Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

December 19, 2016 @ 2:29 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, crowdfunding giant Kickstarter announced its engineering team has begun to open source its Android and iOS apps. The platform revealed that it is currently focused on writing well-tested code built with parts that can be easily understood on their own and it has adopted… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 1:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, UK-based equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube announced it received two awards during the 2016 AltFi Annual Awards. The event celebrated achievements within the alternative finance industry and had 28 categories, including 13 new ones. Crowdcube revealed it was named “Crowdfunding Platform of the Year,” which… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 10:08 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yirendai (NYSE: YRD) announced on Monday it appointed Chaomei Chen as an independent director. Chen has reportedly been part of the Chinese marketplace lender’s Advisory Committee since January 2016 and been providing strategic advice and insight to the senior management team on a range of issues such… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Assetz Capital is reporting that it has lent approximately £105 million in 2016.   The peer to peer lender is not claiming the title of the UK’s 3rd largest P2P lender for SMEs. Founded in 2013, Assetz Capital says it is now the UK’s fastest… Read More

December 19, 2016 @ 7:25 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, RateSetter announced it appointed Michael Hoare as its new Head of Risk Analytics and Retail Credit. Hoare notably joins from PayPal UK, where he was Chief Credit Risk Officer. Prior to PayPal UK, Hoare also worked at Capital One, where he held various positions… Read More

December 18, 2016 @ 12:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Growth Street announced last week it would now accept individual retail investors on its peer to peer lending platform. They may do this now as they are an FCA registered Appointed Representative pursuant to a partnership with another firm.  Growth Street, which was founded in 2013 by Sherwin-Smith… Read More

December 18, 2016 @ 10:00 am By Jessica Pham  |  

Abundance Investment (formerly AbundanceGeneration) has been partnering with Swindon Chapel Farm Solar since early last month to offer individuals a way to invest in renewable energy.  The Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) option also offers folks looking for an alternative savings account an option to earn higher… Read More

December 18, 2016 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Fitch shared last week its intent to rate SoFi’s RMBS transaction that included 270 loans with a total balance of approximately $168.79 million. The group of loans consists of prime fixed-rate mortgages originated on the SoFi online lending platform. The presale report was pretty positive… Read More

December 17, 2016 @ 2:59 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, fintech firm Even Financial announced it increased loan originations by 205% quarter over quarter since the beginning of 2016 and surpassed $1.5 billion in loan requests. The company has experienced solid growth since it was founded in 2014. Even Financial is aiming… Read More

December 17, 2016 @ 9:45 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, UK-based Crowdcube unveiled its latest infographic that shared details about its equity crowdfunding platform’s key highlights over the past five years. Crowdcube describes itself as a leading equity crowdfunding platform for both entrepreneurs of start-ups and growing businesses to connect with potential investors…. Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 5:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

OFF3R, an alternative investment aggregator in the UK, has put together an interesting list of the top investment crowdfunding campaigns for 2017. We have replicated the OFF3R list below (with a few adjustments). Several of these companies have raised capital crowdfunding several times. Landbay has… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 5:11 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, marketplace lending platform Prosper announced the winners of the 2016 #MyProsperStory Contest, which was dedicated to individuals who have utilized their platform to regain control of their personal finances. As previously reported, participants of the contest simply emailed a photo with a brief explanation as… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 4:53 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Less than a week after LendingTree launched its $50,000 small business grant contest; Bizfi announced it has teamed up with the online lender for the contest. According to Bizfi, LendingTree is one of the 45 funding partners of its marketplace for small business finance. LendingTree stated… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

The trial against Ezubao, once a high-flying peer to peer lending platform, has commenced.  The Beijing People’s Protectorate has started proceedings against Ezubao and its parent company Yucheng Holdings and Yucheng Global.  This is according to a report in China News. Apparently, 10 individuals will… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 10:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

NextGen Crowdfunding announced on Friday investor commitments into Title III equity crowdfunding campaigns have surpassed $15 million. The company is currently tracking Title III offerings through its NextGen Dashboard, which displays the progress of investor commitments since the new SEC crowdfunding regulations took effect last May. The new… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Grupo DiR, one of the first established Spanish established companies to use investment crowdfunding, has closed a €450,000 investment round through the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube Spain. The additional capital will be used  to fund its twentieth club, DiR Mallorca, which will open in the first quarter… Read More

December 16, 2016 @ 7:58 am By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) filed an 8K yesterday indicating that Chief Technology Officer John MacIlwaine had submitted his resignation on December 15th. MacIlwaine decided to depart from Lending Club to pursue another opportunity.  Lending Club stated that Richard Southwick, Senior Vice President for Technology, will oversee… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 4:08 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

RealtyShares announced on Thursday its community of investors raised $2.25 million to recapitalize and fund the renovation of Avesta Communities’ Bridgewater complex, a 344-unit apartment community located in Orlando, Fla. According to RealtyShares, Avesta Communities recently acquired the property below its appraised value and planned to perform… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 3:28 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Just one month after launching its very own equity crowdfunding platform, Indiegogo announced the campaigns using the new funding outlet have successfully secured more than $575,0000 in equity funds. As previously reported, Indiegogo launched the new equity portal with MicroVentures, which allows anyone to invest in… Read More

December 15, 2016 @ 11:14 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Scandinavia-based crowdfunding platform FundedByMe announced on Thursday it raised almost €30 million for 461 successful campaigns in 2016. The funding portal revealed it has over 74,000 registered members from 179 countries with an average €5,500 per investment and investments from 45 countries CEO and co-founder, Daniel Daboczy,… Read More