CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — LendingTree®, the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, today announced the five finalists for its new initiative to showcase the top startup companies in financial technology (fintech) lead generation at LeadsCon this summer.

The “LendingTree Startup Innovation Spotlight” at LeadsCon’s Connect to Convert will recognize the most innovative fintech startups who are breaking new ground across the consumer lead generation, call center and customer experience sectors. These five finalists will present their business plan on stage at LeadsCon’s Connect to Convert industry conference and expo August 21-23 at the New York Hilton Midtown. Each finalist will have five minutes to present in the form of live demo, video and visuals, followed by questions from the panel in “Shark Tank” style. The companies will be evaluated by the panel on degree of innovation, impact of solution, product differentiations and the viability of their plan. The winning company will receive a $25,000 prize. 

“Innovation in lead generation and customer experience is key for businesses in today’s ever-changing environment,” said Doug Lebda, founder and CEO of LendingTree and one of the judges for the Innovation Spotlight. “At LendingTree, we are firmly committed to providing the best possible experiences and solutions for both businesses and consumers. Our investment in the Innovation Spotlight enables us to solidify this commitment and show support for innovative business solutions.”

The finalists for the Startup Innovation Spotlight are:

Traaqr
Brian Handrigan, Co-Founder & Co-CEO

Traaqr is an online/offline attribution company specializing in connecting the dots between clicks, calls and conversions for automated digital advertising optimization. This SaaS disruptor is bringing click level analytics to companies of all sizes while providing automated data capture at a precision never believed possible before. Brian Handrigan, Co-Founder and Co-CEO has founded and built other venture-funded SaaS startups as well as digital agencies during the past 20+ years.

ForeverCar
Mark Hodes, Founder and CEO

Led by Mark Hodes, who has a 30-year track record of leadership positions in technology and marketing firms, ForeverCar is looking to disrupt the vehicle protection space by making car service and repairs simple and hassle-free. ForeverCar works with consumers to find and compare quotes for the right vehicle protection plan, and offers concierge support when a vehicle needs service or repairs, keeping you up-to-speed throughout the repair process.

Outleads
Dorin Rosenshine, Founder and CEO

Dorin is the founder & CEO of Outleads, a Microsoft Accelerator company that enables companies to advertise online based on offline activity. The patented technology pushes data from CRMs, contact centers’ phone and chat, marketing automation, e-mail marketing, and similar software to Google Analytics so advertisers can leverage it in AdWords. Outleads integrates with leading contact center software, including Genesys, Five9, and more, and onboards CRM data directly into Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics™ & AdWords™ for conversion attribution and real-time retargeting.  

LeadCrunch
Sanjit Singh, Co-Founder and COO

Sanjit Singh is the co-founder & COO of LeadCrunch where he runs company operations, marketing and sales. LeadCrunch solves the problem of finding optimal B2B targets by analyzing a company’s best customers to identify “Smart Personas”, and then engages look-alike personas with relevant content to generate permission-based leads. Unlike other technologies, LeadCrunch combines data, outreach, and artificial intelligence to deliver the right person at the right company with the right message at the right time.

Starbutter AI
Samaneh Pourjalali, Co-Founder, Head of Product

Samaneh Pourjalali s Head of Product at Starbutter AI, where she combines behavioral psychology, UX/UI, and digital acquisition to compress the sales funnel and improve lead conversions through AI-powered text and voice chat. Starbutter AI is a voice and chat app development company focusing on chatbots and AI agents, giving consumers high quality information so that they can pick the best financial products and helps financial companies match the right products to their customers.

ABOUT LEADSCON’S CONNECT TO COVERT CONFERENCE AND EXPO 
Formerly called LeadsCon NY, Connect to Convert is the lead industry’s only roll-up-your-sleeves summer educational conference and exposition dedicated entirely to the most effective and emerging sectors of the lead generation industry: Calls, Clicks, Search and Shares. With dedicated b-to-c and b-to-b content designed around each section of the sales cycle, LeadsCon’s Connect to Convert arms attendees with the critical intelligence they need to succeed in 2018 and beyond. The event takes place August 21-23 in New York City. Learn more at leadscon.com/connecttoconvert.

ABOUT ACCESS INTELLIGENCE 
Access Intelligence, a portfolio company of Veronis Suhler Stevenson, is a b-to-b media, event and information company serving the media, PR, cable, healthcare management, defense, chemical engineering, satellite and aviation markets.

ABOUT LENDINGTREE 
LendingTree is the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, empowering consumers as they comparison-shop across a full suite of loan and credit-based offerings.  LendingTree provides an online marketplace which connects consumers with multiple lenders that compete for their business, as well as an array of online tools and information to help consumers understand their credit, find the best loan or credit card and improve their credit to save money on financial products. Since inception, LendingTree has facilitated more than 65 million loan requests. LendingTree provides free monthly credit scores through My LendingTree and access to its network of more than 500 lenders offering home loans, personal loans, credit cards, student loans, business loans, home equity loans/lines of credit, auto loans and more. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Megan Greuling
704-943-8208
Megan.Greuling@LendingTree.com

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SOURCE LendingTree