Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

April 24, 2019 @ 11:13 pm By Therese Torris  |  

In 2050, the world will need to feed 50% more people than today. By the same time, however, the planet’s farmland will have grown only by 4%. The reasons for the shortfall are many: urbanization, climate change, water pollution, and the soil degradation caused by… Read More

April 24, 2019 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

SeedInvest, an online capital formation platform that claims over 250,000 registered investors (50,000 accredited), is planning a significant expansion. SeedInvest is a full stack crowdfunding platform leveraging all three securities exemptions to raise capital online from seed stage an up. In the fall of 2018,… Read More

April 24, 2019 @ 2:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fintech unicorn SoFi is reportedly seeking to raise $500 million from the Qatar Investment Authority. The company, which has a valuation of $4.3 billion, has previously raised $2 billion from investors, which includes Manhattan Venture Partners, RSC Capital, SoftBank, Silver Lake Partners, and DCM Ventures. Founded… Read More

April 23, 2019 @ 12:32 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The gay travel platform misterb&b has just surpassed $800K with the help of 1240+ investors, easily bypassing its minimum target last month, with its $1M Wefunder campaign target goal in site. Last year the 500 Startups alum celebrated an $8.5M Series A round, raising $13.5M USD… Read More

April 23, 2019 @ 12:15 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Japanese agency responsible for overseeing the country’s banking, insurance and securities sectors conducted flash on-site inspections last week at local offices of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange and at the FISCO Virtual Currency Exchange (formerly Zaif), Reuters Japan reports. Regulators from the Financial Services Agency… Read More

April 23, 2019 @ 9:43 am By JD Alois  |  

Beginning today, LendingClub (NYSE: LC) will connect small business borrowers seeking a loan on their online lending platform with both Funding Circle and Opportunity Fund. The initiative is being pitched as a collaboration designed to substantially increase small business owners’ access to transparent, affordable and… Read More

April 23, 2019 @ 9:11 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

RiverNorth Marketplace Lending Corporation, an established and currently operating as a closed-end interval fund dedicated to the marketplace lending asset class, announced on Tuesday it has declared a Series A Preferred Stock cash dividend for the second quarter of 2019 of $0.3672 per share of… Read More

April 23, 2019 @ 1:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer-to-peer investment platform RateSetter has been recognized with a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for excellence in innovation. Established in 1965, the Queen’s Award for Enterprise is the most prestigious business award in the UK. The Award recognizes the success of innovative businesses which are… Read More

April 22, 2019 @ 3:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Money transfer service Western Union (NYSE: WU) announced earlier this month that its cross-border payments and foreign exchange risk management division, Western Union Business Solutions, has formed a new partnership with October, European lending platforms for small and medium enterprises (SME) to support international expansion… Read More

April 19, 2019 @ 2:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

St. Louis, Missouri based crowdfunding platform Nvsted announced on Thursday it was celebrating its first birthday. As previously reported, Nvested claimed its platform as the “first hyper-local regulation crowdfunding portal” around. Regulation Crowdfunding, or Reg CF as it is commonly called, enables issuers to raise… Read More

April 19, 2019 @ 2:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

CrowdStreet, a real estate investment platform providing direct equity investments for investors in commercial real estate (CRE), has surpassed $500 milion in aggregate online investment. The milestone comes following a record quarter for the platform where over $75 million was raised and the number of… Read More

April 19, 2019 @ 11:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Leading marketplace lending platform Prosper has settled fraud charges for misstating returns, according to a release from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Without admitting or denying the allegations, Prosper has consented to an SEC order finding it violated an anti-fraud provision of the Securities… Read More

April 18, 2019 @ 11:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Smart Valor, a Swiss blockchain based startup, has listed its native crypto “Valor” on South Korea based Bithumb. Earlier this week, Bithumb apparently hosted an Airdrop for Valor and distributed 1 Valor per 2,000,000 KRW to its most active traders. Smart Valor announced last fall… Read More

April 18, 2019 @ 1:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

The largest marketplace lending company LendingClub (NYSE: LC) will report Q1 2019 results after the bell on Tuesday, May 7, 2019. According to the Q4 report, the following guidance was provided: Net Revenue to be in the range of $162 million to $172 million Consolidated… Read More

April 18, 2019 @ 8:40 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Lendified, a lending platform for small businesses and a SaaS technology platform providing AI-enabled credit origination and analytics to financial institutions, announced on Wednesday it secured $15 million through its latest funding round with institutional and private investors. The investors include CI Financial Corp., Windsor Private… Read More

April 18, 2019 @ 2:24 am By Erin Hobey  |  

When Bee Good, a British business using local honey, wax and propolis to create award-winning natural skincare, synced with Crowdcube, Co-Founder Simon Cavill set the initial goal for £100,000.  Over 465 Crowdcube investors quickly helped the skincare company pre-valuated at £1,785,348 surpass £258K for 12.69%… Read More

April 17, 2019 @ 10:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

It is not just disruptive startups that are looking to create value in the digital asset sector. More traditional firms are taking the plunge, dedicating capital and investing in the future of finance. In the secondary market and primary issuance sector, there are numerous young… Read More

April 17, 2019 @ 6:38 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announced on Wednesday it will lend €100 million to small businesses through online lending platform Funding Circle. According to the banking group, the investment, alongside a further €25 million from a leading global asset manager, will support more than 2,000… Read More

April 17, 2019 @ 2:45 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Online lending platform SoFi announced on Monday it has formed two partnerships with insurtechs Lemonade and Root to expand its portfolio of offerings to its members to include homeowners and renters insurance. SoFi reported that the partnerships round out its insurance offerings, giving members access… Read More

April 17, 2019 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

AlphaPoint, a blockchain company focused on enabling asset tokenization and trading in a compliant manner, has partnered with Elevated Returns to launch a “secondary market for $1 billion USD tokenized real estate shares.” The exchange will focus on the Southeast Asian property markets. Elevated Returns… Read More