December 5, 2016 @ 1:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Insurtech company Lemonade has closed a $34 million Series B funding round. The investment was led by General Catalyst and included the participation of GV (aka Google Ventures), Tusk Ventures and Thrive Capital. Existing investors Aleph, Sequoia, and XL Innovate also participated in the round…. Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 11:25 am By JD Alois  |  

Leading New Zealand based peer to peer lender Harmoney has been fined $292,00 for a misleading marketing campaign. The announcement  by the Commerce Commission of New Zealand stems from an ongoing investigation regarding letters sent by Harmoney in 2014 and 2015. Harmoney has previously acknowledged its… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 10:41 am By JD Alois  |  

StartEngine is a FINRA regulated, Reg CF funding portal that also lists Reg A+ issuers and the occasional accredited crowdfunding offer (Reg D 506c). The platform has helped to raise almost $25 million this year for early stage companies.  Perhaps the most prominent offer to close… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 9:05 am By JD Alois  |  

Insure.com calculates the “value of Santa” based on analysis of wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics each year. This year it shows Santa should be earning $146,309 –  a 2% increase from last year. Out of the 15 jobs which make up Santa’s… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 8:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Santander Group’s global VC fund, Santander InnoVentures, has invested in  business commerce and supply chain finance platform Tradeshift. The investment will be used to further broaden Tradeshift’s capabilities, and grow the ecosystem surrounding its B2B marketplace. San Francisco-based Tradeshift is currently used by a range… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 8:02 am By JD Alois  |  

Growth Street is now an FCA registered Appointed Representative.  Growth Street will now be able to accept individual investors on its peer to peer lending platform. Growth Street, an alternative finance platform for SMEs, previously only accepted incorporated businesses to lend and borrow to each… Read More

December 5, 2016 @ 7:48 am By JD Alois  |  

LandlordInvest has received full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation following a 24-month process. LandlordInvest is a peer to peer lending platform for buy-to-let and bridge loans. LandlordInvest stated it has also submitted an application to HMRC to become an ISA manager and intends on offering… Read More

December 4, 2016 @ 10:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

VidAngel may be the fastest issuing company using Reg A+ (Tier 2) to hit its funding target.  VidAngel set an initial crowdfunding goal of $5 million. In just over a day (28 hours) VidAngel hit that goal.  VidAngel then continued to accept investments ofjust over… Read More

December 4, 2016 @ 4:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

Wefunder is in the midst of a self-crowdfunding round and things are moving along quite well. The minimum raise was pegged at a $1 million goal and as of today stands at $1.77 million. WeFunder has created a WeFund SPV to hold the shares in… Read More

December 4, 2016 @ 3:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

David Brooks has joined Fintech firm Quint Finance Group as US territory director.  The new hire is part of the corporate strategy to expand into the US marketplace. Previously known as Quintessential Finance Group, Quint owns and operates four strategically aligned financial technology businesses channels in the… Read More

December 4, 2016 @ 3:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

Jumpstartfund’s Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Inc. (HTT) has received investments by EdgeWater totaling $30 million. This is in addition to previous in-kind support EdgeWater has provided to HTT.  HTT states it has now secured $31.8 million in cash investment.  According to Jumpstartfund’s accounting, the project has received… Read More

December 3, 2016 @ 2:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Glentham Capital, created by Nicola Horlick – a renowned investment manager, film producer and CEO of Money&Co., raised funding on Seedrs three times. Beginning in 2013, an offer was posted seeking £150,000 for a fund  that would provide finance for Hollywood films. In 2014, “due to high… Read More

December 3, 2016 @ 11:18 am By JD Alois  |  

This may be a case of too much of a good thing. The FT is reporting that Zopa has put a halt to retail investors lending money on their peer to peer lending platform. Allegedly, yield hungry investors are “flooding” the market hunting for better… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 4:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a speech today, Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, announced the creation of National Bank Charters for Fintech firms.  As part of the announcement, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a paper entitled; Exploring Special Purpose National Bank Charters for… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Officially Announces Bank Charters for Fintech In a speech delivered at Georgetown University today, Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, announced the creation of special purpose national bank charters for Fintech companies. The announcement was driven by an ongoing discussion… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 11:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Online lender CAN Capital has removed CEO Dan Demeo and promoted Parris Sanz in his place. Bloomberg reported that Demeo and two other executives were on a “leave of absence” sending shudders across the entire online lending industry.  Demeo, who joined the company in 2010 as… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 11:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Jeb Hensarling will continue his leadership as Chairman of the influential House Financial Services Committee during the forthcoming 115th Congress in 2017. Hensarling has been a vocal advocate of regulatory rationalization regarding the financial services sector. Hensarling has attempted to address the current environment of… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 9:54 am By JD Alois  |  

All four initial Reg CF crowdfunding offers listed by Indiegogo, via their partner platform MicroVentures, have hit their funding targets.  This comes after launching investment crowdfunding mid-November. The rapid funding success may be indicative of the traffic generating channel intrinsic to Indiegogo’s rewards-based platform.  Indiegogo… Read More

December 2, 2016 @ 7:06 am By JD Alois  |  

RealtyMogul.com has lowered the minimum necessary to invest in their first REIT or MogulREIT I to $1,000. Previously, the minimum investment was $2,500. RealtyMogul.com CEO Jilliene Helman said their goal was to give more investors the opportunity to invest in unique real estate investments on… Read More

December 1, 2016 @ 8:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

One of the frequently touted benefits of peer to peer/marketplace lending is the heightened transparency associated with loan originations processed online.  The financial crisis of the last decade was in part fueled by the disconnect between lender and borrower. As mortgages were securitized, sliced and… Read More