Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

December 14, 2017 @ 10:37 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

China-based fintech Yirendai announced on Wednesday it has made a $50 million strategic investment in Lion Rock through the financial service platform’s Series A funding round. According to Yirendai, Lion Rock is headquartered in Hong Kong and is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and… Read More

December 13, 2017 @ 10:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Launched in 2015, Fundnel is a Singapore based investment marketplace that provides unique access to early stage companies for individual investors previously cut out of the pre-IPO equation. Operated by a group of young, highly sophisticated executives, Fundnel is doing equity crowdfunding right and sets… Read More

December 13, 2017 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The opportunity is simply too strong to resist. The rapid rise of tokenized securities and the booming initial coin offering market is compelling crowdfunding platforms to reposition provide issuers the platform they demand. As the United States is the top ICO issuer in the world,… Read More

December 13, 2017 @ 11:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, small business lending platform OnDeck announced two senior financial services executives to join its management team. Kelly Merrill and Erich Wust will assume new leadership roles that directly support the online lender’s  mission of empowering small business owners with the fastest and most… Read More

December 13, 2017 @ 10:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  On Wednesday, Suffolk University announced that some of its students have launched some ventures through its crowdfunding course. The ventures made their debut on December 6th, with two dedicated to the people of Haiti. The University stated that is Sawyer Business School introduced the… Read More

December 13, 2017 @ 10:01 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, specialist property lender LendInvest released its latest LendInvest Buy-to-Let Index report, which ranks all 105 postcode areas around England and Wales based ona combination of four metrics, which are capital gains, transaction volumes, rental yields, and rental price growth. The new report also includes… Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 4:10 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter announced that it has surpassed $200 million for loans in Australia. The online lender reportedly launched in Australia nearly three and a half years ago.  “This week we passed through $200 million of loans matched between investors and borrowers…. Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 2:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, WSFS Financial Corporation, the parent company of WSFS Bank, has entered into a two-year partnership to provide payment processing and debit card sponsorship services for a new cash management account by SoFi Securities, a subsidiary of SoFi. The new “SoFi Money” account is reportedly expected… Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 1:30 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Ready for a new investment or for a vacation? Oh, the places you will go! itravel could be the first digital travel agency that uses data analysis, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology in order to provide customers with individually personalized trips. itravel seeks to remove the… Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 1:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Finnish crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform Fellow Finance announced on Tuesday it received payment institution authorization from the Financial Supervisory Authority of Finland. The online lender claims it is the first funding platform to receive this type of authorization, which will notably enable Fellow Finance to… Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 9:55 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Peer-to-peer lending platform Prosper announced on Tuesday it has appointed former Chief Marketing Officer of J.P. Morgan, Claire Huang to its board of directors. According to Prosper, Huang has held senior leadership positions at various well-known financial services companies, which includes Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, and American Express. While… Read More

December 12, 2017 @ 7:39 am By JD Alois  |  

OurCrowd, a leading global equity crowdfunding platform, says registration numbers have rocketed for its upcoming Global Investor Summit taking place on February 1st. OurCrowd reports that more than 10,000 individuals have registered for the event with participation from 80 different countries.  Participants also include over… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 2:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendingClub (NYSE:LC) presented at Morgan Stanley last week in a day long event that provided an in-depth update on the company and its expectations for future performance. The Investor Day Presentation, embedded below, was an encouraging compendium of how LendingClub envisions the future of online… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 9:31 am By JD Alois  |  

The Mintos marketplace for loans has added its first Russia based loan originator: EcoFinance. The online lender offers investments in unsecured personal loans issued in Russia under its CreditPlus brand. Mintos reports that EcoFinance loans on its marketplace will initially be listed in Euros with… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 8:00 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, online lending platform SoFi announced that it has closed its $769 million SoFi Private Student Loan notes (SoFi 2017-F). The lender revealed that the closing marked its 12th ABS transaction this year and brings the total amount of ABS issuance to $6.9 billion. SoFi reported… Read More

December 11, 2017 @ 7:16 am By JD Alois  |  

CrowdProperty, a property peer to peer lender, has closed its pre-series A equity crowdfunding round at £907,467 or 150% of the funding target. The campaign listed on Seedrs attracted 509 investors investing an average of £1,783. CrowdProperty offered a 9.23% ownership stake in the company… Read More

December 10, 2017 @ 10:06 am By JD Alois  |  

Coinbase had probably its biggest week ever as the price of Bitcoin shot through the roof last week. While the price of Bitcoin has settled down a bit at around $16,000 (for now), the the rapid rise of BTC was joined by extreme volatility as… Read More

December 8, 2017 @ 4:02 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, Harmoney announced there has been an increase in Kiwi SMEs that are tapping into peer-to-peer (P2P) lending for business cashflow. The New Zealand online lender stated it estimates $100 million will be loaned to business accounts through its lending platform within the… Read More

December 8, 2017 @ 12:56 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Crowdfunding platform Patreon announced this week it has made some changes to its service fee. While sharing details about the new fee structure, the funding portal explained: “In order to continue our mission of funding the creative class, we’re always looking for ways we can help creators… Read More

December 8, 2017 @ 12:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

Downing Crowd, a debt based crowdfunding platform, says “crowdfunding for grown-ups has arrived” as indicated by data correlated in the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) report on the UK alternative finance industry. The report by CCAF revealed alternative finance growth of 43% to £4.6… Read More