Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active investors in growth businesses, has today announced that it has invested £2.5 million in Cardinality Ltd, a software and service provider which has developed a data ingestion and analytics platform called ‘Perception’, that enables its customers to run, manage and derive value from datasets in real time and at massive scale.

Cardinality’s proprietary system utilises Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to enable its customers to address the growing challenges of analysing Big Data and extracting the hidden value in that data to provide powerful insights.

Demand for this technology is expected to continue to grow against a backdrop of data proliferation supported by digital transformations market wide, and the evolution of the cloud.

Founded in 2015, the Guildford based business has primarily serviced the telecoms sector, successfully winning contracts with customers including Vodafone, Telefonica, Etisalat and Zain. Maven’s investment will enable Cardinality to deepen its existing foothold within its beachhead market as well as expand ‘Perception’ into other verticals, including financial services and energy, whilst helping accelerate its traction in the North American market.

Maven has a track record of backing tech-enabled businesses with high-growth potential, having invested approximately £90 million in 44 entrepreneurial private companies on behalf of the Maven VCTs since 2016. 

Luke Matthews, Investment Director at Maven, said: “Cardinality offers an excellent opportunity for the Maven VCTs to invest into a scaling business, for which the growth dynamics of the data integration sector provide a positive outlook. The Company has seen good commercial progress to date and its revenues are backed up by a strong pipeline and growing recurring revenue base. The management team, led by CEO Steve Preston, are highly experienced and we have been impressed by what they have achieved in what is a competitive market.”

Steve Preston, CEO at Cardinality, added; “This investment is a key milestone for us. Cardinality has developed its Big Data platform specifically to address this growing dependency that data brings to all business sectors. Having proved our data platform scalability, AI and ML technology across a number of leading Tier-1 Mobile Operators across Europe, Middle East and Asia, this investment now fuels a journey further and wider into other verticals and markets, specifically now that our USA operation is up and running.”

FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a leading global payment processor and provider of integrated payment products, today announced the appointment of Sanjoy Bose as the Chief Revenue Officer – South Asia. Sanjoy will be responsible for growing FSS Business in the region, taking a customer-centric approach and driving high-quality engagements.

Sanjoy brings in three decades of deep global business development expertise. He will be focusing on expanding and further strengthening the brand in the region with new logo acquisitions and revenue growth for the multi-faceted retail payments.

Speaking on the new appointment, Mr. Nagaraj Mylandla, Chairman and Managing Director, FSS, said: “We are happy to welcome Sanjoy to our leadership team. I am certain that Sanjoy’s expertise and business acumen will bring in the edge we need to grow exponentially in the region."

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Krishnan Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer – Retail Payments, FSS, said: “I am delighted and happy to welcome Sanjoy to the FSS family. He has a proven track record of leading and motivating high-performing sales and business growth teams across organizations that has helped unlock immense value for customers. We are certain his vast experience will augment our growth in the coming years.”

As the former EVP and Head of Global Sales at Wibmo, Sanjoy was instrumental in propelling Wibmo to the number one position (in on-line card payment authentication) and expanding its reach across geographies. Prior to Wibmo, Sanjoy had a 12-year successful stint in the Silicon Valley, followed by 8 years in the APAC region.

“Digital payment adoption has accelerated across the globe with the pandemic. FSS, with its huge repertoire of payment technology assets and 30 years of proven experience, is uniquely positioned to address this ever-changing world of payments.  I am honoured and thrilled to be part of a company of this stature", said Mr. Sanjoy Bose, Chief Revenue Officer – South Asia, Retail Payments, FSS.

About FSS

FSS (Financial Software and Systems) is a leader in payments technology and transaction processing. FSS offers an integrated portfolio of software products, hosted payment services and software solutions built over 30+ years of experience. FSS, end-to-end payments products suite, powers retail delivery channels including ATM, POS, Internet and Mobile as well as critical back-end functions including cards management, reconciliation, settlement, merchant management and device monitoring. Headquartered in India, FSS services leading global banks, financial institutions, processors, central regulators and governments across North America, UK/Europe, Middle East, Africa and APAC. For more information visit www.fsstech.com.

Liftoff, the leader in mobile app marketing and retargeting, today released its annual Mobile Finance Apps Report in partnership with mobile data and analytics platform App Annie. The global COVID-19 pandemic drove a year of intense economic uncertainty, and users turned increasingly to mobile to help make sense of their financial standing. This year’s report provides crucial insight into mobile finance app engagement, from the type and cost of activity across apps to geographic differences in consumer usage habits amid a year of global financial uncertainty.

This latest report analyzed 57 billion ad impressions across 81 million clicks, 12 million app installs, and 20 million first-time events in 188 apps for the full 2020 calendar year to find the following:

Amid Economic Uncertainty, 2020 Saw 4.6 Billion New Finance App Downloads and a Major Spike in Mobile Trading

In a year characterized by intense economic uncertainty, demand grew for finance apps across investing, banking, cash transfers and government aid. Finance apps were downloaded 4.6 billion times in 2020 (up 15% year-over-year), outpacing overall downloads by 2x. Downloads increased in April globally amid widespread shutdowns, with the most significant surge occurring in December: a clear indication of the pandemic's lasting impact on finances. Time spent in these apps also spiked dramatically: 16.3 billion more hours were spent in finance apps in 2020, up 45% year-over-year (outside of China, where legislation in the peer-to-peer lending space limited use).

Notably, users took to fintech apps with gusto, with fintech outperforming even the best banking apps by a factor of up to 10.8x. Investment and trading apps like Robinhood were among the top downloaded finance apps worldwide as many consumers took to day trading in the COVID era. This trend was particularly pronounced in the United States, where stay-at-home orders were widespread and generally lengthy: U.S. mobile users spent 135% more time in the top five investment and trading apps in 2020 compared to 2019. Canada and Mexico were close behind, with a 115% spike in time spent, and South Korea saw the greatest increase in the Asia Pacific region (APAC), with 120% growth. Indeed, this interest wasn’t exclusive to any one region - global time spent in these top five apps grew 55% year-over-year.

“COVID-19 and the ensuing financial uncertainty resulted in users spending massive amounts of time on finance apps throughout 2020, and more readily activating in-app, with rates up a third to 25.1%,” explained Mark Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Liftoff.  “With many exploring new financial interests, marketers may want to consider tactics that offer resources to nascent users, encouraging retention and increasing confidence in in-app actions.”

In a Post-IDFA World, Android Offers Big Opportunities for Finance App Marketers

iOS has historically been a reliable choice for mobile markers, with high revenue and generally strong retention rates across the board. But in the finance app category, Android seems to be the platform to beat, with its performance in 2020 eclipsing that of iOS. The platform’s performance in the finance app category eclipsed iOS in 2020, with a cost-per-install ranging from 4.5 to an astounding 7x less expensive than that of iOS. At the same time, Android users are as much as 2x more likely to convert. With IDFA on the horizon and many marketers considering their options to drive the most value with their marketing efforts, Android offers finance app marketers a valuable opportunity.

“In 2021, more financial decisions are being made from our mobile devices than ever before, illustrating a powerful shift in consumer decision making. Time spent in finance apps grew 45% year over year globally outside of China in 2020 — including retail banking, investment and trading apps, loans, retirement funds, government payment apps, fintech apps, and more. Stock market participation soared in 2020 amidst financial headwinds and market concerns from COVID-19, and consumers turned to apps, with time spent in top investment apps up 55% worldwide and 135% in the US. Top Fintech apps outperformed top banking apps by a factor of up to 10.8x in key markets across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. ” - Lexi Sydow, Head of Marketing Insights, App Annie

To learn more about Liftoff and view the full report here.

Methodology

The Liftoff 2021 Mobile App Trends Report is based on an analysis of internal data from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020, including 57 billion impressions across 188 mobile apps, 81 million clicks, 12 million installs and 20 million first-time events. Moreover, the report breaks down key trends and metrics impacting user acquisition, engagement and retention by month, platform and region (APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America), and explores time spent per app session. For this report, Liftoff partnered with App Annie to deliver a deeper understanding of the key trends marketers must consider as they develop strategies to target territories, define audiences and craft consistently relevant experiences that engage users - and keep them coming back. App Annie’s market estimates span Finance apps globally from January to December 2020.

About App Annie

App Annie is the industry’s most trusted mobile data and analytics platform. App Annie’s mission is to help customers create winning mobile experiences and achieve excellence. Founded in 2010, the company launched the first mobile market data solution. In 2019, App Annie acquired Libring, an advertising monetization and spend offering. Together, these solutions comprise the industry’s most complete mobile performance platform. More than 1,100 enterprise clients and 1 million registered users across all geographies and industries rely on App Annie to drive their mobile business. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with 12 offices worldwide.

About Liftoff

Liftoff is a complete mobile app marketing platform that helps companies acquire and retain high quality mobile app users at scale. Liftoff uses prediction intelligence and unbiased ML to find engaged users at scale for mobile app marketers, creative testing to deliver the most engaging ad experience and a unique cost per revenue model to optimize for LTV goals. Liftoff is proud to be a long term partner to leading brand advertisers and app publishers since 2012. Headquartered in Redwood City, Liftoff has a global presence with offices in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Berlin, London, Paris, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Following the publication of its Springboard to Recovery report, NatWest has today relaunched its Enterprise programme to boost its support for scale-up businesses, as well as climate, fintech, and B-Corp focussed businesses. The free programme is open to applications from all UK SMEs from today, for businesses who will join the programme in June. 

Throughout its network of accelerator hubs across the UK, NatWest will support over 1,400 businesses at different stages of growth through the programme, with a particular focus on scale ups - businesses that grow their turnover or employment by more than 20% each year. NatWest now also commits at least 25% of space on the programme to climate-focussed businesses whose main objective relates to environmentally sustainable practices, building on its sponsorship of the forthcoming UN COP26 climate summit, to be held in Glasgow in November.

The relaunch follows recent findings from the bank’s report into SME recovery in the UK, which found that transforming a greater proportion of SMEs into ‘scale-ups’, and driving a shift towards sustainability were two priorities which, if addressed, could help unlock £140bn of economic growth by 2030.

In addition, the bank has created 50 roles based around the country to ensure these businesses are given appropriate, tailored support. The new Local Enterprise Managers, Regional Ecosystem Managers and Entrepreneur Acceleration Managers will give businesses the guidance they need through expertise, coaching and networks that are relevant to their location and sector.

Andrew Harrison, Head of Business Banking and Entrepreneurship, NatWest said:

“The findings of our recent Springboard to Recovery report showed that scale-ups will be crucial to UK economic recovery post Covid-19. Scale-ups are 50% more productive than other SMEs, but at present only 2.5% of all businesses fall into the scale-up category. That’s why we’re relaunching our Enterprise programme to help more SMEs reach this next level of growth and productivity.

Combined with increased representation and support for female and BAME led businesses throughout our new cohort – which we aim to ensure are at least 60% and 20% respectively – and a focus on businesses with sustainability and purpose at their core, we’re excited to be opening our doors again to support the next generation of business success stories.”

During the pandemic, the bank moved its Enterprise programme to a virtual model, offering coaching sessions, virtual events, and specialised 1-1 support to entrepreneurs who would normally be based in the physical accelerator hubs. Over the course of this year, the bank aims to support those on the programme through a blended model, resuming use of its hubs once coronavirus guidelines allow, in conjunction with virtual aspects of the programme that have proved most valuable to entrepreneurs over the last year.

As well as the Accelerator programme, as part of its wider Enterprise programme the bank offers its Business Builder programme, a digital qualification offered to early stage start-ups; and Dream Bigger, an education programme aimed at 16-18 year olds, encouraging them to consider entrepreneurship as a career choice.

NatWest is committing to supporting 35,000 entrepreneurs through its Enterprise programmes in 2021, and a further 200,000 interventions with future entrepreneurs through mentoring, webinars and coaching. To date, the bank’s initiatives have created nearly 1,300 jobs and contributed in excess of £103million to the UK economy - with nearly half of all businesses supported since launch female led. 

Interested businesses can apply to join the June cohort at the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator site.

The Indian motor insurance marketplace has noted a clear shift towards remote ‘Do-It-Yourself’ checks and Inspection as a Service as a result of COVID-19 which has necessitated moving away from physical vehicle inspections. During the lockdown Insurtech WIMWIsure has conducted more than 2 lakh virtual inspections for passenger and commercial vehicles through its on-demand Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled video inspection platform in Financial Year 2020-21.

The company launched in 2017, saw the bulk of its 3.5lakh+ inspections till date during the lockdown with a strong demand from Tier 2-3 cities for mid-range SUVs, sedans and hatchbacks. Interestingly, the luxury car segment, which is typically chauffer driven also witnessed a surging demand for the self-service technology, indicating remote video inspections becoming popular across all categories of vehicle owners.

In the commercial segment, the demand was seen from insurance providers to support frontline COVID workers for essentials delivery trucks in particular.

The enterprise tech is disrupting the asset insurance industry with API enabled Inspection-as -a-Service to evaluate risk and losses using automation and Machine Learning (ML) and provide instant validation of information from vehicle inspections, repairs, vehicle databases and claim settlements.

The Insurtech streamlines the entire value chain by eliminating manual customer on-boarding, sales, physical risk inspection/surveys and underwriting decisions.  Using ML algorithms and computer vision solution, WIMWIsure reduces cost associated with administration, distribution or those related to policy issuance and claims by up to 70 per cent for the insurer. 

WIMWIsure Founder & CEO Ravinder Kumar said, “Our operations have turned profitable in the last financial year with a huge demand for our mobile and AI services coming from vehicle owners, Insurance Brokers and General Insurers during the lockdown. The pandemic has accelerated the shift from everything manual, laborious, time consuming to real time, DIY and quick methods especially in the insurance industry which is otherwise a process and paper intensive sector. We are already witnessing rising demand for our self-inspections services as COVID continues to affect movement of people even in 2021. As we continue to build on our video inspection services, we are also geared to launch automated claim servicing and management tool in India and other similar Asian markets.”

Founded by the IIM Ahmedabad Alumnus, WIMWIsure raised seed funding of INR 18 million earlier this year from angels including Yatra Angel Network (YAN) Advisor Abhishant Pant, Paysense Co-founder Sayali Karanjkar and Beta Plus Capital.

YAN Founder Abhishant Pant said, “WIMWISure is rightfully positioned as market leader in everything that is insurable asset from motor to home to mobile to all the way up to cattle insurance. We at YAN will continue to support them in catalysing this journey.”

WIMWIsure has partnered with 10+ prominent General Insurers, 15+ direct insurance brokers and 20,000+ intermediaries to streamline, expedite policy issuance and after-sale services across India.

The technology stack automates inspection of insurable assets in real time using photos and videos submitted by the policy buyers. Over 2.5 million photos and videos have been uploaded on the platform for motor inspection in 2020-21.

BMLL, the leading, independent provider of harmonised, historical data and analytics today announced that Masami Johnstone joined as Senior Client Advisor and Simon Ellis as Head of Partnerships and Strategic Alliances. Masami Johnstone will focus on developing senior relationships in the capital markets community, both on the buyside and sellside and Simon Ellis will be responsible for continuing the development of the wider BMLL ecosystem.

An award-winning industry leader in advising FinTech firms on business and product development and client engagement strategies, Masami Johnstone brings strong capital markets expertise across data, analytics and sales development.  She joins BMLL from CLS, where she was Managing Director of Information Services, responsible for the data business.  Prior to CLS, Masami served as Head of Buy-Side Sales at Euronext, in charge of advanced data sales and development. For the last two years Masami has also been a mentor for “Women in Banking and Finance” and an Ambassador for “The Diversity Project”.

Simon Ellis, a senior management consultant with more than two decades of global experience in business development and data management strategy across fintech and capital markets, has worked with firms such as TickSmith, Acuris, TIM Group, numerous start-ups across the Fintech landscape, and other sectors such as Supply Chain Management and Product Information Management. Simon has advised businesses through periods of regulatory change, product design and delivery and geographical expansion. Prior to that, he served in various sales and business development roles at Multex (Thomson Reuters), Radianz (now BT), Transaction Network Services and Thomson Financial. 

Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, commented: “Over the last 18 months BMLL has been on a growth path as we see increasing demand for our data and analytics products and help clients use Level 3 Data to better predict market moves. I am delighted to welcome Masami and Simon to the team; they will be instrumental in achieving our plan to expand our  customer base and our industry partnerships, and bring our award winning Level 3 data and analytics to the wider market.”

Simon Ellis, Head of Strategic Partnerships, said: “I am delighted to join BMLL at such an exciting time for the business. Developing industry-wide partnerships and our ecosystem of users is key to the next stage of our evolution and I look forward to working with the team to expand the reach of our products and data via new distribution channels.”

Masami Johnstone, Senior Client Advisor, added: “Flexible and rapid access to data and analytics tools to navigate complex markets has never been more important as capital markets participants seek to make more informed decisions and maintain their competitive edge. BMLL has an award-winning track record in providing buyside and sellside firms with the data and insights they need; I am excited to join the team as we continue on our growth journey.”

WomenTech Network is hosting the second edition of the largest virtual tech conference for women, minorities, and their allies in tech, WomenTech Global Conference 2021 June 7-11.

The conference is aiming at uniting once again 100 000 women in tech from all over the world.  

The theme for this year’s conference is evolving around the Future of Work, Open Collaboration, Tech Innovation, and how we as a community can make an impact and change in the world. 

#WTGC2021 will feature tech professionals, industry innovators, around 5000 WomenTech Network Ambassadors, and 500 speakers from all over the world. Some of the speakers are the most accomplished women in tech, including technologists and leaders from companies like Amazon, Discovery, Disney, Facebook, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and many more.

Get Inspired, Make an Impact, Shape the Future

“Last year in June, just when the world reached the peak of sadness and lockdowns, we provided a safe space for 141000+ women and minorities to share, learn and unite. For some, it provided hope, for others new job opportunities, and for us a way to continue our mission as we had to cancel more than 100 offline events and networking activities” says Anna Radulovski, Founder and CEO at WomenTech Network, and further continues “This year, more than ever, our focus is on building an inclusive, equitable and sustainable world. This is why open collaboration is a vital part of the conference. It enables everyone participating to act as a catalyst for women to become part of the solution by leading with purpose, humanity, and impact”.

The premier online conference will give participants access to top names in the industry through inspiring live keynotes, engaging panels, technical workshops, a career expo, and virtual face-to-face networking sessions to learn through actionable advice, gain practical experience, expand their network and grow their tech careers. The open space day will enable collaboration between participants to work on building solutions to tackle burning issues for women and minorities in tech.

Organizations supporting WomenTech Network events are working towards a more diverse and inclusive tech industry, making more than 10000 scholarships possible for deserving individuals to join the conference. Among this year’s top partners are Amazon, Coca-Cola, Discovery, Disney, Global Savings Group, Microsoft, Mimecast, Miro, Ocrolus, OLX Group, Paysafe, SUSE, Synopsys, and many more.

With hundreds of events organized, Ambassadors across all continents, and a truly global focus, WomenTech Network has targeted to provide a stepping stone for women in tech at any stage of their career wanting to connect with likeminded people, inspiring speakers, leading tech firms and innovative startups that make it their mission to drive positive change and to foster cultures of diversity, inclusion & belonging.

The virtual event platform will run again on state-of-the-art technology provided by Hopin and will offer plenty of networking opportunities in a time of social distancing. Additionally, the partner and career expo will provide attendees with a new way to connect with companies that support the WomenTech Network and currently are looking to hire.

Get tickets here: https://www.womentech.net/women-tech-conference. 

Apply for a scholarship here: https://www.womentech.net/apply-for-scholarship
Apply to speak here: https://www.womentech.net/form/apply-to-speak 

Join us again on the mission and raise awareness on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to bring 100 000 women together to drive change with purpose and impact.
Anyone interested in joining WomenTech Network can find details of all the global events, news, and updates here: https://www.womentech.net. For partnerships with WomenTech Network connect with Anna Radulovski or write via email to partnerships@womentech.net. 

About WomenTech Network

WomenTech Network is the world's largest community for women in tech with more than 4800 ambassadors representing 137 countries. Since 2018 its founders have engaged +100,000 tech specialists to join in building a diverse global community inspiring and reaching +1 million people in 2020 alone. The Network strives to increase gender diversity in the workplace to improve equality across all areas like representation, promotion, and equal pay. The Network’s mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated women in tech through leadership development, professional growth, mentorship, and networking events to make a difference by building impactful and inclusive technology while introducing them to like-minded people, inspiring speakers and opportunities at leading companies and innovative startups that aim to create diverse teams and a culture of belonging.

More information available at https://www.womentech.net/

State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), today announced the appointment of Gerben Lagerwaard as Head of Continental Europe, Global Institutional Group, effective immediately. Based in Amsterdam, the role will report directly to Marie-Anne Heeren, Head of European Institutional Business.

Lagerwaard joined State Street Global Advisors in 2012, and took over the responsibilities to oversee the firm’s business in Benelux in 2018. He is currently Head of the Dutch Branch, a role that he will retain. Prior to his tenure at State Street Global Advisors, Lagerwaard spent 15 years on the sell side in the Netherlands, specializing in sales and distribution strategy, and client relationship management.

In addition to overseeing all activities at the firm’s Amsterdam office as the branch head, Lagerwaard’s expanded responsibilities in this new role center around leading business development and client relationships in Continental Europe, working closely with the business heads across the region.

Commenting on the appointment Heeren said: “Gerben has been an invaluable team member of the Global Institutional Group, and a dedicated colleague who is skilled at managing client relationships and our business in the dynamic Continental Europe region. These are significant markets for us, and I am confident that Gerben’s leadership will help us continue to make progress in the region ”

VitraCash Limited, a payment technology platform that is using artificial intelligence to change how people around the world pay for goods and services, announced their crowdfunding campaign on CrowdCube this week.

In an effort to raise funds for the launch of their AI-powered smart payment card, with MasterCard as a strategic partner, VitraCash is the first-of-its-kind smart debit card that saves all credit and debit cards for one customer in one singular place.

With a complementary mobile app, VitraCash’s technology will then select the best card for every transaction, factoring in elements like: FX rate, cashback, insurance, and more.

“Our team has spent a significant amount of time traveling across Europe and Asia, spending an absurd amount of money on exchange and ATM fees,” said Koray Koska, CEO of VitraCash. “We noticed that for non-MasterCard payments, the fees were even higher, or altogether not accepted in many parts of the world. While traveling, we just didn’t have the time to sit down and review the perks of each card, strategically choosing the right one for each transaction. That’s what inspired us to create VitraCash.”

VitraCash employs an advanced algorithm that calculates the best card for every payment with a multi-dimensional cost function, personalized by AI. The VitraCash platform includes a digital wallet app that is connected to a physical debit card, where it is able to measure and compare cards in real-time for every transaction.

VitraCash will turn a profit on their business model by collecting the interchange fee, as well as offering premium subscription plans.

“Our crowdfunding campaign will cover the estimated costs for our card processing and development to launch this summer,” said Koska. “As we like to say, we are welcoming everyone to join us on our journey to build a genuinely smart card. We believe this revolutionary technology could save people a tremendous amount of time, money, and hassle in the future.”

At this time, the VitraCash algorithm is US patent pending. The team has stated that the app and algorithm are in closed beta, with an aim to launch in July 2021.

To contribute to the VitraCash CrowdCube campaign, please visit: https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/vitracash/pitches/Z5nwvb.

For more information regarding VitraCash, please visit: https://www.vitracash.com