Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

June 14, 2017 @ 11:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter announced a new initiative specifically for projects inspired by the Voyager Golden Record. The funding portal shared: “Forty years ago, the Voyager Golden Record soared into space aboard NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe. Curated by Carl Sagan and intended to… Read More

June 14, 2017 @ 7:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Former Natwest executive John Brooks is the latest hire to join ThinCats, a leader in the alternative lending industry. Brooks spent 42 years working with UK businesses at Natwest – 30 years of which he spent working within different areas of the SME market. In… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 10:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dubai based peer to peer lender Beehive has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mohammad Bin Rashid Fund (MBRF), part of the Dubai Ministry of Finance. The collaboration will see MBRF act as the guarantor for credit of up to Dh500,000 for SME loans… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 3:59 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, Biz2Credit released its latest Small Business Lending Index that revealed loan approval rates at big banks, small banks, alternative lenders, and credit unions took a slight dip in May 2017. According to the lending platform, small business loan approval rates at big banks… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 2:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundrise, one of the leading online investment platforms for real estate, has launched the “2.0” version of their platform. Fundrise has created a Robo-Advisor focused on real estate thus providing an investing tool to match individual investor needs. Ben Miller, co-founder and CEO of Fundrise,… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 12:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Marketplace lending platform for small businesses, Lendio, announced on Tuesday it has signed a pilot agreement with Comcast Business. This new agreement is reportedly designed to provide Lendio’s small business customers with quick and easy access to capital. Lendio explained that the collaboration would also… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 10:25 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

UK-based peer to business property lender, Credit Peers, announced on Tuesday it has secured a £45 million credit line from a European investment management firm. This news comes just a few months after the lender launched its platform.  As previously reported, The online lender allows individuals to lend… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 9:50 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter recently announced it is collaborating with Qrates, which is described as an award-winning, one-stop service for creating and releasing vinyl records, for a new initiative called MAKE Vinyl. According to Kickstarter, the MAKE Vinyl initiative is set to help music creators access more tools and resources… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 9:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Relendex Limited, a peer to peer lender in the commercial and residential real estate sector, has announced the completion of a rights issue and a new round of financing from new investors. The company said the proceeds will be used to allow further investments in new… Read More

June 13, 2017 @ 4:42 am By Erin Hobey  |  

WiseAlpha, a UK online lending platform that gives everyday investors access to high yield institutional bond and loan investments, has raised over £909K on its Crowdcube, 180% over its original target, with days remaining. Originally offering 8.92% equity, WiseAlpha has taken it up a notch, offering 12.43%.  The… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 7:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Seedrs, a leading UK based equity crowdfunding platform, closed its first week of trading on its newly launched secondary market. Seedrs kicked off the trading platform last week to usher a new level of liquidity for shareholders in crowdfunded companies. On the first Tuesday of… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 2:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

CommonBond is reporting they have closed a $231 million securitization of refinanced student loans. The online lender says the issuance received their highest ratings to date with Moody’s rating Aa3, DBRS at AA. The securitization was CommonBond’s fourth and largest and was said to be… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 11:59 am By Therese Torris  |  

Where do you apply for a student loan if, like 29-year old Amit, you are an Indian engineer in his first job in London who has just been accepted at a business school in France? With no credit history, no local co-signer and no knowledge… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 10:48 am By JD Alois  |  

Online real estate investment platform Fundrise has filed a post-qualification amendment to their earlier offering statement under Reg A+ to sell more shares in the company. Back in the first quarter of 2017, Fundrise launched an initial public offering of shares in the company using… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 10:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this month, crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, along with Yoobi, announced the winner of the “We Love Teachers” Fundraising Contest. The duo launched the initiative last month and it was described as a national initiative to support K-12 teachers, and GoFundMe will donate $1,000 to 100 campaign… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 9:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Reward-based crowdfunding giant Kickstarter announced the launch of its new Invention Challenge. The funding platform currently offers inventors a chance to share their ideas and invent something to “share with the world” by creating something that completes tasks, solves a problem, or simply makes life… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 7:49 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Online lending platform SoFi recently announced it has formed a partnership with airline company JetBlue to help customers manage their student loans while also earning travel rewards. The companies claimed this is the first partnership between a direct lender for student loans and an airliner…. Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 5:32 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Powervault has proven that successive raises on Crowdcube can be very successful.  In the middle of the UK company’s fourth raise, the home battery system with a pre-money valuation of £8,083,548 aims to enable customers to make smarter use of their energy by harnessing freely-generated solar energy and off-peak… Read More

June 12, 2017 @ 4:55 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“We’re living in scary times. Holocaust denial has been on the rise. Anti-Semitism and hatred is extremely worrisome. It’s on the front of a lot of minds, certainly this institution. These diaries, these first-person accounts, testimonies, this is the evidence,” commented U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Director… Read More

June 11, 2017 @ 1:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

The number of FINRA approved and regulated crowdfunding portals has been inching higher. Today, there are 29 different Reg CF crowdfunding platforms each targeting the new securities exemption created under the JOBS Act 0f 2012. At the beginning of 2017, that number stood at 22… Read More