Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

January 28, 2014 @ 9:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

Indiegogo, a global crowdfunding platform, has announced that it has raised $40 million in Series B funding. The company was launched in 2008 and is headquartered in San Francisco.  The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB)…. Read More

January 28, 2014 @ 9:33 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer-to-Peer lending platform LendInvest was interviewed on CNBC yesterday talking about their business.  Christian Faes discusses their mortgage based P2P operation and talks about a recent bridge loan where the investor received a 14% per annum interest rate. LendInvest, launched in May 2013, has jumped… Read More

January 28, 2014 @ 7:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Widely covered “crowdfunding for gift-giving” platform Givted has officially launched their platform today.   The ‘luxury group gifting” service, which has been in the works since early 2013, wants to fix the problem of the giving of gifts which are not really wanted. The New… Read More

January 27, 2014 @ 9:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Any entrepreneur that can raise $1 million or more through the Dragon Innovation crowdfunding platform will receive an additional $100,000 in the form of a convertible note from the company.  Dragon is a crowdfunding site that targets hardware entrepreneurs.  The company not only crowdfunds but… Read More

January 27, 2014 @ 1:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

According to Madiston LendLoanInvest, UK borrowers waste thousands by choosing inflexible loan providers who force them in to lengthy terms and higher rates. Lenders may also miss a trick if they don’t have the flexibility to set and secure their own acceptable rates for loans… Read More

January 27, 2014 @ 8:38 am By JD Alois  |  

The Digital-Life-Design (DLD14) conference took place last week in Munich, Germany.  DLD is self described as a “global network on innovation, digitization, science and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and influencers for crossover conversation and inspiration”. Over 150 speakers and 1000… Read More

January 27, 2014 @ 6:50 am By JD Alois  |  

Claims Largest P2P Loan Ever. Fast growing LendInvest, a United Kingdom based peer-to-peer lending platform launched in May of 2013.  The crowdfunding site claims the title of the first online mortgage origination and loan trading platform in the UK that focuses on loans secured agains… Read More

January 26, 2014 @ 3:41 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Crowdfunded films were everywhere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Kickstarter alone fielded 20 alumni and Indiegogo chipped in six more. A complete list of Kickstarter-and-Indiegogo-funded entries are available in the following articles… Sundance Film Festival Includes 20 Kickstarter Funded Films for 2014 Indiegogo at… Read More

January 26, 2014 @ 2:43 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

If you can avoid hitting the New York Times paywall, there is a profile of Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler in the Sunday Review section. It provides a little bit of context regarding who Strickler is and what makes him tick. Interestingly, Strickler points out that… Read More

January 26, 2014 @ 2:25 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Indiegogo has undoubtedly made a concerted effort to be a leader in the global rewards-based crowdfunding market. Whereas Kickstarter has been very measured and deliberate in choosing foreign markets to become active in, Indiegogo has strived to facilitate crowdfunding transactions in as many markets as… Read More

January 26, 2014 @ 2:05 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Earlier this week we reported on a crowdfunding campaign launched by Balanced. It’s interesting in that it seeks to fund a new feature for Balanced’s ever-evolving online payments platform. In this case – and despite the fact that this is still a rewards-based campaign –… Read More

January 26, 2014 @ 10:08 am By JD Alois  |  

Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has launched their very own venture fund to allow a  professional fund manager do all the hard work in creating a diversified portfolio. Crowdcube has partnered with Strathtay Ventures who have over 15 years’ worth of expertise and a strong track… Read More

January 25, 2014 @ 6:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will take place this Sunday (January 25) featuring all of today’s favorite performers and then some.  Well as far as I am concerned – it is not the fact that Madonna will be performing live at the event but the… Read More

January 25, 2014 @ 12:37 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Crowdcube is one of a handful of global leaders in the burgeoning equity crowdfunding movement. The UK-based platform has released a video featuring early investors in companies that launched and executed successful raises on the Crowdcube platform. The video provides an interesting look at some… Read More

January 25, 2014 @ 6:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Marcus Books, the nations oldest black owned bookstore located in San Francisco, is facing the possibility of displacement. Fundrise, a commercial real estate crowdfunding platform, is helping them raise $1 Million to buy back the property. Fundrise is seeking accredited investors to save a property…. Read More

January 24, 2014 @ 4:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

Following reports that Funding Circle intends on collaborating with high street banks, Stuart Law, CEO of Assetz Capital, a fast growing peer-to-peer lender based in the United Kingdom stated: “Banks are set up to lend to SMEs, so why would a bank lend through a… Read More

January 24, 2014 @ 11:02 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Forbes has released their list of 100 of America’s most promising companies, and crowdfunding is well-represented with two entries on the list and one in the top five. Equity crowdfunding platform CircleUp comes in at #64 on the list. Revenues are cited at $1 million… Read More

January 24, 2014 @ 6:55 am By Klaus-Martin Meyer  |  

Germany is the single largest market in all of the European Union.  With a population of around 82 million, a highly educated population and many top global corporations it is the economic engine of Europe today. The crowdfunding industry has benefited from this significant base… Read More

January 23, 2014 @ 4:16 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Worth Foundation has partnered with equity crowdfunding site Seedrs to create a fund to invest the United Kingdom’s best young retail / e-commerce business.  The project was created in partnership with Metro Newspapers.  The investment sought was £200,000 but that was not quite enough as… Read More

January 23, 2014 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

Team Kickstarter has updated their back end functionality to allow crowdfunders the ability to generate targeted updates. With over 600,000 updates having been posted from the over 130,00o projects launched (and that number is growing by the second), the campaign communication tools are vital to… Read More