Matching Passions and Maximizing Engagement with Pinkaloo’s Modern Giving Technology

Matching Passions and Maximizing Engagement with Pinkaloo’s Modern Giving Technology

Last week, we looked at Finovate alums that are leveraging their technologies to help employers help their employees achieve financial wellness and greater financial inclusion. Today we are highlighting a Finovate alum – and Best of Show winner – that is using its innovation to facilitate charitable giving in the workplace.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Pinkaloo made its Finovate debut two years ago at FinovateFall. At the conference, the company demonstrated Modern Giving, its white-label charitable giving platform. The technology gives individuals a centralized account to use for their charitable giving, learn about other charities that match their values, and collaborate on philanthropic efforts with others. Modern Giving enables businesses to maximize engagement with their employees and customers, helping promote and drive charitable giving in their communities.

“Pinkaloo’s white-label Modern Giving offers an opportunity to attract new banking customers and members, as well as more deeply connect with your current customers around an area that they are deeply, deeply passionate about and truly care about strongly,” Pinkaloo founder and CEO Gideon Taub told our FinovateFall audience. “At the same time, your banking institution can make more money and hit your KPIs while directly powering the charitable giving of your customers and members.”

Left to right: Pinkaloo’s Daniel Gardner (COO) and Gideon Taub (CEO & Founder) delivering the company’s Best of Show winning demo at FinovateFall 2019.

The company’s demonstration was impressive enough to earn Pinkaloo a Best of Show award in its first Finovate appearance. And it looks as if our Finovate audience was not the only one paying attention to Pinkaloo’s achievements. Less than two years after its award-winning appearance on the Finovate stage, the company announced that it had agreed to be acquired by Ren (formerly RenPSG), a leading independent philanthropic solutions provider. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ren supports more than $20 billion in assets. The firm partners with financial services companies, nonprofits, and community organizations to offer online access for donors, advisors, and employees to manage a variety of planned gifts ranging from charitable trusts to endowments and private foundations.

“Today’s philanthropic ecosystem demands ongoing innovation in how we recruit, engage, and retain donors – all while also giving donors the best possible experience,” Taub said when the deal was announced. “Donors want to be involved and drive change via small and large contributions alike. They need a robust platform to do just that – and a RenPSG-Pinkaloo team uniquely answers that demand.”

The future of the Pinkaloo brand, post-acquisition, remains to be seen. Techincal.ly quoted Taub in March 2021 as indicating that a “new shared brand will emerge from our combined company” as the two entities “integrate and innovate.” With employees around the country, Pinkaloo said it will retain its “Baltimore presence” as its leadership and team are integrated into Ren. Taub praised Ren for “respecting and welcoming our ideas and processes,” adding that the alignment of visions between the two companies “makes for an easy transition.”

Pinkaloo was a finalist in the Reimagine Charitable Giving Challenge sponsored by the Better Giving Studio (BGS) of Giving By All, an initiative of the Philanthropic Partnerships team of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previous to its acquisition by Ren, Pinkaloo had raised $1.8 million in funding from investors including Squadra Ventures, C5 Accelerate, TEDCO, Baltimore Angels, and PeaceTech Accelerator.


Photo by tyler hendy

New York’s Finest: Catching Up with FinovateFall’s Best of Show

New York’s Finest: Catching Up with FinovateFall’s Best of Show

What have the companies that won Best of Show awards at last year’s FinovateFall conference been up to in the months since our New York show? With our autumn event less than a month away, we thought it would be a great time to check in on the nine companies that took home top honors this time last year.


BlytzPayIntegrated its digital payments technology with Dealer Management Systems (DMS) leader ABCoA Deal Pack. Announced strategic partnership with AFS Dealers.

CinchyJoined the 2020 MassChallenge FinTech Program in December 2019 along with five fellow Finovate alums. The program noted that 70% of the participants in its previous cohort launched a pilot or proof of concept within a year. Earned a $500,000 cash prize as one of the winners of the 2019 VentureClash competition. Raised $10 million in funding in May.

College Aid ProPartnered with Horsesmouth, a company that provides educational and marketing solutions for financial advisors and their clients. Announced collaboration with the American Institute of Certified College Financial Consultants. Teamed up with online student loan refinancing marketplace Credible.

ebankITForged North American partnership with fellow Finovate alum Enterprise Engineering this spring. Announced updates to its multichannel banking platform.

GliaWon Best of Show at FinovateEurope for a second year in a row. Integrated its technology with fellow Finovate alum Alkami’s Online Banking Platform. Inked partnerships with 20 credit unions across the U.S.

MXTopped 50,000 direct-to-bank API agreements to major financial institutions and fintechs. Launched data connectivity API, Path by MX. Named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces 2020.

owl.coNamed one of Canada’s Most Innovative Tech Companies by the Canadian Innovation Exchange. Delivered $1 million in revenue within six months of launching.

Pinkaloo TechnologiesRaised $1.25 million in funding. Joined Goldman Sachs-owned Ayco Marketplace for financial counseling and wellness services. Partnered with Eastern Bank to power its Give for Good charitable giving program.

Zogo FinanceTeamed up with fellow Finovate alum Bankjoy. Announced partnerships with 11 community banks and credit unions across 12 states. Surpassed 1,000,000 financial literacy modules completed.


FinovateFall Digital 2020 kicks off Monday, September 14 and continues through Friday, September 18 with hours of live and on-demand content. Visit our registration page today and join us for Finovate’s biggest, digital-first event to date.


Photo by Yuting Gao from Pexels

Pinkaloo Raises $1.25 Million for its Philanthropic Fintech Platform

Pinkaloo Raises $1.25 Million for its Philanthropic Fintech Platform

Pinkaloo revealed this week it has raised $1.25 million in funding for its white label giving platform. Newly-minted Squadra led the round, marking the Baltimore-based venture capital fund’s second-ever investment.

Existing investors and new angel investors also contributed to the round, which brings Pinkaloo’s total funding to $1.8 million when combined with last year’s $550k seed round. The company will use today’s investment to support ongoing pilots with current bank partners, continue product investment, and grow its ADP Marketplace channel partnership to support the workplace version of its giving solution.

Pinkaloo’s Modern Giving solution, which CEO Gideon Taub showcased in a demo that won Best of Show at FinovateFall earlier this year, is a white-label solution that helps banks and credit unions facilitate charitable giving options for their accountholders. Through Modern Giving, users can round up their card purchases to the nearest dollar and donate their spare change, convert rewards points into charitable dollars, and invite friends and family to chip in to crowdfunding campaigns.

“This funding, along with the tractions that we are seeing with banks and the recognition from our Finovate Best of Show Award demonstrate that our product is helping companies drive their business forward,” said Taub. “We’re excited to be able to continue on our mission of helping clients build deeper relationships with their customers, employees, and communities.”

Pinkaloo’s platform echoes a larger philanthropic trend, spawned by end users’ increased interest in charitable giving. Recently, fintechs such as Meniga, Revolut, and Betterment have all launched programs to facilitate donations to humanitarian causes. As a standalone donation facilitation platform, Pinkaloo can help traditional financial institutions compete with fintechs on this level.

Founded in 2017, Pinkaloo has facilitated hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable giving for the end users of its dozens of clients.

FinovateFall Demo Videos Are Live

FinovateFall Demo Videos Are Live

Maybe you missed your chance to attend FinovateFall earlier this month. Or maybe you want to watch your favorite demos over again. Either way, today’s your day. We’ve just released all of the videos from the 75 companies that demoed their fintech on stage.

All of the 7-minute demos are available to stream and download for free at Finovate.com. And if you don’t know where to begin, we’ll get you started with the nine demos that won Best of Show at the event.

BlytzPay

Cinchy

College Aid Pro

ebankIT

Glia

MX

owl.co

Pinkaloo Technologies

Zogo Finance

FinovateFall Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateFall Best of Show Winners Announced

The votes have been cast and the ballots counted. And after two days of live fintech demos from 75 innovative companies, here are the best of the best: the companies our attendees have deemed FinovateFall’s Best of Show.

BlytzPay for its text-to-pay solution that makes billing and communication simple, streamlined, and secure while providing flexibility to pay by card, check, or cash. Demo video.

Cinchy for its Data Collaboration Platform that lets data work the way it should: connected, controlled, and accessible for real-time collaboration. Demo video.

College Aid Pro for its innovative technology, supported by a community of financial advisors, that changes the way America shops for college. Demo video.

ebankIT for its omnichannel digital banking platform that helps banks and credit unions transform their businesses. Demo video.

Glia for its technology that creates digital-first moments that simplify and transform communications between businesses and their customers. Demo video.

MX Technologies for its platform that helps financial institutions and fintechs quickly and easily collect, enhance, analyze, present, and act on their financial data. Demo video.

owl.co for its instant KYC/AML tool that automates enhanced due diligence on both individuals and companies. Demo video.

Pinkaloo Technologies for its solution that helps financial institutions attract and retain customers and increase deposits and fees by powering their customers’ charitable giving. Demo video.

Zogo Finance for its technology that leverages partnerships with financial institutions to reward kids for learning financial literacy. Demo video.

Those in attendance at this year’s FinovateFall can attest to the energy and enthusiasm that characterized our conference this week. Congratulations to all 75 of the companies that demonstrated their fintech innovations on stage and a heartfelt thanks to our partners, sponsors, and onsite tech team for making this year’s autumn event a smashing success.

Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The nine companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2019 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018
FinovateAfrica 2018
FinovateEurope 2019

FinovateSpring 2019

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Pinkaloo

FinovateFall Sneak Peek: Pinkaloo

A look at the companies demoing live at FinovateMiddleEast on November 20 and 21, 2019 in Dubai. Register today and save your spot.

Pinkaloo helps financial institutions attract and retain customers and increase deposits and fees by powering their customers’ charitable giving.

Features

  • Win new customers, new deposits, and new fees
  • Help customers budget, discover great charities, and collaborate
  • Offer round-ups and incentives to drive key KPIs

Why it’s great
Customers switch banks 2.5x more than before. Eighty one percent of millennials expect a commitment to good corporate citizenship. Pinkaloo’s white-label Modern Giving provides FIs with a solution to both.

Presenters

Gideon Taub, Founder & CEO
Taub started his career on Wall St. before spending 10 years helping to build Videology, a VC-funded ad-tech product. He founded Pinkaloo to solve a personal problem he faced in managing his giving.
LinkedIn

Daniel Gardner, COO
Gardner spent 5 years at JP Morgan before transitioning into product and operations roles at tech startups. His passion for Pinkaloo stems from wanting to bring more data and transparency to giving.
LinkedIn

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Trulioo Accepts Another $53 Million in Funding.
  • Braintri Rebrands as Neontri En Route to U.S. Debut.

Around the web

  • SpyCloud launches new automated tools to support checking and maintaining password security in Microsoft Active Directory.
  • Marketing Technology Insights interviews Arkose Labs VP of Marketing Vanita Pandey.
  • P2Binvestor wins Best Small Business Solution at the 2019 Best of FinXTech Awards.
  • Hired names Akamai a top 10 employer in Boston.
  • INETCO launches INETCO Insight 7, a payment fraud detection platform.
  • Ephesoft and Infor partner to demonstrate new cloud-based document capture solution.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.