January 8, 2017 @ 3:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Mr. Crowd is a FINRA approved Reg CF crowdfunding portal. Created by founder Allen Au, Mr. Crowd is a part of the US incorporated Ksdaq corporation.  While incorporated in the US, Ksdaq’s primary place of business is Hong Kong making it a bit unique. Today, Mr…. Read More

January 8, 2017 @ 2:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Finland’s Ministry of Finance has published an update on the nascent Finish crowdfunding industry.  According to their report,  Finland’s crowdfunding market more than doubled in size during 2016. The Finish government estimates the total amount raised during 2016 stands at €153 million in contrast to the… Read More

January 7, 2017 @ 5:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

VidAngel Asks Investors / Supporters to Call Members of Congress to Aid in their Legal Battle VidAngel has been slapped down once again in its ongoing legal battle with the big movie studios. VidAngel, a video on demand service that uses an interesting workaround to… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 4:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced several high level leadership changes within the Bureau. The positions announced today are: the Chief of Staff; the Chief Information Officer; the Chief Financial Officer; the Assistant Director of Consumer Lending, Reporting, and Collections Markets; and the… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 2:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

Orchard Platform, the nexus of institutional money flowing into online lending platforms, has updated their Lendscape: a visual presentation of the online lending ecosystem. As industry participants know all too well, 2016 has been a challenging year for lenders. Orchard states that 2016 saw increasing… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 1:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Motoroso,Inc. has just launched an investment crowdfunding campaign (Reg CF) on Wefunder. The launch comes just as Motoroso has announced a new partnership with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Motoroso has partnered with Ford at SEMA in 2015 & 2016 to power first-of-its-kind… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 1:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding may possess the biggest potential within the sector of online investment marketplaces. The ability to make a popular asset class more accessible to a wider audience simply makes sense. Both debt and equity investment opportunities in real estate are available across multiple… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 8:35 am By JD Alois  |  

France is doing some chest pounding at CES this week. The country’s delegation is the 3rd largest in attendance after the US and China. Led by Michel Sapin, Minister for the Economy & Finance, and Axelle Lemaire, Minister of the State for Digital Affairs &… Read More

January 6, 2017 @ 6:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP) announced last month it had reached an agreement to acquire Narwi, a micro “waqf crowdfunding platform.” With the acquisition of Narwi, WCMP seeks to advance its position in next-generation, global Muslim-giving. WCMP is a global network of affluent individuals,… Read More

January 5, 2017 @ 10:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

A report by Renaissance Capital shows the US IPO market tanking in 2016.  The proceeds from IPOs dipped to the lowest level since 2003. This includes the dark years of the Great Recession. While the IPO had a grim year, the researchers at Renaissance are… Read More

January 5, 2017 @ 2:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Kuber Ventures has added a new manager to its platform. The alternative fund investment platform that allows investors to access funds in the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) & Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) space, has announced that the Jenson SEIS and EIS Fund 4 has… Read More

January 5, 2017 @ 12:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

For its first edition, the Paris Fintech Forum gathered over 100 speakers and attracted 850 participants. This year, the event promises to be even more successful as it is stepping up with more than 200 speakers from over 30 countries. Organizers are estimating over 1500… Read More

January 5, 2017 @ 9:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Disruptive insurance platform Lemonade is pointing to its ability to pay customer claims really fast. How fast – you ask? Lemonade has staked a claim on a “new world record” as its artificial intelligence allowed the Insurtech firm the ability to pay a claim in… Read More

January 5, 2017 @ 9:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Berlin-based crowdfunding platform Kapilendo has raised €7 million in a series B funding round. The funding was led by Neu-Investor Versorgungswerk der Zahnärztekammer (a pension fund) with participation from existing investors Comvest Holding GmbH and listed Fintech investor FinLab AG. Kapilendo operates two vertical in the investment space: Kapilendo… Read More

January 4, 2017 @ 10:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Silver Bullion is a one of a kind online lender. The peer to peer lending platform based in Singapore is a secured lender that backs up each loan with gold or silver bullion. Launched in mid-2015,  Silver Bullion has just announced it has surpassed S$20… Read More

January 4, 2017 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

In the world of alternative finance, one US industry was probably happy to see 2016 end. Online lending, both marketplace lenders (née P2P lending) and balance sheet platforms, hit the proverbial brick wall during last year. Rumblings of a more challenging environment picked up in… Read More

January 4, 2017 @ 4:43 pm By JD Alois  |  

Financial regulations are often enacted with little concrete definition, to say nothing of quantification, of their costs and benefits. Regulators and economists have little understanding of causal mechanisms that may provide benefits and incur costs. Worse, they often think they know cause and effect, either… Read More

January 4, 2017 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Multiple news sources are reporting that Jay Clayton will be President-elect Donald Trump’s selection for the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Reuters published a statement by President-elect Trump; “Jay Clayton is a highly talented expert on many aspects of financial and regulatory law, and… Read More

January 4, 2017 @ 9:42 am By JD Alois  |  

    Credit China FinTech Holdings Limited, along with China Huarong International, Shanghai Xinhua Publishing Group, Jilin Province Investment Group have launched the Asia Fintech Merger and Acquisition Fund with more than RMB 10 billion (approximately $1.44 billion) in value. In addition to the aforesaid state-owned… Read More

January 3, 2017 @ 10:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital challenger bank Monese has raised $10 million in funding from a group of investors including Anthemis Exponential Ventures, Korea Investment Partners, and STE Capital.  The funding will be used to expand their mobile banking service across Europe while putting traditional banks on notice. “We are… Read More