Finovate

QuantConnect Adds FX, US Equity Tick Data; Raises Capital

2013-06-18T18:27:51Z

How do traders and investors who "sell in May and go away" spend their summers?

If you are a quantitative trader looking forward to spending the sunny months indoors backtesting trading strategies, then QuantConnect has some very good news for you: the company just announced that it now provides backtesters with five years worth of foreign exchange tick data and U.S. equity tick data going back to 1998. For free.

"This has never been done before," said QuantConnect CEO Jared Broad in a telephone conversation. The data comes courtesy of two new partnerships: U.S. data provider Quote.com is providing the equity data, while FXCM, the largest retail FX broker in the United States, is making available the forex data.

Clean, extensive U.S. equity tick data is a precious enough commodity for most quants. But access to forex tick data can be almost impossible for the average, non-professional trader to come by.

What's next on the data front for QuantConnect? The company is currently looking for quality futures data sources, ideally with trade execution. In addition to helping QuantConnect serve an even broader trading and investing public, futures data would also help attract those working in commodity-sensitive industries such as transportation and agriculture to the platform, said Broad.

QuantConnect's data announcements come on the heels of the company's recently closed funding round. The actual amount of the financing remains undisclosed. Broad said that the funding came from angel investors with backgrounds in quantitative trading and investing, and that the funds will contribute toward operations.

QuantConnect demoed their technology as part of the FinovateEurope show in London earlier this year. Watch the company's presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 18, 2013

2013-06-18T15:30:36Z

ID Analytics and IdentityMind partner to reduce online fraud and stop merchant account creation fraud.

SimpleTuition adds 10 U.S. colleges as partners.

United Texas Bank selects Q2ebanking platform to accelerate unified virtual banking for anytime anywhere access.

SecureKey and Intel beef up authentication for MasterPass.

ShopKeep POS grows To 6.5K+ merchants.

Fairwinds Credit Union chooses Intuit for digital banking.

Realty Mogul and Entrepreneurial Finance Lab selected as 2 of 5 SWIFT Innotribe finalists of Startup Challenge New York.

Bank Innovation features how Entrepreneurial Finance Lab and VoiceTrust can combine psychographics and biometrics to revolutionize financial services.

ForexSmash reviews Currensee Social Trader.

Kansas City Business Journal profiles EyeVerify founder and CEO Toby Rush.

GigaOM Pro Blog takes a look at TransferWise through the lens of traditional Hawala informal money transfer networks.

My Money Blog reviews Realty Mogul and the concept of fractional investment property ownership.

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-- June 17, 2013

2013-06-17T16:55:23Z

Virtual Piggy grows to over a quarter million users.

TrustedID launches new service to help protect AARP members from identity theft.

Lendio launches new small business resource center to give business owners access to products and services to help grow their businesses.

Vator News features Stockr.

Newfination features BillGuard.

Geezeo advances social finances by launching Friend and Feed tools.

Plastyc now named Banking Up.

FreeAgent launches Invoice-o-matic, a free online invoicing tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

EZBOB announces new, 12-month business loan with decreasing rate over term.

Realty Mogul featured in Herald-Tribune column on bringing real estate investing "to the masses."

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-- June 14, 2013

2013-06-14T15:44:52Z

LifeHacker takes a look at Wallaby's mobile app.

Nomis Solutions wins patent for price sensitivity models.

Heckyl Technologies takes first place in UK Trade & Investment innovation contest.

Billeo announces acquisition of ecommerce platform, Swag.io.

Encap earns seven-figure investment from ProVenture Seed.

Credit Union Times features Arxan.

Money Marketing considers Narrative Science, Quantopian, Moven, MoneyDesktop and Jemstep.

Zopa named Most Trusted Loans Provider at the Moneywise Customer Service Awards 2013.

CU Broadcast interviews MoneyDesktop's Bret Skousen.

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.

Encap Earns Seven-Figure Investment from ProVenture Seed

2013-06-13T20:39:22Z

Exact terms of the funding were not disclosed in Encap's press release of the announcement. However, TechCrunch is reporting that the funding totaled $2 million.

This takes Encap's total funding to more than $2.8 million, courtesy of previous investment from Alliance Ventures.

Based in Oslo, Norway, Encap specializes in mobile authentication, providing in-app, banking grade security. Encap's technology eschews SMS codes, hardware tokens, and one-time, password-based authentication in favor of an approach that, in the words of ProVenture Seed Managing Partner, Herbjøm Skjervold, combines multi-factor authentication with risk profiling.

The company plans to use the capital to help expand into new regions, particularly the United States and United Kingdom, as well as to increase market share in a competitive market for security services. According to a report in SecureID News, the multi-factor authentication market itself should surpass $5 billion by 2017.

Encap demoed its technology as part of the FinovateSpring 2013 event in May. See the company's presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 13, 2013

2013-06-13T14:44:00Z

Zopa Safeguard now has 15,000 users and has had £16m lent on platform. Zopa reaches £300m in money lent to borrowers in the UK.

Bank Innovation reports: Cardlytics Has 33 Million Active Users at 400 Banks.

Inc. Magazine creates infographic of how to select the right crowdfunding platform. Bolstr and SeedInvest among choices.

CommunityLend's FinanceIt partners with Pivotal Payments, a credit card payment processing company, to enable merchants to process loans directly at the POS.

Capital Access Network opens new facility in Lindora, Costa Rica to support growth.

Finect president Jennifer Openshaw talks networking for financial professionals on MarketWatch Radio.

Street Fight Mag includes Placecast among its "5 Tools for Point of Interest Geo-Targeting".

TransferWise launches GetPaid to make it easier to get compensated when working with international clients and partners.

Developer Tech features Keynote Systems' CEO Umang Gupta.

Point of Sale highlights Finovate alumni Flint Mobile and PayPal.

Social Trading Guru reviews ayondo 3.0.

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.

Locaid Closes $4 Million in New Funding

2013-06-12T19:48:27Z

FinovateFall 2012 alum Locaid just completed a $4.05 million Series D funding round according to VentureBeat.

Participating in the round were InterSouth Partners, H.I.G. Ventures, and Florida Growth Fund, as well as additional investors. The new funding puts Locaid's total at just north of $30 million.

Founded in 2005, and now with offices in both Boca Raton and San Francisco, Locaid specializes in Location-as-a-Service (LaaS) solutions ranging from IP and Landline location to geofencing and location analytics.

Locaid's "footprint" extends to more than 4 billion connected devices worldwide, including more than 400 million mobile devices. The company is also the largest location gateway for major carriers such as AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Locaid made headlines earlier this month with the release of its Compliance API.

To see Locaid's FinovateFall 2012 presentation, visit the company's demo page here.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 12, 2013

2013-06-12T14:51:41Z

San Diego County Credit Union launches Cardlytics' card-linked marketing platform.

Newfination: Bill Harris talks about Personal Capital's new funding round and the issue of continuity.

SecureKey's briidge.net DNA security software and authentication service have been integrated with MasterCard's MasterPass.

BellaDati selects Chicago as its U.S. Headquarters.

CEO and co-founder of OpenCoin, Chris Larsen, writes about Bitcoin and "the future of money."

Mint, BudgetPulse listed among budgeting options in column on digitizing your finances.

DigitalMailer signs technology and marketing partnership with CoreTrack.

Locaid closes $4 million funding round.

DeviceFidelity partners with Susan G. Komen Dallas County via moneto Prepaid MasterCard program.

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.

ayondo Launches in the United Kingdom

2013-06-11T20:58:49Z

ayondo's European expansion just reached another border, as the company announces that it has launched its social trading service in the UK.

Based in Frankfurt, Germany, ayondo is an innovator in the world of social trading. The company's platform allows average investors to share trades and investments and, more importantly, to trade and invest alongside the best performing traders and investors on the platform.

Those using ayondo can trade a variety of assets, including currencies, stock market indices, individual stocks, and commodities. Traders can begin following up to 5 top traders for a little as €100.

That ayondo would expand to the UK should probably come as little surprise. The company had already expressed its interest in the UK and Irish markets by adding spread betting to the platform earlier this year. Spread betting is available only to ayondo's clients living in Ireland or the UK.

Said ayondo managing director Thomas Winkler in a press release, "ayondo is the first social trading platform to offer spread betting with proportional following for a wide range of asset classes."

ayondo was founded in 2008, and launched its social trading platform in January 2012. The company demoed its technology as part of the FinovateEurope show a year later in London. See the company's presentation here.

Intellaegis' masterQueue Technology Helps Catch Wanted Fugitive

2013-06-11T18:39:59Z

There are many ways to describe the innovators in financial technology.

And thanks to Intellaegis, we can add "fugitive catcher" to the list.

The El Dorado Country District Attorney's office in California sought out the services of hometown technology company, Intellaegis, to help them find an elusive fugitive who had been on the run for years.

Watch the news report from the CBS Sacramento affiliate.

According to the report, masterQueue was able to track the fugitive's data footprints as she traveled across the country to states as distant as Michigan, California, and Florida. The fugitive had been on the run for three years. masterQueue was able to track her down in five minutes.

Intellaegis was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California. The company debuted masterQueue in 2011 as part of FinovateSpring in San Francisco. See the company's presentation here.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 11, 2013

2013-06-11T15:04:49Z

miiCard partners with authentication company, Toopher, to help users and businesses more effectively fight fraud and secure new services online.

BBVA Compass deploys Mitek's Mobile Photo Bill Pay.

TIBCO Software acquires StreamBase Systems.

Kofax issued patent that covers sending receipt confirmation for a fax.

AU Arts Hub profiles Narrative Science's approach to journalism.

ayondo goes live in the United Kingdom.

Cashstar announces patent for virtual gift card technology.

Keynote brings MITE Enterprise, DeviceAnywhere Enterprise to UFT users.

Green Dot to acquire Walmart's reloadable prepaid card business, MoneyCard.

Affinity Solutions raises more than $21 million.

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.

Affinity Solutions Raises More than $21 Million

2013-06-10T22:43:22Z

With its latest round of funding, Affinity Solutions' total financing tops $40 million.

This latest funding round was led by Massachusetts-based private equity firm, Chestnut Hill Ventures. The firm specializes in the commercial marketing and financial services industries, and provided more than $14 million in equity financing for Affinity Solutions a year ago.

Affinity Solutions says that the $21 million will go towards helping the company bring its marketing platform to market. Affinity Solutions currently has partnerships with more than 4,000 financial institutions, and more than 25,000 brick and mortar retail outlets.

This latest round of funding was a big jump up from the company's most recent capital-raising effort: $6.75 million raised in February via a combined equity/convertible securities offering.

All told, Affinity Solutions' fundraising over the past year:

$14.5 million in equity financing - June 2012
$6.75 million in equity/convertible financing - February 2013
$21+ million in funding - June 2013

Headquartered in New York, Affinity Solutions presented its technology at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in 2012. See the company in action here.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 10, 2013

2013-06-10T15:37:44Z

The 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.

Finovate Alumni News-- June 7, 2013

2013-06-07T15:30:11Z

Xero and Stripe partner to simplify online payments for small businesses.

Bank Innovation reports: Mitek Launches V 2.0 of Mobile Photo Bill Pay solution.

Boku teams with PlayJam to bring mobile payments to smart TVs.

SimpleTuition partners with College Parents of America to bring student loan and loan comparison insight from SimpleTuition its members.

Creditnet.com ranks the Best Personal Finance Software of 2013 (So Far): 1) Personal Capital, 2) Mint.com 3) ReadyForZero.

Emida adds Colombia to list of operating countries.

Kofax launches Analytics for Capture business intelligence solution.

Pymnts.com interviews TransferWise co-founder Kristo Kaarmann.

RightStartups takes a look at Betterment as a "new concept in a very traditional industry."

Dynamics launches "Everything Else is Just Plastic" TV Ad.

TradeBox Media reviews Zooz's retail app plug-in.

International Business Times looks at how Arxan's technology is used to protect mobile banking apps from attacks.

Newfination interviews Uri Gruenbaum, co-founder and CEO of TipRanks.

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.

Quill-Creator Narrative Science Partners with In-Q-Tel to Bring its Natural Language Reports to Government Intelligence Agencies

2013-06-06T18:59:12Z

Narrative Science, the maker of Quill, announced yesterday it has reached a partnership and technology development agreement with In-Q-Tel.

As a part of the agreement, Narrative Science will tailor a version of Quill, a system that uses big data to generate natural language reports, to meet the needs of In-Q-Tel's U.S. government intelligence customers.

The terms of the agreement were undisclosed.

Currently, Forbes uses Quill's engine to generate earnings reports and previews. Additionally, Personal Capital recently partnered with the Chicago-based startup to generate written reports with personalized insights and advice for wealth management clients.

To learn more about Narrative Science's Quill, watch its FinovateSpring 2013 demo.