Mergers & Acquisitions

Mastercard Acquires Minna Technologies

Mastercard Acquires Minna Technologies
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MasterCard, Mergers & Acquisitions, Minna Technologies
  • Mastercard has agreed to acquire subscription management platform Minna Technologies. Terms were not disclosed.
  • Minna Technologies offers technology that enables users to manage their subscriptions from within their bank app or website, saving users millions of dollars in spending on unwanted subscriptions.
  • Minna Technologies made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2019. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Terms were not disclosed. But Mastercard announced today that it has agreed to acquire Swedish subscription management platform Minna Technologies. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, will bring greater simplicity and clarity to the subscription process and help enhance the engagement between merchants and their customers.

“This is significant recognition of the strength, growth, and impact of Minna Technologies in powering the global subscription economy, partnering with top-tier banks, fintechs, and subscription businesses,” Minna Technologies CEO and Chair Amanda Mesler said. “We look forward to joining Mastercard’s world-class team and helping businesses to empower consumers with control, convenience, and flexibility in managing their subscriptions and recurring payments.”

Minna Technologies offers banks and other financial institutions a subscription management platform that enables users to take control over their subscriptions via an automatically generated overview of all the user’s recurring expenses. Individuals can use Minna to cancel unwanted subscriptions as well as identify and quickly switch to new utility service providers. Mastercard’s acquisition comes as the number of subscriptions globally has climbed to 6.8 billion, with analysts at Juniper Research expecting that number to climb to 9.3 billion by 2028.

That said, the experience of our subscription economy can be a mixed one for consumers. Changing, extending, or canceling a subscription is often much more difficult than it needs to be. Additionally, the proliferation of subscription-based services means that many people have trouble keeping track of what they subscribe to, and when those subscriptions will be renewed. In the U.S., for example, the average person has 4.5 subscriptions. Additionally, more than 85% of Americans say that they have at least one paid subscription that goes unused each month.

Minna provides a payment-scheme agnostic service that empowers subscribers to manage their subscriptions from within their banking apps and websites. Bringing this technology into Mastercard’s suite of offerings is yet another example of how some of the biggest companies in financial services are leveraging acquisitions to add new solutions – from account-to-account payment functionality to enhanced cybersecurity – to their product mix. To that point, just last week, we shared news that Mastercard rival Visa had agreed to acquire fraud prevention company (and Finovate alum) Featurespace.

Founded in 2014, Minna Technologies demoed its technology at FinovateEurope in 2019. Today, the Sweden-based company has connected with more than 22,000 subscription businesses, served more than 120 million retail bank and fintech users, and saved customers more than $1 billion in spending on unwanted subscriptions.

Photo by Shvets Anna

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Visa to Acquire Featurespace

Visa to Acquire Featurespace
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Featurespace, Mergers & Acquisitions, VISA
  • Visa is acquiring fraud prevention company Featurespace to enhance its own fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions.
  • Terms of the agreement were undisclosed and the deal is expected to close in 2025 pending regulatory approvals.
  • The acquisition comes as Visa faces legal challenges from the U.S. DOJ over alleged monopolization in debit card markets.

Visa signed an agreement to acquire fraud prevention company Featurespace today. Financial terms of the deal, which is subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals, were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in 2025.

Featurespace was founded in 2008 as a project in Cambridge University’s engineering department. The U.K.-based company offers AI-based tools that analyze transaction data to detect fraud. The company’s ARIC Risk Hub assesses behavioral analytics in real-time to identify abnormal user behavior, and leverages machine learning to adapt to changing behaviors and new scams, while improving accuracy over time.

“Providing our clients with solutions that can adapt to and anticipate the changing threat landscape is of the utmost importance,” said Visa Global Head of Value-added Services Antony Cahill. “Featurespace’s strong foundation in AI will enhance our existing product portfolio and enable us to address our clients’ most complex and pressing challenges. We look forward to welcoming the Featurespace team to Visa.”

Visa expects that Featurespace will complement and strengthen its existing portfolio of fraud detection and risk-scoring solutions. By leveraging Featurespace’s expertise, Visa will empower its clients to manage payments fraud in real-time while minimizing false positives and ultimately cutting costs.

“Over the past 12 years we have served the financial services industry, building a company that has gone from strength to strength, and we are thrilled to become a part of Visa,” said Featurespace Founder Dave Excell. “With Visa, we can bring the innovation, integrity and purpose of our platform and our team to more payment service providers and ultimately, stop more people from becoming victims of financial crime.”

Shadowing today’s deal is Visa’s previous failed purchase of Plaid. In 2021, Visa was forced to terminate its planned $5.3 billion acquisition of financial data access company Plaid. At the time, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil antitrust lawsuit that ended the merger about a year after discussions were initiated. The lawsuit argued that Visa wanted to acquire Plaid to protect its U.S. debit business against the threat of the fintech. Visa argued that the DOJ did not understand its business and the competitive landscape, saying that Plaid would complement its existing capabilities.

Visa’s planned acquisition of Featurespace is quite different than that of Plaid, however. That’s because the fintech will likely be seen as enhancing Visa’s existing fraud management capabilities and does not pose the same competitive risks as the Plaid deal did.

Even still, the Featurespace deal comes at an interesting time for Visa. The payments giant is re-living some of its 2021 woes with the DOJ. The department sued Visa earlier this week, alleging that it is monopolizing debit card markets. “We allege that Visa has unlawfully amassed the power to extract fees that far exceed what it could charge in a competitive market,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Merchants and banks pass along those costs to consumers, either by raising prices or reducing quality or service. As a result, Visa’s unlawful conduct affects not just the price of one thing – but the price of nearly everything.”

As some experts have pointed out, however, banks and merchants have multiple payment rails to choose from, and that Visa’s global market share is simply a result of capitalism.

Photo by Florenz Mendoza

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CSI to Acquire Velocity Solutions

CSI to Acquire Velocity Solutions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Velocity Solutions
  • CSI announced plans to acquire deposit growth firm Velocity Solutions.
  • CSI will integrate Velocity’s solutions that drive revenue, service, and compliance for community banks and credit unions into its existing offerings.
  • Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Community bank technology provider CSI announced plans to acquire deposit growth firm Velocity Solutions. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Velocity Solutions was founded in 1995 to offer tools that help drive revenue, service, and compliance for community banks and credit unions. The company’s Velocity Intelligent Platform powers its solutions, among which are a Retail Performance Engine, Consumer Liquidity Engine, and Digital Business Lending. These tools leverage machine-led intelligence to help firms manage risk, drive revenue, increase engagement, and boost non-interest income.

Velocity Solutions, which demoed its Akouba cloud-based lending platform at FinovateFall 2021, services more than 30 million consumers and business owners.

“Our customers rely on us to provide the advanced tools and software that drive revenue, efficiency and cost savings,” said CSI CEO and president David Culbertson. “Velocity’s data-driven approach to deposit management and its intelligent overdraft decisioning engine are each designed to deepen relationships with account holders while minimizing risk exposure for financial institutions.”

CSI plans to integrate Velocity’s solutions into its existing financial services suite, which includes everything from core banking to lending to managed IT and cybersecurity, advisory services, and more. “We’re eager to identify more opportunities to evolve the differentiated financial software and technology solutions that make CSI the first choice for community and regional financial institutions nationwide,” added Culbertson.

“The CSI and Velocity teams are united by the same mission to empower community and regional financial institutions to compete and win against the largest banks in the country,” said Velocity Solutions CEO Christopher Leonard. “Our customers are facing increasing pressure to grow in a challenging rate and deposit environment and require innovative ways to acquire and serve their account holders. We are eager to tap into CSI’s deep expertise and development prowess to expand our banking management platform and support customers in meeting their goals.”

CSI expects that today’s purchase will complement the acquisition of community bank loan servicing platform, Hawthorn River, the company made in December of last year.

CSI, which recently launched an expanded developer portal, was founded in 1965. The company received an investment of an undisclosed amount from private equity firm TA Associates in January 2024.

Photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash

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Xero to Acquire Syft Analytics

Xero to Acquire Syft Analytics
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Xero
  • Xero announced plans to acquire Syft Analytics, a collaborative reporting tool.
  • Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close between October and December of this year.
  • Xero plans to integrate Syft’s technology into its existing accounting offering, and it will also continue to maintain Syft as a standalone company.

Small business accounting software company Xero has announced plans this week to acquire collaborative reporting tool Syft Analytics. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

South Africa-based Syft was founded in 2017 to help small businesses leverage their financial data. In addition to automated, customizable reports, businesses can also create financial reports and disclosures. The tool can also consolidate financial information from any accounting software, trial balance, transaction list, or ERP.

“We’ve worked closely with Xero’s teams and customers over the past seven years,” said Syft CEO Vangelis Kyriazis. “Having met Xero’s senior leadership team over the past few months, we knew that joining Xero was a natural fit and would advance our shared goal of helping small businesses succeed.”

Xero has worked with Syft since February of 2018. The two first partnered when the New Zealand-based company added Syft to its App Store, which allowed Xero customers to leverage Syft’s custom reporting features.

Once the acquisition is finalized, Syft will continue to operate as a standalone offering for small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers – regardless of whether they are Xero clients or not. Xero also plans to embed Syft’s functionality into its existing platform, aiming to enhance its own analytics and reporting capabilities.

“We look forward to bringing this exciting vision to life by strengthening our insights, advanced reporting and analytics offerings through capabilities such as benchmarking, long term cash flow forecasting and multi-entity reporting,” the company said in a blog post. “Our goal is to bring the power of premium insights and advanced reporting functionality to our customers so they can reap the value for their business.”

The acquisition is expected to close between October and December 2024.

Founded in 2006, Xero listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) in 2007 and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in 2012. In January 2018, the company consolidated to list solely on the ASX and now boasts a market capitalization of $22.58 billion. The company counts 4.2 million subscribers.

Earlier this year, Xero launched new inventory management software called Xero Inventory Plus, which it anticipates will help goods-based small business owners track and manage their inventory across different channels.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

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Ncontracts Acquires Third Party Risk Management Company Venminder

Ncontracts Acquires Third Party Risk Management Company Venminder
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Ncontracts
  • Ncontracts has acquired Venminder, a third-party risk management SaaS platform, to enhance its governance, risk, and compliance services.
  • The acquisition will broaden Ncontracts’ expertise in third-party risk management and strengthen its position in both SaaS and knowledge-as-a-service markets.
  • Ncontracts also announced that Hg has acquired Venminder’s previous shareholders and Ncontracts’ investor Gryphon.

Risk management and compliance solutions provider Ncontracts made an acquisition today to help broaden its governance, risk, and compliance capabilities. The Tennessee-based company has bought third party risk management program company Venminder.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kentucky-based Venminder offers a SaaS platform for third-party risk management that helps more than 1,200 customers manage their vendor relationships– from onboarding to offboarding. With Venminder, firms can manage vendors, track contract data, perform due diligence and oversight, send and score questionnaires, conduct risk assessments, systemically monitor risks across domains, order due diligence assessments on vendor controls, and more.

Ncontracts anticipates the purchase will offer it more depth and expertise in third-party risk management, and will enhance its position in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) and knowledge-as-a-service (KaaS) space.

“We are excited to join forces with Venminder,” said Michael Berman, Ncontracts Founder and CEO. “With our teams coming together to help reduce risk, improve compliance and control costs, we will continue to strengthen the financial industry and the communities they serve.”

Also this week, Ncontracts, which demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022, announced that investor Hg bought out prior Venminder shareholders as well as Ncontracts shareholder Gryphon Investors– which acquired Ncontracts in 2020. With its purchase, Hg will bring both resources and expertise.

“With the investment and support from Hg, we are well positioned to continue our rapid growth,” said Berman. “Gryphon has been a valuable partner, and I want to thank their outstanding team of operating partners, operating advisors and investment professionals.”

Third party risk management is a hotter topic than ever in today’s banking and fintech landscape, especially as the number of banks hit with consent orders rises due to regulatory breaches and compliance issues. With the increasing reliance on third-party vendors for technology, payment processing, and other services, the potential for vulnerabilities and risk has grown significantly.

Exacerbating the issue, regulatory bodies are tightening scrutiny on how banks manage their third-party relationships, ensuring that banks maintain strict oversight, due diligence, and risk mitigation strategies to safeguard sensitive data and operational resilience.

Photo by Edmond Dantès

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Axway Acquires Sopra Banking Software

Axway Acquires Sopra Banking Software
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Axway, Mergers & Acquisitions

The last time we covered open banking infrastructure company Axway, was a little over a year ago in the wake of the company’s acquisition of e-invoicing specialist AdValvas. Today, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based firm is back in the fintech news headlines with another acquisition announcement. The firm has officially sealed the deal with core banking software vendor Sopra Banking Software by acquiring the company for $364 million (€330 million).

First announced in February, the acquisition will result in a 5,000-employee firm led by Axway CEO Patrick Donovan. Sopra Banking Software CEO Eric Bierry will take on the role of deputy CEO.

“The completion of the tie-up between Axway and Sopra Banking Software embodies a unique development opportunity, and the ambitious industrial project we have been working towards can finally come to life,” Axway CEO Patrick Donovan said. “We will be fully committed to this project and I am convinced that, together, our teams will achieve outstanding success.”

The road to the acquisition had more than a few twists and turns. In order to marshal the financing, Axway conducted a share capital increase with preferential subscription rights that amounted to approximately $144 million (€131 million) and secured new credit facilities amounting to $220 million (€200 million). With the capital raised, the acquisition received the required regulatory approvals to initiate the integration of the two companies. Axway noted in a statement that it has set a goal of approximately $772 million (€700 million) in revenue and approximately $110 million (€100 million) in profit on operating activities for 2025.

“Our industry-leading technology platforms and business software have a long and successful track record of driving the transformation of some of the world’s largest banking and financial institutions, and this alliance significantly strengthens our positions, offerings, technologies, and perspectives,” Eric Bierry said. “This operation provides a major opportunity to accelerate our value creation for all our stakeholders through a new Group of critical size with tenfold capabilities.”

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and founded in 1999, Axway made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. At the conference, the company demonstrated its Amplify PI Management Platform, an open independent platform for managing APIs across teams, the cloud, and third-party solutions. The platform enables financial institutions to leverage secure, pre-configured open banking APIs to build new solutions and business models using the institution’s existing infrastructure.

Recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave for API Management Software in Q3 of this year, Axway’s platform handles more than one million transactions every day for 11,000+ customers. These customers include nine out of the top 10 global manufacturers, three out of the four major credit card companies, and 17 out of 20 pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Photo by Paul IJsendoorn

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Shift4 to Acquire Gift Card and Loyalty Company Givex

Shift4 to Acquire Gift Card and Loyalty Company Givex
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Shift4 is acquiring gift card and loyalty solutions Givex for an undisclosed amount.
  • The deal will expand Shift4’s client base by 130,000+ locations across 100+ countries.
  • The acquisition is expected to close in Q4 2024, and follows Shift4’s recent acquisitions of Revel Systems and Vectron Systems.

Payments processing technology company Shift4 announced plans to acquire gift card and loyalty solutions company Givex. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Givex was founded in 1999 to help businesses launch and manage gift card and e-gift solutions, loyalty programs, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and more. The company’s clients include Nike, Marriott, 7/11, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse, and others.

Founded in 1994, Shift4 offers a range of in-person and online payments solutions, including physical point-of-sale, mobile ordering, and contactless payment solutions. The Pennsylvania-based company also offers fraud prevention and business intelligence tools, as well as a gift card platform to help clients manage, sell, and redeem gift cards. “By combining Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases,” said Givex CEO Don Gray.

Once it is finalized, today’s deal will offer Shift4 an additional 130,000+ client locations across more than 100 countries where Givex’s solutions are implemented.

“Givex has a considerable footprint around the world which will dramatically increase Shift4’s overall customer base,” said Shift4 President Taylor Lauber. “At the same time, their gift card and loyalty solutions are second to none and will add significant value for our current customers, creating stickier relationships and enhancing our overall value proposition. Similar to other deals we have recently completed, this acquisition aligns perfectly with how we like to deploy capital – adding blue-chip merchants at a low customer acquisition cost while delivering additional benefits to our customer base.”

As the -as-a-service economy in fintech picks up, companies have been increasingly integrating digital gift cards into their existing apps apps, making them more accessible and easier to manage. The rise of e-gift cards has also been fueled by the post-2020 increase in online shopping, with consumers opting for digital solutions that can be easily redeemed at a wide range of retailers, both online and in-store. Financial services platforms also leverage gift cards to promote customer engagement with personalized rewards and loyalty programs that drive consumer spending.

Moving forward, as firms continue to leverage consumer data we will likely see further data-driven marketing and personalization efforts that will allow companies to tailor gift card offerings to consumer preferences and enhance the user experience.

The deal, which is subject to closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

Shift4 has made a total of 14 acquisitions, including Revel Systems and Vectron Systems earlier this summer. The company went public in 2020 under the ticker symbol FOUR on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market capitalization of $7 billion.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood

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Payoneer to Acquire Skuad for $61 Million

Payoneer to Acquire Skuad for $61 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Payoneer
  • Payoneer is acquiring HR platform Skuad.
  • The deal is set to close for $61 million in cash and may include an extra $20 million in contingent funds and restricted stock units, depending on conditions.
  • Payoneer plans to integrate Skuad’s payroll and contract management solutions into its own offerings.

Hours after I published a piece highlighting summer acquisition activity in fintech, I woke up to this news: global digital commerce company Payoneer announced today that it has acquired HR platform Skuad.

While the purchase is slated for $61 million in cash, it could close for as much as $81 million. That’s because Payoneer may also pay an additional $10 million, contingent on Skuad’s performance metrics, and offer $10 million in restricted stock units, depending on key employee vesting.

“To accelerate our evolution and B2B momentum, we are excited to announce the acquisition of Skuad and welcome to Payoneer the talented entrepreneurs who share our vision of supporting global SMBs,” said Payoneer CEO John Caplan. “We are combining the strength and reach of Payoneer with Skuad’s comprehensive global workforce and payroll solutions to create a powerful platform that will enhance our customers’ ability to expand their teams worldwide and grow globally.”

Skuad was founded in 2019 to help businesses automate payroll management, local compliance, and taxation of their employees. The Singapore-based company, which has raised $19 million, helps businesses compliantly hire employees across more than 160 countries. Skuad also assists its clients in global payroll, allowing their employees to receive payment in their choice of 100+ currencies.

Founded in 2005, Payoneer offers multi-currency accounts and payment services to two million businesses across 190 countries. With a mission to “democratize access to financial services and drive growth for digital businesses of all sizes from around the world,” Payoneer helps users pay, get paid, and manage funds on a global scale. The company also offers working capital– providing advances to Amazon and Walmart sellers, as well as to small businesses.

Payoneer, which plans to integrate Skuad’s payroll and contract management offerings into its own, announced the acquisition of Skuad in an earnings announcement this week. Also during that call, Payoneer revealed a record revenue of $240 million, which is up 16% from last year’s figure.

“Twenty-five percent of Payoneer’s B2B customers are asking for enhanced workforce management capabilities, including payroll, employer of record and contractor management capabilities — so there is significant cross-sell potential with this acquisition,” the company said in a news release.

Payoneer went public via a SPAC merger with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp. in 2021. The company listed on the NASDAQ in June of that same year under the ticker PAYO and has a current market capitalization of $2.41 billion.

Photo by Pixabay

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NCR Voyix Sells Digital Banking Business to Veritas Capital

NCR Voyix Sells Digital Banking Business to Veritas Capital
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, NCR Corporation
  • NCR Voyix is selling its digital banking business to private equity firm Veritas Capital.
  • The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024 for $2.45 billion in cash plus a future contingent installment of up to $100 million.
  • NCR Voyix, which recently split from NCR, expects the move will help it focus on its core software and services offerings for restaurants and retailers.

Digital commerce provider NCR Voyix is simplifying its operations this week. The Georgia-based fintech has agreed to sell its cloud-based digital banking business to an affiliate of private equity firm Veritas Capital. Under the terms of the agreement, NCR Voyix will sell its digital banking unit for $2.45 billion in cash plus a future additional installment of up to $100 million, contingent on terms.

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2024.

NCR Voyix launched its digital banking platform in 2014 and has since evolved significantly. The banking suite aims to offer its 1,300 financial institution clients a comprehensive banking environment for their 20 million active retail and commercial banking customers. For retail banking, NCR Voyix provides online and mobile banking, personal financial management, and customer engagement tools. For commercial banking, the platform includes services such as cash management, treasury services, and business banking solutions.

“Our Digital-First solution suite has been strategically designed to grow and expand with our customers over time as their retail and business banking distribution and customer engagement strategies evolve,” said NCR Voyix Executive Vice President and President of Digital Banking Brendan Tansill. “Veritas brings a proven track record of successfully executing similar business carveouts and subsequently driving growth. We look forward to working alongside their experienced team as we continue to pursue commerce and banking innovations that help our customers and their users succeed.”

Veritas’ CEO and Managing Partner Ramzi Musallam said that NCR Voyix’s digital banking platform shows “significant runway for growth.” He added that the purchase represented a significant opportunity to invest in a solution that will empower a range of financial institutions.

For NCR Voyix, the deal is a byproduct of efforts to streamline its operations to focus on its core software and services offerings for restaurants and retailers. The move comes after NCR separated its ATM-focused business from its digital commerce operations in October of 2023.

The company will use the proceeds of today’s deal to accelerate select financial objectives, including de-levering its balance sheet, which will allow for greater strategic investment in NCR Voyix’s core businesses. As company CEO David Wilkinson explained, “This transaction allows us to drive value for our shareholders by strengthening our financial position and focusing on our core restaurant and retail customers.”

Photo by Lukas

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ThetaRay Acquires Screena to Enhance its Financial Crime Detection Platform

ThetaRay Acquires Screena to Enhance its Financial Crime Detection Platform
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, ThetaRay
  • Financial crime detection technology company, ThetaRay, has acquired screening specialist, Screena.
  • Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the companies have been partners since the spring of 2022.
  • ThetaRay made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2015.

AI-powered financial crime detection technology company, ThetaRay, has acquired European screening company, Screena. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Screena specializes in screening individuals, companies, and other entities against sanctioned party lists. The company’s APIs support syntactic, phonetic, and semantic matching, as well as multicultural recognition services. Each of these technologies is valuable at a time when more companies and financial institutions are taking advantage of opportunities in cross-border payments and trade.

From navigating spelling differences and out-of-order components to comprehending multiple alphabets including Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, and Thai, Screena has a near 100% true detection rate and screens 500+ transactions per second in live conditions. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Luxembourg, Screena helps financial institutions identify bad actors who may be engaged in activities ranging from money laundering to drug trafficking to terrorist financing.

Screena CEO Cédric Iggiotti said that the integration with ThetaRay was a “game-changer” for the company. “For too long, screening was siloed from other critical financial crime detection tools,” Iggiotti said. “Our partnership with ThetaRay not only meets stringent regulatory demands but also significantly enhances our crime detection capabilities, as evidenced by our recent successes with major financial institutions.”

ThetaRay and Screena have been partners since the spring of 2022, when ThetaRay chose the startup as its screening solutions partner. In a statement on this week’s acquisition, ThetaRay CEO Peter Reynolds spoke of the company’s “mission to power the global fight against financial crime” through the use of AI-enabled technologies. He added that the acquisition “furthers our commitment to delivering an end-to-end platform that enables banks, fintechs, and regulators to effectively identify financial crime – vital capabilities to grow and operate a financial institution today.”

Israel-based ThetaRay made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2015. Today, the company has more than one billion users, enables more than 11 billion in trusted transactions a year, and monitors more than $15 trillion in transactions annually. The company’s signature offerings include its transaction monitoring and screening solution, SONAR, as well as its Customer Risk Assessment (CRA) product unveiled earlier this year.

Reynolds was named CEO of the company last summer. He succeeds Mark Gazit, who had been ThetaRay’s CEO for more than 11 years.

Photo by Kasia Derenda on Unsplash

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Stripe Acquires Lemon Squeezy for Undisclosed Amount

Stripe Acquires Lemon Squeezy for Undisclosed Amount
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Stripe is acquiring merchant of record service company Lemon Squeezy.
  • Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
  • Lemon Squeezy will help Stripe add merchant of record capabilities, which will help it differentiate itself and may help attract a more global client base.

Financial infrastructure company Stripe is adding to its expertise this week with the acquisition of merchant of record (MoR) service company Lemon Squeezy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lemon Squeezy was founded in 2020 to help companies selling digital products globally with its subscription billing plans, payments tools, online storefront builder, checkout overlays, and more. The fintech, which has been processing payments on Stripe since it was founded, serves as an MoR. This means that it takes on responsibilities pertaining to processing cross-border customer transactions. MoR responsibilities can include payment processing, risk management, legal and financial responsibility, tax compliance, customer service and support, and fraud prevention.

Today’s buy marks Stripe’s 16th acquisition since it was founded in 2010. Stripe’s payment products serve companies of varying sizes in a range of industries. The San Francisco-based company’s offerings include online and in-person payment acceptance tools, embedded payments tools such as virtual card issuance, and revenue and finance automation tools such as billing, invoicing, and tax automation.

“It’s no secret that we (like many) have always admired Stripe,” said Lemon Squeezy CEO and Co-founder JR Farr. “When we began discussions about a potential acquisition, it was immediately apparent that our values and mission were perfectly aligned. Lemon Squeezy and Stripe share a deep love for our customers and a commitment to making selling effortless. Now imagine combining everything you love about Lemon Squeezy and Stripe — we believe it’s a match made in heaven.”

Looking ahead, Lemon Squeezy will continue to serve its customer base with its existing MoR services. The only difference is that, going forward, it will do so having the backing of Stripe.

For Stripe, adding MoR services will help it provide a more comprehensive suite of financial solutions. This may attract businesses looking for an all-in-one platform to handle not just payment processing, but also compliance, tax, and customer support. The addition may also help Stripe differentiate it in the crowded market of payment processors, including Square, Adyen, and PayPal. That’s because the MoR capabilities will help businesses seeking global expansion overcome regulatory and tax hurdles by managing complexities including local tax collection and remittance, currency conversion, and regulatory compliance.

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Bain Capital to Acquire Envestnet for $4.5 Billion

Bain Capital to Acquire Envestnet for $4.5 Billion
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Envestnet, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Wealthtech innovator Envestnet has agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital in a deal valued at $4.5 billion.
  • Also participating in the deal is Reverence Capital. Strategic partners BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, and State Street Global Advisors also have agreed to invest in the transaction.
  • Envestnet has been a Finovate alum since 2016. The company most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2021.

Technology, data, and wealth solutions company Envestnet has agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital. The transaction values Envestnet at $4.5 billion or $63.15 per share. Also participating in the deal is Reverence Capital, along with a number of strategic partners that have agreed to invest in the transaction. These partners include BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, and State Street Global Advisors, and each will hold a minority position in the company once the transaction is completed.

“This is a validation of Envestnet’s proven ability to operate at market-leading scale – serving more assets, accounts, and advisors and effectively connecting our company and our technology,” Envestnet EVP Business Lines Tom Sipp said. Calling the acquisition an “exciting new chapter,” Sipp highlighted the opportunities that lie ahead in Envestnet’s status as a private company rather than a public one. “As a private company, we can accelerate our ability to further elevate our market-leading platform with greater functionality and an even broader solution set that enables advisors to better serve clients at all stages of their financial life.”

A giant in the field of wealth management, Envestnet manages more than $6 trillion in assets, nearly 20 million accounts, and counts 109,000+ financial advisors as users of its technology. This includes more than 800 asset managers that use Envestnet’s Wealth Management Platform. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, the company works with 17 of the 20 largest banks in the U.S., and 48 of the 50 largest wealth management and brokerage firms. This year, Envestnet has forged partnerships with Salesforce, Australian wealthtech HeirWealth, insurtech Ladder, and fellow Finovate alum Ocrolus, which specializes in financial document automation and analysis.

Envestnet made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2016. More recently, the company brought its data aggregation and analytics platform, Envestnet | Yodlee, to FinovateFall 2021 in New York. At the conference, the company showed how the platform leverages Conversational AI to deliver hyper-personalized financial insights and goals-based micro-savings applications.

Takeover talk had been circulating around Envestnet for months. A report in Bloomberg from late May indicated that the company was “drawing takeover interest from buyers including Advent International and GTCR.” The report also noted an uptick in private equity’s interest in the sector, crediting “reliable cash flows” that can be “scaled up through acquisition.”

“This is a great outcome for Envestnet’s clients and employees, and one that maintains its entrepreneurial spirit,” Envestnet Co-Founder Bill Crager said. “Envestnet is exceptionally well-positioned to continue to build a gateway to the future of financial advice. I couldn’t be more excited about the company going forward, its continued success, and ability to serve more advisors – enabling them to deliver more holistic financial advice.”

Photo by cottonbro studio

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