Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

August 12, 2016 @ 10:59 am By JD Alois  |  

SoFi, one of the largets online lenders in the US, has settled a class action lawsuit regarding “hard credit” inquiries for potential borrowers. Under the terms of the agreement, SoFi will pay a $2.4 million fine which includes $625,000 in fees and $48,000 in cost reimbursements… Read More

August 12, 2016 @ 7:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lender ThinCats has updated its system for SME loan grading. The online lender has released a “unique system” developed by Rolf Hickman, described as a pioneer in credit analysis.  Hickman was founder and CEO of the pH Group, now part of Experian,… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 4:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Property Partner, a real estate crowdfunding platform, has added an interesting feature to their investment marketplace. Property Partner now allows individual investors to bid on property posted on the site.  Property Partner also states their new feature improves clarity for sellers too. According to a… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 4:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Exciting news, Mondo investors! The Crowdcube #FundedClub member announced it has officially become a licensed bank and is now regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The Mondo team shared details about its launch, which can be found below. “We started Mondo… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 3:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Estonia based EstateGuru has announced having surpassed €10 million in peer to peer lending for over 60 real estate projects. EstateGuru has been in operation for two years. Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia – a country that has a vibrant startup scene, founders Marek Pärtel, Marko Arro… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 1:15 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, organizers of the Growth Investor Awards announced UK-based crowdfunding platforms, Seedrs, Crowdcube, and SyndicateRoom have been named finalists of the 2016 Best Investment Platform. The Growth Investor Awards notably celebrates the role of the UK SME fund management community in both job and wealth… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 11:03 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, online lender to SMEs, OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK), announced it had appointed Gagan Kanjlia as Senior Vice President of Product. Before joining OnDeck, Kanjlia worked for Capital One, where he co-founded the Capital One Garage, a corporate internal incubator for Capital One Financial Services.  Kanjlia,… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 10:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Latvia’s peer-to-peer lending marketplace Mintos announced on Thursday, since its launch a year and a half ago, it has seen investors funding over €50 million in loans to both private individuals, along with small and medium-sized businesses. The website confirmed that the most loans have been financed from Latvia… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 9:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, the Centre for Economics and Business Research released its latest report that revealed small businesses loans facilitated by Funding Circle had boosted the UK economy by £2.7 billion since 2010. The report stated businesses are drawn to direct lending platforms by the speed and simplicity… Read More

August 11, 2016 @ 8:42 am By JD Alois  |  

Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs has recently surveyed their customers on Brexit fallout and the results are encouraging. While the number of respondents were small (120), according to Seedrs, 52% of respondents believe London will maintain the title of global hub for international entrepreneurs even with… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 3:51 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Duocaitou, a Chinese real estate crowdfunding platform that’s dedicated to boutique hotels and home rentals, announced on Wednesday it has completed its Pre-A financing round and has received funds from three venture capital firms, Capital, Innovation Angel Fund, and Shunwei Capital Partners. Gengqian Zhao, CEO… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 1:03 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Peer Funding Limited announced the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has granted it full permission to operate its peer-to-peer business platform under Part 4a of the Financial Service Marketing Act. The website stated it joins only a handful of fully authorized peer-to-peer business platforms and has… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 11:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Back in May, Prosper started a monthly update on performance of loans on their marketplace lending platform. The added transparency is welcomed insight – especially for smaller investors. Today, Brad Pennington, CRO of Prosper, published the July 2016 performance report. He stated that expected returns… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 11:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Fundnel alumni Spark Asia has secured a partnership with  JustKapture in India. Fundnel is a southeast Asia investment crowdfunding ecosystem that funds and mentors Asian startups. Spark Asia was the winner of Fundnel’s “Everyday Ideas” competition last year and was subsequently incubated on Fundnel while receiving pre-seed… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 11:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Mortgage marketplace, LendingHome, announced on Wednesday it had appointed Cynthia Chen as its new chief risk officer. Chen has over ten years of experience in providing risk and mortgage underwriting leadership and has held position at various financial institutions including Fannie Mae, Washington Mutual, Ally Bank, and… Read More

August 10, 2016 @ 9:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Bigstone has announced $3 million in equity funding led by CVC Limited and the founders of Lighthouse Venture Partners along with participation from Australian private investors. This is the first funding round for Bigstone an SME lending platform that launched this past June. The peer… Read More

August 9, 2016 @ 7:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

Companisto is reporting that crowdfunding alumni Foodist has been sold to Ströer providing an exit for early stage investors. Foodist raised capital on Companisto three times in consequitive funding rounds starting in 2013 and then in 2014 & 2015.  In total 2,399 investors or “Companists” as… Read More

August 9, 2016 @ 4:49 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, crowdfunding platform Fundrazr announced their white label features, which allows businesses that are using its platform to now control their campaigns. The website stated branding is a powerful part of what engages followers, and it also instills trust in raising funds. Rather than companies securing… Read More

August 9, 2016 @ 1:46 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, real estate crowdfunding platform RealtyShares announced California is a hot real estate market for its crowdfunding investors. This info was released in the website’s latest report on the state’s funding projects. RealyShares revealed that California borrowers and sponsors had raised more than $53 million… Read More

August 9, 2016 @ 11:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club (NYSE:LC) announced earnings yesterday. The Q2 numbers were over-shadowed by the “resignation” of Carrie Dolan, the longtime CFO of Lending Club who joined the company when there were just 40 companies. During the conference call, Lending Club CEO Scott Sanborn stated that Dolan… Read More