners
Automated hedge fund investing
Latest round: $2.0 million
Total raised: $2.0 million
Tags: Investing, hedge funds, San Francisco, California
Source: Crunchbase
White pages directory for Bitcoin
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.6 million
Tags: Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, identity, New York City
Source: Crunchbase
Automated investment research
Latest round: $1.5 million
Total raised: $1.5 million
Tags: Investing, information, Palo Alto, California
Source: Crunchbase
New Zealand equity crowdfunding platform
Latest round: $100,000
Total raised: $100,000
Tags: Crowdfunding, SMB, P2P, lending, credit, investing, Wellington, New Zealand
Source: Crunchbase
Open-source digital trading engine
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: $1.3+ million
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, payments, YC, Palo Alto, California, Finovate alum (see at FinovateEurope 2015)
Source: FT Partners
Pricing and profitability analytics for financial institutions
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Unknown
Tags: Analytics, big data, pricing, management, Australia
Source: Fortune
Coinffeine

Spanish Bitcoin company focusing on P2P transfers
Latest round: Undisclosed
Total raised: Undisclosed
Tags: Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, payments, remittances, Bankinter (investor), Spain
Source: FT Partners

Financeit Brings in Fresh Funding After U.S. Launch

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What do wonders of the world, deadly sins, the Harry Potter series, and Financeit’s funding have in common? They all come in sets of seven (at least for now).

Financeit’s seventh round of funding comes from BEST Funds, which is adding an undisclosed amount to the $21.4 million Financeit has raised since its 2007 launch.

Previous rounds include $13 million in November 2013, along with $8.4 million in angel funding received in five rounds from 2007 to 2012.

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The new installment comes a few months after the Toronto-based company launched its point of sale financing solution in the United States. This is no small feat, given the hurdles of complying with U.S. regulations. Financeit plans to use the funds to expand growth in the new market.

Check out the live demo of Financeit’s U.S. launch, along with its partnership with FIS, at FinovateFall 2014.

Another +1 For Host Card Emulation: SimplyTapp Garners $6 Million

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Host Card Emulation (HCE) solutions company, SimplyTapp, is making it easier for banks to place their own tap to pay functionality in customers’ hands.

To further this mission, two investors, Blue Sky Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, recently contributed $6 million in Series B funding to the Austin-based startup.

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Other funding rounds include a $1.4 million Series A round last November and a $200,000 seed round in February of 2013. Its total funding now tallies just over $7.5 million.

Check out SimplyTapp’s video from FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, where it explains HCE.