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Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee Partner to Bring Data Aggregation, Account Verification, and Enriched Transaction Data to Banks

Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee Partner to Bring Data Aggregation, Account Verification, and Enriched Transaction Data to Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Backbase, Envestnet, Yodlee
  • Two Finovate alums, Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee are teaming up to help financial institutions better serve their customers.
  • The collaboration will offer pre-built integrations with Envestnet | Yodlee’s Data Aggregation, Account Verification, and Transaction Data Enrichment solutions.
  • Both Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee made their most recent Finovate appearances at FinovateFall in New York in September.

A newly announced partnership between Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee will enable financial institutions to offer their customers a holistic view of their finances, as well as an improved customer experience. Specifically, the partnership will bring account data aggregation, account verification, and transaction data enrichment from Envestnet | Yodlee to the Backbase Engagement Banking platform. The move enhances Backbase’s financial wellness capabilities and intuitive customer journeys, and supports the company’s goal of becoming a category leader in the engagement banking platform space.

Backbase CPO Karan Oberoi called the collaboration a “major milestone” in the company’s efforts to “bring value to every step of the full customer lifecycle on a single, unified platform.” Oberoi highlighted the ability of the Backbase Engagement Banking platform to help financial institutions leverage technologies from innovative fintechs like Envestnet | Yodlee “while limiting implementation, procurement, and risk assessment time.”

Adding Account Data Aggregation to the platform will enable customers to combine and maintain all of their financial accounts in a single application. In addition to making it easier for customers to better understand their financial status, the feature also increases stickiness – as well as the potential for cross-selling opportunities – as customers spend more time on the bank’s app. Account Verification allows customers to add and verify their financial accounts in a single app without requiring the use of micro-deposits. Both KYC and AML compliance are also enhanced by the addition of the account verification capability. Lastly, by providing transaction data enrichment, the platform will lower the cost- of-serve for financial institutions and improve customer engagement.

“Entering into this strategic partnership with Backbase is another proof point on how industry leaders are relying on quality data, comprehensive coverage, and intelligent insights from Envestnet | Yodlee to meet fast-growing banking demands,” Envestnet Data and Analytics Group Head Farouk Ferchichi said.

Both multiple-time Finovate Best of Show winners, Backbase and Envestnet | Yodlee made their most recent appearances on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall in New York last September. Backbase demoed a customer onboarding solution that consolidates customer finances via direct deposit, billpay auto linking, and debit card account opening. Envestnet | Yodlee showed how Conversational AI technology can be deployed to deliver hyper-personalized financial insights and goals-based micro-savings applications.

Photo by Essow

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HR and Payroll Company Papaya Global Buys Azimo

HR and Payroll Company Papaya Global Buys Azimo
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Azimo, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • HR and payroll platform Papaya Global has acquired global money transfer company Azimo.
  • The deal will allow Papaya Global to offer payments in hours instead of days.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Global money transfer company Azimo has agreed to be acquired by HR and payroll platform Papaya Global. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch is reporting a purchase price of somewhere between $150 million and $200 million.

The Israeli payroll company will leverage Azimo’s payment platform to offer clients a payroll solution that makes immediate payouts across the globe. “We will build an innovative new payments and finance offering for clients in cash advance and credit-related products, and in cryptocurrency,” the company said in a blog post. The purchase will also enable Papaya Global to add remittance services to its lineup.

Founded by Michael Kent in 2012, Azimo offers a low-priced way for individuals and businesses to send money across the globe. The U.K.-based company charges a fee as low as $0.77 (£0.59) and boasts a more favorable exchange rate, as well. Azimo counts more than two million customers of its digital money transfer platform, which allows users to send money from 25 countries to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

In addition to its payment network, Azimo has something Papaya Global may consider quite valuable– payment licenses in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong. “Azimo’s global digital payment network, multiple payment licenses, and deep fintech expertise strengthens our ability to help companies manage and pay their remote teams,” said Papaya Global CEO Eynat Guez.

Azimo has raised $88.1 million in combined debt and equity. Financial terms of the deal, which will bring all of Azimo’s employees over to the Papaya Global team, were undisclosed.

Photo by Kaboompics .com

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FintechOS Unveils Accelerators to Enhance SME Mobile Onboarding and Lending

FintechOS Unveils Accelerators to Enhance SME Mobile Onboarding and Lending
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, FintechOS
  • FintechOS has launched a pair of accelerators – for mobile lending and mobile onboarding – to enable institutions to support small businesses.
  • The new offerings are built for speed, enabling companies to lower account opening times to less than 15 minutes.
  • Headquartered in London and founded in 2017, FintechOS made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall in New York.

Digital banking and insurance solution provider FintechOS unveiled a pair of new accelerators to help financial institutions better serve their SME clients. The offerings, announced this week, support SME mobile lending and onboarding, and enable institutions to reduce the amount of time required to open a current/checking account to less than 15 minutes.

Calling SMEs “the backbone of the global economy”, FintechOS CEO and co-founder Teo Blidarus decried the “lending gap” that has kept many small businesses from being able to secure the critical funding they need in order to grow. “Our high productivity fintech infrastructure, digital and core financial technology blocks combine here with a low-code approach to help institutions close the gap by rolling out tailored financial services experiences at speed.”

FintechOS’ accelerator for mobile onboarding gives financial institutions the ability to implement a modern UX. This will enable them to readily configure both design and content, as well as journey sequence and product logic. The accelerator for mobile lending allows SMEs to access the financing solutions they need in minutes with an out-of-the-box loan origination journey that can be easily configured and requires no technical expertise. Both accelerators embrace a mobile-centric approach that allows small businesses to use their device of choice for both onboarding and financing, which will help lower abandonment risk during the account opening and lending process.

The launch of FintechOS’ account onboarding and mobile lending accelerators comes just days after the company announced a collaboration with digital transformation consultancy Tesselate Group. Together, the two companies will work to bring innovative lending solutions and strategic planning to financial institutions. The partnership will focus on product verticals including digital journey accelerators, ecosystem connectors, and lean core components.

“We’re on a mission to enable companies to build innovative financial services and products at the speed the market requires,” FintechOS VP of Ecosystem Todi Pruteanu said. “Our ecosystem is fundamental to achieving this objective, and FintechOS is investing significantly to build an industry-leading partner infrastructure.”

In February, FintechOS forged a global partnership agreement with fellow Finovate alum Onfido. The pact integrates Onfido’s identity verification solution into FintechOS’ customer onboarding, lending, and claims management journeys. Two of FintechOS’ customer-centric platforms for banks and insurers – Lighthouse and Northstar – feature Onfido’s identity verification and liveness technology.

Among Finovate’s newer alums, FintechOS demoed its technology on the Finovate stage for the first time in September at FinovateFall. At the conference, FintechOS’ Paula Costea and Steve Rooney demonstrated Sunglow, the company’s “super app for banking.” Sunglow enables consumers to finance and book vacations in a seamless, end-to-end customer experience that factors in every component of the lending and booking processes.

Photo by Pixabay

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FinovateEurope: The Road to Digitalization and the Challenge of Innovation

FinovateEurope: The Road to Digitalization and the Challenge of Innovation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2022

FinovateEurope 2022 is a wrap. Our first European fintech conference in what we all hope is truly the post-pandemic era was an excellent opportunity for Finovate veterans and newcomers alike to meet and share insights on the most critical issues in fintech today.

In many ways, the two keynotes that began each day of our two-day event served as reminders of both the accomplishments of fintech to date, as well as the challenges that innovators in fintech and financial services will face going forward.

From commodity products to intelligent services

In his keynote address on how fintech trends in 2022 will drive transformation in financial services, David Brear contextualized his remarks by describing the journey financial services has traveled from analog through digitization en route to becoming truly digital. CEO and co-founder of fintech consultancy 11:FS, Brear underscored the notion that this journey was defined by the evolution of financial services from “commodity products to intelligent services.” He suggested that many companies in financial services were still essentially bringing digital tools to enhance analog solutions – not unlike attaching a carriage to a Clydesdale. As such, he sees the transition toward truly digital banking as “only 1% finished” with plenty of room to go.

For Brear, the current moment is one of execution rather than ideas. Entrepreneurs and companies in financial services have a better idea than ever of what their customers want, and now is the time for firms in this space to ambitiously act to meet those needs. Interestingly, and foreshadowing the themes of the next day’s keynote from AI scientist Inma Martinez, Brear observed that fulfilling these needs will help banks and financial services companies gain or regain the kind of intimate, personalized relationships that are more reminiscent of the kind of connections that smaller, more community-based versions of these institutions historically have enjoyed with their customers and members.

Solving complexity to better serve humanity

Creating an appropriate role for artificial intelligence (AI) was the topic of our Day Two keynote address – How To Use Data Analytics & AI To Create Human Centric Financial Products – from AI scientist Inma Martinez. As someone with decades of experience with artificial intelligence, Martinez has a healthy respect for the capacity of AI to do things that human beings cannot. At the same time, however, Martinez insists that these capacities need to be harnessed in a way that enables AI’s complexity-solving abilities to respond to human needs for “safety, enjoyment, and purpose.” Reminding her audience that the world is not merely “computational,” Martinez said that AI needs to be imbued with EQ, or emotional intelligence, that prioritizes rather than simply includes the role of human cognition. This would support an evolution in design thinking from the basic objectives of “usability, functionality, and convenience” to the more satisfying, emotional, and human-centered goals of being “memorable, assuring, and wholesome.”

Martinez also emphasized the importance of a modern approach to data and data management called the data mesh. This concept calls for leveraging distributed architecture to give end users the ability to readily access and query data where it lives rather than having to deal with a singular, centralized location such as a data lake. Improving the ability to access data is critical, Martinez explained, in a world in which data is both the key to a deeper, more meaningful understanding of customer behavior and the primary source of insights that can streamline the process of creating and innovating new products and services.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

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Alkami Agrees to Acquire Financial Data Analytics Company Segmint

Alkami Agrees to Acquire Financial Data Analytics Company Segmint
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Segmint
  • Alkami has entered a definitive agreement to acquire financial analytics company Segmint for $135.5 million in cash.
  • The acquisition will combine Segmint’s data insights with Alkami’s digital account opening and digital banking technology.
  • Both companies are Finovate alums. Alkami made its Finovate debut as iThryv in 2009. Segmint made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall in 2012.

Another day, another big acquisition in the fintech space. Today we learned that cloud-based digital banking solutions provider Alkami Technology has agreed to acquire Segmint, a financial data analytics and transaction cleansing specialist. Alkami will pay $135.5 million in cash for the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based company, and expects its total addressable market to grow by $1 billion courtesy of the acquisition.

“Our customers want to deepen their customer relationships and grow revenue,” Allkami CEO Alex Shootman said. “To do so, they must transform raw account and transaction data into insights that lead to highly personalized communications. Segmint applies machine learning to transaction data to help FIs better understand their account holders and automates messaging with incredible precision and personalization across multiple channels.”

The acquisition will enable financial institutions partnered with Alkami to benefit from the combination of data sets from both Alkami and Segmint. In addition to providing a more comprehensive view of account holders, the combination also will bring greater precision and additional use cases to Segmint’s data models. Further, financial institutions will be able to use this data to leverage digital banking to better target, engage, and build customer relationships.

Approved by the boards of directors of both companies, as well as Segmint stockholders, the acquisition is expected to close in Q2 of this year – assuming regulatory approvals and customer closing conditions are met.

As we noted, the Alkami/Segmint acquisition is the second big fintech acquisition involving a Finovate alum this week. We reported yesterday that Canadian identity verification company – and Finovate Best of Show winner – SecureKey – agreed to be acquired by digital security and privacy company Avast.

Photo by Anthony

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Avast to Acquire Identity and Authentication Expert SecureKey Technologies

Avast to Acquire Identity and Authentication Expert SecureKey Technologies
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, SecureKey
  • Avast will acquire SecureKey Technologies in a deal expected to close next month.
  • Czech Republic-based Avast will leverage SecureKey’s North American presence to expand internationally.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SecureKey Technologies will soon begin its next chapter. The Canada-based digital identity and authentication company recently agreed to be acquired by NortonLifeLock’s Avast, a digital security and privacy firm. Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek said that he envisions leveraging SecureKey to create a global and reusable identity framework. “It’s clear that digital identity is the critical enabler for many digital services and SecureKey’s success reflects the growing demand for this from consumers,” said Vlcek. “SecureKey is highly complementary to Avast’s prior work in Identity and together we will take our offer to the next level, accelerating innovation and working to establish a user-focused, global approach that aligns user, business, and government propositions. We are committed to developing offerings that will be fully inclusive for everyone, regardless of their own circumstances.”

SecureKey was founded in 2008 with a mission to simplify consumer access to secure online services and applications using secure, digital versions of the credentials they already have. The company’s digital identity solutions enable over 200 million secure digital ID transactions per year globally.

SecureKey’s flagship tool, Verified.Me, is a digital identity verification network that helps users verify their digital identity and places them in control of what they want to share with whom. Verified.Me, which also comes with a Government sign-in feature, is provided by Interac, which acquired the rights to SecureKey’s digital ID services for Canada last October.

Avast was founded in 1988 and offers tools to help individuals and businesses protect the privacy of their digital lives. Headquartered in the Czech Republic, the company anticipates the acquisition will position it for international expansion. “As the European community is investing in public-private sector digital identity infrastructure in 2022 and beyond, we see Avast well positioned as a collaborative provider of digital trust services for people, digital businesses and government,” said Avast General Manager and SVP of Identity Charles Walton. “Success for us is where digital identity becomes simple, user-centric and portable, and can enable a more trustworthy digital experience and deeper online engagement benefiting both people and business.”

The deal is expected to close early next month. Avast plans to make SecureKey’s products available in the second quarter of this year.

Photo by Thirdman

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An Inside Look at New Value: Crypto Trends in Business and Beyond

An Inside Look at New Value: Crypto Trends in Business and Beyond
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Ripple

This is a sponsored post by Ripple, Gold Sponsors of FinovateEurope in London, March 22 -23.

The blockchain industry saw some big changes last year, brought on by a maturing crypto landscape and the development of innovative new technologies.

Ripple set out to better understand and further analyze this rapid evolution through both primary and secondary research.  Our work included surveying more than 2,000 global financial institutions, business, individuals and developers to uncover the key perceptions and trends related to the tokenization, management, and movement of digital assets, as well as the adoption of the core technologies that encompass and underpin these trends.

We are excited to bring you our hot-off-the-press 2022 report “New Value: Crypto Trends in Business and Beyond” which spotlights key findings on the current state of blockchain and digital asset applications, including their benefits, blockers, and future use cases. This report includes a large section on payments, but also expands beyond payments to help the industry better understand how crypto solutions more generally are being used in both financial and business applications worldwide, and, beyond business, by governments and individuals as well.

The report is divided into four sections:

  • Tokenize: establishes the digital representation of value on the blockchain
  • Manage: wields tokenized value through holding, hedging, staking, lending, borrowing, etc.
  • Move: sends value from one place, person or organization to another, i.e. payments
  • Compliance

And within these four sections, it covers a variety of critical topics across the crypto landscape today. These topics include the emergence of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) — notoriety of the former grew rapidly while the latter remained largely in the research and development stage, though a number of countries are actively exploring the technology. While familiar to seasoned players in the space, the use of crypto for Decentralized Finance (DeFi), portfolio and capital management is advancing. And of course, payments leveraging crypto have continued to grow dramatically.

Industry Perception

As we’ve noted, the crypto and blockchain industry is maturing and with that, institutions and enterprises are realizing the potential benefits of applying this technology to their own organizations for a variety of use cases. Interestingly, enterprises tend to be more optimistic than financial institutions on the benefits of blockchain, the potential impacts and the enthusiasm to adopt this technology.

With last year’s explosion of popularity in NFTs, there is a growing number of interested individuals outside of what we’ve traditionally seen in this space. And there is a growing number of use cases that encompass functional NFTs (e.g. for ticketing, or voting) and business-oriented NFTs (e.g. representing real-world assets of various types). Given the agility and power of assets represented on the blockchain, the surge in creative use cases and interest among both individuals and businesses isn’t surprising.

Whether you are considering using CBDCs, NFTs, or cryptocurrencies, or anything else on a blockchain, sustainability should be taken into account. And, we confirmed, there is still a lot of progress to be made in educating consumers, institutions and businesses alike on the differences in carbon emissions between blockchains and the performance advantages of a sustainable blockchain.

Regional Perspectives

The report offers insight into interesting regional differences. Asia Pacific (APAC) is particularly optimistic about the value that blockchain technology can bring to individuals, businesses and institutions in the region. We highlight key findings around why APAC consumers are purchasing NFTs, the potential that APAC enterprises and financial institutions see in CBDCs, and more.

Research results draw parallels between our data on crypto’s positioning in Latin America (LATAM) and recent news of related current events in the region. New Value highlights the distinct stance LATAM financial institutions and businesses have taken on crypto related to payments, inflation and the impact this technology will have in the coming years. While respondents in Europe and North America see the value of these new technologies, they tend to be somewhat less optimistic about their impact than those in APAC or LATAM or MEA.

Looking Ahead

Findings from the New Value Report have far-reaching implications for more than just the financial services industry. Digital assets and the new technologies that drive them will have a profound impact on both the economy and the individual, the government and the artist, the enterprise and the unbanked, and everyone in between.

Download the report here for a comprehensive first look at the exponential climb toward the Internet of Value, and how crypto is paving the way.

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Currencycloud Debuts Weekend FX Trading

Currencycloud Debuts Weekend FX Trading
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud, Daily news, The Currency Cloud
  • Currencycloud launched a new tool called WeekendFX.
  • The new tool enables clients to offer competitive FX rates on weekends when markets are closed.
  • Currencycloud is launching WeekendFX in partnership with Visa, which acquired Currencycloud last July.

Visa’s Currencycloud launched a new tool this week called WeekendFX. The new offering will do just as it sounds– enable clients to offer competitive FX rates around the clock, even on weekends.

In the new digital economy, businesses are always on, operating after business hours and on weekends. However, businesses face increased risks and cost when they arrange cross-border payments on weekends because of the fluctuations subject to occur between when the trading desks close on Friday afternoon and when they open for the week on Monday morning.

Currencycloud is launching WeekendFX in partnership with its parent company Visa to help remove the risk, complexity, and cost to support cross-border payments outside of traditional operating hours. WeekendFX enables Currencycloud clients to offer a competitive fixed FX rate over the weekend and will settle at the same rate on Monday morning when the market opens.

“This is a massive step in overcoming business issues of operating 24/7,” said Partners & Enterprise Co-Founder and VP Steve Lemon. “Together with Visa we now enable our clients to execute FX transactions over the weekend in exactly the same way, using a standardized API and workflow as they would during the week. Therefore, their customers can continue to operate their businesses and execute FX conversions in exactly the same way too.”

Money transfer and payments firm Swinto and aviation business connectivity startup Tuvoli piloted the new trading tool, and ANNA Money will go live with the technology shortly.

Founded in 2012, Currencycloud facilitates cross-border, multi-currency transactions. The London-based company has processed more than $100 billion to over 180 countries for bank and fintech clients including Starling Bank, Revolut, Penta, and Lunar. 

In July of last year, Visa snapped up Currencycloud in a deal that valued the company at $963 million. Last October, the company partnered with Plaid, embedding Plaid’s Payment Initiation Services into its own solution to allow customers to fund their accounts without ever leaving the platform.

Photo by Ryutaro Tsukata from Pexels

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Finovate Webinar: Enhance Customer Lifetime Value and Optimize Operating Efficiency in Mortgage Processing

Finovate Webinar: Enhance Customer Lifetime Value and Optimize Operating Efficiency in Mortgage Processing
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Finovate Webinar

Artificial intelligence and automation have been at the forefront of the financial services industry. This rapid digital acceleration driven by the pandemic has forced lenders to modernize their lending ecosystem to stay relevant in the new normal.

Today you know that the success of your business depends vastly on your ability to use technologies to harness the power of data and provide hyper-personalized products and services to your customers. However, only 40% of lenders believe they have the required digital capabilities to undertake such a transformation.

Watch for this intriguing discussion as top experts from Quantiphi discuss how AI-first digital engineering can re-imagine traditional lending processes to help you enhance customer lifetime value and reduce operating costs in this highly competitive business environment.

Featuring: 

  • Sanjeev Sethi, Head – Banking & Financial Services, Quantiphi
  • Vijay Mannur, Practice Head – Marketing Analytics, Quantiphi
  • Milind Wasaikar, Client Service Executive, Quantiphi
  • Moderated by: Julie Muhn, Senior Analyst, Finovate

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels

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FinovateEurope 2022 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateEurope 2022 Best of Show Winners Announced
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Best of Show, Dreams, FinovateEurope 2022, Finshape, mmob, SESAMm, Trulioo

Day One of FinovateEurope is in the books. The demos are done and, now that the votes of our attendees have been counted, we are happy to introduce the winners of Best of Show for FinovateEurope 2022.

Dreams for its engagement banking platform, rooted in cognitive and behavioral science, that offers a unique way to engage your customers. Demo.

Finshape for its technology that helps banks win the race for digital customers through ready-made digital products and custom delivery services. Demo.

mmob for its technology that makes embedded finance easy and empowers consumer-facing fintechs to supercharge their growth through embedded finance partnerships. Demo.

SESAMm for its technology that leverages big data and artificial intelligence to provide investment signals to investors. Demo.

Trulioo for its global identity verification technology that helps organizations mitigate risk, reduce fraud, and scale compliance programs globally. Demo.

Thanks to all of our demoing companies, our speakers and presenters, our sponsors and partners, and our outstanding audience of both in-person and digital attendees. Be sure to stay connected to the Finovate blog and social media @Finovate to keep up with the latest from our FinovateEurope companies and presenters.

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The five companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2021 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018
FinovateAfrica 2018
FinovateEurope 2019
FinovateSpring 2019
FinovateFall 2019
FinovateAsia 2019
FinovateMiddleEast 2019
FinovateEurope 2020
FinovateFall 2020
FinovateWest 2020
FinovateEurope 2021
FinovateSpring 2021
FinovateFall 2021

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Glia Joins Fintech Unicorn Club After $45 Million Funding Round

Glia Joins Fintech Unicorn Club After $45 Million Funding Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Funding, Glia
  • Glia recently raised a $45 million Series D investment round.
  • The round values the company at over $1 billion, making it a fintech unicorn.
  • Glia said the funds “will be heavily allocated toward research and development.”

Digital customer service tools provider Glia is now valued at over $1 billion, making it fintech’s newest unicorn. The company announced earlier this week it closed a $45 million Series D investment, bringing its total funding to $152 million.

Insight Partners led the round, which saw contributions from existing investor Wildcat Capital Management and new investor RingCentral Ventures. Glia will “heavily allocate” the funds into research and development, investing in advanced AI, analytics, messaging, voice, and video capabilities. The company, which has offices in New York and Estonia, also plans to boost international expansion.

“The future of customer service is digital, and those that have yet to take steps to modernize their support and engagement strategies are already behind,” said Glia Co-Founder and CEO Dan Michaeli. “We’re thrilled by our investors’ confidence reflected in the round’s valuation, recognizing that we’ve only scratched the surface of what Glia can accomplish. Our rapid growth and successful relationships with financial services companies of all types demonstrates the urgent need for Digital Customer Service. As we build upon a decade of innovation, this capital will further extend our reach and help even more businesses across the globe reimagine how they connect with customers digitally.”

Glia was founded in 2012 as SaleMove. The company seeks to reinvent how businesses support their customers in a digital world– an imperative tool in today’s digital-first economy. Specifically, Glia offers digital communication choices, on-screen collaboration, and AI-enabled assistance tools. The company has 250 clients across the globe, including banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

Glia has won 10 Best of Show Awards– an impressive feat. Check out the company’s latest award-winning demo from spring of last year.

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Acorns Adds Crypto to Portfolio Options

Acorns Adds Crypto to Portfolio Options
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Investing app Acorns now enables users to invest in bitcoin.
  • Users can invest up to 5% of their Acorns portfolio in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
  • Acorns plans to add other cryptocurrencies in the future.

Millennials have been crowding around crypto investing, and micro investment platform Acorns has taken notice. The California-based company launched an option this week that will enable its 4.6 million subscribers to add bitcoin to their investment portfolios.

“We’ve always been open-minded and flexible to the idea that as other asset classes mature and become something that we can deliver to customers, we would love to include that in the appropriate way,” said Acorns Chief Investment Officer Seth Wunder in an interview with CoinDesk. “Cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin, in our opinion has gotten to that place where it’s an acceptable piece of people’s portfolios.”

Acorns was founded in 2012 to offer an approachable way for young investors to start investing. The company’s platform automatically invests users’ spare change and allows them to deposits as low as $5 into its five ETF diversified portfolios. Starting today, users can opt to invest up to 5% of their Acorns portfolio in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, a futures fund that debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

This move comes four years after Acorn competitor Robinhood launched Bitcoin and Ethereum trading on its platform. Robinhood, a stock brokerage startup that was founded in 2013, enables its users to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. Acorns plans to add other cryptocurrencies in the future, but there is no word on exact timing.

Earlier this month, Acorns closed a $300 million funding round led by private equity firm TPG. The investment valued Acorns at close to $2 billion. Noah Kerner is CEO.

Photo by Muhammad Asyfaul on Unsplash

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