We’ve Got Funding, How About You?

We’ve Got Funding, How About You?

With FinovateAsia and FinovateMiddleEast coming up later this year, we wanted to pause to take a look at the funding that participants from last year’s shows have received so far this year.

In the first eight months of 2019, four fintechs that participated in FinovateAsia and FinovateMiddleEast 2018 raised more than $23 million combined.

With real funding at stake, what are you waiting for? Apply to demo your tech at FinovateAsia or FinovateMiddleEast today. The application is free and you have nothing to lose!

The Middle East and North Africa startup culture has continued to mature, especially when it comes to early stage companies. Part of the growth can be attributed to the region’s investment in both talent and infrastructure. Coding programs and regional hackathons have not only added to the talent pool of startup recruits, they have also given the startup culture a boost.

In Asia, India has risen as the region’s top country for fintech funding. The $286 million in fintech funding the country raised in Q1 of this year outranks China’s total of $192 million raised for fintechs in that same quarter. Part of the slowdown in China can be attributed to increased regulation in the region.

If your startup is interested in demoing at this year’s FinovateAsia or FinovateMiddleEast conference, contact our demo team at middleeast@finovate.com or asia@finovate.com.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Revolut and Xero Partner on Expense Management Tool.

Around the web

  • Transferwise goes live with new debit cad for customers in Australia and New Zealand.
  • Finastra inks cloud banking deal with U.K. neo bank Gravity.
  • Argentina’s largest national private bank Banco Galicia integrates PFM technology from Strands.
  • Overbond to open three AI analytics labs in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to support R&D in bond pricing.
  • Vymo hires Rajesh Sabhlok as its new Chief Customer Officer, with an emphasis on Japan and APAC.
  • BlueRush announces strategic partnership with InfoSlips.
  • Artivest names Martin Bealieu, formerly executive chairman, as new CEO.
  • Lendio’s marketplace lending franchise program tops $50 million in loans facilitated via its platform.
  • Ignite Sales unveils the latest version of its customer engagement platform, Ignite Neuro 2.0.
  • Salt Edge increases the total number of connected banks in the E.U. to more than 300.
  • Experian unveils new configurations of its Ascend Analytical Sandbox.

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.

Vymo Reels in $18 Million for its Intelligent Sales Assistant

Vymo Reels in $18 Million for its Intelligent Sales Assistant

Vymo, the company that helps sales professionals #DoMore when it comes to managing leads and maximizing opportunities, just got a little help of its own. The company announced this week that it successfully closed its Series B round, raising $18 million to grow its business in the U.S. and around the world.

The Series B was led by Emergence Capital and featured participation by existing investor Sequoia India, which led the company’s $5 million Series A in 2016. Vymo’s total equity now stands at $22 million.

“Just as Veeva changed the game for pharmaceutical sales reps, Vymo aims to enable financial sales reps with a platform tailor made for their needs,” Emergence Capital Partner Jake Saper wrote at the firm’s blog discussing the investment. “Vymo is mobile-first, geo-aware, and makes use of contextual data to make targeted suggestions to reps on next best actions like which client or prospect to prioritize.”

Saper praised Vymo as a company that can help sales teams navigate diverse client bases and challenging regulatory environments as they build quality, personal relationships with their customers. He highlighted the company’s partnerships with Allianz, AXA, and Generali, and the high number of registered users of Vymo’s technology – more than 75% – who log on to the platform and take action on a daily basis.

Founded in Bangalore, India, and currently based in New York City, Vymo made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateAsia, demonstrating its Personal Assistant for Sales. The technology boosts the effectiveness of sales professionals by leveraging AI to detect the sales professionals actions automatically, predict the next best steps for the sales rep to pursue, and coach the rep on how to achieve the best outcomes.

The intelligent assistant learns from the best performing sales reps in the organization, and has established a positive revenue impact of 3% to 10% in sales productivity metrics such as conversions, turnaround time, and sales activity per opportunity. More than 100,000 sales reps across 50+ companies and institutions use Vymo to make their sales efforts more productive.

Earlier this month Vymo was featured in Nikkei Asian Review, which took a look at the use of the company’s intelligent assistant by sales professionals in Japan. In May, the company announced a partnership with Microsoft that will help grow the market for Vymo’s intelligent personal assistant solution. Vymo picked up the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce) Award for Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics in March, and began the year with a pair of partnership announcements, teaming up with Vietnam’s FE Credit in February and Zurich Topas Life in January.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Xignite to Power WealthSimple’s New Stock Trading App.
  • Kony Secures $37 Million in Financing from BMO.
  • Sezzle Raises $30 Million in IPO.
  • Vymo Reels in $18 Million for its Intelligent Sales Assistant.

Around the web

  • Deal sealed: Fiserv completes acquisition of First Data.
  • Visa announces strategic partnership with SME banking service Open.
  • eToro enables retail customers to invest in drone technology via its latest portfolio.
  • iGTB to enhance trade finance operations for two Raiffeisen banks, Niederosterreich-Wien and Landesbank Steiermark.
  • CREALOGIX to power new consumer digital investment platform from MeDirect Group.
  • JP Morgan Chase ends loan origination partnership with OnDeck.
  • ThetaRay brings on Idan Keret as Chief Customer Success Officer.
  • GreenDot offers customers 3% cash back on online and in-app purchases and a savings account paying 3% APY.
  • Fintech Finance interviews Olga Feldmeier, Smart Valor CEO.
  • Redrock Biometrics secures a perfect score in Level 1 Presentation Attack Detection confirmation testing by iBeta.
  • SpyCloud expands into Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

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.

Settle Launches Mobile App in Croatia; Sr. Pago Partners with American Express

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • RISQ Teams Up with Aion Digital to Boost SME Lending in MENA.
  • ACI Worldwide teams up with Egyptian Banks Company, which will leverage ACI’s UP Retail Payments solution.
  • The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has begun issuing digital banking licenses.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Bangalore-based neobank for workers NiYO raises $35 million in new funding.
  • WebMoney Transfer goes live with its WMY wallet in Uzbekistan.
  • India’s Recko, a company that provides AI-powered digital transaction reconciliation, picks up $1 million in seed capital.
  • Swiss payments technology company BPC opens offices in Pakistan.
  • Nikkei Asian Review highlights Vymo and its entrance to the Japanese market.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Jumio to power digital identity for Brazil-based BTG Pactual.
  • Mexico’s Sr.Pago announces partnership with American Express.
  • Mastercard Brazil partners with Airfox and banQi to bring lower-cost banking options to Brazilian customers.

Asia-Pacific

  • Bank of Thailand implements SimCorp Dimension to manage its reserve management and monetary policy operations.
  • Vietnam’s central bank warns against fraud in the P2P lending market.
  • Regulators in the Philippines introduce new rules governing crowdfunding.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Temenos to power digital transformation for Rwanda’s Bank of Kigali. The company will also replace core and front office legacy systems for South African microfinancier Barko
  • Ghana to launch universal QR code payment method later this year.
  • Mobile payments startup OPay raises $50 million in funding in round led by Sequoia China, IDG Capital, and Source Code Capital.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Settle launches its mobile payments app in Croatia.
  • Czech-based fintech developer Turing Technology closes second round of funding.
  • Slovenia’s Telekom Slovenije introduces its mobile wallet.

Top image designed by Freepik

Vymo Partners with Microsoft to Help Sales Teams Leverage AI

Vymo Partners with Microsoft to Help Sales Teams Leverage AI

Giving sales professionals the ability to leverage AI to provide better service is the goal behind the new partnership between Vymo and Microsoft. Specifically, the two will work to grow the market for Vymo’s intelligent personal assistant for sales, bringing predictive and actionable insights to customer relationship management (CRM).

“We are helping organizations move to a more proactive CRM experience powered by mobility and intelligence,” Vymo co-founder and CEO Yamini Bhat explained. ” With Vymo, salespeople can operate more effectively in a deskless environment and that has translated into a significant revenue impact for businesses. We look forward to working closely with Microsoft as we scale.”

Vymo’s intelligent personal assistant delivers intelligent and actionable insights to sales professionals. The solution helps boost productivity by more than 30% by detecting the sales representative’s actions, and anticipating what the rep should do next. The technology learns from the most effective sales reps in the network and helps users achieve the best possible outcomes for customers. Sales productivity metrics from conversion percentage to turnaround time to activity per opportunity are among the KPIs Vymo can help sales teams improve.

The collaboration between Vymo and Microsoft builds on the existing relationship between the two companies. Vymo is a 2015 graduate of Microsoft’s Winter Accelerator, and won the Microsoft’s AI for All award in 2018. Vymo is already working with more than 85,000 users in verticals ranging from banking and financial services to insurance and pharmaceuticals, powering machine learning and AI-based tools backed by Microsoft Azure.

In Vymo’s statement announcing the news, Microsoft General Manager for Partner Ecosystem Rajiv Sodhi said the partnership represented “Microsoft’s commitment to enabling its partner ecosystem to leverage AI capabilities to be able to build powerful solutions and tap growth.” Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, added that the Vymo “was fundamentally changing both how retailers work and (how) financial services work.”

Headquartered in Bangalore, India, and founded in 2013, Vymo demonstrated its technology at FinovateAsia 2018. The company began this year with news that it would be a part of Bangkok Bank’s 12-week accelerator program, and announced that Zurich Topas Life, a division of Zurich Group, had selected Vymo’s solution to boost sales productivity.

In March, Vymo announced that it was going live in Vietnam courtesy of a partnership with local consumer finance firm, FE CREDIT. That month the company also announced that it won the FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce) Award for Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics. Vymo also reported that its technology was available on the Salesforce AppExchange.

Vymo has raised $5 million in funding. The company includes Sequoia Capital India, who led the company’s Series A round in 2016, among its investors.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Vymo Partners with Microsoft to Help Sales Teams Leverage AI.
  • Trustly and Collector Bank Bring Instant Payments to Nordic Merchants.
  • Fiserv Teams Up with Allegacy Federal Credit Union.

Around the web

  • Gartner recognizes Jscrambler in its 2019 Market Guide for Online Fraud Detection.
  • Fenergo launches new suite of CLM tools, Digital Client Orchestration, leveraging APIs to integrate front, middle, and back office systems.
  • Ping Identity unveils new cloud-based multi-factor authentication and single sign-on bundle do defend against identity-based cyberattacks.
  • Tinkoff Bank introduces its own branded online travel agency.
  • RightCapital announces technology integrations with advisor technology platform Capitect and independent research firm Morningstar.

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

  • Alternative Data Platform Thinknum Raises $11.6 Million.
  • SigFig Appoints Anne Morrissey as its First CFO.

Around the web

  • Modo taps Matt McBride as its new Chief Information Security Officer.
  • eToro to end commissions for U.K. customers trading on its platform.
  • Avaloq joins Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.
  • Kofax launches its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 10.4 solution.
  • Vymo wins FICCI (The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce) Award for Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics.
  • TurnKey Lender opens new office in Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

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

  • Jack Henry & Associates Inks Deal with First State Community Bank.
  • Salt Edge Teams Up with UK-Based PFM App Emma.

Around the web

  • Fintech solution provider Ninth Wave announces full support for FDX API within its Ninth Wave Platform.
  • Global investment platform OurCrowd marks $1 billion raised milestone.
  • Optimove launches Optimove Streams to give markets insight into campaign performance testing.
  • Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers joins Averon’s advisory board.

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 Global: Vymo Launches in Vietnam; ZagTrader Helps FIs Go Crypto

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • ZagTrader and BeQuant team Up to help institutions go crypto.
  • Temenos partners with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi bank.
  • Emirates NBD to work with Intellect Design Arena for a planned digital transformation of its transaction banking platform.

Central and South Asia

  • BankBazaar announces partnership with Ujjivan Small Finance Bank for Personal Loans.
  • Victoria Commercial Bank Kenya goes live with corporate banking technology powered by i-exceed’s Appzillon.
  • Aurora interviews Bernhard Klemen, international partner with venture capital fund Sarmayacar on opportunities for venture financing for Pakistani fintech startups.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • German challenger bank N26 announces plans to expand to Brazil.
  • BBVA Colombia looks at its role in helping promote fintech innovation in Peru. In Spanish.
  • FXCompared profiles Argentina-based PayPal rival, MercadoLibre.

Asia-Pacific

  • Leading Vietnam-based consumer finance firm, FE Credit, chooses Vymo’s AI-powered personal sales assistant.
  • Bambu and CredoLab earn spots on Fintech News Singapore’s 29 Hottest Fintechs in Singapore 2019 roster.
  • Accenture and nCino partner to better serve FIs in the Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Tymebank goes live with core banking tech from Mambu.
  • Nigerian digital banking solution provider TeamApt raises $5.5 million in funding.
  • South Africa’s Standard Bank to launch private cloud-based distributed ledger platform for payments and settlement.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Russia’s Tinkoff Bank joins the country’s Faster Payments System.
  • Ukraine finishes its pilot project, begun in December, in support of its national digital currency, the e-hryvnia.
  • UK-based Rimilia and Association of Credit for Central and Eastern Europe to promote adoption of AI-based technologies to automate AR in the CEE region.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Veridium’s InMotion Uses Behavior Analytics for Authentication.
  • FinovateGlobal: Vymo Launches in Vietnam; ZagTrader Helps FIs Go Crypto.
  • FinovateEurope Demo Videos Are Live!

Around the web

  • HackerOne announces that one of its bug bounty hackers is the first to top $1 million in bounty awards.
  • Equifax extends its partnership with the Small Business Financial Exchange (SBFE).

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

  • SpyCloud Scores $21 Million in Round Led by Microsoft’s M12.
  • Temenos Partners with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank.
  • Tymebank Goes Live with Core Banking Tech from Mambu.

Around the web

  • NICE Actimize partners with crypto finance company Circle to deploy its market surveillance technology.
  • Silvergate Bank to deploy Finastra’s Total Payments, leveraging the API-enabled solution to support payment processing.
  • Leading Vietnam-based consumer finance firm, FE Credit, chooses Vymo’s AI-powered personal sales assistant.
  • Bambu and CredoLab earn spots on Fintech News Singapore’s 29 Hottest Fintechs in Singapore 2019 roster.
  • GreatHorn announces capability to detect credential theft involving Microsoft Office 365 and Google G Suite.
  • Identitii joins the Banking Industry Architecture Network (BAIN).

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.