Fundings Archives - Page 7 of 11

Ripple Raises $55 Million Series B; Announces New Bank Partners

By David Penn Posted on September 19, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Ripple

The news last week that Ripple raised $55 million in Series B financing is a reminder of how a growing number of financial institutions are using digital currencies to improve the cross-border payments process. The investment comes courtesy of Standard Chartered, Accenture Ventures, SCB Digital Ventures, and SBI Holdings, and also featured participation from Santander Innoventures and Venture 51.

“Our mission is to make cross-border payments truly efficient for banks and their customers, and in doing so, lay the foundation for an Internet of Value where the world moves money as easily as information,” Ripple co-founder and CEO Chris Larsen explained. Ripple will use the funding, which takes the company’s total capital to more than $93 million, to grow its customer base and its team, as well as help secure strategic partnerships.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ripple demonstrated its technology as OpenCoin at FinovateSpring 2013. An innovator in using digital currencies and distributed ledger technology to help increase the efficiency and lower the costs of cross-border payments for FIs, Ripple added multi-sign functionality to its consensus ledger in July, a month after the company announced that it was working with seven banks to “accelerate and improve” their cross-border payments service. Ripple picked up the first New York BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services this summer, and began the year partnering with SBI Holdings in a joint venture called SBI Ripple Asia that will bring Ripple’s cross-border payment solution to banks in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ripple currently features 15 of the top 50 global banks in its global network, with pilot projects for more than 30 banks already completed. Calling the company “one of the most advanced distributed financial technology” firms in the industry, Global Head of Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Alex Manson pointed out that Ripple’s technology was already a “tested and viable solution.” This, Manson said, would lead the way for collaboration between Standard Chartered and Ripple to “co-develop more use cases to better serve our clients and their ecosystems’ needs in an evolving marketplace.” Accenture’s Richard Lumb added that the use-cases for distributed financial technology go beyond cross-border payments, including services like real-time reporting and fraud detection.

In addition to the funding, Ripple announced a number of new additions to its network. These banks include:

BMO Financial Group
Mizuho Financial Group (MHFG)
National Australia Bank (NAB)
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB)
Shanghai Huarui Bank
Standard Chartered

Larsen called 2016 “the year where the most forward-thinking financial institutions are actually using blockchain technologies for payments and settlements rather than as an experiment.” He called the new additions a “major endorsement” of Ripple’s technology and the company’s capacity to build a “modern payments system to enable new economic opportunities and the seamless flow of value around the world.”

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Juvo’s Global Launch Features Finovate Debut and $14 Million In New Funding

By David Penn Posted on September 15, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Juvo

There are many great ways to kick off a global launch. We like to think demonstrating your technology live on stage at a Finovate conference is one.

But we’ll concede that announcing a $14 million funding-round featuring participation from the former CEOs at companies like AT&T Wireless, Telefonica International, and Vodafone Group is pretty good, too.

“Only Juvo can deliver financial services to millions of underserved consumers around the world instantly,” former NYSE CEO and Juvo investor, Duncan Niederauer said. He praised both the company’s leadership and its track record, saying Juvo was in a strong position to help mobile operators transition to digital technology as well as respond to “the wider socioeconomic issues around financial inclusion for all.”

CEO and founder Steve Polsky and VP of Product Development Jason Robinson demonstrated Juvo Identity Scoring at FinovateFall 2016.

Juvo’s Identity Scoring technology leverages data science, machine learning, and game mechanics to provide financial identities to underserved populations around the world. Founded by CEO Steve Polsky, Juvo has a market footprint in 23 countries across four continents, giving the technology a reach of more than 100 million. Identity Scoring analyzes both subscriber and usage data in real-time to give mobile operators the consumer data they need to improve engagement and support growth. The company says that mobile operators using the solution have seen gains of 10% to 15% in average revenue per user, and has enabled them to offer high-value financial services.

“Juvo starts by reimagining the prepaid experience and encouraging identity-based relationships between subscribers and their mobile operators,” Polsky explained. “Juvo helps turn a previously ‘invisible’ customer into a ‘visible’ one,” he said, “opening doors for the customer, the mobile operator, and financial service provider alike, and bringing us closer to our vision of financial inclusion for all.”

Founded in March 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Juvo demoed its Identity Scoring solution at FinovateFall 2016 last week. Juvo’s investors include Wing Venture Capital, Freestyle, and Seed-Resolute.

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Signifyd Raises $19 Million in New Funding

By David Penn Posted on September 13, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, Signifyd

E-commerce anti-fraud innovator Signifyd has locked in an investment of $19 million from American Express Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and TriplePoint Capital. The funding, which takes Signifyd’s total to $50 million, will help the company grow its infrastructure and continue to enhance its machine learning technology.

American Express Ventures partner Rohit Bodas emphasized both Signifyd’s commitment to state-of-the-art technology as well as the Palo Alto-based startup’s confidence in its technology in discussing his firm’s decision to invest. “By leveraging machine learning and providing a 100% guarantee, Signifyd is making it possible for even the smallest merchants to combat fraud and achieve measurable cost savings in the process,” Bodas said.

Signifyd co-founder and CEO Rajesh Ramanand demonstrated Guaranteed Payments at FinovateSpring 2013.

Signifyd’s anti-fraud solution leverages the power of the “social graph” and what it says are “thousands of different data points” to help ensure that online consumers are who they say they are. The technology provides merchants with a clear “Accept or Decline” judgement on transactions, and assumes liability for any transaction that is incorrectly determined to be fraudulent. Signifyd says merchants can realize margin gains of 20% and enjoy cash-flow predictability from the company’s 100% financial guarantee alone. Signify serves more than 5,000 e-commerce companies, including major retailers like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Lacoste.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd demonstrated its Guaranteed Payments technology at FinovateSpring 2013. Earlier this year, Signifyd unveiled a fraud-protection app for Magento Marketplace, and was featured in a March 2016 column from TechCrunch called, “The rise of APIs.” Named one of the best places in the area to work by San Francisco Business Times this past spring, Signifyd began the year extending its integration with Shopify Plus and added CyberSource founder Bill McKiernan to its board of directors.

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Payworks Raises $4.5 Million Series A

By David Penn Posted on September 6, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, payworks

Just a few days after launching its next-generation payment-gateway, Pulse, Payworks announced a $4.5 million Series A. The round was led by HW Capital and Rumford, and featured the participation of “leading U.S. and European payment executives” as well as existing investor, Speedinvest. The funding will help accelerate the Munich, Germany-based company’s continued expansion into Europe and North America.

“We are extremely happy on having closed our Series A with a great group of investors,” said Christian Deger, Payworks CEO and co-founder. “With their support, we will make Pulse available to even more merchants worldwide and establish our position in the market as a leading payment-gateway technology company.”

Nikolaus von Taysen, a partner at Rumford, had high praise for the German SaaS payment-gateway company, and called Payworks “one of the very few companies that has a shot at replacing an old and outdated infrastructure on a global scale.”

CEO Christian Deger demonstrated the Payworks’ platform at FinvoateEurope 2014.

Payworks gives payment processors an alternative to the costly, inefficient, inflexible, and often poorly secured legacy systems still widely in use to process credit card payments. With Pulse, the company’s lightweight, next-generation, SaaS payment-processing platform, Payworks empowers smaller processors to keep up with the larger processors in the payment business. CEO and co-founder Christian Deger called the solution a “very important milestone for our company,” noting the technology provides fast, API-based, EMV, contactless card, mobile wallet, and chip and payment processing for both fixed and mobile point-of-sale systems.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, and founded in 2012, Payworks demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2014. Winner of the MPE Award for most innovative payment startup, the company is active in more than 15 countries, and its payment provider clients serve hundreds of thousands of merchants in a number of different industries.

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Boku Lands $13.75 Million in Venture Funding

By David Penn Posted on September 1, 2016
Categories: Boku, Funding, Fundings

In a venture round featuring investments from new and existing investors, direct carrier billing and mobile payments leader Boku has raised $13.75 million in additional funding. The financing brings Boku’s total capital to $91 million, and will help fuel the company’s global growth. Participating in the venture round were existing investors Khosla Ventures, Benchmark Capital, NEA, Index Ventures, and DAG Ventures. Additional new and existing investors from the U.K., the U.S., and Asia were also involved.

“Carrier billing is evolving from being a niche product for phone-centric content into a mainstream payment method used by the world’s major brands for all types of digital products,” Boku CEO Jon Prideaux explained. With most customers of carrier billing traditionally coming from developing countries where access to credit and payment cards can be a challenge, Prideaux noted that the company has experienced “explosive growth” in more developed markets, thanks largely to partnerships it has forged with merchants and carriers.

“The world’s biggest tech companies see tremendous potential in the power of the phone as a source of funds,” Prideaux added. He said the combination of improved technology and increased awareness are two trends driving greater adoption of carrier billing as a viable payment option in both emerging and developed markets.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Boku demonstrated its mobile payment service at FinovateEurope 2011. The company announced a partnership with Google that will make carrier-billing a payment option on Google Play in Lithuania, as well as an agreement that brings direct carrier billing to Windows 10 phones in both the U.K. and Italy. Boku announced that it would power carrier billing for Spotify in Germany and Italy and do the same for Google Play with four new partners in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

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Behalf Raises $27 Million

By David Penn Posted on August 30, 2016
Categories: Behalf, Funding, Fundings

In a round led by new investor Viola Growth, small business financing innovator Behalf has raised $27 million in Series C funding. The investment will support the company’s increased investment in business development as well as further innovation in its purchase-financing platform.

Calling small businesses the “unsung heroes of the U.S. economy,” Behalf CEO and co-founder Benjy Feinberg pointed to his company’s platform as a solution to help them get the necessary financing to grow. “Behalf has a simple solution, driven by data and technology, that allows us to provide well-priced and flexible credit tools to help SMBs and their suppliers grow profitably,” he said. Also participating in the round were previous investors Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, MissionOG, and Vintage. The Series C takes Behalf’s total capital to $156 million.

CEO Benjy Feinberg presented Behalf’s Vendor Platform at FinovateFall 2014.

Behalf pays vendors directly on their small client’s behalf—hence, the name. This approach, which relies on Behalf’s proprietary credit scoring technology, helps bring short-term purchase financing to small businesses faster and more efficiently: Small businesses can buy up to $50,000 in inventory on the Behalf platform, with terms ranging from $10 to $30 for every $1,000 per month borrowed.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in New York City, Behalf demonstrated its Vendor Platform at FinovateFall 2014. The company has doubled revenues every six months since inception, and recently added Jorgen Bocklage as CFO. Bocklage founded 118 118 Money and is a former VP of finance at Dashlane, a fellow Finovate alum.

Harel Beit-On, Viola Growth founder and general partner who will be joining the Behalf board of directors, praised the company’s team and its growth, saying the company had targeted a “fast growing market” that was “valued by analysts in the trillions, that is underserved by banks.” Behalf says over the next twelve months it will be adding talent in a variety of roles ranging from marketing to engineering.

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SelfScore Raises $7 Million to Bring Credit to International Students

By David Penn Posted on August 25, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, SelfScore

Palo Alto-based SelfScore has raised $7.1 million in additional Series A funding. The round, led by Pelion Venture Partners and including existing investors, Accel Partners and Aspect Ventures, brings the data-analytics startup’s total capital to more than $15 million.

“Some of the most successful companies in this country were started and are run by international students,” SelfScore CEO and co-founder Kalpesh Kapadia said. “Our goal is to use this new round of funding to further educate current and future international students about why they should care about credit, and empower them to build it.” In addition to education, SelfScore plans to use the capital to expand its credit card portfolio and speed up new product development. As part of the investment, Blake Modersitzki, managing partner at Pelion, will join SelfScore’s board of directors.

SelfScore CEO and co-founder Kalpesh Kapadia demonstrated his technology at FinovateFall 2014.

SelfScore has leveraged its expertise in data analytics and machine learning to create a proprietary algorithm that provides insights into consumer behavior, including creditworthiness. From its inception as a “scoring as a service” supplement to FICO scores, the consumer analytics company launched its dedicated MasterCard credit card geared specifically for international students this spring, and has since seen 3x growth in the number of signups month-over-month. Pointing out that the SelfScore has managed its growth “with very little capital deployed,” Modersitzki added, “SelfScore’s unique data analytics and machine-learning approach is a game-changer for unleashing financial freedom with today’s generation of international students.”

Founded in 2014, SelfScore demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2014. The company was profiled by Tech in Asia and CardRates.com in June, and hired a new CMO, Venkat Bala, in April. Bala was formerly VP, head of early-stage consumer cards at Wells Fargo.

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NYMBUS Raises $12 Million in Round Led by Vensure Enterprises

By David Penn Posted on August 15, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, NYMBUS

Core-processing platform-developer NYMBUS has raised $12 million in financing in a round led by Vensure Enterprises. The investment will help the company speed product deployment as well as provide greater infrastructure support for its SmartCore platform.

According to NYMBUS, the funding could not have been better timed. Pointing to “already high demand” for its cloud-based SmartCore technology, NYMBUS Executive Chairman Scott Killoh said, “These banks and credit unions have a strained business model as they face increasing operational costs, severe regulatory pressures, while also being forced to utilize technology that is putting them at risk for survival.” Killoh said technology like NYMBUS was vital to help these FIs “survive, grow, and support their local communities.”

Chief Experience Officer Mario Garcia demonstrates the NYMBUS platform at FinovateSpring 2016 in San Jose, California.

“We are thrilled that the funding will allow us to quickly scale our user base, as well as our service and support teams, to drive growth and innovation that this market so desperately needs,” said David Mitchell, NYMBUS president and CRO. The company’s SmartCore technology was launched last year to help smaller FIs transition away from older core systems that are often lacking in innovation and heavy in cost. NYMBUS, which aspires to be the “Tesla of banking,” instead provides a full-stack, API-driven platform, one that is HTML5, browser-based, built in Java and fully-hosted.

The new funding for NYMBUS comes after the company spent most of the summer making a variety of strategic acquisitions. NYMBUS acquired core data-processing, solutions-provider R.C. Olmsted for an undisclosed sum in June, the same month it bought credit union software technology company, KMR and core processing vendor, Sharp BancSystems. NYMBUS says that the trio of acquisitions has resulted in a company with $200 million in intellectual property powering real banking software in publicly traded banks and credit unions. The company launched its credit union service organization (CUSO) in March, and in February, partnered with fellow Finovate alum and PFM innovator, Geezeo.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, NYMBUS demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2016. The company also participated in our developer’s conference, FinDEVr New York 2016, earlier this year, presenting its advanced core-processing platform for FIs.

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FinDEVr Alum UpGuard Raises $17 Million Series B

By David Penn Posted on August 12, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, ScriptRock, UpGuard

Cybersecurity specialist UpGuard has raised $17 million in new funding from a group of investors that included a “strategic investment” from Australian insurance giant, IAG. The company, which made its FinDEVr debut last fall in San Francisco as ScriptRock, will use the capital to help grow its CSTAR cybersecurity preparedness-assessment solution, as well as double staff to 120 by early next year. UpGuard co-CEO and cofounder Mike Baukes said that “by providing the tools needed to build resilient information systems, make strategic decisions with real data in real time, as well as obtain cyber insurance should the worst case scenario occur, we equip businesses to start fighting fire with fire.”

Alan Sharp-Paul, cofounder and co-CEO of UpGuard, during his presentation, “Integrity in the Age of DevOps,” at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

The Series B was led by new investor Pelion Venture Partners and existing investor Square Peg Capital. All of UpGuard’s other current investors participated in the round as well, which takes the company’s total capital to $27 million. Speaking about the investment, Pelion Ventures Partner Chris Cooper said, “UpGuard’s ability to assess both external and internal risk factors is a huge step forward in understanding the complete security posture of a business.” He also praised CSTAR’s “technical rigor and simplicity” when it comes to helping companies to better manage data-breach risks.

CSTAR provides enterprises with a comprehensive and actionable cybersecurity preparedness score. Similar to the way financial risk is aggregated into credit scores for consumers, CSTAR gives businesses such as ADP, Citrix, and Rackspace a single, wholistic risk metric that still enables them to drill down to the server or device level to spot and remedy potential vulnerabilities. UpGuard believes CSTAR can serve as the basis for a cyber-risk benchmark for businesses and consumers alike, and will explore new opportunities with insurance companies, such as with IAG, to help them better assess their customer’s cyber risks. The company also provides a free external assessment tool for websites.

Founded in Australia and headquartered in San Francisco, UpGuard presented “Integrity in the Age of DevOps” at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

Looking to make your own splash in the world of DevOps? Join us for FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2016, on October 18 & 19, as we dedicate two days to the people who put the “tech” in fintech. Visit our registration page and save your spot today.

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$510 Million Raised by 22 Alums in Q2 2016

By David Penn Posted on July 11, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings

Finovate alums raised more than $510 million in the second quarter of 2016, down 39% compared to Q2 2015 and down 22% from last quarter. And while this number is down from the breakaway second quarter of 2015, the trend in Q2 alum funding remains on the upswing based on previous years. Q2 2016 was 11% above Q2 2014 and more than twice as much as raised in Q2 2013.

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

Q2 2016: More than $510 million raised by 23 alums
Q2 2015: More than $840 million raised by 39 alums
Q2 2014: More than $458 million raised by eight alums
Q2 2013: More than $200 million raised by 15 alums

The biggest equity deal of the second quarter was the $75 million raised by Tradeshift in June. Also noteworthy was the $50 million raised by Personal Capital, and SigFig’s $40 million financing. The top 10 investments in the second quarter totaled $327 million or 64% of the quarter’s total alum funding.

Top 10 Overall Investments (equity only)

Tradeshift: $75 million
Personal Capital: $50 million
SigFig: $40 million
Persado: $30 million
TransferWise: $26 million
SocietyOne: $25 million
Zooz: $24 million
Dashlane: $22.5 million
BizFi: $20 million
Azimo: $15 million

Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q2 2016.

April 2016: More than $169 million raised by six alums

Aire: undisclosed – post
BlueVine: undisclosed – post
Ixaris: $6 million – post
Persado: $30 million – post
Scalable Capital: $7.9 million – post
SocietyOne: $25 million (plus $100 million debt) – post

May 2016: More than $217 million raised by nine alums

Azimo: $15 million – post
Dashlane: $22.5 million – post
EZBOB: $35.5 million debt – news
Featurespace: $9 million – post
Personal Capital: $50 million – post
SigFig: $40 million – post
Tagit: $8.75 million – post
Tink: $10 million – post
TransferWise: $26 million – post

June 2016: More than $126 million raised by seven alums

Bento: $7 million – post
BizFi: $20 million – post
Buzz Points: $1.8 million – post
CallVU: $3 million – post
CrowdFlower: $10 million – post
Passport: $8 million – post
TradeShift: $75 million – post

If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the second quarter of 2016, 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.

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savedroid AG Completes € 1 Million Seed Round; Announces Beta Launch

By David Penn Posted on June 20, 2016
Categories: Funding, Fundings, savedroid

After coining the coolest new word in fintech during its Finovate debut this spring (i.e., combining “swipe” and “move” to get the new verb “to smoove”) the team behind savedroid announced that its savings app is now available in beta. Those interested in checking out Germany’s first intelligent savings app can register today at savedroid.de and give the technology a try.

savedroid turns everyday activities and transactions into opportunities to save. The free mobile app’s algorithms support lifestyle savings rules called “smooves” that enable users to save a few bucks every time they work out at the gym, or to set aside 50 cents every time they log on to Facebook. The technology also analyzes consumption patterns and offers the user ways to save more or spend more wisely, including opportunities to find better values in everything from high-speed internet service to life insurance to utility bills. savedroid calls its service “personal consumption optimization at zero cost.”

Pictured: CEO and founder Dr. Yassin Hankir demonstrated savedroid at FinovateSpring 2016 in San Jose.

savedroid also announced that it completed a € 1 million seed round. Participating in the funding were the Investment and Development Bank Rheinland-Pfalaz (ISB) as well as business angel investors including the founders of Infosys and Traxpay, Debjit Chaudhuri and Dr. Michael Rundshagen, respectively. The funds will help support product development, adding new talent to the savedroid team, and investment into the launch of the app. savedroid founder and CEO Dr. Yassin Hankir told Rhein Main Startups that he was “very pleased” to attract such strong investors despite his company’s relative newness.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, savedroid demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2016. Company founder Hankir is also the man who co-founded the goal-savings app Vaamo in 2013. Vaamo demoed at FinovateEurope 2014.

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Bento for Business Banks $7 Million in New Investment

By David Penn Posted on June 10, 2016
Categories: Bento for Business, Funding, Fundings

In a round led by Comcast Ventures, Bento for Business has raised $7 million in new funding. The Series A also featured the participation of existing investors from Anthemis Group, Blumberg Capital, and Lionbird, as well as new investor Dan Henry, former CEO of NetSpend. The investment takes Bento’s total capital to $9.5 million.

The company, which has seen 170% quarter-over-quarter growth since launching 13 months ago, says the funds will be used to add management talent, develop new features, and pave the way for expansion into new verticals. Dave Zilberman, managing director at Comcast Ventures, will join Bento’s board of directors as part of the deal.

Pictured (left to right): Bento for Business co-founders Farhan Ahmad, CEO, and Sean Anderson, CPO, demonstrated their technology at FinovateSpring 2015.

Bento for Business provides small businesses with solutions to help them manage expenses better. The company’s first offering was the Bento MasterCard, a prepaid card that employers can give to their employees to make qualified purchases. Business owners can easily set usage rules for the card based on spending amount and spending category, as well as set spending time limits. Owners also can turn the cards on or off with a single click. Bento provides a dashboard that enables the commercial card owner to see which cards are being used and how, as well as track expenses by location, employee, and type.

“Banks want to service small businesses, but it’s been profitable not to,” Ahman explained during a conversation at FinovateSpring last year. “We want to work with banks, with service providers … to curate and build beautiful, simple and most of all useful products that are built just for small businesses,” he said. Read more about the company in our Finovate Debut feature.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Bento for Business demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2015. The company was profiled by Newsfactor Business Report in its look at prepaid debit cards for businesses back in December, the same month Bankless Times featured the company and its employee-spending controls solution. PYMNTS.con also took a look at Bento last fall.

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