Silicon Valley Bank and First Data Welcome Class 6 of Commerce.Innovated.

Four startups selected to participate in the accelerator program

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Aug 10, 2017, 09:03 ET

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/-- Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors, and First Data (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, have selected four startups to participate in Class 6 of Commerce.Innovated., an accelerator designed to help commerce, payments, and fintech companies grow their businesses. The four-month virtual program provides participants with operational mentorship from Silicon Valley Bank, First Data, and their respective networks.

Silicon Valley Bank logo. (PRNewsFoto/Silicon Valley Bank)

The four companies selected to participate in the current class come from across the U.S. and provide a variety of solutions for businesses and consumers:

Apostrophe: A healthcare savings-as-a-service startup for self-insured employers based in Denver
Blueprint Registry: A peer-to-peer gifting and life event fundraising platform based in Seattle
Finix: A payment infrastructure platform enabling real-time push-to-card disbursements based in San Francisco
Headnote: A transaction network for the legal industry based in San Francisco

"As the category of fintech expands, Commerce.Innovated. continues to attract various companies that are bringing differentiated models to market," said Reetika Grewal, Head of Silicon Valley Bank's Payments Strategy and Solutions Group. "I'm always impressed by the passion and caliber of the entrepreneurs we see through the program. We're excited to work closely with Class 6 to support the participants' impressive business goals."

"At First Data, innovation is at the heart of everything we do. It's exciting to see the disruptive technology these startups are working to bring to market, especially when you consider how they could be shaping the daily consumer experience for the future," said Christine Larsen, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, First Data. "I'm delighted to see Class 6 take shape and look forward to watching their growth as they move through the Commerce.Innovated. program."

Commerce.Innovated. launched in 2014 and has worked with 24 commerce, payments and fintech-focused startups to date, including Alloy, AppZen, Apruve, CardFlight, Dash, Domuso, Earny, Float, Footmarks, Gone, LaunchKey, LiveApp, Local Maven, Nowsta, Pay By Group, PennyOwl, Slide, SmartGift, SnapUp, Spend Labs, Splitwise, Standard Treasury, Truebill, and Qwil. Since graduating from the program, more than half of the companies in the program have raised funding or been acquired.

Full program details are available at www.commerceinnovated.com.

About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.

©2017 SVB Financial Group. All rights reserved. SVB, SVB FINANCIAL GROUP, SILICON VALLEY BANK, MAKE NEXT HAPPEN NOW and the chevron device are trademarks of SVB Financial Group, used under license. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of the FDIC and the Federal Reserve System. Silicon Valley Bank is the California bank subsidiary of SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB).

About First Data
First Data (NYSE: FDC) is a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, serving approximately six million business locations and 4,000 financial institutions in more than 100 countries around the world. The company's 24,000 owner-associates are dedicated to helping companies, from start-ups to the world's largest corporations, conduct commerce every day by securing and processing more than 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion per year.

SOURCE Silicon Valley Bank