Ripple Technology Drives Invoice Trading Platform

Ripple Technology Drives Invoice Trading Platform

Ripple_homepage_technology_Dec2015

Remember this spring when Ripple’s $28 million series A round overshadowed same-day news of the company’s expansion to Asia?

This week we learned that distributed-ledger technology from Ripple is driving a blockchain-based invoice trading platform built by Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

Ripple_stage_FS2013

Ripple CEO Chris Larsen demonstrated the Ripple protocol at FinovateSpring 2013.

“This custom solution was the result of a collaborative effort by many industry players with a wealth of experience in trade finance,” Chris Larsen, Ripple CEO said. “It is also on the forefront of the trending use of distributed financial technologies in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The platform, currently in proof-of-concept stage, converts invoices into digital assets on a distributed ledger. Parties involved get cryptographic identities, which enables the invoice information to be shared by banks (for example, to avoid duplicate financing) without revealing identifiable information.

This last issue is significant enough for FIs. But other potential applications of distributed-ledger technology like Ripple are already being considered. Talking with GTReview, Standard Chartered’s Gautam Jain, global head of digitization and client access for transaction banking, says the technology can also be extended to other trade instruments, such as bills of lading. “We believe that the assembly of all the various documentation and processing stages involved in a trade transaction can happen on a distributed ledger,” Jain told GTR. He added that he thinks the platform, which took six months to develop, can be commercialized in 2016.

Founded as Open Coin in 2012 and rebranded as Ripple in October, the company demonstrated the Ripple network at FinovateSpring 2013. Ripple is headquartered in San Francisco.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Take Two: Toshl Launches Version 2.0 for iOS and Web”
  • “Ripple Technology Drives Invoice Trading Platform”
  • “Moven to Forgo Username, Password for 80% of Mobile Account Interactions”

Around the web

  • FIS launches new fintech accelerator in collaboration with Arkansas-based Venture Center.
  • Prosper Marketplace taps Kunal Kaul as its new EVP of Operations.
  • Newsfactor Business Report looks at prepaid debit cards for businesses offered by Green Dot, Karmic Labs, and Bento for Business.
  • eSignLive from Silanis Technology named a leader in digital transaction management by Aragon Research.
  • Azimo and TransferWise featured in The Telegraph as safe ways to give money during the holidays.
  • The Asset highlights Fastacash in a review of how fintech is changing finance in Asia.
  • Twilio Video now available to everyone in public beta.
  • PayPal’s Braintree now powers Facebook payments.
  • Dwolla introduces Dwolla.js javascript library that allows platforms to verify bank accounts and transfer funds without storing sensitive information.

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

20 Alums Make the First Forbes Fintech 50

20 Alums Make the First Forbes Fintech 50

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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “CAN Capital’s CAN Connect APIs Now Offer iPayment Merchants Access to Funds”
  • “Lenny Loves Dwolla: Digital Payment Network Helps Bring Microloans to Millennials”
  • “BankersLab Closes on Undisclosed Amount in Angel Funding Round” Come to FinovateEurope 2016 to see their live demo.

Around the web

  • TransferWise chooses UP Framework from ACI Worldwide to enhance its ability to grow network and add payment types.
  • Fenergo launches its Data Integration Manager, integrates with Avox, Omgeo, and Clariet Global.
  • Pakistan’s Habib Bank (HBL) to implement FusionBanking Corporate Channels from Misys.
  • TechCrunch interviews CEO Jeff Lawson of Twilio.
  • ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit talks about the cyber attacks of the future for Infosecurity Magazine.
  • Coinbase to offer volume-based rebates for trades placed on Coinbase Exchange starting next week.
  • Kony launches Mobile Field Service solution to help enterprises mobilize and modernize their field service operations.
  • Microsoft’s Azure blockchain-as-a-service partners with Ripple, now operating a Ripple validating node for Ripple’s bank users.

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

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Tuition.io Raises $5 Million in Series A”
  • “Banking Technology Awards Recognize Finovate Alums”

Around the web

  • Bitbond launches bitcoin purchasing power index.
  • Hyperwallet Launches Loyalty Program for Independent Workers.
  • Pymnts chats with Nymi founder and CEO Karl Martin.
  • Avoka introduces digital account opening from within Salesforce.
  • Kabbage to power Sage’s small-business loan offering.
  • Market intelligence provider Ipreo selects Xignite to provide real-time, and delayed, equity prices to its investor-relations platform, BD Corporate.
  • Deccan Herald features Cloud Lending Solutions.
  • Nexmo announces partnership with Netherlands KLM.
  • The Paypers interviews Nilesh Dusane, Ripple VP of global sales and client relations.
  • PYMNTS.com talks about the future of the prepaid market with Larry Blaney, EVP of sales for Cachet Financial Solutions.

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

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “VATBox Wins Spot in Inaugural Global MasterCard Start Path Class”
  • “Finovate Debuts: Persistent Systems Introduces Social Payments Solution, BuddyPay

Around the web

  • Billhighway ranked number 398 fastest growing company in North America on Deloittes 2015 Technology Fast 500.
  • Inspirus Credit Union replaces its existing digital banking system with Alkami Technology’s ORB platform.
  • Corezoidpowered mobile Privat24 for Android lets users scan and digitize discount cards.
  • Let’s Talk Payments features Coinbase, Chain, Ripple, and ItBit in its roundup of top fundraising blockchain and bitcoin companies for 2015.
  • PYMNTS.com interviews Ripple CEO Chris Larsen on payment trends for 2016.
  • BBVA’s new release of BBVA Wallet enables users to redeem credit card rewards on the spot.
  • TokBox’s new developer toolkit brings voice and video chat to Apple TV apps.
  • Facebook’s CTO Mike Schroepfer joins Wealthfront’s board of directors.

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

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • mBank partners with PayU to bring mTransfer Mobile to Poland.
  • WS Integration awarded Little British Battler status by Techmarketview.
  • BizEquity named one of the ‘Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America’ by Entrepreneur magazine’s Entrepreneur 360 Awards.
  • Bluepoint Solutions partners with Gro Solutions for mobile account opening.
  • Germany-based vaamo now enables customers to open accounts online.
  • Irish Mirror features Revolut among 8 startups “you need to know about” at the Web Summit in Dublin.
  • Forbes takes a look at how Dwolla is bringing real-time payment technology to CME Group.
  • BNY Mellon’s Leda Glyptis lists Heckyl Technologies among her personal favorite startups.

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.

American Banker’s “20 Fintech Companies to Watch” Features 11 Finovate Alums

American Banker’s “20 Fintech Companies to Watch” Features 11 Finovate Alums

FintechForward_AmericanBanker_BAIIn the same way that celebrities examine the memoirs of other celebrities to see if and how frequently their names are mentioned, I admit my first thought upon seeing American Banker’s roster of “20 Fintech Companies to Watch” was: “How many Finovate/FinDEVr alums?!”

American Banker’s “20 Fintech Companies to Watch” feature is a part of Fintech Forward, its collaboration with BAI. The goal of the partnership is to “identify the forces and trends that are motivating banks’ technology investment.”

Companies for the list were selected by a panel of judges from American Banker, BAI, Citi, Santander, and Rockland Trust, who focused on three criteria:

  • Does a company offer innovative technology?
  • Does it solve a real business problem?
  • Is it ready for prime time?

So with the bar set, here are the Finovate alums that made the cut.

Rounding out the top 20 were Untapt, Gigaspaces Technologies, IdentityMind Global, Addepar, Zenbanx, nCino, Moneythink, InAuth, and Iovation.

In addition to its “20 Fintech Companies to Watch,” Fintech Forward has produced its “Top 100 Companies in Fintech” and “Top 25 Enterprise Companies” rankings. Both rosters feature numerous Finovate and FinDEVr alums, as well.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Hip Pocket Introduces its New PFM Solution, Hip Money
  • “FinDEVr Newcomer Praesidio Rakes in $3 Million Investment”

Around the web

  • Cachet Financial Solutions to deploy its Select Mobile Money platform with a global payment solutions provider seeking U.S. expansion.
  • Currency Cloud launches its Payment Engine Two API to enable faster payments and greater scalability.
  • D+H Global PayPlus teams up with Ripple, integrating its payment-services hub with Ripple’s distributed-ledger technology.
  • Thomson Reuters announces content update to its Checkpoint Catalyst FASB reporting solution.
  • Ahead of its impending IPO, Worldpay firms up IPO price range.
  • Self Lender names MX as one of three startups “absolutely crushing it” in fintech.
  • Wealthfront lists App Annie, Avalara, Credit Karma, and Twilio on its list of career-launching companies.
  • Expensify launches new integration features for Xero.

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

Ripple Labs Makes Waves: Raises $4 Million, Rebrands & Launches Interledger

Ripple Labs Makes Waves: Raises $4 Million, Rebrands & Launches Interledger

Ripple_homepage_Oct2015

I suppose we should not be surprised when a company like Ripple Labs makes big waves.

An innovator in the field of distributed ledgers and alternative currencies, the company has raised $4 million in funding from Santander InnoVentures. Santander InnoVentures is the venture capital arm of the Spanish financial services giant. The investment completes a $32 million series A round, and brings the Ripple Labs’ total capital to more than $41 million.

InnoVentures managing partner Mariano Belinky said, “We think that the distributed ledger is a technology that will significantly disrupt many processes within a bank.”

And by Ripple Labs, I mean Ripple. The company this week announced it was omitting the word “Lab” from its name. The company is now simply “Ripple,” a name representing the technology’s emergence as an enterprise-grade solution and the debut of two new products for banks: Cross-Currency Settlement and FX Market Making.

Ripple_homepage2_Oct2015

Quoted at the Ripple blog, company CEO Chris Larsen referred to both new solutions as part of his team’s effort to modernize payment infrastructure for banks, thereby increasing efficiency and lowering costs.

It is hard to believe, but outmoded payment infrastructure forces banks and their corporate customers to pre-fund foreign accounts for international payments, but then provides few assurances that cross-border transactions will actually settle. With Ripple’s new solutions, banks can now achieve real-time, certain settlement at the lowest total cost possible.

Cross-currency settlement provides for fast, direct, bank-to-bank settlement that is an alternative to correspondent banking. Use-cases for the technology include:

  • Remittance service for retail customers
  • International transaction banking service
  • International corporate payments
  • Cross-border intra-bank currency transfers

FX Market Making enables banks to use Ripple’s global payments market to provide liquidity for cross-currency trading and real-time settlement. The technology enables both in-house and third-party market-making for banks.

In addition to the investment, Ripple also announced a new partnership with Accenture. Ripple will be offered as a payment option for Accenture customers who are expressing increased demand for blockchain-related products, according to Tim Summers, Accenture managing director for connected commerce.

This week also marks the launch of Ripple’s Interledger Protocol (ILP) to help banks take advantage of blockchain technology. The interledger protocol serves as an arbiter, or what Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas told CoinDesk was a “top-level cryptographic escrow system” that would enable funds to be transferred securely from ledger to ledger. The protocol, explained Thomas in an abstract on the technology, “removes the need to trust the connectors.” He wrote:

Removing the need to trust the connector enables anyone with accounts on two or more ledgers to make connections between them. Connectors can be composed to make payments and the financial system more accessible, competitive and resilient.

Ripple currently has 30 banks experimenting with its technology. Fellow Finovate/FinDEVr alum Fidor Bank AG was the first bank to deploy the technology, announcing in May 2014 that it was using Ripple to move money in three different countries. The company was highlighted by Let’s Talk Payments this August as one of “9 Remittance Startups to Watch Out For,” the same month Ripple was named a 2015 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

Founded 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, Ripple demonstrated its technology (as OpenCoin) at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Ripple Labs Makes Waves: Raises $4 Million, Rebrands as Ripple, Launches Interledger”
  • “CardFlight Scores $4 Million in Series A Funding”

Around the web

  • MasterCard unveils Identity Check, a suite of solutions that includes biometric and SMS-based, one-time passwords to improve security for online consumers.
  • KPMG introduces KPMG Fintech 100 to recognize the world’s most disruptive and fast-emerging innovation companies in financial services. Nominations end 31 October 2015.
  • Santander invests in Ripple as startup expands services.
  • ThreatMetrix to scale global data center capacity to 200 million+ daily transactions.
  • Nymi recruits CEO John Haggard; Karl Martin will now serve as CTO.
  • Emida acquires giftcard-platform specialist Quippi Corporation for an undisclosed amount.
  • Kristo Kaarmann, co-founder of TransferWise, confirms via Twitter that former Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit participated in the company’s $58 million funding round this year.

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

 

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Kreditech Raises 82 Million in Series C Investment Led by J.C. Flowers”
  • “Ellevest Pulls in $10 Million from Morningstar”

Around the web

  • Ripple Labs and Coinbase are highlighted in this infographic on how banks are using blockchain technology.
  • Let’s Talk Payments takes a look at Aire and its alternative approach to credit scoring.
  • Venmo is featured along with nine other top bill-sharing apps.
  • Emerging Payments Awards selects Hyperwallet as a finalist for the Best Corporate/Government Payments Program award for 2015.
  • Kony to offer enterprise mobility cloud solutions to Etisalat.
  • Forbes: Nordea selects Temenos and Accenture to undertake the first major comprehensive European core-banking replacement in years.
  • ChicagoInno features Morningstar’s HelloWallet’s Best of Show win at FinovateFall.
  • PayPal unveils its chip-card reader in the U.S.
  • Hyperwallet counts down to next week’s FinDEVr developer conference. Come see Hyperwallet at FinDEVr, 6/7 Oct in San Francisco.
  • COO Connect calls Blooom, the future of retail savings.

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.