Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

July 23, 2015 @ 11:25 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, crowdfunding platform EquityNet announced the release of new crowdfunding statistics for 2015 based on a sampling of over 15,000 U.S. businesses listed on EquityNet from 2007 to present day. Judd Hollas, founder and CEO of EquityNet stated: “EquityNet has been a leader when it comes to tracking the… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 10:15 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

As the founder of Merchant Cash and Capital (MCC), a small business alternative lending company that has also worked with companies from UPS to Pita Pit, Stephen Sheinbaum oversees a company that is using leading technology to change the way small businesses get capital. Prior… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 10:12 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Capify, formerly AUSvance, will serve as an international conglomerate provider of unsecured alternative finance solutions to SMEs. Capify,  powered by a proprietary technology and analytics platform, today announced its global rebrand aiming to become the most diverse, worldwide alternative SME financing platform. Headquartered in the… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 10:11 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Dealstruck, the online lender that provides lending solutions for small businesses at every stage of their lifecycle, today announced that it received another $10 million capital investment from Community Investment Management LLC (“CIM”), an investment firm focused on marketplace lending. This investment allows Dealstruck to… Read More

July 23, 2015 @ 8:30 am By JD Alois  |  

LexShares, an online marketplace that matches plaintiffs litigation to investors says it is “open to institutional investors”.  The crowdfunding platform states its model of crowdfunding has not changed but it will now allow individual investors participate alongside big money.  The site did not announce it… Read More

July 22, 2015 @ 3:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lender ThinCats has appointed Jill Sandford as Head of Risk and Recoveries. She joins ThinCats on secondment from Baker Tilly a leading firm of business advisers where she is a Director of Restructuring and Recovery. According to ThinCats, Sandford will be responsible for… Read More

July 22, 2015 @ 2:16 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

In celebration of its 20 years of Tech, CNET recently featured experts to share details about the growth of the industry. One of those was Indiegogo’s CEO and co-founder, Slava Rubin. In his article, Crowdfunding lets people decide which products matter, Rubin shared details about Indiegogo: “Innovation… Read More

July 22, 2015 @ 12:37 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Fundrise recently revealed to Crowdfund Insider that their real estate pipeline is ready to pop higher.  This is even with the fact that less than 1% of the 300 plus deals submitted each week are accepted to raise capital on the Fundrise platform. Co-founder and… Read More

July 22, 2015 @ 12:19 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, crowdfunding platform Indiegogo announced that it has formed a partnership with Draper University that will allow applicants/potential students to crowdfund for their tuition The site shared: “At our site, you can see campaigns from budding entrepreneurs who explain why they want to attend… Read More

July 22, 2015 @ 9:18 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Symbid, an online funding platform for start-ups and small businesses, announced on Wednesday the addition of four new members to its Board of Directors. The new members include former MD of Deutsche Telekom Hendrik Kasteel, former Sanoma COO Michiel Buitelaar, former Morgan Stanley officer Jérôme Koelewijn… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 8:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Funding Circle has declared approximately $235 million in lending for Q2, boosted in part by a solid June that saw $100 million in loans alone. Funding Circle stakes the claim as the “world’s leading online marketplace for business loans”. Funding Circle stated the US market grew a… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 5:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this week, Prosper altered the way it handled charged-off loans. According to a company report, Prosper has now incorporated a “debt sale recovery strategy” created to increase the level of returns to investors. Prosper will now bundle charged-off loans to be sold. Prosper states… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 5:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

CircleBack Lending has raised $17.5 million in funding according to information provided by Owler. CircleBack retweeted the information late last week. Owler places the total raised to date at $23.9 million with the most recent funding topping previous rounds. No further details have been made… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 5:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

RealtyMogul continues to hire aggressively with the new appointment of Timothy Li as its Chief Information Officer.  The announcement comes just as the real estate crowdfunding platform raised $35 million in a Series B Funding round led by Sorenson earlier this month. Li previously served… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 2:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Marlette Funding, LLC, a marketplace for Best Egg unsecured personal loans, recently announced that it raised $75 million in equity funding to accelerate growth, further its partnership agenda and begin putting loans on its own balance sheet. The round was led by Invus Opportunities, a diversified… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 11:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Maples Fund Services, an independent global fund services provider and division of MaplesFS, has announced the opening of its office in San Francisco, its first on the west coast. The expansion further solidifies the firm’s North American presence and bolsters its service offering for clients… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 10:31 am By JD Alois  |  

LiftForward has received $250 million in credit facilities from entities managed by Varadero Capital and GLI Finance.  LiftForward is a marketplace lending platform that provides asset backed and working capital loans.  According to company information, Varadero also received rights to acquire equity in LiftForward as… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 9:08 am By Therese Torris  |  

Alternativa.fr is an intriguing cross between an equity crowdfunding platform and an alternative exchange system which gives it something many crowdfunding platforms would like to have: a secondary market for trading SME’s private equity shares. Creating liquidity for private shares is an ongoing discussion in… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 3:24 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  “I was hoping for a 50 percent success rate,” said Katharine Czarnecki, community development director for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s (MEDC) “Public Spaces, Community Places” initiative, a partnership with crowdfunding platform Patronicity and the Michigan Municipal League. Czarnecki oversees the program, and was quoted… Read More

July 20, 2015 @ 9:15 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

For over a decade Gust, and its predecessor Angelsoft, has quietly been become one of, if not the, largest private investing platforms in the world. Gust is a SaaS platform that helps connect entrepreneurs with investors and other benefactors, in whatever form such investors take,… Read More