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Finovate Alumni News– February 27, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Andera, Arroweye Solutions, CashStar, Kabbage, Kony Solutions, On Deck Capital, ProfitStars, Taulia, Tradeshift, TSYS, Wealthfront
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMountain America CU chooses ProfitStars‘ ImageCenter and Enterprise Payment Solutions.
  • TSYS renews payments agreement with Commerce Bank.
  • ProfitStars announces partnership with OnDeck to deploy LendingNetwork platform.
  • Wealthfront’s automated investment advisory service goes mobile with new app.
  • Arroweye’s 2013 performance reveals 25% growth & 60%+ increase in open loop card fulfillment compared to 2012.
  • SpendMatters covers Tradeshift’s and Taulia’s divergent yet converging cases and value propositions.
  • Tradeshift raises $75 million, plans to open office in Tokyo.
  • Andera upgrades software to enable mobile applicants take photos of their driver’s licenses during the application process to populate data fields automatically.
  • Kabbage now extending more than $1 million per day in funding to small businesses.
  • Kony and AirPlug partner to deliver enterprise-grade mobile solution to mobile network operators.
  • CashStar wins Digiday Retail Award for achievement in online retail marketing and advertising.
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.

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Finovate Alumni News– February 18, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Azimo, Betterment, BillGuard, BlinkMobile Interactive, CAN Capital, DeviceFidelity, Doxo, EyeVerify, Fenergo, FIS, Matchi, Personal Capital, planwise, Taulia, Wealthfront, Xero
  • Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgScotiabank selects Fenergo’s regulatory onboarding solution.
  • FIS announces partnership with Microsoft Cybercrime Center.
  • Azimo credits Indian expansion for surge in new cash pick-up points.
  • Betterment, Personal Capital, Wealthfront featured in Boston Globe column on personal wealth.
  • DeviceFidelity unveils RF technology behind its latest stand-alone, NFC microSD card.
  • Find Biometrics interviews Toby Rush, CEO of EyeVerify.
  • Vincent Turner, Planwise CEO, gives a closer look at the Planwise Solid Earth partnership.
  • Forbes examines how CAN Capital reinvents financing for SMBs.
  • City of Prosser launches on doxo to simplify bill pay and add mobile interaction.
  • BillGuard now offering free card monitoring for unlimited number of cards.
  • Taulia triples revenue growth in 2013.
  • BlinkMobile enters Europe, eyes U.S.
  • Xero adds a new chairman, director, and CEO of North America.
  • Matchi hires new CEO, David Milligan.
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.

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Wealthfront Promotes COO Adam Nash to CEO

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Wealthfront

Thumbnail image for Wealthfront_logo.jpg

Just over a year after joining Wealthfront as Chief Operating Officer, Adam Nash has been tapped to succeed founder Andy Rachleff as President and CEO. Rachleff will take on the position of Chairman.

Adam Nash has a diverse background in engineering, product management and strategy, and venture capital. Educated at Stanford and Harvard Business, he has held executive positions at LinkedIn, eBay and Atlas Venture, the latter an early stage venture capital firm. Adam blogs about technology and finance at his personal website, Psychohistory, at blog.adamnash.com.

Wealthfront_Adam_Nash.jpg

What’s interesting about the pick is that Rachleff says he saw a CEO in Nash from the very beginning. Rachleff wrote about the announcement on his blog, “In fact, I actually wanted Adam to join as CEO, but he felt the infrastructure we needed to build would require his full attention in the short term.”
We now know what was meant by “short term.” Nash takes the helm of the company at a time when Wealthfront is experiencing significant growth. The alternative investment advisory industry in general, particularly online advisory, also has attracted the attention of mainstream media like the Wall Street Journal and CNN, which named Wealthfront among its 15 best financial websites and apps.
Wealthfront was founded as “kaChing” in 2008, and has since grown into one of the major onine investment advisory services, with more than $500 million in assets. One of Finovate’s earliest alumni, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

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Investing Millennials Help Drive Fivefold Asset Growth at Wealthfront

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Wealthfront

Wealthfront_logo.jpg

And you thought the stock market had a great 2013.

Online investment manageme service Wealthfront announced this week that it now manages more than $538 million in assets. Given that the company began 2013 with assets under management of approximately $100 million, it is no exaggeration to say that Wealthfront is doing a strong job of attracting investors looking for alternatives to traditional financial advisory.

Wealthfront credits its rapid growth on two factors: the rise of passive investing and the entry of the millennial generation into their investing years.

Some interesting metrics about Wealthfront and its clients:
  • More than 55% of the company’s users are under 35 years old
  • More than 80% of the company’s users are under 50 years old
  • The average investment with Wealthfront is between $80,000 and $100,000
  • More than 16% of Wealthfront’s users have a liquid net worth of more than $1 million
At the same time, it is worth pointing out that Wealthfront is not just for rich guys and gals. A fifth of the company’s investors have less than $50,000 in liquid net worth.
Wealthfront_homepage.jpg
Growth in the online investment advisory business is a good thing for Wealthfront – not the least because the company is far from alone in the space. Among Wealthfront’s rivals are companies like Betterment, Personal Capital, and SigFig, as well as similar services with slightly different models such as FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, and LearnVest (and, yes, Finovate alums all).
Formerly known as KaChing, Wealthfront picked up $20 million in funding in March of last year. This took the company’s total investment to $30.5 million. Wealthfront was founded by Andy Rachleff, former co-founder and general partner of Benchmark Capital, now serving as Wealthfront’s president and CEO. 
The company was among the earliest of Finovate alumni, showcasing its technology as part of FinovateStartup in 2009.

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Finovate Alumni News– January 6, 2014

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BillGuard, CurrencyFair, Expensify, FinanceIt, FlexScore, FutureAdvisor, Geezeo, Google, Jemstep, LearnVest, Level, MasterCard, Mint.com, Personal Capital, Saved Plus, Signifyd, Simple, TIO Networks, Wallaby Financial, Wealthfront
  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgChecking in with FlexScore is top of the list in this Forbes column on financial planning for those turning 50 this year.
  • Mint, Personal Capital, SavedPlus, and LearnVest earn spots on Fox Business’ list of “5 apps to help keep your 2014 financial goals.”
  • CodeSumBlog names BillGuard as its top financial management productivity app.
  • MasterCard completes acquisition of Provus, Turkey’s leading independent payments processor.
  • Google announces that customers can now activate their Google Wallet card via the mobile app.
  • CurrencyFair highlighted in New York Times column on Ireland’s tech start-up scene.
  • The Financial Post covers FinanceIt’s POS financing solution.
  • Expensify revamps UI and adds executive assistant permissions with new “Wingman” feature.
  • Forbes lists LearnVest, Personal Capital and BillGuard as apps for saving money.
  • Xconomy lists Jemstep and Personal Capital as two new online services to put you back in command of your 401(k).
  • TIO Networks acquires Globex Financial Services to add well-known & respected billers to TIO’s business.
  • Signifyd API adds fraud prevention to ecommerce platforms.
  • Saved Plus, Wallaby, FutureAdvisor, Wealthfront, and Level picked for CNN Money’s list of the 15 best financial sites and apps.
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.

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Finovate Alumni Raise $825 Million in 2013, Up 79%

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Affinity Solutions, Apprenda, Azimo, Bill.com, BillFloat, Cardlytics, Check, Clover Network, CoverHound, Credit Karma, CurrencyFair, DeviceFidelity, Doxo, Dwolla, ERN, Fenergo, FinanceIt, Flint Mobile, FTRANS, Funding, Heckyl Technologies, Jemstep, Kofax, Kony Solutions, LearnVest, Lendio, LendUp, Meniga, Moven, Narrative Science, Numbrs, On Deck Capital, OpenCoin, P2BInvestor, Payfone, PayNearMe, peerTransfer, Personal Capital, Ping Identity, Prestadero, Prosper, Q2ebanking, Receivables Exchange, SafetyPay, SeedInvest, Socure, SoMoLend, Spreedly, SumUp, Swipely, Taulia, TradeHero, Tradeshift, TransferWise, True Office, Trustev, Tuition.io, Wealthfront, Wipit, Xero, Zooz

FinovateFundingIMG.jpg

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.
2013YearEndTable.jpg
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.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 10, 2013

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Capital Access Network, Compass Plus, EyeVerify, Flint Mobile, Jemstep, Manilla, Mint.com, Motif Investing, NICE Systems, planwise, SigFig, Wealthfront
  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgCapital Access Network changes its name to CAN Capital.
  • Compass Plus survey reflects declining support for NFC amid growing popularity of mobile channel.
  • CFA Institute’s Inside Investing takes a look at Motif Investing and “the secret revolution in finance.”
  • Gartner places NICE in leaders quadrant of the 2013 Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Workforce Optimization.
  • Wealthfront announces new ability to harvest losses on stocks that comprise an index.
  • Flint Mobile raises $2 million from Verizon Investments.
  • Mint, Manilla, SigFig, Jemstep and Planwise featured in Kiplinger’s list of smart online tools to manage finances.
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.

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Finovate Alumni News– December 6, 2013

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Cartera Commerce, Comarch, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, LearnVest, Moven, ThreatMetrix, TransferWise, Wealthfront
  • Thumbnail image for Finovate-F-Logo.jpgMoney Under 30 reviews the Moven app.
  • Bloomberg BusinessWeek takes a look at Comarch’s report on banking in London’s “Tech City”.
  • Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise, weighs in on the state of the UK’s financial technology industry.
  • ThreatMetrix protected 1 in 4 U.S. e-commerce transactions on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
  • Cartera Commerce launches American Airlines’ Mobile AAdvantage shopping site.
  • The Guardian profiles “robo-advisors” Betterment, LearnVest, FutureAdvisor, Wealthfront, and Jemstep.
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.

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Finovate Alumni Driving Growth in Online Investment Advisory Industry

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, LearnVest, Personal Capital, SigFig, Wealthfront

FinovateLOGO.jpg

If an investment portfolio gets optimized through an online investment advisor, do brick and mortar brokers make a sound?

As noted in today’s Wall Street Journal, many of the kinds of services that once were accessible only by high net worth investors patronizing financial advisors and planners in person are now available to the rest of us. This includes everything from using computer algorithms to make investment decisions to automatic portfolio rebalancing and asset allocation.

And of the seven companies highlighted in the column for helping make this possible, every single one is a Finovate alum.
In fact, two of the seven – FutureAdvisor and LearnVest – will be demoing their latest technology on the Finovate stage in New York next week for FinovateFall 2013.
The reasons for the growth in online investment advisory are as varied as the companies themselves. Some cite a new generation of investors far more comfortable with both handling their own finances and trusting the Internet to help. Others suggest that with Wall Street falling into disfavor in the wake of the financial crisis, more investors are willing to seek out non-traditional – and less expensive – sources of information and advice.
Bill Doyle, an analyst for Forrester Research who has studied the industry for more than a decade and is quoted in the column, puts it this way: “I’m paying a lot more attention this time around because the software required to transform this industry finally works.”
Whatever the reason, there’s no doubt that venture capitalists believe this time is different. Consider the funding success of the above seven companies in the past two years ago:
Note also that Wealthfront, which helps get investors into low-cost diversified portfolios, has assets under management (AUM) of $300 million. Betterment has a similar model and has AUM of $250 million.

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Finovate Alumni News– September 5, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Float Money, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, LearnVest, MiiCard, Personal Capital, Ping Identity, Q2ebanking, Wealthfront, Wipit, Xero
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgThe Austin business Journal ranks Q2ebanking #29 of Austin-based Largest Private Companies.
  • City National partners with cloud accounting platform Xero.
  • Forrester Research names Ping Identity a leader in Identity and Access Management Suites, Q3 2013 report.
  • Allre and miiCard partner for First Complete Platform to Sell a Home Purely Online.
  • Wipit-powered Boost Mobile Wallet to provide Quick Check Service.
  • WSJ column takes a look at online investment advisors like Wealthfront, Personal Capital, Jemstep, and FutureAdvisor that use algorithms. Meet FutureAdvisor at FinovateFall in New York.
  • Float Money partners with credit reporting agency eCredable to offer consumers interest-free loans. See Float Money at FinovateFall in New York next week.
  • Finovate alums Betterment and LearnVest highlighted in Wall Street Journal column on innovations in the online investment advisory business. Watch LearnVest demo their technology next week at FinovateFall.
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.

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Finovate Alumni News– August 6, 2013

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Allied Payment Network, ERN, Expensify, GoBank, Interactions, Kabbage, MasterCard, Moven, On Deck Capital, Simple, SocietyOne, TransferWise, Wealthfront
  • Finovate-F-Logo.jpgERN raises another $1 million, acquires two UK companies.
  • Expensify announces additional approval modes.
  • TMC selects Interactions’ Virtual Assistant applications for a 2013 Speech Technology Excellence Award.
  • The Financial Brand looks at NeoBanks: Moven, Simple, GoBank.
  • Reuters article features Wealthfront as a platform of choice for how millenials manage money.
  • MasterCard partners with United Bank for Africa to provide Nigeria’s first personalized debit card.
  • BrightFunds announces that it is now an official contributor to Triple Pundit.
  • The Economist talks with TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus about technological innovation in Estonia.
  • Kabbage and On Deck Capital both featured in Fit Small Business column on raising money for an existing business.
  • Allied Payment Network partners with Access Softek to provide Picture Pay mobile bill pay technology.
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.

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Finovate Alumni News– June 10, 2013

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: EZBOB, FutureAdvisor, Google, Holvi, Intellaegis, Lending Club, MicroStrategy, Mortgagebot, OneID, Personal Capital, Realty Mogul, TradeKing, Wealthfront
  • FinovateLOGO.jpgThe Oakland Tribune’s Inside Bay Area profiles OneID founder and CTO Steve Kirsch.
  • EZBOB adds variable lengths, longer periods, lower interest, and loyalty discounts on its loans.
  • Realty Mogul co-founder and CEO Jilliene Helman talks crowdfunding and real estate investing.
  • MicroStrategy business intelligence solution, MicroStrategy Express named a finalist at 2013 American Business Awards.
  • Newfination interviews Jilliene Helman, co-founder and CEO of Realty Mogul.
  • SF Gate blog looks at Personal Capital, Wealthfront, and FutureAdvisor.
  • Newfination interviews Kristoffer Lawson, Holvi CEO, on replacing your bank with Holvi.
  • Mortgagebot launches MortgageMarvel site to help consumers shop for mortgages.
  • CNET interviews Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche on recent funding and future growth.
  • Bloomberg BusinessWeek takes a look at the business of Google Wallet.
  • Money Under 30 reviews TradeKing.
  • Intellaegis’s masterQueue technology helps catch wanted fugitive.
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.

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