September 15, 2015 @ 11:14 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Bavarian-based noDNA, Europe’s biggest online seller of robotics components for research and education,  launched a financing campaign on Companisto, offering venture loans bearing annual interest of 8%.  noDNA is the second venture loan offered on Companisto, following Sawade which has raised over 442,880€ of its 1M€ goal…. Read More

September 15, 2015 @ 10:27 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Silicon Valley can’t compete with London in terms of Fintech, says UK Treasury special Fintech envoy Eileen Burbidge: “Wall Street Talent doesn’t come to Silicon Valley.” UK Treasury special Fintech envoy and partner at tech VC Passion Capital, Eileen Burbidge took the stage at Fintech Week and discussed… Read More

September 10, 2015 @ 1:29 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

After being diagnosed with several medical conditions, Epicured Market Founder and President Jillian Bowman discovered the challenge of eating well, finding the correct ingredients for delicious recipes and preparing meals.  She searched for recipes and meal plans for hours every day, then spent just as long… Read More

September 10, 2015 @ 12:30 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

With the financial support of Shenzhen-listed Hakim Co., Ltd, a Hangzhou-based smart building and smart city services provider, during both its Series A and Series B funding rounds, the Hangzhou-based P2P lending platform Weidai has completed RMB150 million (US$24 million) Series B financing. According to Chinese Money… Read More

September 10, 2015 @ 12:02 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

“We believe in the power of blockchain technology to transform how financial assets are transferred, but it has to be done with the right partners to insure it gets off the ground,”  Adam Ludwin, CEO of Chain said in an interview with the WSJ. It feels like everything… Read More

September 10, 2015 @ 11:15 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index announced August’s findings: the Index dropped by 0.1 points for both large and small banks,  indicating that the SBA budget scare effected growth in loan demand. The monthly analysis of 1,000 loan applications from Biz2Credit.com also noted “that credit unions continued to… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 2:10 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

FinTech Sandbox has announced a new partnership with Estimize, a provider of earnings and economic estimates contributed by the entire financial community, reported Finance Magnates. Joining Thomson Reuters, Fidelity Investments and Amazon Web Services, new partner Estimize provides a unique data source for participating startups, preparing crowdsourced forecasts for US… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 1:39 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Wheely cool! Wheely good time! If memory serves correctly, I do not recall a Ferris Wheel in the city excepting during the summer/early fall in Central Park and, naturally, on Coney Island.  This absence will change when the $500M New York Wheel project led by North… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 12:34 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Named a ‘Disruptor of the Year’ by the FT, eMoov is an online estate agent platform backed by James Caan, Maxfield Capital and Episode 1, the VC behind Zoopla and LOVEFiLM. Challenging the property sector, the company charges a fixed-rate, lower fee, which, according to the… Read More

September 4, 2015 @ 12:24 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) assist marketplace lenders such as Ablrate and Ratesetter (the first consumer P2P platform to be available through a SIPP),  in sourcing loans.  Research from Yorkshire Building Society “highlighted a lack of understanding about peer-to-peer investment (P2P) and the potential risks it poses… Read More

September 4, 2015 @ 10:53 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The International insurance firm Hiscox has released its seventh annual ‘DNA of an Entrepreneur Report’, with the firm using its global network of 268,000 small businesses in order to calculate entrepreneurship and business innovation within six countries, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Holland and… Read More

September 4, 2015 @ 10:00 am By Erin Hobey  |  

More than 130K students have turned to GoFundMe, seeking crowdfunding to help pay their tuition costs,  CNBC reports in the short video embedded below.  More than $20M dollars has been raised this year. With the average cost of tuition and fees for private institutions exceeding $31K,… Read More

September 1, 2015 @ 1:23 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The problem: As coach travel (traveling via bus) becomes increasingly more popular in Europe, comprehensive information on itineraries, available seating and current ticket pricing have not been as readily accessible as information for airline tickets and rental cars. As a result, not only do roughly 65,000 European coach… Read More

September 1, 2015 @ 12:30 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

It’s meal time, a time when Zomato’s site is likely swarmed with hits.  If you are not yet familiar with Zomato, click here to see if the platform services your city. From Vancouver to Auckland, Zomato is used by millions of hungry people every day to decide… Read More

August 27, 2015 @ 12:07 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

There are benefits to droning on and on… KSI Data Sciences has linked with Fundable for a private raise for its data transmission and management company.  Its mission to make transmitting, receiving and managing data easier and more efficient focuses on core products, MissionCaster.TV and MissionKeeper.  These SaaS… Read More

August 27, 2015 @ 11:18 am By Erin Hobey  |  

EarlyShares, a real estate crowdfunding platform that gives accredited investors direct access to commercial real estate opportunities, has announced a new venture with Accordia Realty Ventures. Their second offering on EarlyShares, Accordia debuted the Shoppes at Godwin, an equity investment opportunity in the redevelopment of a… Read More

August 27, 2015 @ 10:47 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Y Combinator has named partner Qasar Younis, who has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University and an MBA from Harvard, as its inaugural chief operating officer. As Y Combinator grows into more than just a traditional incubator, the company sought more structure and leadership around operations, creating the COO opportunity for… Read More

August 25, 2015 @ 12:36 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Sweet returns: Sawade investors who have their interest paid out in chocolate will receive annual interest of 12 % instead of 8 %. Last week the Berlin chocolatier Sawade embraced a new approach to growth financing, offering venture loans on Companisto. Venture loans are a new asset class for the… Read More

August 25, 2015 @ 11:32 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Of course readers want to know what’s in your portfolio! Fundrise’s CEO Ben Miller just posted that he indeed invests in Fundrise’s offerings, 28 deals to date. “As a developer myself, I understand that there are risks in any real estate project and not everything… Read More

August 25, 2015 @ 10:49 am By Erin Hobey  |  

As a result of the partnership with the financial and economic date platform Quandl, FinTech Sandbox residents have access up to six months for development, testing, and customer demonstrations purposes. “We are excited to provide FinTech startups with reliable and easy access to quality financial data such… Read More