Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

September 19, 2016 @ 9:59 am By JD Alois  |  

RateSetter has released its accounts for 2015 – 2016.  According to their financial results, top line revenue increased 46% to £18.5 million from £12.6 million versus prior period. The increase in revenue was paired with a pre-tax loss of £4.9 million compared to a pre-tax… Read More

September 19, 2016 @ 9:34 am By JD Alois  |  

Prosper Marketplace has published their monthly loan report and for investors in the marketplace lending things are looking pretty good. Prosper states that the 2016 portfolio is on track to have the highest estimated return since 2013. This is alongside the highest average FICO to date…. Read More

September 18, 2016 @ 9:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

Seed&Spark, the independent film crowdfunding platform, has partnered up with MasterCard on a “Crowdfunding Rally” created to uncover and launch “TVs next great show.”  Launched on September 12th, the New Voice Crowdfunding Rally seeks to empower aspiring film creators to fund a short film or… Read More

September 18, 2016 @ 8:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

China News is reporting that cooling private equity and venture capital deals are causing challenges for investors. Ni Zhengdong, head of Zero2IPO – a research group, stated; “Chinese venture capital and private equity investors made investments too quickly in the past three years and the… Read More

September 18, 2016 @ 8:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

SocietyOne, Australia’s largest marketplace lending platform, has rearranged the executive bench according to multiple reports. Founders Co-founders Matt Symons and Greg Symons (not related) have recently updated roles. Matt Symons will now become a non-executive director of the online lending firm. He is currently listed as… Read More

September 17, 2016 @ 3:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

After years of working for firms like Merrill Lynch and Pacific Crest, Nin Desai decided to launch her own venture Nin.VC. Seeing opportunity in the JOBS Act of 2012 that legalized various iterations of crowdfunding, Nin launched a VC-hybrid firm that allows accredited investors access… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 12:15 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, India-based peer-to-peer lending platform Faircent announced it appointed Shakti Goel as its new chief or product and technology. Goel has over 20 years of experience in leveraging technology-based solutions and is currently the technical advisor, and board member of DEWI Online. Other positions he has held… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 11:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Tesco, a British multinational grocery, and general merchandise retailer, has recently announced the launch of its new crowdfunding platform, Tesco BackIt. The funding portal is dedicated to small businesses that are in the food and drink industry. Sharing details about the Tesco BackIt, the company stated:… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 9:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, RateSetter announced it has surpassed 100 million in car financing. and is considered the first peer-to-peer lending platform to lend the amount through motor partnerships. Sharing details about the new milestone, head of RateSetter Motor Finance, Nick Elkan, reportedly stated: “These are exciting… Read More

September 16, 2016 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Snowball Effect, the leading equity crowdfunding platform in New Zealand, is celebrating 2 years of operation in the Kiwi nation. In recognition of their anniversary and platform growth, Snowball Effect has shared some platform highlights along with a deck (embedded below). New Zealand, in many… Read More

September 15, 2016 @ 4:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Indiegogo has quietly added a new vertical to its crowdfunding platform: sex toys and sexual wellness. We saw the new niche crowdfunding vertical emerge this past August to establish itself as a leading marketplace for cutting edge sexual toys and implements. The Indiegogo After Dark… Read More

September 15, 2016 @ 9:09 am By JD Alois  |  

Ron Suber, President of Prosper Marketplace, presented at the Fall AltFi conference in Manhattan yesterday and delivered a keynote address on the status of marketplace lending. Now most industry observers know that  the online lending industry was hit with a one-two punch this year. As the economy… Read More

September 15, 2016 @ 8:34 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In just a few days since launching, the UK independent film produced by ItchyFishFilm has secured over £342,000 toward its £640,000 goal to support production for the film. £305,000 has been fronted by the film’s lead investor group Ken Anderson, Chairman of Bolton Wanderers FC; ItchyFishFilm will seek… Read More

September 15, 2016 @ 8:04 am By JD Alois  |  

  TWINO Group, a European consumer lender, has announced that it has reached a new funding milestone of €300 million in issued loans. TWINO also operates a peer to peer lending platform that has funded approximately €50 million in loans.  Interestingly, TWINO points out that 8%… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 5:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC), the leading marketplace lending platform in the US, just announced the hiring of its new CFO, Thomas Casey, following the departure of Carrie Dolan announced several weeks back. Today, Lending Club is revealing what they had to pay Casey to gain his… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 4:35 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, crowdfunding portal Kickstarter announced it was heading across the Atlantic for this year’s London Design Festival, which will be held on September 17th-25th. The citywide celebration features a range of designers who have brought their projects to Kickstarter. The funding platform declared: “Whether… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 2:49 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Acquire Real Estate, a commercial real estate crowdfunding platform, announced on Wednesday it completed its fully automated secondary market exchange between two of its real estate investors.   According to the funding platform, investors relied on its patent pending Investor Exchange, which now facilitates a… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 11:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Despite Isreali-based Consumer Physics, an OurCrowd portfolio company, announcing its Kickstarter project, SCiO, is being delivered to backers two years after successfully securing $2,762,571, the crowdfunding portal shut down the project’s page and revealed that Consumer Physics was hit with intellectual property dispute. SCiO was described as “the… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 10:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, Crowdcube #FundedClub member Sugru announced it is set to hit a new milestone very soon. The company reports nearly 10 million single packs of its moldable glue. This announcement comes just after Sugru launched its new website. The Sugru team revealed: “We’re about… Read More

September 14, 2016 @ 9:57 am By JD Alois  |  

In multiple reports, Chinese authorities raided the offices of “two crippled peer to peer lending platforms”.  Both Jinlu Fund and Dangtian Wealth were visited by Shanghai police on suspicion of “illegally pooling deposits”, according to China News. Both platforms are affiliated with Shanghai Kuailu Investment… Read More