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TransferWise
TransferWise Raises $58 Million in Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz
TransferWise is starting off the year with a funding bang: the company has raised $58 million in a Series C round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
- Launched in 2011
- Headquartered in London
- Staffs 250
- Maintains more than 290 currency routes
- Enabled customer transfers of £3 billion for a savings of £135 million
Alumni News– January 26, 2015
- MIT Technology Review features Feedzai and Zumigo in a discussion on mobile authentication technologies.
- Loan origination platform LoanLaunch (formerly Common Origination Platform) now available from Fiserv.
- Experian partners with BillGuard to boost effectiveness of its anti-fraud solution, ProtectMyID.
- Misys unveils FusionBanking Lending.
- American Banker takes a look at the relationship between Google and Lending Club.
- Kabbage named one of America’s top 100 Most Promising Companies
- Coinbase to open the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the U.S.
- Actiance announces support for IBM Verse and IBM Connections Social Cloud.
- Credit Sesame launches iOS app with Siri integration in its credit monitoring feature.
- Themes and Presenters at FinovateEurope 2015.
- Google Wallet partners with WePay to put its Instant Buy API in 200,000 e-commerce shops.
- TransferWise Raises $58 Million in Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Alumni News– January 12, 2015
- Financial Simplicity and T&C Consulting launch joint venture.
- Bernard Lunn writes about the revolutionary “license as a service model” of Fidor Bank.
- Forbes column on technology and community features Bright Funds.
- ABS-CBN News highlights Toshl Finance among its “5 money moves for 2015.”
- Business Insider looks to TipRanks to find top stock pickers from 2014.
- BillGuard, LoopPay, and TransferWise earn spots on Motley Fool’s list of fintech startups that can help consumers handle money in 2015.
- Open Bank Project is organizing 2 hackathons in Ireland (Dublin and Belfast) for Ulster bank. The first is in Dublin this month.
- No Need to Fax: Kofax Launches E-Signature Solution, SignDoc.
- Cachet Financial Solutions appoints Bruce Whitmore as New Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer.
- Bluefin Payment Systems partners with Industry Retail Group (IRG) to provide PCI-Validated Point-to-Point Encryption to IRG Clients.
- AdviceGames CEO Diederick van Thiel, Talks About Gamification.
- Mobile Commerce Daily reviews PayPal’s new BlackBerry app.
- DoughRoller interviews Blooom founder Chris Costello.
- PayPal Expands Repayment Options
Alumni News– December 19, 2014
- Money Facts looks at how TransferWise helps consumers save on money transfer fees.
- Huffington Post features Matthew Goldman of Wallaby Financial in a conversation on credit card strategies for travelers.
- PYMNTS.com interviews LoopPay Chief Technologist George Wallner.
- A comparison between Stockholm and Silicon Valley in The Independent highlights Klarna.
- Virtual Agent Chat checks in on post-acquisition IntelliResponse.
- Cardflight’s SwipeSimple joins MasterCard mPOS providers.
- News.com.au reports: How Xero went from a scribbled figure on a serviette to a $2 billion company.
- Crealogix and Meniga create Digital Bank and PFM Solution for BNP’s Consors Bank.
- peerTransfer named 2014 Winner of BostInno’s 50 on Fire Award.
- Forbes lists Holvi as 1 of 5 Finnish startups to watch.
- Programmable Web considers how Open Bank Project’s API brings more openness to banking internationally.
- Ayondo launches ad campaign on 2 major German TV networks.
- Business Insider features Betterment, Financial Guard, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, Personal Capital, SigFig, TradeKing, and Wealthfront in a look at the growth of robo-advisors.
- BrightScope releases its Top 30 401(k) Plans List.
- Management Today profiles David Harrison, managing partner at True Potential.
Finovate Alums Fill Ranks of KPMG’s Fintech Innovators for 2014
Draw up a list of the top fintech innovators of 2014. Got it? Now tell me how many of your top 50 companies are not just impressive companies in their respective fields, but Finovate alums, as well.
If you are global accounting and consulting group, KPMG, then the answer is “more than half.”
- Wealthfront – (as kaChing) FinovateStartup 2009
- Kabbage – FinovateFall 2014
- Motif Investing – FinovateFall 2013
- Klarna – FinovateSpring 2012
- Lending Club – Finovate 2007
- OnDeck – FinovateSpring 2012, FinDEVr San Francisco 2014
- Kreditech – FinovateSpring 2014
- Xero – FinovateSpring 2011, FinDEVr San Francisco 2014
- Yodlee – FinovateFall 2013, FinDEVr San Francisco 2014
- Prosper – Finovate 2007
- Coinbase – FinovateSpring 2014
- Credit Karma – FinovateStartup 2009
- LearnVest – FinovateFall 2011
- Personal Capital – FinovateFall 2011, FinDEVr San Francisco 2014
- PayNearMe – FinovateSpring 2013, FinDEVr San Francisco 2014
- SecureKey – FinovateFall 2010
- Nutmeg – FinovateEurope 2012
- Transferwise – FinovateEurope 2013
- Betterment – FinovateFall 2010
- SocietyOne – FinovateAsia 2012
- eToro – FinovateEurope 2011
- SumUp – FinovateEurope 2013
- Zopa – FinovateSpring 2008
- Receivables Exchange – FinovateFall 2010
- FutureAdvisor – FinovateFall 2013
- Dwolla – FinovateSpring 2011
- SigFig – FinovateFall 2011
- CUneXus – FinovateSpring 2014
- miiCard – FinovateFall 2013
- StockPile – FinovateSpring 2014
Alumni News– December 2, 2014
- Compass Plus TranzAxis now supports Futurex hardware security modules.
- Coinbase introduces USD Wallets, enabling users to store U.S. dollar balances.
- TradeKing unveils new features for its new LIVE platform.
- Forbes column on disruption in traditional money exchange features Azimo, TransferWise, and CurrencyFair.
- CrowdFlower announces support for eight new languages and enhanced support for another four.
- CEO and co-founder of Trustev Pat Phelan wins MSL Cork Business Person of the Year award.
- Linqto, Crowd Curity, Xignite, and CUneXus win Future of Money & Technology Summit Startup Showcase.
- TickSmith adds Amazon Web Services version of its financial big data platforms.
- The New Daily features SocietyOne as a premium P2P lending option.
- The Chicago Tribune considers Lending Club’s impending IPO.
- Google Cloud Platform now PCI compliant, enabling developers to hold, process, and exchange credit card information.
TransferWise Launches “Stop Hidden Fees” Campaign
A few weeks ago we reported how international money transfer innovator, TransferWise was taking to the streets of London on the eve of Halloween to protest hidden fees in the money transfer industry.
Today, we’re back to report that the fight is still on.
“After the Libor and forex scandals, public confidence in foreign exchange transactions is at an all time low. So I welcome TransferWise’s campaign for greater transparency. I want UK holiday makers to get the best deal possible – and know what they are being charged.”
- Provide a clear breakdown of the costs associated with every transaction
- Publish the difference between the exchange rate offered by the provider and the true, mid-market rate
- Put an end to the use of misleading terms such as “free” and “0% commission” where hidden charges are applied.
Alumni News– November 20, 2014
- Privatbank customers can now use MoneyGram to send and receive funds courtesy of new partnership.
- Financial Times Technology section looks at UK fintech startups TransferWise and Azimo.
- CurrencyTransfer recognized by Secret Tel Aviv as Olim Business of the Week.
- USA Today column on millennials and saving featured Tom White, CEO of iQuantifi.
- TransferWise helps lead fight for foreign exchange fee transparency.
- Pymnts interviews Jingit’s CEO Kate Bolseth.
- iBillionaire’s Index has increased 16.5% since launching in November of last year
- Swipely now managing $4+ billion in annual sales, doubles sales under management in 6 months, and provides businesses with insights on 20+ million customers.
- Numerous Finovate and FinDEVr alums make AWI’s list of top 50 fintech innovators.
- Advanced Merchant Payments brings in $5 Million in First Funding Round.
- Kony helps Farmatodo increase customer loyalty and deliver new services via mobile apps.
- Coinbase teams with Rewardspay to create workaround to make purchases on Facebook and iTunes with Bitcoin.
- TSYS offers merchants and partners an omni payments solution with more ways to accept payments.
- $493 million in P2P loans originated on Prosper in Q3 2014.
- Credit Sesame wins 2014 U.S. Mobile and App Design Awards in Financial and Information Tools category.
- BancVue wins four MarCom Gold awards.
- Kensho launches strategic partnership with NBCUniversal.
Alumni News– November 17, 2014
- Boku announces a pair of C-level appointments: Ingo Lippert as CBO, Christian Hinrichs as CFO.
- Zopa partners with AltFi Data; plans to open loan book to the public in Q1 in 2015.
- The Sunday Times profiles TransferWise founders Kristo Kaarmann and Taavet Hinrikus.
- TradeKing begins rollout of its new 100% responsive website.
- Bolstr surpasses $200,000 in 2014 investor payouts
- Expensify featured in Slate. Check out the video.
- Billhighway’s 523% Four-Year Growth earns it the #193 Spot on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 List.
- ChicagoInno features Arroweye Solutions and Rippleshot for their listings on the FinTech Forward Rankings.
- Check out Finovate Debuts: Minetta Brook’s Knewsapp.
- MetaIntelli and Arxan Technologies partner to help developers mitigate mobile security and privacy risks.
- Venmo gets Touch ID security, tagging, and direct linking to bank accounts.
- MyBankTracker examines how 1U is using Hoyos‘ facial recognition security technology.
- InComm launches New eCommerce Site for B2B Bulk Gift Cards.
- Bluefin joins the New York Bankers Association.
- Google Compute Engine now features intelligent horizontal Autoscaling.
- Wharton Fintech blog features Knox Payments.
TransferWise Hits London with #RIPHiddenfees Halloween Parade
With a giant, inflatable tombstone inscribed “RIP Hidden Fees” looming overhead, international money transfer startup, TransferWise used a horde of Halloween ghouls and more than a little theatre, to put traditional banks on notice when it comes to hidden charges.
Led by a hearse, the parade of costumed TransferWisers and its customers marched through the City of London to the Silicon Roundabout tech cluster. The crowd of goblins and ghosts numbered more than one hundred and claimed to be “lay(ing) misleading price claims” to rest.
Alumni News– October 27, 2014
- Feedzai and Encap Security team up to combine behavioral profiling with device credentialing to build better security for banks and merchants.
- CB Insights lists Nutmeg, TransferWise, The Currency Cloud, and Azimo among the 10 top fintech startups from the UK.
- The Guardian Money section looks at peer-to-peer lender including Zopa.
- TWiST (This Week in Startups) interviews FutureAdvisor Co-Founder and CEO Bo Lu.
- Prosper reaches $2 billion, reaching the second billion dollars in just 6 months.
- Payment processing solutions provider, Bill2Pay, partners with PayNearMe to digitize cash collections.
- Expensify open sources Segmented Control widget.
- The Australian Business Review features Matt Symons, SocietyOne co-founder.
- Check out Finovate Debuts: Thinknum.
- Wired features Bionym’s Nymiband.
- EVO* Snap launches mPOS Solution Supporting Apple Pay and EMV Globally.
- MedicalMine and Bluefin Partner for Integrated Patient Payments.
- Check out our feature on Xignite: Inspiring the Future of Finance with Easy and Speedy APIs