Finovate Alums and the History of Bitcoin Innovation

Finovate Alums and the History of Bitcoin Innovation

With bitcoin and cryptocurrencies enjoying renewed interest, it’s worth noting that many fintech fans encountered their first bitcoin-related businesses through Finovate conferences.

Here’s a look at some of the companies that have brought their bitcoin and crypto-powered innovations to the Finovate stage.


OpenCoinFinovateSpring 2013 – The company now well-known as Ripple was introduced to Finovate audiences back in 2013. At FinovateSpring that year, Chris Larsen – CEO of a startup called OpenCoin – introduced its virtual currency and distributed open source payment network. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ripple currently has more than 300 financial institutions who leverage its RippleNet blockchain network to power real-time payments.

KlickExFinovateAsia 2013 – New Zealand-based KlickEx unveiled its asset-backed and algorithmic cryptocurrency for institutional and retail users at FinovateAsia in 2013. The company, founded in 2009, recently announced a partnership with the National Reserve Bank of Tonga to launch a new national payment system.

CoinbaseFinovateSpring 2014 – Among the bigger names in bitcoin and cryptocurrency to have demonstrated their technology at Finovate conferences is San Francisco, California-based Coinbase. Debuting at Finovate with its Instant Exchange in 2014, Coinbase has grown into one of the biggest players in the cryptocurrency market with more than 35 million verified users and more than $320 billion in total volume traded on its platform.

AlphaPointFinovateEurope 2015 – With more than $350 million in monthly trading volume and 20 digital currency exchanges operating in 15 countries, AlphaPoint is a leading fintech exchange platform provider for digital currencies. The company demoed version two of its digital currency exchange platform at FinovateEurope in 2015.

CoinJarFinovateEurope 2015 – Australia’s largest and longest-operating bitcoin company, CoinJar demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2015. The Best of Show-winning firm was the first in its market to offer a bitcoin debit card that enabled cardholders to use the cryptocurrency for everyday purchases.

BitbondFinovateEurope 2015 – Berlin, Germany’s Bitbond offers a global P2P bitcoin lending platform that enables anyone with an Internet connection to both get loans as well as invest their savings for interest. The company demonstrated its AutoInvest functionality, which facilitates and automates fund allocation in a portfolio, at FinovateEurope 2015.

itBitFinovateSpring 2015 – New York-based itBit demonstrated its bitcoin trading platform at FinovateSpring in 2015. The company’s technology enables both institutional and retail investors to buy and sell bitcoin. Rebranded as Paxos in the fall of 2016, the company has since highlighted its work in private blockchains and distributed ledger technology.

Blockstack.ioFinovateFall 2015 – Best of Show winning Blockstack.io offers a hosted and licensed enterprise blockchain platform that enables financial services companies and others to build applications on their own private blockchain. The San Francisco, California-based company, founded in 2015, was acquired by Digital Asset Holdings for an undisclosed sum before the end of the year.

ArcBitFinovateFall 2015 – With a pledge to leverage bitcoin and blockchain technology to bring banking to the underbanked, ArcBit, which made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2015, offers a mobile wallet specifically designed to give bitcoin owners full control over their cryptoholdings.

CoinalyticsFinDEVr San Francisco 2015 – Our developers conference, FinDEVr is one way that many bitcoin and crytocurrency innovators were able to bring their innovations to the public. Coinanalytics, which offers an end-to-end intelligence platform for the bitcoin industry, is an example of the kind of company developing solutions to make bitcoin a better opportunity for payments, financial services, and IoT.

BlockCypherFinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015 – Another alum of our developer’s conference, BlockCypher offers companies a cloud-optimized, enterprise-grade blockchain platform that enables them to build reliable blockchain apps. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company was founded in 2014.

GemFinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015 – Founded in 2014 and based in Venice, California, Gem demonstrated its API which provides a comprehensive security solution for bitcoin apps – without taking control over funds. With a few lines of code, Gem enables developers to provide an interface to their bitcoin apps that gives users better funding options.

LedgerFinovateEurope 2016 – Headquartered in Paris, France and founded in 2015, Ledger designs trusted hardware solutions for bitcoin and blockchain apps. The company’s solutions, including the Nano X and Nano S, provide cryptocurrency owners with a secure, portable way to take and manage their digital assets wherever they are.

StratumnFinDEVr New York 2016 – Enterprise blockchain technology company Stratumn provides firms with the infrastructure and tools they need to to build, deploy, and run blockchain. The company presented the high performance, proof-of-existence engine of its development platform at our developer’s conference in 2016. Jerome Lefebvre took over as CEO of the company from co-founder Richard Caetano in the fall of 2019.

Plutus.itFinovateEurope 2018 – London-based Plutus demonstrated its Tap & Pay and Debit Card solutions that enable consumers to pay with bitcoin or Ethereum at any contactless point of sale. Founded in 2016, the company currently supports more than 26,000 Plutus accounts and credits its users for acquiring more than $100,000 in rewards via its Pluton Rewards program.

Amber LabsFinovate MiddleEast 2019 – Best of Show winner Amber Labs is a bitcoin exchange, wallet, and micro-investment app in one. Headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and founded in 2017, Amber Labs offers a mobile first, automated investment platform for retail customers looking to buy and sell bitcoin.


Photo by Thought Catalog from Pexels

Where the Alums Are: A Remembrance of FinovateSpring Past

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It is hard to believe that it is almost time for FinovateSpring 2014.

There’s still plenty of time for you to get your tickets to our upcoming event in San Jose, California on April 29 and 30. Our final Sneak Peek preview post is up, all the companies who were prepping under the radar are now out of stealth, and we can’t wait for you to see what this year’s spring crop of fintech entrepreneurs and innovators has in store.

Before we do, however, let’s take a moment to take a look back at last year’s FinovateSpring alums. As we scrolled through blog archives, several themes jumped out: the appetite for startups remains as passionate as ever, with three of our Spring 2013 alums being acquired by such financial sector potentates as Intuit and PayPal. And venture capitalists continue to see innovation in this space as a more than worthwhile investment, with 20 separate fundings for Spring 2013 alums

We’ve grouped the achievements into four categories: Exits, Fundings, Awards, and Acquisitions. Enjoy!

EXITS
  • Jack Henry buys Banno for undisclosed sum
  • The rumors are true: eBay’s PayPal acquires Braintree for $800 million in cash
  • Intuit buys tax planning/preparation specialist GoodApril
  • TaxAct acquires Balance Financial
FUNDINGS
  • CardFlight secures $1.6 million in seed funding from ff Venture Capital
  • Encap earns seven-figure investment from ProVenture Seed
  • EyeVerify earns $2.3 million in Series A funding
  • Jemstep raises $4.5 million in Series A round
  • Kabbage brings in $270 million in debt financing to provide small businesses with funding of their own
  • Kabbage brings in $75 MIllion in debt financing
  • Leaf raises $20 million from Heartland Payment Systems
  • Alternative lender LendUp raises $14 million in new funding
  • D3 Banking creator Lodo Software Brings in $3 million
  • Narrative Science secures $11.5 million in Series C funding
  • OpenCoin wins investment from Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners
  • P2BInvestor raises $1.2 million in Series A round
  • PayNearMe leverages Family Dollar Partnership; raises $20 million
  • PayNearMe raises $10 million in Series D funding, launches Express Merchant Onboarding Option
  • Prestadero raises 5 million pesos ($400,000 USD) in first round of funding
  • Quantopian raises $6.7 million in Series A round
  • Realty Mogul raises $9 million in round led by Canaan Partners
  • SeedInvest raises $2 million in crowdfunded investment campaign
  • SeedInvest Raises $1 million in round Led by Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network
  • Zooz Closes $2 million Series A round Led by XSeed Capital
AWARDS
ACQUISITONS
  • OpenCoin acquires SimpleHoney
  • Kofax acquires data integration software provider Kapow Technologies
  • NICE to acquire Causata to enhance customer experience management

Finovate Alumni Raise $825 Million in 2013, Up 79%

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Cheers to a new year! After ringing in 2014, we wanted take a look back at the capital raised by Finovate alumni in 2013. It was quite a year, with alums pulling in $825 million, $365 million more than in 2012 for an increase of about 80%.
2013 funding summary:
    • 62 companies raised $825 million
    • Q4 had the most capital, with a total of $294 million raised by 17 companies (more than half by Xero, which landed $150 million). 
    • October was the busiest month, with $177 million raised (mostly Xero’s $150 million)
    • May was second highest with $91 million raised by 7 companies
2012 comparison
Last year Finovate alums took in almost twice as much as 2012, when 44 Finovate alums collectively raised $460 million. The chart below shows the quarter-by-quarter comparison for both years.
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Quarter 1 — blog post
More than $155 million raised by 14 companies
January — $57 million raised by 6 companies
February — $56 million raised by 5 companies

March — $42 million raised by 4 companies


Quarter 2 — blog post
More than $205 million raised by 15 companies
June — $81.7 million raised by 6 companies
May — $91.5 million raised by 7 companies
April — $32 million raised by 2 companies

Quarter 3 — blog post
More than $171 million raised by 22 companies

July — More than $63 million raised by 8 companies
August — More than $26 million raised by 6 companies
September — $82 million raised by 9 companies
Quarter 4
More than $294 million raised by 17 companies

October— $177 raised by 6 companies
November — More than $87 million raised by 7 companies
December — More than $30 million raised by 6 companies

Note: Funding that companies received before they first appeared at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? Email us at julie@finovate.com or david@finovate.com.

Ripple Labs Announces $3.5 Million in New Funding and a New Real-Time Pricing App

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With participation from Core Innovation Capital, Venture 51, Camp One Ventures, IDG Capital Partners, as well as additional individual investors, Ripple Labs (formerly OpenCoin) announced that it has raised an additional $3.5 million in financing. 

Boosting the company’s total funding to $9 million, the new capital will be put to use building tools for developers and consumers alike, geared toward enhancing the Ripple ecosystem.

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What is Ripple? One of the more compelling innovations of the still-nascent Bitcoin era, Ripple is a payment system that enables fast, secure, and virtually free transactions with no chargebacks to merchants. 

Transactions can take place anywhere around the world, and in any size, allowing users to send money in one currency and receive it in currencies ranging from dollars to yen to Bitcoin.
Says Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen, “Similar to the way in which email and other technologies drove the creation of a new global information web where anyone can communicate instantly and for free, Ripple is changing the way the world transacts with the first global value web.”
Arjan Schütte, founder and managing partner of Core Innovation Capital, agrees: “Ripple removes friction from even the most basic of payment transactions, leveling the playing field for underserved individuals and emerging markets around the globe.”
In addition to the funding news – and the name change – Ripple Labs has announced its platform is now fully open-sourced, and has produced its first app, Ripple Price (see above left). Ripple price provides real-time pricing for users, making it that much easier to discover and track the current price of XRP. Read more about the new app at the Ripple blog
Ripple Labs, as OpenCoin, made its Finovate debut at our spring show in San Francisco earlier this year. See their presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News– July 30, 2013

  • FinovateLOGO.jpgOpenCoin is among the virtual currency innovators looking to form a self-regulatory body for the industry.
  • MasterPass from MasterCard launches in the United Kingdom.
  • Bank Innovation takes a look at FIS Global’s recent remarks on the company’s technology deal with Sainsbury.
  • Yahoo Finance looks at rewards earned using Dynamics ePlate credit card.
  • StreetFight features reasons to opt in for card-linked loyalty programs from Cartera Commerce, Cardlytics, edo Interactive and Swipely.
  • Netbanker features BillGuard, Manilla, and Credit Karma as value-added apps driving mobile adoption.
  • eToro adds price alerts to eToro Trader app.
  • Bright Ideas features Noreen Hafez, senior product marketing manager at Akamai.
  • Kasasa holds sweepstakes, films big-bank breakup video, featuring CEO Gabe Krajicek.
  • Betterment joins fellow Finovate alumni FutureAdvisor and LearnVest in this NYT column on bringing “financial planning to the masses.”
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.

Second Quarter 2013 Funding for Finovate Alumni — More than $200 Million Raised

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For the second quarter of 2013, fifteen Finovate alumni raised more than $200 million. The quarterly total exceeded both that of the previous quarter as well as the same quarter last year.*

  • Q2 2013: 15 companies raised more than $200 million
  • Q1 2013: 15 companies raised more than $155 million — blog post
  • Q2 2012: 14 companies raised more than $120 million — blog post
Here’s the Q2 summary for 2013:

April — $32 million raised by two companies
May — $91.5 million raised by seven companies
June — $81.7 million raised by six companies

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*While the funding over last year has increased, so has the number of Finovate alums. We’re tracking more than 100 additional companies this year compared to last year.

Note: Funding that companies received before they demonstrated at Finovate was not counted. Questions? Comments? Email us at julie@finovate.com or david@finovate.com.

OpenCoin Launches Bitcoin Bridge, an E-Commerce Enabler for Ripple

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Thanks to a new technology from OpenCoin, Ripple users just got access to more than 8,500 Bitcoin-accepting merchants, as well as the rest of the Bitcoin world.

OpenCoin, developers of the virtual currency protocol Ripple, announced today that Ripple users now will be able to pay directly to all Bitcoin addresses. Using a new feature called Bitcoin Bridge, users will be able to send payments in any currency and have the recipient get that payment in Bitcoins with no additional cost.

The move is significant because it demonstrates the distributed nature of OpenCoin’s virtual currency network. Said CEO Chris Larsen in a press release, “Now, anyone can send Bitcoins without having to use a central exchange.”

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Larsen similarly sees Bitcoin Bridge as a boon for merchants who accept Bitcoin.
The company also announced on Tuesday that their first U.S. gateway was now live. Using the SnapSwap gateway, Ripple users now can fund their Ripple wallets directly from their U.S.-based bank accounts.
OpenCoin’s Ripple protocol is a virtual currency and distributed currency exchange. The technology has a number of payment system applications, ranging from merchant payments to remittances. 
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, OpenCoin demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2013 show in May, Watch the company’s presentation here.

FinovateAlumni News– July 2, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgLending Club’s platform has originated $2 billion in total personal loans, $158 million of loans in June alone.
  • HSBC Bank Oman launches SecureKey for internet banking and upgrades mobile banking app.
  • Adidas to accept SafetyPay for online payments across Latin America.
  • Iowa government will soon accept Dwolla as payment for property and vehicle taxes.
  • The American Bankers Association endorses the card-linked offer technology powered by Linkable Networks.
  • The Next Web reports: Virtual stock market game startup TradeHero aims for $5m funding and 1m users by year-end.
  • Monitise and Telefonica enter mobile money partnership.
  • The Globe and Mail looks at On Deck Capital, Lending Club, and CommunityLend’s FinanceIt as alternative financing.
  • Money Insider column in The Independent features Azimo.
  • Pymnts.com interviews TSYS Director of Acquiring Solutions Product Management, Tedd Huff on payment processing.
  • OpenCoin launches Bitcoin Bridge, an e-commerce enabler for Ripple.
  • CEOCFO Magazine interviews Blaze Mobile CEO Michelle Fisher.
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.

Finovate Alumni News– June 27, 2013

  • Big Week for Funding: Kony Solutions, peerTransfer, The Receivables Exchange Raise a Total of $34 Million.
  • Billhighway adds Cole County Residential Services as client.
  • MasterCard unveils Simply Commerce to help merchants accept electronic payments.
  • Newfination interviews Patrick Griffin, head of business development for OpenCoin.
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.

Finovate Alumni News– June 12, 2013

  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgSan Diego County Credit Union launches Cardlytics’ card-linked marketing platform.
  • Newfination: Bill Harris talks about Personal Capital’s new funding round and the issue of continuity.
  • SecureKey’s briidge.net DNA security software and authentication service have been integrated with MasterCard’s MasterPass.
  • BellaDati selects Chicago as its U.S. Headquarters.
  • CEO and co-founder of OpenCoin, Chris Larsen, writes about Bitcoin and “the future of money.”
  • Mint, BudgetPulse listed among budgeting options in column on digitizing your finances.
  • DigitalMailer signs technology and marketing partnership with CoreTrack.
  • Locaid closes $4 million funding round.
  • DeviceFidelity partners with Susan G. Komen Dallas County via moneto Prepaid MasterCard program.
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.

Finovate Alumni News — May 29, 2013

  • FinovateLOGO.jpgPaymentsSource talks with Noam Inbar, VP for product development for Zooz.
  • OneID takes a look at the “security theater” of Twitter’s two-factor authentication.
  • TSYS renews payment processing arrangement with Nationwide Building Society.
  • Pizza Marketplace interviews Leaf director of sales Alex MacKenzie on mobile marketing.
  • MIT Technology Review features OpenCoin.
  • Waspit to release new UX & mobile Apps in August to coincide with the new academic year.
  • TIO Networks partners with the State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services and payment processor Paymentus to help customers make child support payments.
  • Virtual Piggy partners with ClickandBuy to Increase Customer Signups, Conversions, and Sales.
  • Mitek receives patent for signature verification and fraud detection.
  • Christian Lanng, TradeShift CEO, takes on the position of Chairman alongside the responsibilities of CEO.
  • CU Times highlights Moven, Micronotes, GoBank, Refundo, AuthenticID, MoneyDesktop, Mint, FIS, Escardgo, and GoNow as noteworthy demos at FinovateSpring 2013.
  • Silicon Prairie News features Banno and EyeVerify demos at FinovateSpring.
  • Check (formerly Pageonce) and Lending Club are among the emerging financial services companies highlighted in Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends report.
  • SaveUp helps credit union members save more than $400 million.
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.

Finovate Alumni News– May 28, 2013

  • FinovateLOGO.jpgChris Larsen, CEO and co-founder of OpenCoin, calls Ripple, “HTTP for money” in CoinDesk feature.
  • Credit Union Times: ProfitStars‘ Director of Strategic Insight Lee Wetherington talks credit unions and big data.
  • Kalixa Group teams with MasterCard to test prepaid card.
  • Barron’s Electronic Investor column on Quantopian now available to non-subscribers.
  • Mateo’s Tech Travels reviews TransferWise.
  • Business Insider hosts Dwolla CEO Ben Milne in Startup Lab interview.
  • One of the largest financial services corporations in the world invests more than $4.6 million for software, maintenance and professional services with Kofax.
  • American Banker reports: Kabbage’s Fresh Idea for Small Business Finance.
  • TIBCO announces launch of Cloud Bus, a subscription-based Integration Platform as a service (iPaaS) offering.
  • BellaDati opening partner network in Russia.
  • IP Commerce closing payment processing service on June 30.
  • M2CASH rebrands as V2PAY, now offers electronic ID verification, virtual loan solutions, virtual cards & virtual merchant services.
  • Billhighway adds Kids Kicking Cancer as client.
  • Comarch to provide reference, market data to SIX Financial Information.
  • Standard Chartered launches VISA Infinite Credit Card with chip and PIN technology.
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.