December 15, 2016 @ 2:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) announced a licensing exemption that will allow eligible financial technology (also known as fintech) businesses to test certain specified services without holding an Australian financial services or credit license. According to the ASIC, the fintech licensing… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 1:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital money transfer service WorldRemit announced on Tuesday it expanded its services into Russia by partnering with Russian payment system CONTACT. The company stated its customers may now send money to be collected as cash at any CONTACT office across Russia in euros or dollars. According to… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 11:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

FinTech Sandbox, a nonprofit that helps fintech startups access data and build great products, announced on Thursday one of its alums, Data Simply, has signed on to be a data partner and provide data to innovative startups that are selected by the organization. Data Simply… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 11:14 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Scandinavia-based crowdfunding platform FundedByMe announced on Thursday it raised almost €30 million for 461 successful campaigns in 2016. The funding portal revealed it has over 74,000 registered members from 179 countries with an average €5,500 per investment and investments from 45 countries CEO and co-founder, Daniel Daboczy,… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 9:57 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Consumer finance technology group, Kreditech, announced on Thursday it received a €10 million equity investment from Rakuten, Inc. The company stated it plans to use the new funds to further develop its partnership business. Alexander Graubner-Müller, founder and CEO of Kreditech, explained that Rakuten invested… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 9:40 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

EstateGuru, a peer to peer lender based in Estonia, announced on Thursday its average historic return reached the level 13.4% (since December 2014), which the platform claims to be the highest return among crowdfunding platforms for secured property loans. The online lender’s founder and CEO Marek… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 9:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Maven Capital Partners (Maven), a UK-based private equity firm, announced on Thursday it completed a £1.1 million investment in developer and operator of specialist online investment and capital crowdfunding platforms, Growth Capital Ventures (GCV), which was funded through its managed Venture Capital Trusts. According to… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 4:30 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Troubadour Goods, a London-based menswear fashion brand, is nearing its £500,000 crowdfunding campaign funding target on Seedrs. The company launched the initiative earlier this month and so far has secured more than £480,000 from nearly 80 investors. As previously reported, the brand was founded by Samuel Bail… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 3:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Denheath Desserts, a custard square brand from South Canterbury, has officially closed its crowdlending campaign, which raised nearly $369,001 from 161 investors, on PledgeMe. Denheath Desserts currently produces 10,000 custard squares per day from its Timaru factor.  The company’s previously revealed “From a small sleepy family-owned cafe to an iconic… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 2:58 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

With the 2016 holiday season already in full swing, Crowdcube unveils its yearly holiday gift guide. This guide, which consists of products from the funding portal’s Funded Club, offers investors some gift ideas for the upcoming festivities. The UK-based equity crowdfunding platform revealed in a… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 2:32 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

SmartBiz Loans, an online SBA marketplace and bank-enabling technology platform, announced on Wednesday it will now offer SBA 7(a) Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Loans up to $5 million to eligible business owners based in the U.S. According to the company, the CRE loans are now available… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 1:41 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Invesdor announced that this holiday season its equity crowdfunding platform is going green and unveiled four environmentally conscious investment opportunities. Invesdor shared: “It’s almost Christmastime again, but instead of the traditional holiday colors of red and green we’re opting for just green. For the couple… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 12:09 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, Minister Eoghan Murphy announced the recipients of the 2016 Fintech Competitive Start Fund. The ten startups that were placed in the three-month development program were each awarded €50,000 in equity support earlier this year. The applicants also received membership to Dogpatch Labs, in partnership… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 11:52 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Last week, SoFi, one of the largest online lenders in the US, made a special appearance on the hit talk show The Ellen Show and offered the audience a bit of a surprise. As previously reported, SoFi describes itself as a “modern finance company.” Its mission has… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 10:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Unkapt, an Australia-based fintech startup, announced this week it is launching in Southeast Asia. The company stated it is an alternative lending, cross-border capital raising platform offering APAC small and lower middle market issuers (SMEs) the opportunity to use innovative financing to raise capital among a network… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 10:00 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Bizfi announced it has expanded its business lending capabilities with a new funding partnership with InterNex Capital, an asset-based digital lender. According to the company, this partnership will allow small to mid-sized businesses in manufacturing, wholesale, trucking, business and consulting services to apply for and… Read More

December 14, 2016 @ 8:41 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

BlueVine, an online lender that provides factoring finance, announced on Wednesday is has secured $49 million during a Series D funding round, which was led by existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, Rakuten FinTech Fund, and Silicon Valley Bank. Since… Read More

December 13, 2016 @ 4:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yooka-Laylee Kickstarter backers, the wait is ALMOST over! Playtonic Games announced on Tuesday that the highly anticipated video game is finally getting a release date. As previously reported, Yooka-Laylee is described as a 3D platforming adventure for consoles and PC. During its run on Kickstarter’s platform, the video game successfully captured… Read More

December 13, 2016 @ 4:32 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Expend, a UK-based fintech app startup, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube. The company is seeking £750,000 for growth and is offering 5.27% in equity.  Founded in 2013, Expend is described as a smart solution for financial management with a mission to simplify user’s expenses,… Read More

December 13, 2016 @ 3:12 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

With its Seedrs campaign set to close later this week, social marketplace for bicycle sharing Cycle.Land has successfully secured more than £400,000 from over 215 investors. Founded earlier this year, Cycle.Land received support from Oxford University Innovation Incubator and launched in Oxford shortly after. The website claims… Read More