Xero

Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Dwolla, EyeVerify, Finaeos, Insuritas, Klarna, Lending Club, LendingTree, MiiCard, Mitek, Payoneer, Prosper, Temenos, TransferWise, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • “Ask Finovate: Who’s Who in Voice Banking Technology?”

Around the web

  • American Banker talks with miiCard CEO James Varga on how miiCard creates “digital passports” for consumers to prove their identities without oversharing information.
  • Pymnts considers Mitek’s latest acquisition.
  • Canandaigua National Bank & Trust hires Insuritas  to expand the bank’s existing insurance agency with its omni-channel, insurance-agency platform.
  • Payoneer expands presence in India.
  • LendingTree adds Ascend Consumer Finances to its personal loan-lender network.
  • EyeVerify partners with Olcsan CAD Technology to bring eye-vein biometric technology to Turkey.
  • StrategyEye interviews Jens Saltin, Klarna’s head of expansion.
  • The Telegraph’s column on the high cost of bank transfer fees highlights TransferWise.
  • T24 Islamic core banking solution from Temenos now available as cloud-based service.
  • Dwolla ditches the quarter, stops charging 25-cent transaction fee.
  • Arxan extends its application-protection platform to support apps built on Android on Intel Architecture.
  • Xero reaches 500,000 customers for its cloud accounting service, sets sights on 1-million-customers milestone.
  • VentureBeat names Prosper, Lending Club, and TransferWise in list of billion-dollar companies.
  • Finaeos forges partnership with Tata Consulting to help SMBs take advantage of Regulation A+ of the JOBS Act.

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

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Betterment, Blackhawk Network, blooom, CashStar, D3 Banking, eMoney Advisor, Expensify, FIS, FutureAdvisor, Jemstep, MaxMyInterest, mBank, Nomis Solutions, PayNearMe, PayPal, SimplyTapp, Sonavation, Temenos, Vanguard, Vantiv, Venmo, Wealthfront, Xero

Around the web

  • Glenbrook Partners’ whitepaper features PayNearMe.
  • mBank reports that six months after launching Light Branches, basic banking product sales have tripled in Light Branches compared to traditional branches.
  • PYMNTS features comments from Blackhawk Network, CashStar, FIS, SimplyTapp, and Vantiv on social commerce.
  • MasterCard partners with Premier Bank in expansion into Somalia.
  • Nomis Solutions launches upgrade of its price-optimization suite.
  • D3 Banking announces that its solution is now available in a hosted environment.
  • Blooom CEO and co-founder Chris Costello talks about his company’s relationship with Yodlee.
  • ThinkAdvisor features eMoney Advisor, Vanguard, Wealthfront, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, and Jemstep in a column on the changing environment for financial advisors.
  • Sonavation CTO Rainer Schmitt wins award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Communications Quality & Reliability.
  • TechCrunch features PayPal’s Venmo office.
  • Verizon Ventures welcomes SimplyTapp to its portfolio.
  • On the Money Radio’s Steve Pomeranz interviews MaxMyInterest CEO and founder Gary Zimmerman.

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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$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015

$680 Million Raised by 29 Alums in Q1 2015
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Advanced Merchant Payments, AdviceGames, Aire, App Annie, Ayasdi, Betterment, Bill.com, BlueVine, Bolstr, Coinbase, CoverHound, Finsphere, Funding, Fundings, Global Debt Registry, Kofax, LendingRobot, Lendio, Linkable Networks, Micronotes, Motif Investing, peerTransfer, Pindrop Security, Q2, Ripple, SimplyTapp, Spreedly, Taulia, TransferWise, TrueLink Financial, Xero

cartoonmoneystackThe biggest surprise in our look at first-quarter funding is that the $677 million amassed by 29 Finovate alums was more than 20% of the $3.2 billion invested in the entire worldwide fintech sector.

The $677 million raised was $85 million (+14%) above the same quarter a year ago, and more than triple the first quarter of 2013.

Q1 2015 was also $133 million above the $544 million mark set in the fourth quarter of 2014.

It will be worth watching to see if this record-setting first quarter for Finovate alum fundraising will be a sign of more great things to come for capital-raising in 2015.

Top 10 Overall Investments

  1. Xero: $111 million in February
  2. Coinbase: $75 million in January
  3. Betterment: $60 million in February
  4. TransferWise: $58 million in January
  5. App Annie: $55 million in January
  6. Ayasdi: $55 million in March
  7. Motif Investing: $40 million in January
  8. Ripple Labs: $30 million in January
  9. Bill.com: $50 million in February
  10. Pindrop Security: $35 in February

Previous Quarterly Comparisons

  • Q1 2015: More than $676 million raised by 29 alums
  • Q4 2014: More than $544 million raised by 25 alums
  • Q1 2014: More than $600 million raised by 8 alums
  • Q1 2013: More than $155 million raised by 14 alums

January: More than $275 million raised by 14 alums

February: More than $264 million raised by 8 alums

March: More than $136 million raised by 7 alums

If you are an alum that raised money in the first quarter of 2015, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at [email protected]. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: defi Solutions, Feedzai, Financial Guard, Google Cloud Platform, Lending Club, LikeFolio, Motif Investing, Novabase, Taulia, TransferWise, Vouch, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Feedzai Announces More than $17 Million in New Funding
  • Friction is Good: Social Network for Credit Innovator, Vouch Raises $6 Million

Around the web

  • Financial Guard launches its enhanced, fee-transparency service.
  • defi SOLUTIONS acquires OpenRule Systems APM.
  • Benzinga interviews Andy Swan, LikeFolio co-founder.
  • Wizzio by Novabase featured at IBM World of Watson event.
  • CNBC talks about P2P currency transfer with TransferWise CEO Kristo Kaarmann.
  • Motif Investing earns spot on CNBC’s Disruptor list.
  • Xero ranked #1 Forbes Most Innovative Growth Company 2015.
  • Lending Club receives Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award from Harvard Business School Association of Northern California.
  • Xero scoops Company of the Year at annual Hi-Tech Awards.
  • Payments Source looks at how Taulia speeds up payments for businesses.
  • Google drops cloud computing prices by up to 30%.

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

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Asseco, BizEquity, CashStar, Digital Insight, Dwolla, FinanceIt, FIS, Lending Club, LendKey, Nomis Solutions, Ripple, Trizic, Wallaby Financial, Xero, Zopa

On Finovate.com

Around the web

  • Wallaby Financial partners with NXT-ID to bring Wocket Smart Wallet to Wallaby customers.
  • Asseco SEE teams up with UniCredit CEE to launch its fully native new generation tablet banking solution in six Eastern European countries.
  • Nomis Solutions taps Michael DeGusta as vice president and chief architect.
  • Service Credit Union offers mobile banking services with Touch ID, courtesy of pilot program run by Digital Insight.
  • Financeit partners with eOriginal Inc., bringing eSignature technology to Financeit customers.
  • Studio Movie Grill launches digital gift cards powered by CashStar.
  • Banking Exchange column on real-time payments in the U.S. features FIS, Dwolla, and Ripple.
  • Zopa to help provide financing for Uber drivers looking to buy their cars, rather than rent them.
  • American Banker features LendKey. Check them out at FinovateSpring next week in San Jose.
  • American Banker reports that partnerships fuel Lending Club’s unexpectedly fast growth.
  • BizEquity launches new ‘Adviser Office’ service.
  • Pepperi partners with Xero to extend cloud accounting with mobile sales automation.

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

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Arxan Technologies, Betterment, FutureAdvisor, iSignthis, MasterCard, MaxMyInterest, Motif Investing, PaySimple, Place2Give, Taulia, Vanguard, Wealthfront, Xero

Around the web

  • Xero’s new feature helps businesses manage their data with a new dashboard that displays a variety of benchmarking metrics.
  • Pymnts talks with Eric Remer, founder and CEO of PaySimple, about its holistic payments solution.
  • Taulia launches mentorship program for women.
  • iSignthis inks agreement with SolidTrustPay to provide identity and authentication services.
  • MasterCard acquires Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) for $600 million.
  • Business Solutions profiles security specialist, Arxan Technologies.
  • The Economist features MaxMyInterest, a solution for “yield-hungry savers.”
  • Nasdaq’s Street Authority contrasts Vanguard with “robo-advisers” including Betterment, FutureAdvisor, Motif Investing, and Wealthfront. Join Vanguard in San Jose in May for FinovateSpring 2015.
  • Place2Give launches Nepal Relief Fund.

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

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Authentify, Backbase, Cachet Financial Solutions, Currency Cloud, Emida, EZBOB, Five Degrees, HedgeCoVest, Kony Solutions, Motif Investing, OneID, PayNearMe, Sekur.me, Trulioo, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • HedgeCoVest Wins Top Honors at 2015 Benzinga Fintech Awards

Around the web

  • oneID launches its simple, free solution to secure personal information online across all devices.
  • Born2Invest talks about “thematic investing” in its review of Motif Investing.
  • Currency Cloud opens offices in New York, kicking off its U.S. expansion.
  • Select Mobile Money from Cachet Financial Solutions now supports Apple Watch.
  • Sberbank launches new digital platform based on technology from Backbase.
  • Five Degrees named winner of Dutch FinTech Awards in Banking & IT category.
  • PYMNTS looks at Ezbob’s role in SMB lending in the United Kingdom.
  • PayNearMe enables customers of LA Covered to pay their monthly premiums in cash.
  • Critical Mass radio show interviews Sekur.me CEO Jack Bicer.
  • Trulioo wins Europe’s 2015 Digital Identity Innovation Award. Watch Trulioo demo live at FinovateSpring.
  • NAB links core API technology to Xero’s accounting cloud ecosystems, connecting client’s online bank to their Xero account.
  • Authentify enables E-Transfer Technologies to protect currency trading accounts with mobile multifactor authentication.
  • Forbes: Kony and Soasta partner to close the mobile development and monitoring loop.

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

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blackhawk Network, Blockchain, Check Point, Coinbase, Emida, Evo Snap*, Financial Media Solutions, Intellaegis, Kofax, mShift, PayPal, SecondMarket, Taulia, TransferWise, Uncategorized, Xero, ZenPayroll

On Finovate.com

  • Xero and ZenPayroll Win Honors at CPA Practice Advisor 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards
  • Finovate Debuts: Using Financial Media Solutions’ MAPPS to Create Videographics

Around the Web

  • MasterQueue, powered by Intellaegis, partners with Whitepages Pro.
  • Bitpost lists Coinbase and Blockchain as 2 of the top 5 bitcoin wallets on Android.
  • EVO Payments partners with Boomtown to simplify tech support for POS developers and merchants.
  • Fintech Today reports: With Paydiant, PayPal Will Be a Huge Hit with Merchants.
  • Blackhawk to integrate Kofax Mobile Capture SDK into its digital services platform.
  • Team One CU to pilot MShift’s AnyWhereMobile payment-network with a locally owned restaurant in Michigan.
  • SecondMarket’s Bitcoin Desk Relaunches as Genesis Trading.
  • Taulia named by AlwaysOn as a 2015 OnFinance Top 100 Company.
  • According to Gartner, Check Point Software Technologies lead the worldwide market share for firewall equipment in Q4 2014 and FY 2014.

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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Xero and ZenPayroll Win Honors at CPA Practice Advisor 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards

Xero and ZenPayroll Win Honors at CPA Practice Advisor 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Uncategorized, Xero, ZenPayroll

CPAPracticeAdvisor_logo

Two Finovate alums, Xero and ZenPayroll, have won first place in their respective categories at the CPA Practice Advisor 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards.

According to CPA Practice Advisor, more than 5,000 readers participated in the 11th edition of the awards. The goal is to give accounting firms a “professional-to-professional” opinion as to which systems are “most beneficial” for those working in the tax and public accounting industry.

ZenPayrollLogoZenPayroll won the payroll category, beating out competing technologies from QuickBooks, AMS, PayChex, and ADP. Xero won best “Online Invoicing/Bill Payment Solutions” in a category that included solutions from Intuit, Bill.com, and FreshBooks.

We recently featured ZenPayroll and the company’s $60 million funding in a round led by Google Capital. The company opened up its API to small-business technology providers last September 2014.

An alum of FinovateSpring 2014, ZenPayroll is headquartered in San Francisco, and was founded in October 2011 by Joshua Reeves (CEO), Tomer London (CPO), and Edward Kim (CTO).

Xero_logo_hi-resXero participated in FinDEVr San Francisco 2014, and is an alum of Finovate conferences, as well, most recently FinovateSpring 2011 in San Francisco. Earlier this week, we reported on Xero’s partnership with TransferWise to help small and medium-sized businesses save on international currency-transfer fees.

Xero was founded in July 2006, is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, and has offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Denver, and San Francisco, where the company’s U.S. headquarters is located. With more than 400,000 customers in more than 100 countries, Xero has raised more than $250 million in funding, and is led by CEO and Executive Director, Rod Drury.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: BBVA Compass, DoubleNet Pay, Fenergo, InComm, Insuritas, iQuantifi, LendingTree, Mitek, Prosper, Qapital, Realty Mogul, Toshl, Tradeshift, TransferWise, Tuition.io, Uncategorized, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Xero & TransferWise Team Up to Save SMBs on Foreign Currency Exchange Fees

Around the Web

  • Bloomberg interviews LendingTree founder and CEO Doug Lebda.
  • Nashville Business Journal features iQuantifi and its recent study on millennials and their money.
  • Safeco grants Insuritas “Premier Partner” status.
  • Fenergo appoints former Adobe Systems executive Colm Heffernan to chief operating officer.
  • Mitek launches DoubleNet Pay financial app to help workers pay bills and fund savings. See the technology live at FinovateSpring in San Jose.
  • PYMNTS.com looks at the status of Prosper as tech’s latest “unicorn.”
  • Realty Mogul launches commercial offering.
  • BBVA acquires leading user experience firm Spring Studio.
  • Toshl Finance launches new features with WalletGear 2.0.
  • New York Tech Journal profiles Qapital.
  • InComm Partners with KUBRA to Simplify Cash Payments for Customers.
  • Tuition.io launches flex395.com, an employee-benefits product that enables employers to contribute directly to their employees’ student loans.
  • Air France-KLM to use Tradeshift for global e-invoicing.

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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Xero & TransferWise Team Up to Save SMBs on Foreign Currency Exchange Fees

Xero & TransferWise Team Up to Save SMBs on Foreign Currency Exchange Fees
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Accounting, Small Business, TransferWise, Xero

XeroTransferWise

Two Finovate alums partnered today to make it easier for small and medium businesses to conduct business abroad.

Xero’s small business users based in the U.S. and U.K. can use the TransferWise add-on to pay invoices in 25 currencies to 46 countries.

When small businesses use the new add-on to send funds from Xero, they avoid bank-commission fees and instead pay TransferWise’s rate (up to 0.5%). Here’s how it works for existing Xero customers:

XeroTransferWiseLogos1) Log into TransferWise to view their outstanding foreign-currency invoices

2) Select the invoice to be paid

3) The rate is locked in for 24 hours, during which time the user must pay the invoice on the TransferWise platform using a debit card or bank transfer

After the payment arrives, the invoice is reconciled on Xero.

New Zealand-based Xero most recently presented at FinDEVr 2014 in San Francisco. The company launched its Business Identification product at FinovateSpring 2011.

London-based TransferWise demonstrated at FinovateEurope 2013 in London.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Blackhawk Network, Bluefin Payment Systems, CashStar, CR2, Dragon Wealth, Experian, FIS, Fiserv, FreeAgent, iQuantifi, Malauzai, MasterCard, Monitise, PayPal, SaveUp, SimplyTapp, Virtual Piggy, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • AlwaysOn’s OnFinance Top 100 Features 30 Finovate Alums
  • SaveUp Purchased by Chicago-Area Entrepreneur Paul J. Burt

Around the Web

  • Turk Ekonomi Bankasi (TEB) launches digital banking service developed by Monitise.
  • Dragon Wealth earns spot in Startupbootcamp FinTEch’s inaugural Singapore program.
  • Ayeyarwady Bank (AYA Bank) to deploy Bankworld ATM platform from CR2.
  • Virtual Piggy hires Viant Capital to provide financial advice on strategic options.
  • MasterCard presents its PFM “in-reach” benefits-platform to help issuers engage millennials.
  • iQuantifi teams up with MTSU Jones College of Business to produce inaugural Millennial Money Mindset Survey.
  • Motif updates its iPhone app to enable search-and-browse capability of motif catalogues directly from the app.
  • FreeAgent launches first iOS app to help manage invoices and expenses on the go.
  • PYMNTS features predictions from Blackhawk Network, Bluefin Payments, CashStar, Experian, FIS, Fiserv, and SimplyTapp.
  • Xero Denver named Top Workplace by Denver Post.
  • American Banker examines how Malauzai is helping small banks get a head start on Apple Watch.
  • PayPal confirms bitcoin acceptance option in SEC filing.

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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