Featured Headlines

October 8, 2015 @ 8:53 am By JD Alois  |  

The shaving / razor industry is pretty huge in the United States.  The shaving segment, according to Statista,  tops $3.6 billion annually including razors, cream etc.  Companies such as Bic, Schick and Gillette, have based a business off the demand for a product that is used… Read More

October 7, 2015 @ 10:18 am By Bret Conkin and Alixe Cormick  |  

Real estate investment is a consistently hot news topic.  Open any newspaper or news website in Canada and coverage of the real estate market is easy to find, particularly in Vancouver and Toronto.  Fortunes are made investing in residential and commercial properties. Speculation, offshore investors,… Read More

October 6, 2015 @ 10:55 am By Zhao Liang  |  

The concept of crowdfunding is derived from crowdsourcing and micro-finance. Crowdfunding is a financing process for individuals and enterprises to raise funds from the public via the internet. Crowdfunding platforms, project initiators, and investors are the participants in crowdfunding. Open online project exhibition, fund raising… Read More

October 5, 2015 @ 7:40 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

  Are Final JOBS Act Crowdfunding Rules Truly Upon Us? It’s been too long since I graced the pages of Crowdfund Insider with one of my many missives – or as some at the SEC might say: missiles.  Well, since Regulation A+ went live in… Read More

October 4, 2015 @ 10:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

There were over one hundred submissions for the RFI by the US Department of Treasury on Marketplace / Peer to Peer Lending. As one would expect, most commenters came with either an ax to grind or an urgent message to deliver.  In reading many (not… Read More

October 2, 2015 @ 6:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

List71, based in Singapore, has put a new spin on the crowdfunding space.  According to the site description, List71 is “beyond debt and equity”.  Investors sign up to receive a portion the company’s revenue for a period of time instead of purchasing direct ownership.  Company… Read More

October 1, 2015 @ 3:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

  As the Marketplace Lending industry begins to mature, awareness is growing across the population.  More and more consumers realize they may be able to save time, and money, by doing a greater portion of their banking online. Lending Club, the largest Marketplace Lending platform… Read More

September 30, 2015 @ 9:14 am By JD Alois  |  

As expected the European Commission has published its “action plan” on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative.  The basis of the European Community has been economic integration. The reality has been far different as individual nations are loathe to submit to the vagaries of policy… Read More

September 29, 2015 @ 9:05 am By JD Alois  |  

In less than two years of operation, Kickante has blitzed into the Brazilian crowdfunding scene with a growth rate that tops 1000%.  While the Brazilian economy struggles, Kickante is a shining light on the economic horizon that matches capital to entrepreneurs and other project creators…. Read More

September 29, 2015 @ 12:12 am By JD Alois  |  

PwC has recently published an interesting report on the European Capital Markets Union (CMU).   The European Commission has an objective to diversify and improve access to capital.  Knocking down barriers and streamlining processes to accomplish this goal should be good for the entire EU… Read More

September 28, 2015 @ 4:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Crowdfunding, in particular in its presales form, has proven an excellent channel to accelerate the process of innovation and lower its risk. It enables entrepreneurs to get early feedback and submit their prototypes and service concepts to the ultimate market test: the customers’ willingness to… Read More

September 25, 2015 @ 6:33 pm By Ian Ippolito  |  

Revolutionary technology is rarely useful or successful right away. Gutenberg’s printing press was a commercial failure until he decided to print the Bible. PC’s were obscure curiosities until the invention of the spreadsheet. Even the Internet was just an academic toy until the invention of… Read More

September 24, 2015 @ 6:09 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  For a company that launched less than a year ago, FlashFunders has made its presence known as one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms allowing startups to manage and execute their whole seed funding round online. The company is also one of the first broker-dealers approved by… Read More

September 24, 2015 @ 1:00 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

Equity crowdfunding platforms are “crowding out” banks, venture capitalists and business angels in the UK, suggests a new paper published by researchers from the University of St Andrews and the University of Stirling. St. Andrews explains that UK startups are “embracing the £146 million Crowdcube economy.” Crowdcube may be… Read More

September 23, 2015 @ 9:54 am By Erin Hobey  |  

“My advice to female innovators and disruptors is to have balance in your relationships with mentors, advisors, close associates and friends that will ultimately broaden both your networks and channels to access capital. This is going to be critical as you scale, grow, and ultimately… Read More

September 22, 2015 @ 8:20 am By JD Alois  |  

Mangopay, a payment solution platform targeting the marketplace / crowdfunding industry that supports over 700 customers in 22 different countries, has been acquired by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa . As part of the agreement, the bank will inject a further €10 million in capital into parent company Leetchi… Read More

September 21, 2015 @ 6:00 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

It was bittersweet walking into Commissioner Daniel Gallagher’s office for the first and last time. He has been a true champion for small business and access to capital and we all owe him a debt of gratitude. It was also wholly appropriate that the amazing… Read More

September 21, 2015 @ 2:09 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

Ramen dinners, rare wins and–often–failures: the life of a Silicon Valley startup. A new show, “Bazillion Dollar Club,” takes viewers behind the scenes of six Silicon Valley startups seeking success, either through hardware accelerator Highway1 or accelerator 500 Startups. Premiering Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 10 p.m. on… Read More

September 18, 2015 @ 10:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Financement Participatif France (FPF), the French national association of crowdfunding platforms has released the sector’s market numbers for the first semester of 2015: a 100% increase from the same period last year. Results were said to be “encouraging” as France is still a very long way… Read More

September 17, 2015 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Investing in marketplace lending assets (P2P lending) is super hot right now. The solid risk-adjusted returns provide an excellent opportunity for small investors to generate income. This is even more interesting in the historically low-interest rate environment of today.  The advent of institutional money cascading into… Read More