NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IA Capital Group Inc., a leading venture capital firm focused on financial technology, is announcing the completion of five fintech investments over the past 12 months, including Credit Sesame, Crown Global Insurance, Marqeta, LiftForward, and a yet to be announced fifth company. The firm is also pleased to report major milestones in three existing portfolio companies: Financeit, TIO Networks Corp., and Homeowners of America Holding Corp. IA Capital manages the Inter-Atlantic funds which are comprised of both traditional multi-LP funds and strategically-targeted single-LP vehicles on behalf of major institutional investors.
IA Capital led the financing round in each of the new investments. A representative of IA Capital or its investors serves on the board of directors of each company. The investments were completed on behalf of either a New York-based insurance company or a single-LP fund managed for a top U.S. life insurer. The single-LP fund, a strategically targeted fund called Inter-Atlantic G Fund LP, was launched in February 2016.
Andrew Lerner, IA Capital's Managing Partner, said "Fintech is attracting top talent like never before. As a result, the quality of the fintech companies we are seeing is better than at any time in our firm's 24-year history. Our institutional investors recognize the opportunity and are helping us accelerate our investment activity."
IA CAPITAL IS PLEASED TO REPORT THE FOLLOWING PORTFOLIO COMPANY MILESTONES:
FINANCEIT, INC., a point-of-sale consumer financing platform based in Toronto, announced the close of a minority equity financing round led by Goldman Sachs. Since launching in 2011, Financeit has signed up more than 4,000 merchant partners and received more than $1 billion in loan applications. The firm's investment in Financeit is owned by a single-LP fund managed on behalf of a top U.S. life insurer. For more info: www.financeit.io.
TIO NETWORKS CORP, (TSX-V: TNC), a cloud-based bill payment processor based in Vancouver, was one of the best performing fintech stocks in North America during 2015, with a stock price appreciation of 147%. TIO won multiple awards in 2015 including Cantech TSX.V Tech Stock of the Year. IA Capital has been a major investor in TIO since 2008. The firm's investment in TIO is owned by Inter-Atlantic Fund II LP, a multi-LP venture capital fund. For more info: www.tionetworks.com.
HOMEOWNERS OF AMERICA HOLDING CORP, a homeowners insurance company based in Irving, TX, has grown to over $100 million insurance premiums in force and over 100,000 active policyholders. IA Capital provided the initial capital to launch Homeowners in 2006. The firm's principals currently oversee Homeowners on behalf of its owners Partners Group AG, Pfizer corporate pension plan, and other limited partners of the Inter-Atlantic funds. For more info: www.hoaic.com.
THE FINTECH INVESTMENTS COMPLETED OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS INCLUDE:
CREDIT SESAME, INC. – Mountain View, CA
Industry: Credit
Monitoring & Debt Management
www.creditsesame.com
Credit Sesame Inc. is a consumer-facing personal financial management platform and a lead generation technology provider for the financial services industry. The Company provides free credit scoring, liabilities management, and advisory services to consumers while also offering highly-targeted product offerings based on an individual user’s credit profile. Credit Sesame enjoys some of the highest user engagement across the personal financial management industry as customers continuously monitor their credit and manage their debts through its platform.
CROWN GLOBAL INSURANCE GROUP LLC – Wilmington, DE
Industry:
Insurance
www.crownglobalinsurance.com
Crown Global partners with clients to enhance alternative investments through its private placement life insurance (PPLI) products, group annuity contracts (GAC), and other innovative product offerings. For more than 15 years, Crown Global has established a solid track record of structuring U.S. and non-U.S. compliant variable life insurance and annuity policies for high net worth and institutional clients.
MARQETA, INC. – Emeryville, CA
Industry: Payments
www.marqeta.com
Founded in 2010, Marqeta has re-engineered how payment cards, virtual cards and mobile authorization products should be developed and deployed. The Marqeta Platform, built from the ground up with no legacy infrastructure, provides the world’s first fully documented, open API issuer processor platform. Companies can build, issue and deploy innovative payment, finance and commerce solutions with enormous control over what, where, and how purchases are authorized. Adopters of The Marqeta Platform include leading financial services, e-commerce, retail, and social media brands.
LIFTFORWARD, INC. – New York, NY
Industry: Small Business
Lending
www.liftforward.com
LiftForward operates a marketplace loan platform that provides loans to small businesses. LiftForward partners with major technology suppliers, retailers and manufacturers in order to provide equipment financing to their small business customers. In late 2015, LiftForward debuted its Technology-as-a-Service (“TaaS”) program with Microsoft, providing borrowers with software, support and a new Surface Pro lease and financing options. The TaaS option allows small business to replace one-time purchases with affordable subscriptions.
About IA Capital Group:
Founded in 1992, IA Capital Group has managed fintech-focused venture capital funds under the Inter-Atlantic name since 2000. To date, IA Capital has completed 28 portfolio company investments across the fintech industry. The firm’s first fund, Inter-Atlantic Fund LP, achieved three IPOs: Netspend Holdings Inc., Higher One Holdings Inc., and Planet Payment Inc. IA Capital is based in New York City and invests throughout North America.
