Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

December 17, 2015 @ 11:08 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

SoFi, a marketplace lender for financially responsible consumers, announced on Thursday it has surpassed $6 billion in funded loans across mortgages, personal loans, and student loan refinancing. Founded in the Fall of 2011, SoFi is the first marketplace lender to have reached Founded in the Fall… Read More

December 17, 2015 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

FundedByMe to Focus Solely on Investment Crowdfunding as it Ends Rewards. FundedByMe has shared a platform update, recapping 2015 and looking towards the New Year.  Based in Stockholm, FundedByMe was approved by Malaysian authorities to set up one of six investment crowdfunding platforms.  The company… Read More

December 16, 2015 @ 4:06 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, reward-based crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunder UK, announced that it has successfully secured over £1.3 million through its Crowdcube campaign. The Crowdfunder UK crew confirmed in a blog post: “More than 900 people invested in the crowdfunded share offer, which valued the company at over £15million,… Read More

December 16, 2015 @ 2:52 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

RealtyMogul, an online marketplace for real estate investing, announced on Wednesday it has opened a sales office in Houston. This new location will be run by Rick Clark, who joins the company as vice president of commercial lending. In his new role, Clark will be… Read More

December 16, 2015 @ 1:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Seeking to help startups with their crowdfunding campaigns, Seedrs unveiled some tips on how to create the perfect pitch video. On Wednesday, the UK-based equity crowdfunding platform revealed in a blog post: “When embarking on an equity crowdfunding campaign, there are a number of different… Read More

December 16, 2015 @ 12:45 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Setting out to end 2015 on the highest note possible, Crowdcube announced it was named one of the UK’s fastest growing and most disruptive tech companies by Future Fifty. The equity crowdfunding platform shared in a blog post: “We’re incredibly proud to announce that we’re now… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 3:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Opening up about his experience with Indiegogo, RE-volv founder Andreas Karelas revealed how the global crowdfunding platform helped get the nonprofit organization, which finances community-based solar energy projects with a revolving fund, off the ground. Karelas first started brainstorming for RE-volv when he was laid… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 2:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, Kickstarter announced that some of its crowdfunding film projects have made the 2016 Sundance Film Festival list. The event is set to be held in Park City, Utah on January 21-31. The crowdfunding platform declared in a blog post: “Over the past couple… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 12:49 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

With the new year just a little over two weeks away, global crowdfunding platform Indiegogo shared revealed 2015 as the “year of crowdfunding.” The website unveiled an infographic that shows off the funds raised per its categories, European and global funds raised, VC funding secured by… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 12:42 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Biz2Credit, a small business financial technology platform, today launched the BizAnalyzer Score Simulator Tool. The tool, patented in June, allows small business owners to capture a personalized snapshot of their business health. The Score Simulator acts as a virtual CFO, evaluating how cyclical changes to revenue, cash flow,… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 12:22 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

“After much anticipation, the exciting news is finally out,” shared DealIndex Founder and CEO Neha Manaktala on LinkedIn. In partnership with CNBC, DealIndex announced the launch of four crowdfunding indices: International 50 Index, UK 50 Index, Technology Index, and the International Aggregate Index. The indices take transparency in… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 11:50 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Bizfi, a fintech company whose online small business finance platform combines aggregation, funding and a participation marketplace, announced that Metropolitan Equity Partners has provided a structured financing facility of $65 million to the company to drive growth. Since 2005, Bizfi and its proprietary marketplace and funding… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 11:21 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This past summer, Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, inXile’s Brian Fargo, and Obsidian’s Feargus Urquhart, launched Fig, which focuses exclusively on games. The platform allows the reward-based component as a way of “proving out a market, de-risking investment, getting investors more excited.” If investors see fans supporting a… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 10:56 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, Sponsorise.me, a rewards-based crowdfunding platform dedicated to sports, announced the launch of its U.S. website, us.sponsorise.me. Founded in 2013, Sponsorise.me has already received more than 4,000 projects with athletes, teams, organizations and leagues from around the world and helped them raise more than US$2 million… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 9:08 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, crowdfunding platform Indiegogo shared details about its booth at the CES 2016, which will be held January 6-9, 2016 in Las Vegas. The website shared: “Last year more than 75 Indiegogo campaigners showcased their products at CES, representing over $20 million raised on Indiegogo, and we… Read More

December 15, 2015 @ 1:00 am By JD Alois  |  

In the Fintech 100 list published yesterday, there was a single equity crowdfunding platform included in the top ten on the list. OurCrowd, based in Jerusalem but truly a global investment platform, jumped from number 22 last year to number 10 in ranking. OurCrowd has raised… Read More

December 14, 2015 @ 2:10 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last month, fellow of the Royal Society and brand communications manager of Crowdfunder UK, Jess Ratty, took to the stage of TedxBristol to share her insights on crowdfunding. The sold-out event was set to be one of the largest in the UK this year, with over 1,800 people… Read More

December 14, 2015 @ 12:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lender Lufax is close to raising $1 billion at an astounding valuation of $18 billion.  Shanghai based Lufax, recently rebranded as Lu.com, raised capital earlier this year at a solid $10 billion valuation. Investor demand is said to be very strong. But,… Read More

December 14, 2015 @ 12:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, RealtyMogul, the online marketplace for real estate investing,  announced  the completion of its first full cycle equity transaction with the purchase and sale of American Mini, a self-storage property in Tucson, Arizona. In just 18 months, investors earned an annual total return of 16.8… Read More

December 14, 2015 @ 10:52 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Continuing its new 7-week How to Crowdfund series, crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder UK revealed the second step to using the funding method on Monday. The Crowdfunder UK team declared: “The most important part of the crowdfunding process, is that people need to understand your idea, why it means… Read More