Kensho

20 Alums Make the First Forbes Fintech 50

20 Alums Make the First Forbes Fintech 50
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Algomi, Betterment, Braintree, Chain.com, Credit Karma, HelloWallet, Kensho, LearnVest, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, Plaid, Prosper, Quantopian, Ripple, Simple, TransferWise, TrueAccord, Uncategorized, Vouch, Wealthfront, Xignite

ForbesFintech502015

There’s more to the Forbes Fintech 50 list than just an awesome logo featuring George Washington wearing wrap-around shades. Forbes compiled the list by soliciting information from 300 startups, then interviewing more than 150 CEOs, founders, and industry experts. To make the cut, companies were required to have operations in the U.S. and a viable product.*

Simply put, Forbes describes the companies on the list as “small firms destined to have a big impact on your financial future and possibly upend your portfolio.”

This year, 20 Finovate and FinDEVr alums made the cut:

Algomi

  • Founded: 2012
  • HQ: London
  • Funding: $30 million
  • Customers: 14 large banks and 140 buy-side firms
  • FinovateFall 2014 demo

Betterment

Braintree

Chain

Credit Karma

HelloWallet

  • Founded: 2009
  • HQ: Washington, D.C.
  • Exit: Purchased by Morningstar in 2014 for $52.5 million
  • FinovateFall 2015 demo

Kensho

LearnVest

  • Founded: 2009
  • HQ: New York City, New York
  • Exit: Purchased by Northwestern Mutual in 2015 for $250+ million
  • FinovateFall 2013 demo

Motif

Personal Capital

Plaid

Prosper

Quantopian

Ripple

Simple

TransferWise

TrueAccord

Vouch

Wealthfront

Xignite

*While the list excludes financial giants, Forbes included startups acquired by larger companies but operating independently.

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Artificial Intelligence Innovator Kensho Boosts Total Capital to $58 Million

Artificial Intelligence Innovator Kensho Boosts Total Capital to $58 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kensho

Kensho_homepage_Aug2015

Update: Artificial intelligence specialist Kensho has raised an additional $33 million in new funding, according to regulatory filings filed last week. The $47.8 million figure originally reported includes $15 million raised in November 2014 in a round led by Goldman Sachs.

Investors in the most recent capital infusion were not specified. The latest investment takes Kensho’s total funding to more than $58 million.

Kensho’s previous investors include Accel Partners, Devonshire Investors, General Catalyst Partners, Google Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Promus Ventures, Work-Bench, and Xfund.

Kensho_stage_FEU2014

From left: Kensho’s Adam Broun, head of strategy and business development, and CEO Daniel Nadler demonstrated Warren, an interactive research environment from Kensho, at FinovateEurope 2014 in London.

Kensho has built what it calls the world’s “first computational knowledge engine for the financial industry.” The company leverages massively parallel, real-time, statistical computing and advances in unstructured data engineering to create Warren, an “interactive research environment” that is able to answer more than a million queries posed to it in natural language. Portfolio managers and market researchers can ask Warren questions—such as the short-tern history of Apple’s share price after an earnings announcement or the effect of North Korean missile tests on the South Korean stock market—and get answers in minutes.

Recently featured in a review of Boston-area startups, Kensho was named to OnFinance’s “50 Companies to Watch” roster in April. The company forged a partnership with NBC Universal News Group last fall, providing unique analysis to the viewers of the financial news network, CNBC. Later that month, Kensho announced a $15 million fundraising led by Goldman Sachs.

Founded out of MIT and Harvard in 2013 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kensho demoed Warren at FinovateEurope 2014 in London.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CashStar, Digital Retail Apps, EyeVerify, Fenergo, Kensho, Misys, NICE Systems, Personal Capital, Yodlee

On Finovate.com

  • “Holy Yodlee! Envestnet to Buy Yodlee for $660 Million”
  • “Artificial Intelligence Innovator Kensho Locks in $48 million Series B Round”
  • “Digital Retail Apps Raises C$1 Milllion in Round Led by Texas Ventures”

Around the web

  • Misys shortlisted in three different categories in the CIR 2015 Risk Management Awards.
  • Bloomberg TV looks at Fenergo in a discussion on investment in startups.
  • NICE Systems wins “8-figure contract” to bring call recording and incident-management technology to NYC’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT).
  • Personal Capital CEO Bill Harris writes about the rise of robo-advisors in a column for Investment News.
  • CashStar to power digital gift card offerings from Maritz Motivation Solutions.
  • KCUR 89.3 FM interviews EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

 

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: eMoney Advisor, eWise, Finaeos, FinanceIt, HedgeCoVest, Kensho, Klarna, LoanNow, Meniga, NAMU Systems, OneID, Patch of Land, Pendo Systems, Q2, Quantopian, Spreedly, Temenos, Trustly

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: LoanNow Helps Borrowers ‘Outperform their FICO Score'”

Around the web

  • HedgeCoVest launches its real-time, hedge fund replication platform.
  • First Republic Bank to deploy virtual banking solutions from Q2 Holdings.
  • The Independent takes a look at Klarna and the power of micropayment.
  • oneID featured in MacWorld as a two-factor authentication app for the Apple Watch.
  • Allied Wallet now a supported online payment provider of Spreedly.
  • emX Select from eMoney Advisor now integrated with Dropbox.
  • Süddeutsche Zeitung features Trustly and Klarna (in German).
  • Bank Innovation profile on alternative fintech capitals looks at Iceland and highlights Meniga.
  • Ripple Labs adds former Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) CEO Donald Donahue as advisor.
  • A review of local fintech startups in the Boston Globe features Kensho and Quantopian.
  • Temenos wins “Best Core Banking System” honors from Banker Africa East Africa Awards 2015.
  • American Banker considers how Namu covers the emotional side of banking.
  • Entrepreneur lists Patch of Land as 1 of 100 brilliant companies to watch in 2015.
  • Pendo Systems wins awards from international financial technology publications, the New Jersey Technology Council, and SWIFT.
  • Asian Wealth Times: “Singapore’s MoneySmart to Launch PFM tools with Ewise”
  • Finaeos teams up with TATA Consulting Services to help SMBs take advantage of Regulation A+ of the JOBS Act.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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OnFinance’s “50 Companies to Watch” Features Finovate, FinDEVr Alums

OnFinance’s “50 Companies to Watch” Features Finovate, FinDEVr Alums
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AlphaPoint, Betterment, CardFlight, DRAFT, Jumio, Kensho, Plaid, Tradier, Zumigo

OnFinance_50toWatch

Alumni from both Finovate and FinDEVr are featured in AlwaysOn’s OnFinance “50 Companies to Watch” roster released this week.

AlwaysOn’s OnFinance “50 Companies to Watch” highlights “early to mid-stage startups focused on honing fintech innovation” that are effectively taking their technologies to market. This ability to “capitalize on enormous market opportunities” is what AlwaysOn uses to distinguish its “50 Companies to Watch” from its “Top 100” list published earlier this month.

“(The 50) are positioned at the inflection point of growth and are quickly emerging as contenders that are earning global recognition,” write the editors.

See for yourself. The full list is here. Below are the nine Finovate and FinDEVr alums that made the cut, along with a link to their most recent appearance on stage.

AlphaPoint_hires_logo_boxFinovateEurope 2015

 

Betterment_logo FinovateFall 2011

 

CardFlight_logo FinovateSpring 2014

 

DraftLogo

See them at FinovateSpring 2015

 

 

 

jumio_logo_cmyk FinovateEurope 2015

 

 

Kensho_logo FinovateEurope 2014

 

Plaid_logo FinDEVR San Francisco 2014

 

Tradier_logo FinDEVR San Francisco 2014

 

 

Zumigo_logo FinovateSpring 2014

 

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Alumni News– December 22, 2014

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arroweye Solutions, Bluefin Payment Systems, Digital Retail Apps, Feedzai, FutureAdvisor, iQuantifi, Kensho, Motif Investing, Personal Capital, Strands, Tuition.io, Wealthfront
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgDeutsche Bank launches FinanzPlaner powered by Strands PFM. Check out Strands’ newest tech at FinovateEurope.
  • Arroweye Solutions increases its payment card security.
  • SF Gate considers how Personal Capital brings a human touch to robo-advising.
  • Bluefin Payment Systems partners with 3Delta Systems to provide Bluefin’s Decryptx Point-to-Point Encryption Solution to 3Delta clients.
  • Financial Post takes a look at how innovations like SelfPay from Digital Retail Apps are helping small businesses.
  • Feedzai wins Silver Stevie Award in Most Innovative Company of the Year category in the 12th Annual American Business Awards.
  • FTSE Global Markets looks at how Kensho, Motif Investing, FutureAdvisor, and Wealthfront are leveraging big data and big computing.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Goldman Sachs Leads $15 Million Investment in Kensho

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kensho

Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for KenshoLogo.jpg

In the world of promising young startups, there are far worse things than having Goldman Sachs as your largest investor.

Just last week we announced that NBCUniversal News Group had forged a strategic partnership with Kensho, the global analytics and intelligence systems specialist. This week we learn that Goldman Sachs has taken the lead in a $15 million investment in the company and is now Kensho’s largest investor.

According to a source cited in Forbes discussion of the news, the investment puts Kensho’s valuation “in the 9-figure range.” Combined with the company’s previous funding, Kensho’s total capital raised stands at more than $25 million.
Kensho_homepage2.jpg
Tony Pasquariello, Co-Head of North American Equity Derivatives Sales in the Securities Division for Goldman Sachs said, “our unique partnership with Kensho is an extension of our overall strategy of using and investing in new technology which allows us to deliver insights to our clients.”
Kensho leverages massively parallel statistical computing on unstructured data to provide financial analysts with real-time responses to complex questions. It’s partnership with NBCUniversal will include deploying a Kensho Stats Box for use by journalists at the financial news network, CNBC. And rumors and opinions are already swirling about how the notoriously savvy Goldman Sachs may use the technology.
Writing for Business Insider, Mike Bird suggested that Kensho “should have analysts quaking in their boots” for fear of losing their jobs to the Siri-like intelligent virtual assistant. Over at The Financial Times, Tracy Alloway and Arash Massoudi cited analysts who said that the move is largely a cost-cutting one – which may or may not calm the nerves of Bird’s quaking analysts. 
Kensho_homepage3.jpg
The Financial Times also reported that Goldman Sachs played at least a small role in convincing the company to change the name of its signature implementation of the technology from “Warren” to “Kensho”, the same name as the company. Recall that “Warren” was the name of the platform when it was demoed at FinovateEurope 2014 back in February.
Zack’s Equity Research added that Goldman will use the analytics platform “throughout its business as well as to some of its major clients” and noted that Goldman has been active in the technology space, including an investment in Finovate alum, Motif Investing. “We believe Goldman is set to benefit from its tech investments,” Zacks said, “which seem to offer decent returns to the company.”

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Alumni News– November 24, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Acculynk, Azimo, BlueVine, Comarch, Kensho, Leaf, Motif Investing, PayNearMe, PayPal
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgGoldman Sachs announces investment in Kensho, becomes platform’s largest strategic investor.
  • Acculynk launches strategic partnership with PayPlum, announces acquisition of company’s intellectual property.
  • The Economist cites Comarch in its review of Polish companies succeeding internationally.
  • Leaf CEO Sarah McCrary talks mobile payments in panel discussion on Foodable WebTV.
  • Invests.com features Azimo in column on online money transfer companies.
  • Finovate Debuts: BlueVine.
  • Nasdaq.com examines PayPal’s place in the mobile payments wave.
  • Forbes looks at how PayNearMe helps the underbanked.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Kensho Announces Strategic Partnership with NBCUniversal

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Kensho

Thumbnail image for KenshoLogo.jpg

Global analytics and intelligence systems specialist Kensho has entered into a strategic partnership with NBCUniversal News Group. As part of the arrangement, Kensho has formed a “multi-faceted content and product agreement” with financial news network, CNBC.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

Touting the agreement as a first-ever in the business, NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Pat Fili-Krushel suggested that while the company was committed to “innovation from within”, the opportunity to work with Kensho would provide “unique analysis” to its viewers. SVP and General Manager for CBNC Digital, Kevin Krim, added “our transformative collaboration with Kensho enables us to empower our audience to make sense and money from any event, whether expected or unexpected.”

Kensho_homepage.jpg
Talking about the partnership, Kensho CEO Daniel Nadler put his company’s technology in the broader historical context of efforts to provide financial information to investors. Citing CNBC’s role in helping bring televised stock tickers to investors back in the 1990s, Nadler credited the company for “advancing the movement toward more transparent markets.” What Kensho will add, he explained, was “the power of statistics to gain context and make better, faster, more-informed decisions.” 
The specific components of the partnership include the debut of Kensho Stats Box, a technology that will be made available to CNBC’s journalists and anchors. The Stats Box, launching November 20, will provide research and analytics insights geared toward actionable, market-moving events. In return, CNBC will give Kensho access to its breaking news and financial market coverage, which will be integrated into the Kensho Professional Platform for FIs.
Kensho_FEU2014stage2.jpg
Kensho combines “massively-parallel” statistical computing with innovations in unstructured data engineering to provide financial professionals with a unique analytics platform for guiding investments. By providing real-time solutions to complex, natural language, financial questions posed to it, Kensho aims to bring both greater transparency and deeper insight to the relationships between geopolitics, the natural and business worlds, and the markets.
Founded in 2013 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kensho demoed an implementation of the technology called Warren at FinovateEurope 2014 in London. In January, Kensho raised $10 million in seed funding.

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Alumni News– November 20, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, CurrencyTransfer, iQuantifi, Kensho, PrivatBank, TransferWise
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgPrivatbank customers can now use MoneyGram to send and receive funds courtesy of new partnership.
  • Financial Times Technology section looks at UK fintech startups TransferWise and Azimo.
  • CurrencyTransfer recognized by Secret Tel Aviv as Olim Business of the Week.
  • USA Today column on millennials and saving featured Tom White, CEO of iQuantifi.
  • TransferWise helps lead fight for foreign exchange fee transparency.
  • iBillionaire’s Index has increased 16.5% since launching in November of last year
  • Swipely now managing $4+ billion in annual sales, doubles sales under management in 6 months,  and provides businesses with insights on 20+ million customers.
  • Numerous Finovate and FinDEVr alums make AWI’s list of top 50 fintech innovators.
  • Advanced Merchant Payments brings in $5 Million in First Funding Round.
  • Kony helps Farmatodo increase customer loyalty and deliver new services via mobile apps.
  • Coinbase teams with Rewardspay to create workaround to make purchases on Facebook and iTunes with Bitcoin.
  • TSYS offers merchants and partners an omni payments solution with more ways to accept payments.
  • $493 million in P2P loans originated on Prosper in Q3 2014.
  • Credit Sesame wins 2014 U.S. Mobile and App Design Awards in Financial and Information Tools category.
  • BancVue wins four MarCom Gold awards.
  • Kensho launches strategic partnership with NBCUniversal.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Finovate Alums Raise $600 Million in First Quarter of 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, BankBazaar, Birdback, CAN Capital, Credit Karma, Doxo, Kantox, Kapitall, Kensho, Klarna, On Deck Capital, PayNearMe, Payoneer, peerTransfer, Realty Mogul, Red Zebra, SmartAsset, SocietyOne, Spreedly, ThreatMetrix, Tradeshift, ZenPayroll, Zopa

FinovateFundingIMG.jpg

Want some context on the torrid pace of fintech financing in the first three months of 2014?

Consider this: a year ago, fourteen Finovate alums raised a total of more than $150 million in the first quarter of 2013.

A year later, we have just nine alums raising more than twice as much in the month of March alone.

March Madness, indeed.
Q1 of 2014 saw 23 Finovate alums walk away with just under $600 million in capital. The biggest haul of the quarter came courtesy of Klarna, which raised more than $125 million. 
But there were plenty of similarly impressive fundraisings, including the $85 million raised by Credit Karma, and the $77 million and $75 million secured by OnDeck and Tradeshift, respectively.
Total raised = More than $592 million
January — $91 million raised by seven companies
February — $139 million raised by seven companies
March — $362 million raised by nine companies
Note: Funding prior to becoming a Finovate alum not included. Questions? Comments? Email us at David@finovate.com or Julie@finovate.com

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Finovate Alumni News– March 24, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BBVA, BellaDati, BillGuard, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, CurrencyTransfer, Currensee, Kensho, Ping Identity, Quantopian, TransferWise
  • TransferWise recognized as “boldest small company” in winning FT’s Boldest in Business award for 2014.
  • BBVA follows Simple acquisition with launch of new digital banking unit.
  • Currency Transfer featured in Wired UK as Startup of the Week.
  • BillGuard invites beta testers to try its new Android app.
  • Mail Tribune highlights the importance of Credit Karma and Credit Sesame.
  • Ping Identity purchases Accells Technologies to make mobile devices into a tool for logging you in to all of your cloud-based services in one shot.
  • BellaDati launches the next level of visual data discovery with new release.
  • Matt Turck examines opportunities for Kensho and Quantopian in a Bloomberg-dominated world.
This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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