Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

October 27, 2015 @ 11:15 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The Indian fintech platform Razorpay has raised US$9 million in Series A funding led by leading VC firm Tiger Global, with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners, according to a release.  Including its US$2.5M seed funding round, the company’s total fundraise to date is US$11.5 million.  Funding will be used to build Razorpay’s product and… Read More

October 27, 2015 @ 8:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Renren Inc. (NYSE: RENN) (“Renren” or the “Company”), a real-name social networking internet platform in China, announced on Tuesday  it has completed an additional $150 million preferred stock investment in Social Finance Inc. (“SoFi”), a San Francisco-based online lending company. Renren has been an investor… Read More

October 27, 2015 @ 7:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Edinburgh-based investment crowdfunding platform ShareIn is targeting China as a unique opportunity.  Announced today at the World Crowdfunding  Conference taking place in Guiyang, China, the company stated it would launch the first joint, China – UK crowdfunding campaign designed to allow Chinese investors to purchase… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 4:30 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday during the Money2020 conference, real estate lending marketplace Groundfloor introduced three new tools that expand peer-to-peer real estate lending. These tools enable quick comparison of loans, automated investing and in-depth analysis of loan grading factors. Since announcing its historic qualification by the SEC on… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 4:22 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Bizfi, the premier fintech company with a platform that combines aggregation, funding and a participation marketplace for small businesses announced that it originated more than $127 million in business financing in the third quarter of 2015. This represents a double-digit percent increase in originations compared… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 3:06 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Biz2Credit, an online platform for small business funding, announced at the Money20/20 conference a partnership with Customers Bank (NYSE: CUBI), a community-based, full-service bank with assets of approximately $7.6 billion. Biz2Credit will power a fully digital experience for the bank’s small business customers and bank staff. Biz2Credit and… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 1:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

PeerStreet has announced it is now open to all accredited investors. Previously the real estate crowdfunding platform was open only on an invitation basis.  The investment platform wants to make investing in real estate backed loans as “easy as buying stocks”. PeerStreet states that during… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 11:06 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

ReadyforZero, a company that was acquired by marketplace lender Avant, announced on Monday that that free credit monitoring is now available to all users with personal financial tools. With this new feature, users can manage both their personal debt and credit from a single web and… Read More

October 26, 2015 @ 9:35 am By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Onevest, a New York based investment crowdfunding platform focused on funding start-up entities, has announced the launching today of its new “1,000 Angles” crowdfunding vehicle. Touted as the “world’s largest digital-first, invitation-only investor network,” Onevest seeks to modernize the way venture capital funds are formed… Read More

October 25, 2015 @ 8:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Investment crowdfunding platform SyndicateRoom received a nice recognition at the 2015 Growth Investor Awards. The site was given the title of the “Best Investment Platform” following the Alternative Investment Summit. Finalists also included competitor Seedrs. Co-founder and CEO Gonçalo de Vasconcelos commented on the recognition stating;… Read More

October 23, 2015 @ 11:28 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, crowdfunded book publisher Inkshares announced two platform changes that the company believes will allow it to publish more books and grow even faster. These changes are significant, comprising a new funding goal structure and a refined credit system. The company shared: “In 2014 our funding… Read More

October 23, 2015 @ 10:04 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, peer-to-peer lending platform Lending Works announced it is now offering even higher standards in ID fraud protection by using AU10TIX BOS. AU10TIX BOS is considered the “first and only 2nd generation ID authentication and record generation technology” on the market today. It is… Read More

October 22, 2015 @ 1:46 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, online marketplace for real estate investing, RealtyMogul, announced the promotion of Amy Wu to Vice President of Residential Finance. In this new role, Wu will be responsible for overseeing all residential sales and the company’s operations team in Irvine, Calif. Jilliene Helman, CEO of RealtyMogul,… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 6:36 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  Former Googlers Dave Girouard and Anna Mongyat joined with Paul Gu (a Thiel Fellow) to launch Upstart in 2012.  Originally envisioned as a more altruistic lending platform that invested in the person and not the loan – somewhat similar to Pave –  the platform… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 2:17 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Indiegogo announced it has rebranded “Indiegogo Life” to a new fee-free fundraising community for personal and non-profit causes called “Generosity.” The crowdfunding platform declared: “Since 2008, Indiegogo users have been spreading creativity, positivity, and—if we might be so bold—a can-do spirit that’s changing… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 1:27 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fellow Finance announced this week that it is now open for investors with a bank account within European Union (EU) or Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Fellow Finance is an online marketplace for high-performing unsecured consumer loans. For investors Fellow Finance offers a possibility to… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 12:54 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Bondora, a pan-European marketplace lender, opens to accredited investors from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The platform now allows global accredited investors to invest directly into personal unsecured loans across three European markets including Spain,… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 12:46 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Lendix, a France-based small business loans platform, is gearing up for its international expansion by appointing new members to its growing team. Former Head of Daily Banking and Savings at online bank AXA Banque Pascal Ouvrard joins the company as International Development Director, reporting to… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 12:00 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

  True to its name, Kabbage is growing and growing, partnering now with ING. Last week, Kabbage announced a $135 million equity raise led by Reverence Capital Partners as well as ING, Santander InnoVentures, and Scotiabank. Kabbage Inc., a leading technology and data platform powering automated lending, and ING, a leading… Read More

October 21, 2015 @ 11:16 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Platform Black announced it has funded over £100 million in invoices for UK SMEs. The provider of alternative finance has reached this milestone in just three years since the company’s inception, an achievement which highlights the soaring demand from UK businesses for access to… Read More