Juvo Raises $40M In Series B Funding Led By NEA And Wing Venture Capital
Company Reaches Over 500 Million Worldwide; Appoints Peter Wagner to Board of Directors
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Juvo, the pioneer in mobile Identity Scoring, today announced a $40 million USD Series B funding round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Wing Venture Capital. Also included in the round are investments from SignalFire as well as add-on investments from existing investors. Juvo will leverage these new funds to drive global growth and scale, with a particular emphasis on Asia, Latin America and Europe, and broaden its suite of financial service offerings targeting the financially excluded. The company also announced the appointment of Peter Wagner, founding partner of Wing, to Juvo's board of directors.
Juvo, who came out of stealth mode 10 months ago, was founded with an overarching mission: to establish financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded. By partnering with mobile operators and financial institutions around the world, Juvo uses sophisticated, data science-based credit algorithms to identify previously anonymous prepaid subscribers, enabling them to build financial identities and gain access to basic financial services.
"Today, there are over two billion underbanked people in the world – most of whom have a mobile phone. Juvo reaches these individuals, identifies them as creditworthy and provides access to financial services," said Steve Polsky, CEO of Juvo. "It has been an exciting ride to date, surrounded by passionate people who believe deeply in Juvo's mission. This new funding will allow Juvo to expand and deepen our product offerings as well as continue to build the best in class teams in data science, financial services and consumer mobile services. The addition of NEA to our investors and Peter Wagner of Wing to our board will further drive our commitment to providing financial inclusion for all."
Juvo currently partners with seven mobile operators around the world, with a reach of over 500 million subscribers across 25 countries and four continents. Juvo's operator partners have reduced churn by 50 percent or greater, while lifting average revenue per user (ARPU) numbers by as much as 15 percent. Most importantly, operators across the board are seeing an average increase in subscriber lifetime value of 65 percent.
"At NEA, we love to partner with companies who are helping to shape the innovation economy," said Scott Sandell, managing general partner at NEA. "Juvo is doing just that by changing the face of financial services around the globe. Juvo's solution is not only inventive, but addresses a vital global need while providing distinct value to its partners."
"Juvo uses the potent combination of data, the mobile platform and the cloud to bring the power of identity to massive untapped markets," said Peter Wagner, founding partner of Wing. "We have worked with the Juvo team since their earliest days, and are tremendously excited to see their vision becoming reality around the world."
Since emerging from stealth in September 2016, Juvo has increased its global reach five times over, from 100 million to 500 million, and has steadily grown its operations and employee base worldwide. Early investors in the company, including the former CEOs of AT&T Wireless, NYSE, Sprint, Telefonica International and Vodafone Group, have each taken part in the latest B round.
About Juvo
Juvo was founded with an overarching mission: to establish financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded. In partnership with mobile network operators, Juvo's proprietary Identity Scoring technology uses data science, machine learning, and game mechanics to create an identity-based relationship with anonymous prepaid users. Identity Scoring creates financial identities for users, providing ongoing access to otherwise unattainable mobile financial services to boost engagement and dramatically improve subscriber loyalty and revenue for mobile operators.
Headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Miami, London, Buenos Aires, Manila, and Jakarta. Juvo has a reach of over 500 million subscribers across four continents and is deployed in 25 countries. For more information, follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn, or find us at www.juvo.com.
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With over $19 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm's founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 210 portfolio company IPOs and more than 360 acquisitions. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.
About Wing Venture Capital
Wing Venture Capital is the best-of-breed venture capital firm devoted to early-stage, long-term company building in business technology. Wing emphasizes craftsmanship over volume, and engages deeply with founders to help them create companies that matter. The body of work of Wing's award-winning team spans more than two decades and dozens of successful early-stage companies, 16 of which went on to achieve billion-dollar plus outcomes following IPOs or acquisitions. For additional information, visit www.wing.vc.
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Media Contacts:
Natalee Gibson
Mercury Global Partners for Juvo U.S.
+1 720 648 5784
Tamsin O'Neill
CCgroup for Juvo International
+44 203 824 9200
SOURCE Juvo
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