Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

June 19, 2015 @ 3:18 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Icontrol Networks, the company behind the most widely-distributed interactive security and home automation platform in the industry, announced a new wave of participants in OpenHome Labs. It also announced the Zen Thermostat, an inaugural OpenHome Labs participant, has successfully completed the program and is now OpenHome Certified – meaning it can work… Read More

June 19, 2015 @ 2:04 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, start-up crowdfunded book publisher, Inkshares, announced that Seattle-based publisher Ada’s Technical Books became the first independent bookstore to sign on for its imprint program, Collection. During an interview with Publisher Weekly, Matt Kaye, VP of marketing and operations and former produt manager at Amazon,… Read More

June 19, 2015 @ 9:17 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Crowdfundraiser announced the official release of Regulation A+ crowdfunding kickoff pricing for new companies seeking capital. As of today (June 19th), equity crowdfunding for both accredited and non-accredited investors is now legal. The deals that will begin registration with the SEC today will take a few months… Read More

June 19, 2015 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

OneVest, a New York based investment crowdfunding platform, has announced a Series A self-crowdfunding round – coordinated with the implementation of Title IV of the JOBS Act. The offer, a 506(c), is now live on the OneVest site.  OneVest stated they will be self-crowdfunding between… Read More

June 19, 2015 @ 8:39 am By JD Alois  |  

Today (June 19th) for the first time ordinary Americans are going to be able to invest in SME’s before the IPO. Ryan Feit, CEO and co-founder of SeedInvest took this message to CNBC’s MadMoney to discuss this regulatory change. Feit pounds the theme that until… Read More

June 19, 2015 @ 7:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Los Angeles based StartEngine has launched its equity crowdfunding platform on the day that Regulation A+ now allows anyone to invest in early stage companies – not just the very rich.  According to company representatives, StartEngine will target aspiring investors – including North America’s over… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 10:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Diversified crowdfunding platform Symbid has just released its very first loan offering on their updated platform. The new debt offer is from a young company called CareRate, a healthcare review app. The loan is offering a 5.5% yield and is live now. CEO and co-founder… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 7:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

Indiegogo has been very forthright about it’s intent on entering into investment crowdfunding.  While the process may be similar to its rewards based platform today, investment crowdfunding is a highly regulated space where the SEC, and others, will always be on guard. Tomorrow, Title IV… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 4:11 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, crowdfunding platform GoFundMe confirmed that it has received some high-profile attention during its recent funding round. The website revealed: “Our mission at GoFundMe is to change the way the world gives. We’ve been thinking about how to best serve as many people as… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 3:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bond Street Marketplace,  a direct lender for small business, has closed an equity / debt financing round in the amount of $110 million led by Spark Capital and Jefferies. New participants include Slow Ventures, Eagle Cliff, Nathan Blecharczyk (Co-Founder of Airbnb), David Chang (Chef and founder of… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 10:30 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  At the helm of Avant, a Chicago-based consumer loan program named to Forbes’ 2015 list of America’s Most Promising Companies, is founder and CEO Al Goldstein. A serial entrepreneur in technology, consumer services and real estate, Al co-founded Avant with John Sun, now the… Read More

June 18, 2015 @ 7:21 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Coinffeine,  an open source, peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange platform, enables users  to buy and sell bitcoins securely and anonymously without having to rely on a centralized exchange like MtGox or Bitstamp. It’s like BitTorrent for  bitcoins.  Coinffeine’s beta P2P exchange, hopes to offer the same local buying service… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 10:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Djenee, a new company that has developed a “personal on-demand digital concierge service”, raised almost S$500,000 on the first day of equity crowdfunding on FundedByMe according to a company statement.  The platform called this funding round a “new standard for equity crowdfunding in Asia”. Djenee… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 7:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The SEC has announced the conclusion of an investigation regarding Silicon Valley based Sand Hill Exchange, a firm that was apparently selling security based swaps to retail investors without a necessary registration statement and outside a national exchange. Sand Hill Exchange settled without admitting or… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 11:47 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, South West accounting firm, Harland Accountants, announced that it is set to sponsor two upcoming campaigns on CrowdfunderUK: Crowdfund Devon and Cornwall. According to the crowdfunding platform, the firm is currently planning to offer free specialist tax and business advice for both… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 11:40 am By JD Alois  |  

PledgeMe, one of several investment crowdfunding platforms operating in New Zealand, has shared that things are picking up on the site.  Just in the past two weeks, two offers on the platform have hit their minimum funding targets and “are blazing forward looking for more… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 10:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

In honor of the LGBTQ pride month, Indiegogo announced a special event for the community, which will be held this Thursday at its headquarters in San Francisco. Global crowdfunding platform shared: “We will feature a panel where a few individuals discuss their perspective on what it’s… Read More

June 17, 2015 @ 8:07 am By JD Alois  |  

SoFi, a four year old direct lender that is dominating the student loan refinance space, has stated it expects to do over $1 billion in securitization in Q3 alone.  SoFi has completed 5 previous securitization’s with a total volume of $1.55 billion so this will… Read More

June 16, 2015 @ 5:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform Realty Mogul has received $250 million in direct commitments from large institutional investors, according to a company statement.  The investors were not identified but described as institutions that “have sizable balance sheets and want to work with a leader in the… Read More

June 16, 2015 @ 12:03 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Continuing its global expansion, crowdfunding giant Kickstarter announced that it has opened shop for five European countries: Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Kickstarter revealed on Tuesday: “We’re thrilled to announce that Kickstarter is now available to creators in five more European countries: Austria, Belgium,… Read More