IT was once a case of hoping for a sympathetic bank manager to back the next big idea. Now everyone from scientists to artists is turning to crowdfunding – appealing on the internet for ordinary people to back their dream project with cash. One of the world’s largest crowdfunding websites launched in the UK just… Read More
Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Global | Tagged bloomvc, fundingcircle, indiegogo, kickstarter, scotland, sharein.com, zopa
Crowdfunders generally fall into different categories: equity, donation, reward, and debt. The last is also known as microfinancing — and commonly referred to in Europe as “peer-to-peer lending.” Here are the top 10 up-and-coming peer-to-peer lenders e making financial waves in Europe: 1. Zopa – This London-based P2P lender offers loans of up to £10,000,… Read More
Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Global | Tagged auxmoney, communitae, europe, funding circle, funding knight, isepankur, peer to peer, pret d'union, ratesetter, smartika, thin cats, zopa
HE was the man who launched Dublin’s Laughter Lounge comedy club, but Peter O’Mahony is finding nothing funny about Irish banks’ refusal to lend money. So the entrepreneur is about to introduce Crowdfunding to Ireland following its success in the US and Britain. “Basically, it’s where ordinary people with a bit of spare cash lend… Read More
Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Global | Tagged ireland, linked finance, peer to peer, peter o'mahony, zopa
Frustrated savers are ditching high street providers and turning in rapidly growing numbers to online lending after watching cash returns plunge in recent months. Peer-to-peer or social lending firms offering savings rates double those available from banks and building societies have reported surging demand as desperate savers look to escape the inflation trap. The hunt… Read More
Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Global, Strategy | Tagged fls, peer to peer, ratesetter, uk, zopa
I have started making loans to total strangers – scores of them. I am not mad, rich or philanthropic. The loans are tiny. The safeguards are good. So far, the borrowers are paying me back and I am turning a handy profit. Even nicer, I feel I am part of a revolution which could save… Read More
Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Global | Tagged banking, estonia, EU, europe, isepankur, zopa
Peer-to-peer lending has the potential to kickstart the economy by providing credit for small businesses Despite some encouraging signs, the UK economy remains in trouble. Growth remains weak and confidence fragile. Lending to small and medium businesses – the motor for job creation – has collapsed. A series of Government initiatives has so far failed… Read More
Read more in: Global, Politics | Tagged europe, funding circle, peer to peer, uk, zopa
2012 was an amazing year for crowdfunding. Within the span of a three month period (March – May 2012), the largest crowdfunding sites including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Grow VC, and Rockethub doubled their daily traffic and donation volumes. Between 2008 and 2011, Kickstarter’s issuers raised over $200 million in sales. In 2012, the site raised an… Read More
Read more in: General News | Tagged gate technologies, growvc, indiegogo, kickstarter, lendingclub, prosper, rockethub, sec, zopa
Start-ups and early stage businesses have usually been the territory of the three f’s: friends, family and fools. Typically, when the f’s have been exhausted, the projects that survived and still show promise would turn to institutional providers – banks, debt providers and venture capitalists. However, these sources have effectively dried up over the last… Read More
Read more in: General News, Global, Politics | Tagged crowdcube, funding circle, kickstarter, uk, zopa
INVESTMENT via the growing crowdfunding phenomenon is set to double in just two years, experts are predicting. Crowdfunding portals – which see individuals make small investments in companies or projects – will raise $3bn (£1.85bn) in 2013 compared to the $1.5bn raised in 2011, according to research from professional services firm Deloitte. Although it accounts… Read More
Read more in: General News, Global | Tagged fundingcircle, kickstarter, uk, zopa
Zopa are expecting a doubling in the market for peer-to peer lending in 2013 as consumers and small businesses in particular turn their back on the traditional high-street banks. Disillusionment is one reason for this and so, it seems, are the terrible returns on savings and often arbitrary and unfair bars put on borrowers. The… Read More
Read more in: Global, Politics | Tagged julian knight, lloyds banking group, peer to peer, uk, zopa
Following the comments by Bank of England Director Andrew Haldane which challenged the hegemony of the traditional banking industry in the UK several Crowdfunding leaders voiced their support in CityAM for his comments; “pretty strong evidence that we are becoming a major threat”, and that “our biggest competitors, the banks, are in a weak position”. …Stated… Read More
Read more in: General News, Global | Tagged andrew haldane, bank of england, nutmeg, uk, zopa
Regulations and banking go hand in hand. The need to regulate and save the unwitting from scurrilous businesses or poor operating approaches has always been the charter of most governments. In a time of uncertainty there is a tendency for regulations to be more overbearing instead of less constrictive. The most glaring example is of… Read More
Read more in: Featured Headlines, Global | Tagged banking, crowdcube, marketinvoice, peer to peer, seedrs, zopa
As part of the Business Finance Partnership package, Cable has pledged £55 million to peer-to-peer lenders and other finance suppliers. The structure of the capital means that match funding from the private sector is expected to generate an extra £55 million, taking the total to £110 million over the coming years. Online debt lending platform Funding… Read More
Read more in: Global | Tagged funding circle, uk, zopa
LONDON – RIT Capital Partners, the investment firm chaired by Jacob Rothschild, said on Monday that it had acquired a stake in a British crowdfunding company, Zopa. The investment, which was made through the venture capital vehicle Augmentum Capital, is a bet on growing demand for loans at a time when banks are reluctant to… Read More
Read more in: General News, Global | Tagged RIT Capital, zopa
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