Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

March 31, 2015 @ 1:51 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

ExtraFunds, a loan servicing company within the short-term lending marketplace that has serviced over 42,000 consumer loans in five years, seeks  to raise at least $1 million through the Crowdfunder platform to dramatically expand business operations. The raised capital will be used for additional lead acquisition, marketing… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 10:50 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

CommunityLeader, a technology and service leader in the emerging crowdfunding industry, announced that its integrated private-labeled software and service package is ready and compliant with the new Reg A+ rules published last week by the SEC. Joseph Barisonzi, CommunityLeader co-founder and CEO, stated: “The power and… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 10:05 am By JD Alois  |  

Investment crowdfunding platform Seedrs has shared it has experienced a very successful quarter having captured over £10 million in investment for Q1 while claiming the title of Europe’s most active equity crowdfunding platform. According to co-founder and CEO Jeff Lynn; “We’re proud to have become… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 9:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Total Addressable Market Estimated at “Just Under” $3 Trillion Prosper, one of the leaders in the ‘marketplace’ or peer to peer lending space, had a great month.  March will be a record “by far” as it easily beats $200 million in aggregate loan originations pushing… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 9:29 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Today, GrapeSeed Wine Fund launched as the first company to marry consumers’ desire for choice and exclusivity with winemakers’ passion for creating distinctive, small production wines. Leveraging a crowdfunding model, GrapeSeed enables members, or “Partners,” to pay a subscription fee to fund one-of-a-kind wine projects… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 9:13 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Symbid, an online funding platform for start-ups and small businesses, today announced its transaction volume since launching The Funding Network on March 4th. Over 50 companies were funded via The Funding Network™ for a total of $40.1 million in 22 days, creating the potential for future Symbid… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Companisto has announced the closing of funding for Weissenhaus Grand Village & Spa at a record amount of € 7.5 million. The platform has claimed Europe’s largest crowdfunding campaign as approximately 1600 investors participated in the public offer. Crowdfunding of Weissenhaus was paused for a period… Read More

March 31, 2015 @ 8:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Thor Mitchell is leaving Silicon Valley and moving to the UK to join equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube as Head of Product.  The new position at Crowdcube is described as serving the needs of entrepreneurs and investors thus assuring ongoing innovation and growth. Thor will be immediately… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 4:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

PledgeMusic is thrilled to announce a new campaign with photography duo and publishers of the fashion magazine, Herring & Herring, for the June release of the 2015 issue. Herring & Herring are about to start shooting their 2015 issue featuring Hilary Swank, Lilly Allen, Adrian Grenier, Emmy… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 11:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

With more and more filmmakers looking to the crowd to fund their up and coming projects, crowdfunding giant Kickstarter gathered a few moviemakers to share their funding success tips. Kickstarter’s Niina Pollari wrote: “It can seem incredibly difficult to determine a realistic and attainable goal for… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 11:22 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Having acquired customers across the continent including Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and the UK, the Nordic fintech startup Holvi seeks to make its name better known in the European banking landscape and reshape financial services across Europe by targeting Germany and Austria. “Germany along the… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 10:24 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Seedrs, the largest crowdfunding platform in Europe to focus solely on equity investments, announced today that it has made two key appointments to its world-class Advisory Board: Dave Morin and Logan Green. Dave Morin, helms social networking site Path as its CEO and Co-Founder. Path’s mission is to make… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 10:24 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Back in 2012 into 2013, Yashar Behzadi and Greg Moon, co-founders of San Francisco-based popSLATE, took to crowdfunding giant Indiegogo to raise $150,000 for their invention – the second screen case for smartphones. Within its 30-day run on Indiegogo, the project captured well over its… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 9:38 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The investment in the peer-to-peer lender RateSetter, from veteran investment banker, Ken Costa, Woodford Investment Management and Artemis, places confidence in the nascent UK P2P and crowdfunding industry. Costa also led a £25m investment in the online-only challenger bank, Atom Bank, late last year. The £20… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 9:24 am By Erin Hobey  |  

In February Cloud Lending Solutions announced that its customer and partner,  LendingPoint, had successfully used Cloud Lending as a foundation to go from concept to market in less than ninety days.  Helmed by CEO and Founder Snehal Fulzele and CTO Darpan Saini,  Cloud Lending has quickly disrupted global direct online lending as more and… Read More

March 30, 2015 @ 8:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Ablrate, a niche player in the peer to peer lending space that focuses on Aircraft backed securities, has announced a partnership with SIPPClub that is designed to enable sophisticated investors to invest in Ablrate loans through EvolutionSIPP. Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) will assist the marketplace… Read More

March 29, 2015 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending platform SoFi recently published a statement on the challenges of young entrepreneurs.  We all know that making the decision to become an entrepreneur is an arduous task. Long hours and lots of risk.  It is not the chosen path for everyone… Read More

March 27, 2015 @ 4:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fundrise, one of the first crowdfunding platforms in the United States, was an early innovator when it comes to real estate crowdfunding.  Founded by brothers Ben & Dan Miller, the pair started using old Regulation A to offer shares in small real estate deals. This… Read More

March 27, 2015 @ 11:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Speaking on a panel discussion at the Boao Forum in southern China, the CEO of Shanghai Lujiazui International Financial Asset Exchange (commonly referred to as Lufax), Gregory Gibb, addressed the pressing issue of fraud. The peer to peer lending industry in China has experienced supercharged growth over the… Read More

March 26, 2015 @ 6:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Data published by the China Banking Association indicates a “surge” in internet banking.  According to a report in ECNS, individuals using online banking services has hit 909 million – an increase of 150 million compared to the year prior. Financial transactions totaled an astounding 60.85… Read More