Yodlee Interactive, the business unit of Yodlee, Inc. (NASDAQ: YDLE) enabling developers, entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 tech innovators to securely access transactional data via a set of APIs, today announces it has selected its largest incubation class yet and is partnering with leading accelerators like Y Combinator.
The new class of eight startups will each be given $20,000 as well as free access to the company's award-winning Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Yodlee Interactive's APIs are used by financial technology industry leaders like Venmo, Credit Karma, Coinbase and Xero, to securely access transactional data.
"The FinTech space is booming. Global investments in the industry hit $3 billion last year, which is over three times what it was a decade ago"
Yodlee Interactive's prestigious program provides accepted companies with full access to Yodlee's APIs for six months, along with technical support, strategic guidance, mentorship and marketing support to create and grow their products. Incubatees will also be invited to attend networking events with Yodlee Interactive's community of financial tech influencers to connect with industry leaders, press, investors and more, enabling them to grow their businesses. Yodlee Interactive does not take any equity for the $20k it provides incubatees.
This new class consists of Accredify, Bowery Financial, DRAFT, Evolved Accounting, Open Capital Exchange, Roostify, Telito and VOATZ. The cross-platform API will connect the group of incubators to thousands of banks worldwide, allowing them to create and scale their products and change the way people handle their money. Previous incubatees include Moneysoft, Persint and Wisely.
The class features a diverse set of startups from a range of verticals:
- Accredify verifies accredited investors and allows for a secure environment to invest in startups and private equity.
- Bowery Financial is providing a more personalized and transparent banking experience for urban professionals.
- Evolved Accounting provides a cloud-based bookkeeping and outsourcing platform to streamline transaction processing.
- DRAFT is the first crowd-sourced online investment tool, providing insight and comparisons on investment returns and fees.
- Open Capital Exchange helps small businesses get better access to credit by tapping their networks.
- Roostify digitizes the home loan experience, making the process easier for borrowers and lenders alike.
- Telito is developing a discovery product that remains in stealth.
- VOATZ is a next-generation mobile voting platform.
"The FinTech space is booming. Global investments in the industry hit $3 billion last year, which is over three times what it was a decade ago," said Joe Polverari, General Manager of Yodlee Interactive and Chief Strategy & Development Officer of Yodlee. "As long-standing entrepreneurs ourselves, we're dedicated to finding the next great innovators in this space, and providing them with the opportunities and resources they need to create the products, solutions and businesses that will redefine financial services worldwide."
Yodlee Interactive's new class will be directed by Jeff Cain, who previously served as Vice President of Rutberg & Co., and will be unveiled at a weeklong bootcamp starting November 17th. Cain has invited industry leaders such as Patrick Mork, current entrepreneur at Signia Venture Partners and previously CMO at Google Play, and Deirdre Davi, Director of Business Marketing, North America, for Facebook, to provide their mentorship and expertise throughout the program.
They will be joined by many other individuals from incubators, investment firms, technology companies and more – including Vincent Turner (Planwise), Ron Stewart (Transunion Interactive), Brady Forrest (Highway1), Vijay Chattha (VSCpr), Adam Marchick (Kahuna), Marc Weill (TwoSigma) and Ben Narasin (Triple Point Capital).
Fresh off its IPO, Yodlee is one of the longest-running innovators in Silicon Valley and was the first company to aggregate financial data. A nimble offshoot of Yodlee, Yodlee Interactive securely connects companies with financial data from millions of consumers. Yodlee Interactive's NEXT partner lifecycle program provides tailored resources to companies at all stages -- upon completing the NEXT Incubation program, promising companies will be invited to participate in Yodlee Interactive's NEXT Acceleration community. Acceleration partners are given additional opportunities to grow their business through exclusive events that include Yodlee Interactive's dynamic network of financial institutions, investment firms and industry influencers.