San Francisco Business Times Ranks 4 Alums Among the Area’s Best Places to Work

The Bay Area is one of the hottest cities in tech right now, and with a city full of companies vying to hire the best talent comes plenty of competition in the form of job perks. The San Francisco Business Times recently released its list of the best places to work in the Bay Area in 2016.

The 125 companies that made the list were selected from a group of 400 nominees. Quantum Workplace created the rankings from survey data received from employees of nominated companies. The rankings are numeric, based on Quantum’s scoring process.

Four Finovate alums in four categories made the list:

Category: largest companies

Intuit

Rank: #4 in largest companies
2015 rank: #6 in largest companies
Founded: 1983
Best perks:

  • 8 weeks of paid parental leave
  • Subsidized rates for child care and elder care
  • Programs for pet-sitting and dog-walking

Intuit’s Mint demoed at FinovateSpring 2013 and its developer group presented at our 2015 FinDEVr event on the West Coast.


Category: large companies

Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll)

Rank: #5 in large companies
2015 rank: #1 in small companies
Founded: 2011
Best perks:

  • A ticket to visit anywhere in the world after an employee’s one-year work anniversary
  • New-hire workshops that expose employees to all aspects of the organization
  • Bimonthly meetings that openly discuss Gusto’s growth and financial situation

Gusto demoed (as ZenPayroll) at FinovateSpring 2014:


Category: mid-size companies

WePay

Rank: #20 in mid-size companies
Founded: 2009
Perks:

  • Free lunch and snacks
  • Gym membership
  • Family ski trip for all employees and their families

WePay demoed at FinovateSpring 2014


Category: smallest companies

Signifyd

Rank: #7 in smallest companies
Founded: 2011
Perks:

  • Catered lunch
  • Specialized coffee
  • Game room

Signifyd demoed at FinovateSpring 2013

To see the newest in fintech from the Bay Area, check out FinovateSpring, which comes to San Jose on May 10 & 11. Tickets are going fast so register soon.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Where are they now? A look at FinovateSpring 2015 Best of Show Winner Successes.
  • “PayPal Marks U.K. Rollout of PayPal Credit with Interest-Free Financing”

On FinDEVr.com

  • “FICO Launches Score Simulator, Adds New CIO Claus Moldt”

Around the web

  • ebankIT shares top honors with Kerv at Temenos Innovation Jam.
  • Top Image Systems inks $115,000 accounts-payable deal with unnamed U.S. technology company.
  • Xceed FCU transitions to Fiserv-hosted DNA account-processing platform.
  • INETCO powers BECU’s omnichannel monitoring and analytics solutions that won the Celent Model Bank Award in the omnichannel category.
  • Red Herring Europe names Featurespace a Top 100 company.
  • Backbase powers Altyn-i, a new digital bank in Kazakhstan.
  • “Signifyd Launches Fraud Protection App for Magento Marketplace”

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.

Avalara, Signifyd Bring Sales Tax, Fraud Solutions to Magento E-commerce Marketplace

Avalara, Signifyd Bring Sales Tax, Fraud Solutions to Magento E-commerce Marketplace

Magento_Avalara

Customers of Magento are getting more than their usual share of love from Finovate and FinDEVr alums.

FinDEVr alum and long-time Magento partner Avalara announced that its sales-tax calculation solution, Compliance Cloud, will be a part of the Magento 2.0 e-commerce platform. In addition, customers will gain access to Avalara’s tax-prep, filing and remittance services.

Marshal Kushniruk, Avalara’s executive vice president of business development, called the latest integration a “strong proof point” of his company’s “multifaceted relationship” with Magento. Kushniruk pointed to their more than 1,000 mutual customers, adding that “we are delighted to be a vibrant part of Magento 2.0.”

Seattle-based Avalara has spent the first quarter of 2016 lining up partners. The company extended its relationship with WooCommerce in March and in Februry, Avalara unveiled its LandedCost solution to help small businesses handle overseas taxes, tariffs, and fees. The company made its FinDEVr debut at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015. Loke Uei Tan, senior manager for developer relations, presented on “The Wacky World of Sales Tax” and how Avalara’s APIs help make sales-tax calculation functionality an easy add-on for developers.

Magento_Signifyd

Meanwhile, Finovate alum Signifyd said that the fraud-prevention app it released on Monday will be the “first and only fraud-prevention app” available via Magento’s platform.

Calling the Magento platform “prestigious” and “far-reaching,” Skye Spear, Signifyd senior director of partnerships and business development, said the platform would help get Signifyd’s technology in the hands of more merchants around the world. “E-commerce companies shouldn’t have to worry about fraud,” Spear said.

Signifyd specializes in helping merchants defend themselves against CNP (card not present) fraud. The company’s Social Graph technology leverages social media, search engines, and other sources to determine the likelihood that a person online is who they say they are, and gives merchants a straightforward “Accept” or “Decline” on transactions. Moreover, Signifyd will accept full liability for any transaction that is accepted but turns out to be fraudulent.

Headquartered in San Jose, California, Signifyd demonstrated its Guaranteed Payments solution at FinovateSpring 2013. The company raised $20 million in a Series B led by Menlo Ventures in February, the same month Signifyd announced that it was extending its integration with Shopify Plus.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Check out this week’s FinDEVr APIntelligence.
  • “Avalara, Signifyd Bring Sales Tax, Fraud Solutions to Magento E-Commerce Marketplace”
  • “Ixaris Receives $6 Million in Funding After Spinning Off from Parent Company”

Around the web

  • BankNxt’s BIGcast interviews CEO Steve Hoffman of SayPay Technologies.
  • OutsideIQ joins fintech accelerator, Bank Innovation INV, as an API partner. See OutsideIQ at FinovateSpring in San Jose next month.
  • Vix Verify opens new offices in Atlanta, Georgia’s Transaction Alley as part of American expansion.
  • Algomi partners with IPC Systems to support buy-side users of its Honeycomb network.
  • Bank Innovation takes a look at CBANC and its effort to make social media work for banks.
  • “AuthenticID Wins All Payments Expo Shark Tank with CatfishAIR Identity Verification Solution”
  • Chase launches OnDeck-powered SMB Loan platform.
  • “CardFlight and Miura Systems Partner to Offer EMV and NFC Mobile POS Solution to the U.S Market”
  • MIT adopts Ripple validator to advance consensus and blockchain research.
  • “LPL Selects BlackRock’s FutureAdvisor as Robo Platform”
  • CIOReview names Praesidio in list of top 20 Most Promising Banking Technology Solution Providers for 2016.

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.

Signifyd Raises $20 Million in Series B Led by Menlo Ventures

Signifyd Raises $20 Million in Series B Led by Menlo Ventures

Signifyd_homepage_Feb2016

Along with participation from Allegis Capital, IA Ventures, QED Investors, and individual investors, Bill McKlernan and Tim Eades, anti-fraud specialist Signifyd has raised $20 million in a Series B round led by Menlo Ventures.

“We’re saving our customers millions of dollars in revenue, and merchants of all sizes are taking note,” Signifyd’s CEO and co-founder Rajesh Ramanand said in a statement about the funding. He pointed out that the Series B round is coming only seven months after the company’s successful Series A round as evidence of the company’s growing traction, adding, “We believe the technology we’re applying to e-commerce is the technical foundation for the next generation of insurance products.”

The funding takes Signifyd’s total capital to $31 million.

Signifyd_stage_FS2013

Rajesh Ramanand, Signifyd co-founder and CEO, demonstrated his company’s Guaranteed Payments solution at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

Signifyd will use the new funding to drive growth, scale infrastructure, and “continue to expand its team of world-class fraud experts.”

Signifyd helps e-commerce merchants fight fraud with a tool called the Social Graph. The Social Graph helps merchants determine whether or not the person behind an online transaction is who they say they are. The technology provides merchants with a clear “Accept/Decline” determination on the online customer’s identity, and Signifyd agrees to accept any liability in the event that an “Accepted” transaction is discovered ultimately to be fraudulent. Signifyd calls it “insurance for e-commerce.”

The funding news comes just days after Signifyd announced that it was extending its integration with Shopify Plus. Earlier this month, the company was honored as a finalist in the 2016 BIG Innovation Awards sponsored by the Business Intelligence Group.

Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd made its Finovate debut at our spring conference in 2013.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Signifyd Raises $20 Million in Series B Led by Menlo Ventures”
  • “Ping Identity Launches New Features, Multi-Factor Authentication API”
  • “Trusted Knight Lands Series B Funding, Acquires Sentrix Web Technologies Assets”
  • “Live from London: FinovateEurope 2016 Demo Videos Now Available

Around the web

  • Minnesota-based Wings Financial Credit Union to deploy account opening technology from Gro Solutions.
  • NICE Systems announces strategic partnership with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
  • Cisco to serve as the “priority technology partner” to BBVA in new strategic alliance.
  • NYMBUS teams up with Geezeo, adding white label PFM technology to its full-stack, core banking platform.
  • Xerox enters into global reseller agreement with Top Image Systems.
  • Emirates NBD Group and the Open Bank Project launch a global competition for fintech 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.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Spreedly Secures $3 Million Financing Round”
  • Xendpay Brings its Money Transfer Service to Tanzania, Burkina Faso”
  • Cardlytics Takes Advantage of its Massive Amount of Customer Spend Data”

Around the web

  • Encap Security unveils version 3.1 of its Smarter Authentication platform, including support for Android fingerprint API.
  • Canada’s digital-first EQ Bank goes live with RetailSuite from Temenos.
  • TSYS and Ethoca team up to fight CNP fraud with the TSYS Transaction Recovery Network.
  • i-exceed technologies earns recognition in Gartner’s 2016 look at MADP vendors around the world. See i-exceed at FinDEVr 2016 in New York in March.
  • WSJ builds article on Cardlytics data.
  • Pymnts highlights cost savings from using the Ripple network.
  • Payments Source features Linkable Networks.
  • Signifyd extends integration with Shopify Plus.
  • Moven partners with Freelancers Union.
  • Check Point and IBM Security to share threat intelligence, announce product integrations.
  • TIO Networks ranks 2nd in top 10 tech companies on the 2016 TSX Venture 50.
  • Taulia launches global partner community, announces new partnerships.

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

  • CUneXus Raises $1 Million, Signs Partnership with Edmunds.com”

Around the web

  • Tradeshift brings its procure-to-pay solution to Zurich Insurance Group.
  • Suffolk Country National Bank to deploy Fiserv technology to improve customer experience.
  • FIS joins the CardLinx Alliance.
  • Signifyd adds Bill McKiernan, founder of CyberSource, to its board.
  • Shoeboxed earns a spot on NerdWallet’s list of must-have apps for entrepreneurs.
  • Trade IT named runner-up in Wealth Management category of the Fin Track Awards for its Trading Ticket solution.
  • Nostrum Group CEO Richard Carter featured on the cover of the Yorkshire Business Insider.
  • Topicus Finance mentioned in Banken.nl column on the rise of crowdfunding in the Netherlands.
  • Simon Cadbury of Intelligent Environments writes about digital-only banks for TechWeek Europe.
  • “European Breakout List for 2016” features several Finovate alums.

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

  • “Coinbase Unveils America’s First Bitcoin Debit Card”
  • “Blooom Named “One in a Million” in Kauffman Foundation Startup Competition”

Around the web

  • Cardlytics ranked 25 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.
  • Entrust Datacard’s Kurt Ishaug named one of 24 CFOs of the year by the Minn./St. Paul Business Journal in the “large private company” category.
  • Prosper Marketplace announces mobile SDK for the marketplace lending industry.
  • DriveWealth adds Carlo Macchi as director of global institutional accounts. See DriveWealth at FinovateEurope 2016 in London in February.
  • PYMNTS.com interviews Arroweye Solutions’ President and CEO Render Dahya on payment trends in 2015.
  • TRADE names Markit to its Hall of Fame.
  • Signifyd releases extension for the Magento 2 platform.
  • LendingRobot to bring its automated robo-investing to Funding Circle’s small-business lending marketplace.

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.

Signifyd Raises $7 Million in Series A Investment

Signifyd Raises $7 Million in Series A Investment

Signifyd_homepage_2015

E-commerce, anti-fraud platform Signifyd has raised $7 million in Series A financing from a squad of all-star investors including Allegis Capital, IA Ventures, Lucas Venture Group, QED Investors, and Tekton Venture, Finovate confirmed today.

The investment takes Signifyd’s total capital to more than $11 million.

Signifyd’s technology—referred to as “fraudsurance” by company CEO and co-founder Rajesh Ramanand—automates the process of verifying identity, leveraging the social graph to see if people making online transactions are who they say they are. In the past, this process has involved sending customer agents to as many as a dozen different locations, from Google and LinkedIn to IP lookup websites and open-source services like White Pages. Courtesy of Signifyd and its Social Graph, a process that could take an individual as much as a half hour or more now takes “milliseconds.”

“We pull together all the data needed to screen a transaction and look at the identities involved holistically,” said Ramanand in the wake of his company’s previous funding round. “With Signifyd, you get a one-stop solution, from automated scoring to manual review, even if you do not have any prior internal history on the customer.”

Signifyd_FS2013_stage

Signifyd CEO and co-founder Rajesh Ramanand demonstrated Guaranteed Payments at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco.

Signifyd estimates that the average e-commerce retailer loses more than 3% a year to fraud, when chargebacks, incorrectly declined orders, and security costs are taken into account. The fact that retailers have to be aware of an ever-widenening array of potential threats and to make sure that any safeguards against them are well integrated (i.e., work with each other and the merchant’s payment processes), spells huge opportunity for anti-fraud specialists like Signifyd.

The company said that it has reduced the amount of time spent manually reviewing transactions by as much as 60%, while simultaneously increasing catch rates. The result has been not only improvements in chargeback detection, but also fewer overall declines because of the company’s ability to leverage and use social profile data. Signify believes this is unique among anti-fraud solutions.

Founded in 2011 in Palo Alto, California, Signifyd made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2013 in San Francisco. CEO and co-founder Ramanand demonstrated the company’s Guaranteed Payments solution. That same year, Signifyd won the Merchant Risk Council award for Most Innovative Startup.

Finovate Alums Raise More than $600 Million for Second Quarter in a Row

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In the first quarter of 2014, 23 Finovate alums raised more than $592 million

And as the second quarter draws to a close, it’s clear that a comparable cohort of alums have kept the pace.

Over the course April, May, and June, 28 alums raised significant amounts of capital ranging from Gremln’s $100,000 to the $65 million raised by Lending Club. The quarterly total of $594 million is almost exactly the same as the previous quarter.

And given that some amounts are undisclosed (I’m talking about you, Holvi, RevolutionCredit, and Tuition.io), we’re confident that Finovate alums have notched their second $600 million fund-raising quarter in a row.
How does this compare with the less recent past? Very well, indeed. 
In the second quarter of 2013, 15 alums raised more than $200 million. This was a major improvement on the second quarter from 2012, which featured 14 companies raising more than $120 million. 
Total raised for Q2 2014 = $594 million
April — $217 million raised by 11 companies
May —  $226 million raised by 11 companies
June — $151 million raised by six companies

Note: Funding prior to becoming a Finovate alum not included. Questions? Comments? Email us at David@Finovate.com or Julie@Finovate.com

Fraud Prevention Specialist Signifyd Raises $2 Million in Seed Funding

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Led by Resolute VC, and with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Data Collective, IA Ventures, QED Investors, Tekton Ventures and other angel investors, Signifyd has raised $2 million in seed financing.

“E-commerce companies can’t waste time and resources cobbling together internal fraud solutions,” said Resolute VC’s Mike Hirshland. “The need for a comprehensive fraud prevention platform is apparent.”

And not just comprehensive fraud prevention, but standalone, as well. One of the distinguishing features of Signifyd is technology that is designed as a holistic solution of merchants who would rather not try and build, or even integrate, a security system on their own.
“(They) have to become an expert on device fingerprinting, IP geo-location, NAP Checks, BIN lookups, social spoofing …” said Signifyd CEO and co-founder Raj Ramanand. “With Signifyd, you get a one-stop solution, from automated scoring to manual review.”
Signifyd is in beta and that beta program continues to be a busy one. According to the company, Signifyd has helped improve manual transaction review times by 60%, and improved catch rates by 20%. Better chargeback detection and fewer declines have also been reported.
The new capital will help Signifyd grow its team of engineers and speed product development.
Signifyd is based in Palo Alto, California, and was founded in 2011. The company demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2013 show in San Francisco. See a video of Signifyd in action here.