Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

July 30, 2015 @ 9:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

SoFi, a marketplace lender, announced it has priced a securitization of $417.6 million in refinanced student loans. It also announced SoFi was considered the first fintech company to receive an “AAA” rating from DBRS and an “AA2” from Moody’s for the senior notes, which equaled $387.3 million. Nino Fanlo, SoFi CFO/COO,… Read More

July 30, 2015 @ 8:13 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdcube, UKs largest equity crowdfunding platform by total capital raised, has received £6 million in a funding round to further boost growth.  The funding was led by Numis, a stockbrokerage firm, Tim Draper / Draper Esprit and existing investor Balderton Capital.  The announcement of new… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 2:45 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs revealed this week that it has raised £10 million during a Series A round led by Woodford Patient Capital Trust plc (WPCT) and Augmentum Capital. The funds will reportedly be used to launch into the U.S. market. According to TechCrunch, the platform previously captured $7.2… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 1:27 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Credibly, an emerging Fintech platform that leverages data science and analytics to improve the speed, cost and choice of capital available to all small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), has launched a new educational platform, In.Credibly.com, to help businesses evaluate working capital needs. The resource hub is… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Direct lending platform CommonBond has selected Morgan Edwards as its new Chief Financial Officer.  Edwards has spend the last 7 years as an MD at Macquarie Capital.  According to a company report, Edwards has tallied over 25 years in traditional finance.  At Macquarie he played… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 6:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Funding Options and Finpoint, both GLI Finance portfolio companies, have been shortlisted for the British Business Bank referral program.  Established under the Small Business Enterprise and Employment Act, the program requires traditional banks to refer any SME whose loan has been rejected to an alternative… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 3:27 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

DICK’S Sporting Goods (NYSE:  DKS), along with The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation, announced today a partnership with DonorsChoose.org, a crowdfunding platform for U.S. public schools. For the first time ever, DonorsChoose.org will feature a dedicated “Team Sports” section supporting public school athletic programs. The DICK’S Sporting… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 1:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, fundraising platform Innovairre, and crowdfunding provider Fundly announced a strategic partnership to deliver a funding solution as a part of Innovairre’s first of its kind software platform. This new crowdfunding module will be offered to Innovairre’s clients and prospects through Innovairre MC, the fully integrated fundraising… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 12:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Onevest announced on Tuesday it is about to reach $2M in financing for its Series A round after self–crowdfunding on its own platform. The company’s round of funding has five days left on the platform before it closes. The platform launched the 506c offering to celebrate the implementation of Title IV… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 11:35 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Payments startup Stripe landed a new round of funding from investors including American Express, Visa and Sequoia Capital, valuing the San Francisco-based company at $5 billion. According to the announcement, Stripe signed an agreement with Visa to work on digital transactions such as website ‘buy… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 10:58 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Mambu, the SaaS banking platform provider, today announced that Reparo Finance, an independently-owned business finance company  specializing in SME business lending, has selected Mambu to launch a new business line offering loans to small-to-midsize enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.  The company chose Mambu’s cloud-based platform… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 10:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Direct lender Dealstruck has formed a partnership with LendingTree, an online loan marketplace. According to Dealstruck, LendingTree’s customers will gain access to Dealstruck’s multiple credit products. LendingTree has facilitated over 55 million loans to date. Dealstruck sited an example of Dennis Corrado who used a… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 7:51 am By JD Alois  |  

GLI Finance, a portfolio company that operates multiple internet finance companies, states their platforms are experiencing solid growth as “SME finance opportunity continues to boom”.  GLI is publicly traded on the LSE. According to a company report, the GLI platforms leading the charge include; Finexkap… Read More

July 27, 2015 @ 11:50 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Offering up his thoughts on crowdfunding, EquityNet’s Judd Hollas sat down with Arkansas Business to discuss the funding method along with the platform’s history. During the interview, Hollas shared details about EquityNet: “Since 2005, we’ve been operating one of the largest business crowdfunding platforms, providing… Read More

July 27, 2015 @ 9:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

China Rapid Finance, China’s online consumer lending marketplace serving online users and China’s emerging middle class, today announced an initial closing of $35 million in its Series C round of financing at a pre-money valuation of US $1 billion. The round was led by Broadline… Read More

July 24, 2015 @ 2:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

New peer to peer lending platform Funding Societies has inked a partnership with Orangefield Trust to hold funds from lenders.  The collaboration is said to “provide lenders with greater confidence in engaging P2P lending platforms”. “We have taken steps to ensure there is no mishandling of… Read More

July 24, 2015 @ 12:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this month, co-founder of Kickstarter Charles Adler opened his latest project, Center for Lost Arts, in Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribute, Adler unveiled the center, which is inside a former West Town meat wholesaler that was about to be torn down for less than $50,000. He… Read More

July 24, 2015 @ 11:14 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

SocietyOne, Australia’s peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, announced that Mitchel Harad has joined the company as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Harad was the Vice President of Marketing of Lending Club, a leading direct lender with headquarters in San Francisco. Leading Lending Club’s borrower marketing efforts over the… Read More

July 24, 2015 @ 8:16 am By JD Alois  |  

UK equity crowdfunding platform SyndicateRoom has been selected as a finalist for two awards. SyndicateRoom is in the running for Lloyds Bank National Business Awards and the 2015 Growth Investor Awards. The platform will compete in the ‘New Business of the Year’ category at the National… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 2:30 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Seeking to help writers and publishers campaign organizers with their projects, Kickstarter offers up some tips on how to successfully create a great campaign pitch video. The crowdfunding platform declared: “A video is one of the first things your backers will see — but that… Read More