Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

August 6, 2015 @ 1:59 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Interest in crowdfunding from banks and other noteworthy investors including some family offices has steadily increased in recent months, so much that Money&Co blogged, “It’s often said that crowdfunding is in danger of losing the crowd.” Could crowdfunding lose its crowd? How does the industry… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 1:03 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

In a brief letter, Companisto announced that a new asset class will be available starting 18 August: “Since Companisto launched three years ago, we have paid attention to offering projects with a certain variety of industries, phases, and orientations. In other words, we have enabled Companists to… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 12:09 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Crowdcube Shares 2015 Highlights To Date: Closing in on both £100M Successfully Invested and 200,000 in Investor Community As Crowdcube inches closer to £100m successfully invested through the site and an impressive £45M invested so far this year, new data from Crowdsurfer, an independent crowdfunding… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 11:37 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Funding Circle touted a record-breaking £47.5 million was lent to businesses across the UK through its marketplace in July. Currently 46 loan requests on the marketplace are available, including a property developer building 4 new homes in Wigan and a fundraising business looking to expand. The total value of new loans… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 10:51 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fairway America, an authority on small balance real estate (“SBRE”) pooled investment funds, announced today the launch of Centerra RE Opportunity Fund, LLC (the “Fund”) out of Modesto, California. Fairway’s client Centerra Capital, Inc. (“Centerra”) was formed in 1998 and specializes in providing real estate… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 10:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Marketplace lending platforms have taken advantage of the fact that many were in attendance in DC for a gathering at the US Department of Treasury to publish a Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights.  The coalition of signees included Funding Circle, Lending Club, Fundera and… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 10:02 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Crowdfundraiser, a crowdfunding platform that is focused on both debt and equity crowdfund investing now offers investment options for both accredited and non-accredited investors alike, announced on Thursday that it has been renamed to Crowdfund.co. The platform’s Director, Nate Nead, revealed: “We’re excited about the possibilities with this new domain and… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 8:37 am By JD Alois  |  

ElMindA and Consumer Physics, two companies financed by global equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd, have received a prestigious recognition in being included in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Technology Pioneers 2015.  Each year the WEF selects 49 of the worlds most promising tech companies to highlight… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 9:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

RealtyMogul has named Steve Ozonian to its board of directors. Ozonian  is described as a real estate, finance and technology executive who has led the growth and development of several major real estate companies including Prudential Real Estate Services and REALTOR.com.  The addition of Ozonian… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 3:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundrise expects the Seattle market will be one of their strongest markets over the next year as they’ve seen growing demand from investors from around the country. Fundrise states they are very bullish on the Seattle market as it continues to be on the top five strongest markets in… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 12:45 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

AuditionTrail, a crowdfunding platform, recently launched as a new site that will allow musician backers to fund their upcoming audition travels. The platform was created by musician Miguel Sonnak, who was inspired to create the site following a visit to the Aspen Music Festival. Sonnak revealed he hopes that… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 11:53 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, UK crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunder UK, released a new guide called 95 Tips, for Crowdfunders from Crowdfunders.  The platform describes the document as: “Directly from the creative masterminds of the UK’s leading and most innovative crowdfunding superstars, we are proud to present you with the… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 11:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Affirm, a FinTech startup that provides credit at the point of sale, has acquired LendLayer, an internet finance platform that provides financing options to students.  In what may be a sign of industry consolidation, Affirm announced it had “acquired [the] talent behind education lender LendLayer”…. Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 10:11 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Ready to offer up some crowdfunding advice, co-founder of Crowdcube, Luke Lang sat down with SME Web to share his thoughts on the funding method. During his interview, Lang discussed the equity crowdfunding platform: “Crowdcube is an investment platform where people who are backing or… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 4:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Lending Club has announced that Sandeep Bhandari, Assistant Chief Credit Officer at Capital One Bank and Venture Partner, will join Lending Club as Chief Credit Officer later this month. Bhandari will assume responsibility for credit risk management across all products, replacing in that capacity Lending Club Chief… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 4:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The largest marketplace lending platform in the United States reported Q2 results today. Lending Club (NYSE:LC) stated that loan originations grew to $1.91 billion versus the same period year prior where the direct lender facilitated $1.01 billion in loans.  Lending Club said total loans have now… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 2:52 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Ovation, an arts network, announced on Tuesday it has teamed up with crowdfunding platform RocketHub to develop a new program called Creative Studio, which is dedicated to creators and artists. Ovation’s CEO Charles Segars and Brian Meece, CEO of RocketHub revealed the program is set to go live this October…. Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 1:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Mass Fidelity, the creators of the Indiegogo alum The Core, announced on Tuesday its selection and participation in Amazon Launchpad, a new program that showcases cutting-edge products from today’s brightest start-ups, to offer the Core to millions of Amazon customers. Amazon Launchpad was launched last week… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 1:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Renren, a Chinese social media platform and significant investor in disruptive finance, is going through a period of turmoil.  On July 31st acting Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ashley Law Kwok Wai, resigned from his position at the company to “pursue another career opportunity”. Around the same time… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 12:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Scott Picken is based in South Africa but he clearly thinks big when considering the addressable market for his real estate crowdfunding platform Wealth Migrate. It is his opinion that banking, insurance, real estate – basically all aspects of finance –  will be revolutionized by… Read More