Upserve’s New Square Partnership Offers Clients Access to Funding via Square Capital

Upserve’s New Square Partnership Offers Clients Access to Funding via Square Capital

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When popular point-of-sale (POS) hardware and software company Square launched Square Capital in 2014, it joined the likes of OnDeck, CAN Capital, and Kabbage to provide working capital to small businesses. The company this week announced it has expanded Square Capital to non-Square customers through a partnership with Upserve (formerly Swipely).

Upserve, which processes credit-card payments for food-services businesses and provides performance analytics and management tools, will offer access to its 7,000 customers to Square. Expanding Square Capital through this partnership is key, since Upserve will offer Square access to client sales data to help Square make underwriting decisions. Square Capital’s loans are revenue-based; borrowers repay the loan by giving a fixed percentage of their daily sales.

In an interview with Bloomberg, head of Square Capital Jacqueline Reses said, “We think that the application of what we do is broader than just within Square’s ecosystem. … . So long as we believe that we have a data advantage in underwriting, and it’s relevant to our core business, you can see us extending beyond Square further.”

The terms of the deal were not disclosed; however, Recode reported that since Upserve is advertising the loans on Square’s behalf, Upserve is likely benefiting from a cut of the referrals. This is Square Capital’s first expansion outside of its own customer base.

Founded in 2009, Upserve manages more than $800 billion in annual transaction volume and adds 200 to 250 restaurants to its customer base each month. The company demoed as Swipely at FinovateSpring 2012 and has raised more than $40 million.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Persado Earns Top 20 Ranking in Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies List
  • Qumram Wins Swisscom Startup Challenge (Note: See Qumram demonstrate its technology in New York at FinovateFall 2016 on 8/9 September.)
  • HelloWallet’s New Feature is a Budget Within a Budget
  • Upserve’s New Square Partnership Offers Clients Access to Funding via Square Capital

Around the web

  • New partnership lets small businesses using Xero pay invoices using PayPal.
  • TSYS extends payments agreement with Swisscard.
  • The Muse features Persado on its list of “20 companies that want you to be happy.”
  • CRN lists MapD Technologies as one of 10 of the coolest big-data startups of 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.

Swipely Rebrands as Upserve to Focus Exclusively on Restaurants

Swipely Rebrands as Upserve to Focus Exclusively on Restaurants

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Marketing-insights startup Swipely has rebranded to Upserve and launched some major additions to its product line. The Rhode Island-based company was founded in 2009 to “provide marketing tools to main street merchants” and has since narrowed its focus to offer analytics tools exclusively to restaurants. Today’s rebranding reflects that focus.

In a blog post announcing the change, Swipely CEO and Co-founder Angus Davis highlights Upserve’s growth serving the restaurant industry, which employs 1 out of every 10 people in the U.S. workforce:

  • Serves thousands of restaurants across all 50 states
  • Manages 11 million meals per month, up more than 1.7X from last year
  • Manages relationships with 16 million active diners through its CRM program, Guest Book

Along with the rebrand, Upserve added to its product line, which originally consisted of sales analytics, server performance, and menu popularity. The company’s newly launched mobile app helps restaurant owners remotely manage all of their restaurants by comparing sales with labor performance and generating reports across locations.

In an interview with Street Fight, Davis touted how the app will help balance restaurant ownership with work obligations, stating, “It lets them get out of the restaurant for a while and still feel like they’re there.”
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Upserve is also launching ShiftPrep, which combines data from table management, point-of-sale systems, and CRM. That data is matched with machine learning, predictive analytics, and external data such as weather to forecast customer dinner traffic.

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Upserve presented at FinovateSpring 2012 where it demoed Payment Marketing. The company has raised a total of just over $40 million in equity. Last year, it was featured in AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 list.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com:

  • “BBVA Acquires Holvi for Undisclosed Sum”
  • “Swipely Rebrands as Upserve to Focus Exclusively on Restaurants”

Around the web

  • TransferTo forges strategic partnership with emerging markets telecom, Millicom.
  • Digital Insight adds Android Fingerprint ID to its mobile banking app.
  • Nomis Solutions hires Frank Bria as vice president and go-to-market leader for new presentment optimization and personalized pricing initiative.
  • Xero extends partnership with MidPoint to make cross-border procurement easier.
  • Hyperwallet adds two new VPs: Tomas Likar and Daniel Berardo. See Hyperwallet at FinDEVr 2016 in New York this month.
  • Kasasa accountholders can now use their institution-issued credit card to qualify for rewards.
  • USA Today interviews Brendon McQueen, CEO of Tuition.io.
  • BioCatch granted new patent to detect user ID on electronic devices.
  • Lighter Capital has funded seven new clients so far this year.

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

  • Let’s Talk Payments features Feedzai, Swipely, BillGuard, Wealthfront, Jemstep, SigFig, and Vouch in its review of companies “pushing the envelope” in payment analytics.
  • Zooz partners with Avalara to bring tax-compliance tools to its payment platform.
  • Daily Fintech profiles DarcMatter and its plan to bring access to alternative investments to the accredited masses.
  • TransferWise sets world record for largest human currency symbol.
  • Bank Investment Consultant takes a look at Betterment, Personal Capital, Motif Investing, FutureAdvisor, Blooom, Wealthfront, and Vanguard in its look at how traditional advisers can compete against robo-advisers.
  • BlinkMobile Interactive wins best enterprise mobility solution at Cloud World Series Awards in London.

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.

AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums

AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums

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More than a quarter of the companies recognized in AlwaysOn’s first OnFinance Top 100 roster are Finovate alums.

The OnFinance Top 100 is designed to recognize the Top 100 private companies in fintech. The list was chosen by the AlwaysOn editorial team, along with several venture capital firms and industry experts. The criteria included degree of innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and “media buzz.”

The list is divided into six categories, and Finovate alums are well represented in each. Category winners will be announced at Always On’s event at the NASDAQ OMX in New York City at the end of April 2015.

Banking and corporate finance

Big data and analytics

Capital markets and investing

Digital currencies

Payment platforms

Personal finance management

Headquartered in Menlo Park, California, AlwaysOn was founded in 2003 by Tony Perkins, founder and editor of Red Herring magazine. The company serves as a networking and social media platform for technology professionals in variety of fields, and has a membership of more than 5,000.

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

Swipely Raises $20 Million in Series C Round Led by the Pritzker Group

Swipely Raises $20 Million in Series C Round Led by the Pritzker Group

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It was only a few weeks ago that we were reporting that Swipely had topped $2 billion in annual sales managed.

Today, we’re happy to add news that the payment marketing innovator has raised $20 million in funding.

The Series C round, led by the Pritzker Group, takes the company’s total capital to more than $40 million. Also participating were existing investors First Round Capital and Shasta Ventures. The new capital is slated to help the company accelerate growth, boost product expansion, and enhance marketing.
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Pritzker Group managing partner Chris Girgenti has credited Swipely for “help(ing) small business use big data to compete in the networked age” and for “bringing online technology to offline merchants.” Swipely specializes in helping small businesses use their credit and debit card transaction data to provide better and more relevant offers and rewards for their customers.
The company’s solution includes customer analytics, targeted campaign-building tools, and payment processing that is “baked into the core of Swipely’s platform,” according to Swipely CEO and founder Angus Davis. This last feature is what gives the technology the ability to tap into the Big Data buried in the local merchant’s payment network.
“Not every consumer will opt-in to a loyalty program,” Angus explained from the stage during Swipely’s Finovate demonstration. “And so that’s why we’re also bringing powerful tools to the merchant not just from the data we glean from opted-in loyalty members, but from every credit and debit transaction that passes through that merchant.”
Reporting from TechCrunch includes some interesting, SaaS-related KPIs that Angus uses to help explain how well positioned his company is in his industry. The upshot is that Swipely is managing to keep a very healthy ratio between revenues and the costs of acquiring new companies.
Swipely was founded in 2009, and has operations in more than 40 states and more than 50 cities in the United States. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, Swipely is an alum of the FinovateSpring 2012 show in San Francisco. See a demo of the company’s Marketing Management technology here.

Finovate Alumni News– May 16, 2014

  • Intuit buys Invitco to help bookkeepers put bill processing in the cloud.
  • SocietyOne, an Australian peer-to-peer lender, mulls entering NZ market, is talking with ‘multiple parties’.
  • miiCard graduates from SixThirty accelerator.
  • Swipely tops $2 billion in annual sales managed; launches Summer ’14 release.
  • Bermuda Commercial Bank picks the T24 core banking system, Model Bank, from Temenos.
  • FinSMEs talks about BodeTree with CEO and co-founder Chris Myers.
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.

Swipely Tops $2 Billion in Annual Sales Managed; Launches Summer ’14 Release

Swipely Tops $2 Billion in Annual Sales Managed; Launches Summer ’14 Release

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Swipely is celebrating its new Summer ’14 release with an announcement that the company has surpassed $2 billion in annual sales managed for its customers. The high mark comes as Swipely reports a doubling of sales under management in just six months.

The Summer ’14 update will allow Swipely to work with larger hospitality and retail brands, says Swipely founder and CEO, Angus Davis. On four levels, focusing on customers, analytics, reviews, and access controls, the new features of the Summer ’14 release give merchants the ability to better track operating performance and manage customer relationships across multiple locations.
Swipely works for a large range of business types – from brick and mortar retailers and restaurants to ecommerce websites. The company says its technology provides insights into the behavior of more than 10 million consumers.
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Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Swipely has operations in more than 40 states and more than 500 cities in the U.S. With 103 employees, the company has raised more than $20 million in funding from investors including First Round Capital, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, and Shasta Ventures.
Swipely demoed its Payment Marketing solution at FinovateSpring in 2012 See a video of the presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News– January 21, 2014

  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgFenergo taps Stan De Schepper for SVP, Americas.
  • National Bank of Andrews, AimBank to adopt Temenos T24 core processing platform. See Tememos at FinovateEurope in London.
  • Business Review Europe takes a look at Azimo’s expansion into Austria.
  • GMC Software Technology recognized as industry leader in latest Forrester Research Wave report.
  • Technics and Time feature PayPal and TransferWise in list of ways to pay without your wallet.
  • Swipely unveils its “Winter ’14” release to extend its service to help restaurant and hospitality customers make smarter decisions.
  • SafetyPay signs agreement with Brazilian firm Privalia.
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 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.