Featured Headlines

August 7, 2015 @ 8:00 am By Giles Andrews  |  

This is a question I get asked a lot. And the usual line of thinking of those asking the question is that it does matter.  The common assumption is that the increased activity of “institutional” funds is crowding out the core retail investors that platforms… Read More

August 6, 2015 @ 10:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Marketplace lending platforms have taken advantage of the fact that many were in attendance in DC for a gathering at the US Department of Treasury to publish a Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights.  The coalition of signees included Funding Circle, Lending Club, Fundera and… Read More

August 5, 2015 @ 4:56 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

The awareness and popularity of real estate based equity crowdfunding (i.e. “RECfunds”) continues to grow exponentially. As do the number of real estate crowdfunding portals. RECFunds offer substantial benefits to today’s investors including access to multiple types of projects, smaller barriers to investment, and portfolio… Read More

August 4, 2015 @ 12:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Scott Picken is based in South Africa but he clearly thinks big when considering the addressable market for his real estate crowdfunding platform Wealth Migrate. It is his opinion that banking, insurance, real estate – basically all aspects of finance –  will be revolutionized by… Read More

August 3, 2015 @ 8:37 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfund Insider reported last month on the US Department of Treasury’s interest in the fast growing Marketplace / Peer-to-Peer lending space. Treasury published a “Request for Information” (embedded below) seeking public comment to study the various business models and review “how the regulatory framework should… Read More

August 2, 2015 @ 7:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

Woomentum.Fund, a Singapore based crowdfunding platform, launched this weekend seeking to empower, and help fund, Asian based women led startups. Founded by Mouna Aouri Langendorf, Woomentum.Fund seeks to provide personalized support, and social boost, along with capital for female entrepreneurs. “Women entrepreneurs often find it hard… Read More

August 2, 2015 @ 4:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

Back in May of 2014, Crowdfund Insider reported on the first state Attorney General to file suit against a rewards based crowdfunding campaign that had failed to deliver on its crowdfunding promise. This was no big, multi-million dollar crowdfunding project either. It was for a… Read More

July 31, 2015 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Ryan Feit, CEO and co-founder of equity crowdfunding platform SeedInvest,  won a British GREAT Tech Award. The recognition was delivered by none other than HRM Prince William. Feit, recently interviewed by TechdayHQ, spoke about SeedInvest’s relationships in the UK noting they were rather strong; “Through the GREAT… Read More

July 31, 2015 @ 8:41 am By Therese Torris  |  

SparkUp is a new French startup, the brainchild of 24 year old, now 26. And yes, age matters. Why? Because it takes a lot of disruptive energy to reinvent equity crowdfunding when it is barely emerging as a force. SparkUp positions itself as a B2B… Read More

July 30, 2015 @ 10:32 am By Karsten Wenzlaff  |  

When the Crowd Helps Women to Become Pregnant Entrepreneurs Juliane Zielonka and Julia Lazaro are two energetic founders in the sprawling Berlin startup scene. Their latest creation, LARACompanion, is designed to help families with their desire to have children. LARACompanion is the derivative of a women’s… Read More

July 29, 2015 @ 8:30 am By Chris Tyrrell  |  

  Innovation means creating something that makes a process or product more efficient. The result can be a price reduction passed on to consumers in the short run, or an increase in the speed at which a business operates. Ultimately, innovation serves as the backbone… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 6:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer presided over the Second “Make it in America: What’s Next?” hearing held on Capitol Hill today (July 28th).  These presentations are designed to address the economic landscape; the challenges and potential solutions. Attorney Doug Ellenoff, partner at the law firm… Read More

July 28, 2015 @ 9:04 am By Rodrigo Niño  |  

  It was not that long ago that the term “crowdfunding” entered into the common lexicon. Today we regularly watch, or read about, multi-million crowdfunding campaigns delivering the next big thing to supportive consumers who are willing to wait a bit longer to receive a perk,… Read More

July 27, 2015 @ 12:12 am By JD Alois  |  

  Last week Crowdfund Insider published a report on how the US Department of Treasury was investigating marketplace lending and the rising prominence of online, direct lenders. While the interest is certainly understandable, anytime the government shows up – industry gets concerned.  While Treasury stated their… Read More

July 24, 2015 @ 10:17 am By Karteek Patel  |  

Something strange is happening. It may be received wisdom that women tend to invest less than men, and that when they do they are more risk averse, but something is up. Something is changing and it’s changing in a pretty fundamental way that might mean… 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 22, 2015 @ 8:08 am By JD Alois  |  

New forms of finance are poised to inalterably change the entire finance industry ecosystem we know today.  Investment crowdfunding, and the various iterations of alternative finance, are still in the early stages of its evolution.   The disruptive finance industry is measured in mere billions… 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 20, 2015 @ 12:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

Dodd- Frank was a 895 page act of legislation designed to right the wrongs that caused the implosion of financial markets that ended up in the rubble of the Great Recession.  Five years ago this month, the bill was signed into law and set forth on… 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