Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

March 3, 2016 @ 12:01 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Bond Street, an online lending platform for small businesses, and ICB, the world’s largest bookkeeping membership organization, today announced a partnership to offer ICB USA members a “fast and affordable financing solution” for their clients, according to the release. The collaboration will enable ICB bookkeepers to… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 11:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

  United Overseas Bank (UOB) has formed a partnership with OurCrowd to provide equity crowdfunding in Southeast Asia. UOB is a leading Asian banking with over 500 offices in 19 different countries and territories around the world. Incorporated in 1935, UOB is based in Singapore… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 3:51 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE: YRD),  an online consumer finance marketplace in China, announced this week it will be considered as the first online consumer finance marketplace in China facilitating consumer loan products with asset-backed security (“ABS”) structure. Yirendai reported that as part of its strategy to diversify and expand… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 2:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Prosper Marketplace has appointed David Kimball as its Chief Financial Officer. Kimball was previously Senior Financial Officer of USAA’s Chief Operating Office in San Antonio, Texas. Before his tour at USAA, Kimball spent many years at the Ford Motor Company working in Finance. Most recently… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 12:33 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Kickstarter announced it was opening creator community space “Campus” for everyone. “Campus” was reportedly created a year ago  and allowed creators to connect with one another through the community to ask for advice and trade insights about the creative process. The crowdfunding giant… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 10:21 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, Crowdfunder UK announced its “Leap Into Action” contest as a way to change the meaning and purpose of Leap Day (February 29th). The UK-based portal revealed:  “February 29. The one day every four years, as tradition has it, that women drop to one knee… Read More

March 2, 2016 @ 9:34 am By JD Alois  |  

Archover, a secured peer to peer lender, has announced that investors in VFS loans will have all capital repaid early, along with interest payments, as the company has received new financing. VFS Legal Limited, a company that specializes in providing cash flow loans to lawyers… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 10:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

DANAdidik has launched Indonesia’s first peer to peer lending platform for micro student loans. The new platform was described as a step to provide an equal education opportunity for Indonesian students. DANAdidik says it facilitates: (i) students that are looking for education loan and (ii) sponsors… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 2:57 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

“Peer-to-Business” crowdfunding platform InvestNextDoor announced on Tuesday it is bringing its award-winning, “Borrowing 2.0” business model home to Canada. According to InvestNextDoor, the Borrowing 2.0 delivers a model that seeks to reduce investment risk in current market conditions, and focus on above average fixed-income returns for retail… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 12:28 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

LendingUSA, a marketplace lender and provider of consumer point-of-need financing, announced on Tuesday the appointment of Mike Testa, former President of CareCredit, as its new President. Mike will immediately assume his role, working with LendingUSA founder and CEO Camilo Concha to scale and grow the… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 11:47 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last month, peer to peer lender Zopa announced it launched a trio of new products to replace its existing lending offerings. Zopa Access, Zopa Classic and Zopa Plus are designed to offer more choice and flexibility to lenders.  For current lenders, Zopa will retire the existing… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 9:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, peer-to-peer lender, Wellesley & Co., announced that Peter Stott has joined the board of Wellesley Group as a non-executive director. The appointment is another major milestone for Wellesley and follows the recent senior appointments of group chief risk officer Stephen Bell and managing… Read More

March 1, 2016 @ 9:06 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Mondo, the digital only challenger bank, attempted to sell shares on Crowdcube yesterday but demand was so robust the site became overloaded causing a temporary halt to any sales.  Crowdcube has posted  a Status Page, saying they are sorry.. “The launch of the Mondo campaign… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 2:55 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Marketplace lending platform, Avant, announced on Monday it has surpassed $3 billion in loan originations in the past three years. With 440,000 customers worldwide, Avant is changing the way consumers borrow by lowering the costs and barriers of borrowing. Founded in November 2012, Avant has reportedly… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 10:36 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, equity crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube, reportedly experienced some issues after large amounts of investors looked to put their money towards digital only bank, Mondo. Mondo, a UK based challenger bank, announced earlier this month that it was seeking to raise £6 million through the… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 9:55 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

In celebration of February 29th, also known as Leap Day, Crowdfunder UK has announced a new contest as a way to change the meaning and purpose of the day. Sharing details about UK’s past traditions for Leap Day, Crowdfunder team shared: “February 29. The one… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 7:57 am By JD Alois  |  

loanDepot has announced a new partnership with Orchard Platform – the company that is at the nexus of online lending and institutional participation. loanDepot will now be integrating its performance data into the Orchard U.S. Consumer Marketplace Lending Index and Market Data products. loanDepot states believes… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 7:35 am By JD Alois  |  

Lending Works is hoping to launch their IFISA product on April 6th, just like most other peer to peer lending platforms. They too, like many others, are awaiting final approval by the FCA to offer the new saving vehicle. According to Lending Works, current regulation… Read More

February 29, 2016 @ 7:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Andy Murray, a top ranked professional tennis player and advisor to Seedrs, has released his first investments for 2106 via the equity crowdfunding platform.  Murray has reportedly invested in five different early stage companies for undisclosed amounts. Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, said… Read More

February 28, 2016 @ 8:58 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

At age 22, recent George Washington University grad Julia Kurnia co-founded the world’s first microfinance organization built entirely from crowdfunding capital sourced over the internet, using funds raised from Kiva.org in Senegal, West Africa. She spent the next four years managing U.S. government grants to small businesses in… Read More