SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ripple Labs has been named as a finalist for a 2014 PYMNTS Innovator Award in the categories of Most Disruptive and Best New Technology. Ripple Labs is being honored for its work in creating Ripple, an open-source, distributed payment protocol powering a new global value web.
This is the third year for this competition, which has seen an exponential increase in participants, and has a submissions, selection and voting process unmatched in intellectual rigor and competitive energy. Judges this year included Janet Estep, NACHA; David Evans, Global Economics Group; Matt Harris, Bain Capital Ventures; Karl Mehta, Menlo Ventures; Hans Morris, General Atlantic; Paul Purcell, Continental Advisors; Dan Rosen, Commerce Ventures; Karen Webster, Market Platform Dynamics & PYMNTS.com and Matt Witheiler, Flybridge Capital Partners.
The Ripple payment protocol and math-based currency enables free and virtually instant payments with no chargebacks in any currency or unit of value -- including fiat or math-based currencies, mobile phone minutes, or even loyalty reward points. Ripple can be used for a wide range of applications, including merchant payments, money transfers, or remittances. Ripple has the potential to transform payments to work like communications – global, instant and nearly free.
“We are honored to be recognized as a finalist for the 2014 PYMNTS Innovator Award for our work in building a new payments protocol,” said Ripple Labs co-founder and CEO Chris Larsen. “Ripple is a global payments web with instant, affordable transactions that empowers individuals and enables financial institutions.”
Voting will remain open thru February 27th at 12 noon EST. Winners will be announced the evening of March 20, 2014 during a live ceremony following the conclusion of The Innovation Project 2014, a two-day program hosted by PYMNTS.com that convenes the most elite innovators and executives to discuss the issues that impact every single player across every single facet of the rapidly changing payments and commerce ecosystem.
“The PYMNTS Innovators Awards is one of the most inspiring aspects of The Innovation Project,” says Karen Webster, CEO of Market Platform Dynamics and President of PYMNTs.com. “It puts innovation front and center and serves as a very visible reminder of the creative spirit and energy that will drive our massively dynamic payments and commerce ecosystem forward.”
The Innovation Project 2014 will be held on March 19-20 at Annenberg Hall on the campus of Harvard University.* This year’s theme: Rethink. Reset. Reinvent will address a variety of topics including the reinvention of retail, commerce, consumer experience, security, digital cash and global commerce.
For more information on Ripple Labs and the Ripple payments protocol visit http://www.ripple.com. To see the list of other finalists and to vote, click here, and to request an invitation to participate as a delegate please visit theinnovationproject2014.com.
About Ripple Labs
Ripple Labs developed the Ripple protocol, which makes transacting as easy as emailing. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Vast Ventures.
The software company’s team of 40 is comprised of world-famous cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to and promote the Ripple protocol, create SDKs and build free consumer apps. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.
About Ripple
Ripple is an open-source, distributed payment protocol. It enables nearly free and instant payments to merchants, consumers and developers with no chargebacks and in any currency - including dollars, yen, euros, and even Bitcoin. Ripple has the potential to transform payments to work like communications - global, distributed, instant and free. Ripple is currently in beta. For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com.
About The Innovation Project
Over 2 days, 60+ speakers and 600 senior members of the payments industry will change the way that the payments and its broader commerce ecosystem thinks, talks, delivers and ignites innovation. On March 19th & 20th the greatest minds in commerce and payments will assemble at Annenberg Hall in Memorial Hall on the Campus of Harvard University* near Boston to kick the conversation about innovation up to an entirely different level at The Innovation Project. Speakers and delegates are among the most senior executives from literally every established payments company worldwide.
About PYMNTS.com
PYMNTS.com is reinventing the way in which companies in payments share relevant information about the initiatives that shape the future of commerce and make news. This powerful B2B platform is the #1 site for the payments industry by traffic and the premier source of information about “what’s next” in payments. C-suite and VP level executives read it daily for these insights, making the PYMNTS.com audience the most valuable in the industry. It provides an interactive platform for companies to demonstrate thought leadership, popularize products and, most importantly, capture the mindshare of global decision-makers. It’s where the best minds and best content meet on the web.
*Please note that The Innovation Project and PYMNTS.com are not affiliated with Harvard University, nor is the Innovation Project 2014 a Harvard University program or activity.