Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

January 9, 2018 @ 7:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Britbots has announced the launch of their second British Robotics Seed Fund.  The new fund follows the success of the first fund, which has now been fully invested, leading the seed rounds of six robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) ventures. Britbots says the new fund… Read More

January 8, 2018 @ 9:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

SeedInvest is one of the most selective investment crowdfunding platforms in the US. Launched in 2012 by Ryan Feit and James Han when the JOBS Act of 2012 was signed into law, the two founders most likely had no idea how long it would take… Read More

January 8, 2018 @ 6:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Seedrs, a UK based crowdfunding platform, has published full year results for 2017.  According to the company, during the year £125 million was invested in 168 different deals – the biggest year since platform launch. Investors came from 58 different countries making more than 46,700… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 10:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Wishfin, an India-based online marketplace, announced it is seeking to raise up to $50 million during its upcoming funding round. Founded in 2016, Wishfin is a platform that’s run by Mywish Marketplaces Private Limited (MMPL), which has notably creased financial marketplaces in India. It has more… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 2:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Frank, a New York-based student loan startup, announced this week that it has secured $10 million through its Series A  Funding Round, which was led by Apollo Global Management, with participation from Reach Capital, and Aleph. This funding round brought its total funding amount to… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 9:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

The House Crowd, a UK property crowdfunding platform, announced on Friday it has received full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Frazer Fearnhead, founder and CEO of The House Crowd, revealed more details by stating: “We are extremely pleased to announce that after (a very long)… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 9:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund has launched a £30 million “institutional fundraise” while opening up the offer to platform investors. According to the company, over 100 site users have already invested £1.5 million in the offer. Reportedly, demand was sufficient enough to open up an additional £8.5… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 8:48 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube announced it has formed a partnership with L Marks to offer co-funding opportunities to the company’s network of 130 startups. L Marks is described as innovation specialists and early-stage investors, who work with the likes of John Lewis, Bupa,… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 2:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Prosper Marketplace, a leading peer-to-peer lending platform connecting borrowers and investors, announced on Wednesday it has appointed Justine Metz as Executive Vice President of Marketing. According to the online lender, Metz has over 25 years of marketing experience and joins Prosper from SRS Acquiom, a… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 1:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Online lending platform LendInvest announced on Thursday it lent £500 million to help professional property investors, developers and landlords buy, build or renovate c.1800 homes in 2017. The online lender revealed that this marks a 33% increase on 2016’s £375 million lending record. LendInvest has now lent… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 8:03 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Virgin Startup has teamed up with TribeFirst to launched Crowdboost, a new equity crowdfunding accelerator program for startups looking to scale. Its description reads: “CrowdBoost has been developed for ambitious entrepreneurs who are looking to leverage the power of the crowd to raise funds, raise awareness and… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 11:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Real estate marketplace lender Money360 announced on Wednesday it has surpassed $500 million in commercial real estate loans closed since inception, which includes $357 million in loans closed for 2017. According to Money360, the milestone comes on the heels of other recent successes, including the initiation of… Read More

January 3, 2018 @ 7:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Folk2Folk, a unique peer to peer lending platform that combines physical locations with an online platform matching investors with small business loans, has announced the appointment of Giles Cross  Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Cross takes over the position from Jane Dumeresque who announced her resignation… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 1:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Seedrs is a trailblazer in the crowdfunding world. The UK was the first market to craft a regulatory regime that truly facilitated online capital formation for startups, scale ups, and more mature companies. The ecosystem has evolved to a point where crowdfunding is becoming the… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 11:24 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, online platform Proplend gave its 2017 peer-to-peer lending year in review. The lender listed the various accomplishments that the lending industry experienced in the past twelve months. The accomplishments are the following: The majority of platforms gained full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorization Many… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 11:01 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Originally launched in 2013 as a yoga directory, YogaTrail joined 500 Startups in 2014 and evolved from a yoga directory to including schedules, increasing capabilities, and started developing content.  By late 2016, YogaTrail started the marketplace for bookings, calendars and events. Now the platform is looking to raise… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 10:24 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Crowdo, a South East Asian online marketplace for P2P lending and crowdfunding, posted an infographic citing its 2017 milestones. “2017 has been a great year for Crowdo as we hit several milestones and experienced tremendous growth in our organization where saw our year start off… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 8:19 am By JD Alois  |  

NextSeed, a Reg CF crowdfunding platform that focuses solely on providing debt based financing for small business, has provided a brief report on 2017 progress. NextSeed launched as a Texas intrastate platform but migrated over to Reg CF only in May of 2016 when the… Read More

January 2, 2018 @ 7:29 am By JD Alois  |  

Funding Circle, a UK based peer to peer lender, is reportedly planning an initial public offering (IPO) for 2018. The news of the new listing is courtesy of SkyNews that reports Funding Circle will begin meeting with investment banks during Q1 of 2018 as they… Read More

December 31, 2017 @ 9:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, we visited the roster of FINRA approved Reg CF funding portals which stood at 34. Today, that number has increased by 2 so now it stands at 36 in total. Last week, we discussed the three Reg CF platforms that departed this segment… Read More