The Startups: Who’s shaking things up (Week ending November 29th, 2015)

fintech startups shaking things up

[alert type=yellow ]Every week, Tradestreaming highlights startups in the news, making things happen. The following is just part of this week’s news roundup. You can get these updates delivered direct to your inbox by signing up for the Tradestreaming weekly newsletter.[/alert]

Stephen Klein: LOYAL3 is turning IPO stock into a powerful, new brand engagement currency (Tradestreaming)
With LOYAL3, it’s not just investing in companies you know – it’s investing in brands you love. The company is building an interesting distribution model connecting investors with brands and brands with their customers.

RealtyMogul Completes Innovative Debt and Equity Combo Transaction (BusinessWire)
RealtyMogul announces a first of its kind, full capital stack transaction combining debt and equity with the successful purchase of a 112-unit apartment in North Carolina. Investors using equity crowdfunding for real estate are getting treated to a lot of innovative investment opportunities.

The emergence of regtech as a catalyst for innovation (BANKNXT)
What are regtech (regulation technology) startups working on, and can they solve banks’ compliance headache? This article describes what regtech is and how it can jumpstart a lot of innovation across the fintech ecosystem.

Fundrise’s Brandon Jenkins on the need to keep raising the quality of real estate deals online (Tradestreaming)
Fundrise is seeing a lot of success with its online real estate investing platform. And now, it just raised $50M for an e-REIT for everyone as part of the new crowdfunding rules.

VCs investing over $500 Million in follow-on funding for companies crowdfunding (Crowdfund Insider)
If over $500M of follow-on funding happened off your platform, you’d want a piece of that, too, right? That’s one big reason why Indiegogo is interested in getting into the equity crowdfunding game.

StockTwits and Robinhood: Teamed up to Provide Social Trading (Howard Lindzon)
As part of a wider integration push, Robinhood announced an integration with the investor social network, StockTwits. Like an investment idea your connection is pitching? Click and trade – for free.

Bleu Unveils its Beacon-Powered Point-of-Sale Solution (Finovate)
Bleu’s solution around Bluetooth technology can move payment data over long distances and ranges: from a nearby transaction at a fast casual restaurant terminal to reaching a terminal in a fancier restaurant that may be several meters away.

Apple Pay to Be Available in China by February 2016 (Let’s Talk Payments)
In the latest quarter, China amounted to 27% of Apple’s revenues and now the WSJ reports Apple is launching its payments into the Chinese market early next year.

Trōv: a new way to insure the things people care about (Daily Fintech)
“Trōv is an app that collects data about your things, builds it into a list, then provides machine enhanced risk pricing for single item coverage. Trōv provides micro-duration policies (down to the second), charges micro-premiums (down to the cent) and uses chat robots to manage claims.”

Startups raising/Investors investing

Vanare | NestEgg Raises $3.25 Million in Seed Capital to Drive Fintech Innovation (Biz Journals)
Last week, Vanare announced the launch of Synapse, the first-ever fully customizable white-label roboadvisor API. The simple, flexible and scalable solution allows financial service firms the ability to create their own user interface (UI) so that their clients have a seamless experience using the firm’s existing website.

Interview with Santander InnoVentures managing partner Mariano Belinky (Business Insider)
Santander InnoVentures managing partner Mariano Belinky talks blockchain, roboadvisors, and challenger banks.

Online Lender LoanDepot Tries Plan B After Canceling IPO (American Banker)
Bryan Sullivan, the CFO at LoanDepot, talks about its growth prospects without fuel from an initial public offering, how getting consumers to opt for home equity lines of credit is tough, and why he considers the nonbank a disruptor.

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