Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

June 18, 2016 @ 3:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week LendInvest appointed  Stephen Wilcke as a Senior Advisor.  Wilcke has a long track in finance including being  CEO of HM Treasury’s Asset Protection Agency.  He was also head of OneSavings Bank where he positioned the firm for an IPO back in 2014.  Now… Read More

June 17, 2016 @ 5:33 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Kickstarter, despite its vow to never go public, quietly paid dividends to its shareholders this past March. This is according to a recent report by Bloomberg. In a world of tech measured solely by growth, and too frequently ongoing losses, Kickstarter did something a bit different… Read More

June 17, 2016 @ 12:34 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, Crowdcube announced that the remaining Crowd10 campaigns have officially launched on its equity crowdfunding platform. This news comes just after one of the program’s initiatives, Local Vets, has successfully overfunded. Earlier this month, Crowdcube announced the launch of Crowd10, a new initiative from the funding platform’s affiliate, IdeaSquares. The… Read More

June 17, 2016 @ 11:33 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, crowdfunding portal Crowdfunder UK announced it has teamed up with InstantPrint to provide its projects with some “Instant Love” each month. The duo will be providing campaigns with a free poster design and print to help them spread their message to the world. The… Read More

June 17, 2016 @ 8:21 am By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest, the leading online lender of commercial mortgages in the UK, has appointed Stephen Wilcke as a Senior Advisor.  Wilcke is the former Executive Chairman of OneSavings Bank – a FTSE 250 specialty lender.  According to LendInvest, Wilcke led OneSavings Bank on an extensive turnaround,… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 4:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Landbay, Gray Stern, sat down with The Asian Banker to discuss the peer-to-peer lender’s growth along with the importance of transparency in the fintech industry. Landbay, which founded by Stern and John Goodall, allows individuals to invest in… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 3:12 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, Crowdfunder UK announced it has formed a partnership with the Dorset County Council to offer up £200,000 to crowdfunding youth projects. According to the crowdfunding platform, the council has set aside an Innovation Fund of £200,000 to provide young people with places to go and… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 12:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

WR Hambrecht + Co is a bit of a Silicon Valley legend. Industry icon and firm namesake, Bill Hambrecht, was one of the first bankers to recognize the potential of Silicon Valley tech companies. He went on to help take public a litany of well-known companies… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 10:26 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Indiegogo announced its very own Pride Celebration, which will be held at its San Francisco headquarters on June 23rd. The free event’s description reads: “In honor of pride month, Indiegogo is hosting a LGBTQIA Pride Celebration at Indiegogo HQ! It’ll be a chance… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform PeerStreet has updated its platform to “further improve the investing experience.” The feature enhancements include updates to the automated investing tool, instant account funding abilities, a new notification center, payment schedule and a streamlined investing program.  PeerStreet stated the improvements were… Read More

June 16, 2016 @ 8:22 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, CoAssets announce that it is hosting the 2016 Expo for Property, Investing & Crowdfunding (EPIC) in Singapore next month. The crowdfunding event will take place on July 8th at the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel. EPIC is described as a 1-day event that informs SMEs and startups on… Read More

June 15, 2016 @ 3:25 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

The crowd has a habit for raising its glass (and opening its wallets) for crowdfunding campaigns offering spirits, beer and wines. Whiskey is the focus of today’s campaign. Scottish whiskey. Think Poet Robert Burns.  GlenWyvis Distillery Community Benefit Society, based in the historic Highland town… Read More

June 15, 2016 @ 2:21 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

As expected, more and more brick and mortar operations are casting wider nets for clients, by utilizing fintech and offering more and more of their services online.  Raleigh-based Sageworks, a financial information company that provides loan portfolio and risk management solutions to banks and credit unions,… Read More

June 15, 2016 @ 11:50 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, global crowdfunding platform Indiegogo announced it has teamed up with pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, to launch a new initiative called, Project Get Old. Sharing details about the campaign, Indiegogo revealed in a blog post: “Age doesn’t have to dictate our health. If we take care of… Read More

June 15, 2016 @ 10:18 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs announced that it is set to sponsor the upcoming TechBikers 2016, on June 24th. Described as a 3 day, 320km ride from Paris to London with 70 influencers, hustlers and investors from the UK tech scene, the race is taking… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:45 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

RateSetter, one of the UK’s largest P2P lenders, has announced its foray into small business loans with the aid of government backing, reported the Financial Times. In preparation for its expansion anticipated by this week’s end, Ratesetters hired a specialist team and built a technology platform to support business… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE: YRD), an online consumer finance marketplace in China, announced on Monday that it has appointed Yang Cao as both chief operating and technology officer. The website revealed that Cao will lead its technology, product and engineering divisions and oversee business operations including customer acquisition, business development and… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:04 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

FinLeap, the startup platform behind Germany’s SolarisBank, has secured €21 million in equity capital to support its fintech incubation program. Next to the founding shareholder Berlin-based HitFox-Group, new institutional investors from the insurance industry took a stake in the company including Hannover Re, the third largest worldwide reinsurer,… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 1:38 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Australian online lender Marketlend announced that the platform raised $1 million investment in a round lead by fintech entrepreneur Jon Barlow and former KKR Director and Borland Capital founder Mati Szeszkowski, according to Reuters.  The lender will use the new windfall to further automate its technology systems and… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 10:10 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Peter Hazlehurst, former CEO of Google Payments Corp., announced on Tuesday the beta launch of his new education crowdfunding platform, AngelScholars. According to its description, AngelScholars offers up a crowdfunding solution to the scholarship system providing a new and unconventional way of giving back. “Located in… Read More