FinApps slaps $100m lawsuit on Envestnet Yodlee
Data platform start-up, FinancialApps (FinApps), is seeking $100 million in a lawsuit against former partner, Envestnet Yodlee, claiming the financial advisory platform ripped off its code to release its own product after the start-up refused to be bought by the 3,000-person company, according to RIABiz.
Envestnet’s child company, Yodlee, signed a deal with FinApps back in 2016 to use the start-up’s data sifter to create a new Risk Insights platform, but the relationship deteriorated when Yodlee made deals with other companies such as Equifax without referring to FinApp’s involvement.
Bob Sullivan, FinApps
Now FinApps president, Bob Sullivan, is claiming Yodlee has rolled out a knock-off version of its own core software.
“Envestnet and Yodlee have deliberately stolen FinApps’ technology, which is entirely unwarranted and unlawful. We look forward to proving that Envestnet and Yodlee are liable for significant damages to our client, and persuading the court to issue a permanent injunction enjoining defendants from further unlawful activity,” says FinApps’ heavy-hitting attorney, Marc Kasowitz.
He adds: “They were reverse engineering, but they were also misappropriating, and we have a lot of proof of that.”
Kasowitz is famous for being US president Donald Trump’s personal attorney, defending him against claims of sexual harassment and of aiding and abetting Russian interference in the election campaign.
The suit also states that in late March and early April 2019, FinApps discovered Yodlee had “fraudulently used Bank of America’s login credentials to make unauthorised use of a piece of proprietary FinApps software known as YProxy.”
Envestnet Yodlee has declined to comment on the claims raised against it, instead stating they will respond through “proper legal channels”.
