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

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

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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.

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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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Four Finovate Alums Land on Inc. Magazine Top 100″

Around the web

  • Check out Utah Business’s video interview of Ryan Caldwell, MX CEO, honored as one of Utah’s Fast 50. Come see what MX has for developers at FinDEVr this October.
  • Silicon Republic names WePay, Betterment, and OnDeck as companies to follow on Twitter.
  • Pymnts examines how Ripple Labs’ partnership with Earthport enables payments between global trading partners in real time.
  • TSYS hires Patricia Watson as Senior EVP and CIO.
  • Finovate, FinDEVr alums make Let’s Talk Payments’ list of payment companies raising money in 2015.
  • Waters Technology looks at the use of sentiment analysis by investment-oriented startups like Nous and Market Prophet.
  • BankNXT profiles the partnership between two disruptive businesses, Uber and Zopa.
  • Klarna valued at more than $2.25 billion after secondary offering.
  • Fidor Bank CEO Matthias Kroner calls bitcoin a “natural part of the digital lifestyle.”
  • TIO Networks initiates a non-brokered private placement of up to 2.1 million Common Shares priced at $1.08 CAD per share.
  • AcceptEmail names Ron Averett as president and CEO for U.S.A. and Canada.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “Xero Launches its New Android Touch App”
  • “Lending Club Reports Growth in Revenues, Originations for Q2 2015″
  • “CashStar Raises Captal: New Investment Boosts Total to $50 Million”

Around the web

  • Star Tribune column on robo-advisors features blooom.
  • ACI Worldwide and Computop partner to provide payments and anti-fraud solution.
  • Yodlee adds four companies to its International Acceleration Program. Join Yodlee at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco in October.
  • BankNXT’s look at fintech in Singapore features Dragon Wealth.
  • Let’s Talk Payments highlights Azimo, Currency Cloud, peerTransfer, TransferWise, and Ripple in its list of “remittance startups to watch for.”
  • CurrencyFair signs on with global payment network, Earthport.
  • LendUp deploys TaskRouter from Twilio to improve its call-center customer service. See Twilio at FinDEVr 2015 in San Francisco.
  • The Globe and Mail highlights Financeit in a look at financing options for small businesses.

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.

Five Finovate Alums Named 2015 Technology Pioneers by World Economic Forum

Five Finovate Alums Named 2015 Technology Pioneers by World Economic Forum

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According to the World Economic Forum, whatever it takes to be a Technology Pioneer in 2015, a quintet of Finovate alums has got it.

Ayasdi, FutureAdvisor, Ripple Labs, Sedicii Innovations, and TransferWise were named as 2015 Technology Pioneers in the World Economic Forum’s Information Technology category.

AyasdiLogo_FF2014The Technology Pioneers program was launched in 2000 to give recognition to early stage companies developing new technologies that will have a “significant impact on business and society.” Previous winners have included AirBnB, Google, Next, SoundCloud, and Twitter.

futureadvisorlogoThe World Economic Forum chooses approximately 30 companies each year out of a pool of “hundreds” of applicants. The field is winnowed by a selection committee consisting of top technology experts, academics, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists who review the applications and submit a recommendation to the World Economic Forum. Since the program began, 600 companies from five continents have been represented in the Technology Pioneer program.

RippleLabs_logoCompanies interested in the 2016 program should apply before February 5, 2016. Applicants will be notified by mid-July 2016. More information about the program is available here.

Sedicii_logo_high-resAyasdi made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2014 in New York. The company raised $55 million in funding this spring, taking its total to more than $100 million. FutureAdvisor recently unveiled its FutureGift solution, to make it easier for friends and family to make contributions to a child’s college savings plan. The San Francisco-based company demoed its platform at FinovateFall 2013, and has total capital of more than $20 million.

Transferwise_logo_newRipple Labs picked up a $28 million investment and hired former Yahoo exec Brad Garlinghouse as its new chief operating officer in April. Irish startup Sedicii demoed its authentication solution at FinovateEurope 2015, and TransferWise, making its Finovate appearance at FinovateEurope 2013, began 2015 with a $58 million fundraising led by Andreessen Horowitz that boosted the company’s total capital to more than $90 million.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • i-exceed introduces Appzillon 3.1, featuring new widgets, style editors, over-the-air (OTA) support and more.
  • OnDeck unveils mobile app for small business owners.
  • Ripple Labs appoints former Treasury Department official, Michael Barr, as an adviser.
  • Zooz teams up with Bitnet to enable bitcoin payments on its platform.
  • Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to deploy Appian BPM platform.
  • NAMU Systems wins “Most Personalized Banking Experience” award from EPAM at the 2015 Citi Mobile Challenge in EMEA.
  • Coinbase earns a spot in MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies in 2015.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “Redesigning the Value Chain: Q&A with Michiel Schipper of Topicus”

Around the web

  • Trustly appoints CCO from Société Générale and director of sales from Klarna Group.
  • Swiss Re partners with Backbase to develop a new digital platform for selling and servicing life and health products online. Come see Backbase at FinDEVr on 6/7 October in San Francisco.
  • PayItSimple launches in the United Kingdom.
  • Greater Nevada, $550 million in assets, hires Insuritas to launch insurance agency.
  • Paybefore: “How the Ripple Protocol Could Change Payments”
  • PayPal’s Braintree supports Apple Pay in the U.K. with its v.zero SDK. Come see Braintree at FinDEVr this fall.
  • Billhighway adopts SnapApp platform to develop and publish interactive content that increases market engagement.
  • ReadyForZero lists Prosper and Lending Club as 2 of the top 3 debt-consolidation loan companies.
  • Betterment launches SmartDeposit feature.
  • Market Prophit licenses its platform to Nasdaq’s Market Intelligence Desk.
  • The Flying Merchant to use digital eKYC solution from iSignthis to meet AML requirements.
  • The Economic Times India features ArthaYantra, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, and Wealthfront in a review of robo-advisors.

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

Around the web

  • American Banker focuses on how Open Bank Project uses open-source APIs.
  • TechCrunch looks at BioCatch’s newest patent on user’s interaction with phone’s accelerometer and touch screen.
  • “Ripple Labs Elected to Fed Steering Committee for Faster Payments”

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

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Debuts: Token Creates a Secure Payment Ecosystem

Around the web

  • PYMNTS chats with Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen, co-founder.
  • Forbes lists Transferwise as 1 of 3 fintech startups you should know.
  • Inc. names Planwise, Trulioo, WePay, Flint in its look at the evolution of fintech.
  • After launching with Tradier, QuantConnect saw a 300% jump in user-engagement signals, including traffic, coding and backtesting.
  • Fiserv expands card-production capabilities to speed EMV chip-card migration.
  • TechCrunch column on fintech startups features Lending Club and LearnVest.
  • PYMNTS.com quotes LoopPay CEO Will Graylin in a discussion of how Apple, Google, and Samsung “pitch payments.”
  • Market Prophit adds Nasdaq Last Sale real-time data to its analytics platform.
  • Queens Gazette columnist calls MaxMyInterest “a way to get back at the banking industry for their pitifully low interest rates on savings.”
  • The Financial Times’ review of P2P lending for business and consumers features Zopa.
  • Ernst & Young name TransferWise co-founders Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann “Entrepreneurs of the Year” for 2015.
  • Great Friday reading material! Draft co-founder Brad Lawler describes how he was inspired by Finovate.

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

On Finovate.com

  • TipRanks Takes Top Prize at IBM Watson Hackathon in Israel

Around the web

  • Greg Smith and Chris Costello of Blooom discuss simplifying 401(k) management with Fox Business News.
  • Nilesh Dusane, Ripple Labs VP for global sales and client relations, talks about distributed ledgers and the future of payments.
  • EZBOB announces Everline as the sole channel for intermediary businesses.
  • Nomis Solutions teams up with Oliver Wyman to help FIs boost profitability in their retail deposit portfolios.
  • Temenos opens new office in Helsinki, Finland.
  • The Financial Brand highlights the need for banks to compete with Mint, MX, D3, Yodlee, Meniga, Geezeo, and Strands.
  • Investopedia features FutureAdvisor’s use for college savings.
  • Ping Identity enhances partner program with new options, benefits and requirements for partners in three programs.
  • BCSG appoints Deutsche Telekom’s Simon Lunn as COO.
  • Strategic News Service FiRe tech conference names ValidSoft a 2015 FiReStarter Company.
  • ProfitStars Banno Mobile named a leader in the IDC MarketScape: North American Mobile Banking Software Solutions 2015 Vendor Assessment.
  • Huffington Post considers advice from Scott Cook, Intuit co-founder.
  • Remember, the application deadline for the Fall 2015 cohort for the SixThirty accelerator is Friday, 10 July 2015.

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

On Finovate.com

  • “Finovate Debuts: TrueAccord Provides Kinder, Gentler Automated Debt Collection”
  • “HedgeCoVest Adds Two New Models to its Platform”
  • “CashSentinel Closes Seed Round of Undisclosed Amount”

Around the web

  • Dunkin’ Donuts, Fandango, Sundance Catalog and Williams-Sonoma now accept Visa Checkout.
  • Moven updates Android mobile app.
  • The Fintech blog features Q&A with LendUp CEO Sasha Orloff.
  • Bank Innovation profiles Hedgeable and its “one simple trick.”
  • Westpac Banking Corporation and New Zealand Banking Group are testing Ripple for payment transfers between subsidiaries.
  • Ixaris announces €4m Open Payments Ecosystem (OPE) project to support developers building payment apps.
  • TSYS to support Apple Pay when it launches in the U.K. in July.
  • Omnichannel account-opening solution from Zenmonics goes live at BBVA.
  • Austin Energy to adopt PaySecure platform from Acculynk.
  • Investopedia column on the “Top 5 Myths of Robo-Advisors” features Betterment, Wealthfront, and Vanguard.
  • BrightScope launches Fund Pages to provide detailed information about open-ended mutual funds.
  • Sam’s Club using Lending Club to offer financing to SMB customers.
  • FitSmallBusiness.com names OnDeck best provider of small business loans.
  • SunGard terminal selects Heckyl news and sentiment analysis.
  • Pindrop Security granted patent for phone antifraud and authentication technology.
  • Top Image Systems taps Bob Fresnel as new TIS Americas President.

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.