Featured Headlines

April 14, 2015 @ 10:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Investment crowdfunding platform Crowdcube is predicting a “record breaking” year following the success of Q1 funding.  The first quarter of 2015 saw 36 businesses raising £17.5 million.  During the quarter total investments topped £24 million (some offers are still crowdfunding). Crowdcube touted some of the… Read More

April 14, 2015 @ 9:00 am By Ron Suber  |  

In the world of finance, the traditional banking industry is the big celestial body at the center of things. Circling that orbit are the spheres of money transfer, payments, wealth management, banking and marketplace lending (also called peer-to-peer finance). Disruption to financial services has been… Read More

April 13, 2015 @ 6:21 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Real estate crowdfunding platform Fundrise has shared a bit of history.  The first ever crowdfunded real estate project has opened up as a “communal food” and retail market in the H Street corridor in our nation’s Capitol. Maketto, located at 1351 H Street NE, was… Read More

April 13, 2015 @ 8:00 am By Bill Ullman  |  

  Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants…” Former US Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis The old guard is trying to define marketplace lending as part of a murky “shadow banking” industry.  Banking analyst Richard Bove concluded in a recent Rafferty Capital Markets… Read More

April 12, 2015 @ 4:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

CreditEase, a China based peer to peer lender and wealth management company, has partnered with US based Wellington Management to invest in pre-IPO stage companies, according to a report in the China Daily. The agreement is described as one where CreditEase will provide the capital… Read More

April 12, 2015 @ 11:26 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities Commission Malaysia has opened the application process for prospective investment crowdfunding platforms according to a statement from the regulatory entity. Malaysia has been one of the more proactive countries in the Asian region to push forward with researching the crowdfunding space and moving forward… Read More

April 10, 2015 @ 12:29 am By JD Alois  |  

Jamie Dimon is probably the most respected banking CEO on Wall Street today. And he should be.  He was the guy that really didn’t need the bail-out money but took one for the team when asked to do it by the Secretary of the Treasury…. Read More

April 9, 2015 @ 1:08 pm By Gil Michel-Garcia  |  

Regulators, particularly securities regulators, are normally a conservative and risk averse lot, generally preferring fraud prevention to economic efficiency.  However sometimes they can come up with some brilliant pieces of economically empowering regulation, particularly when pushed by the political powers that be and when faced… Read More

April 8, 2015 @ 8:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

Prosper Marketplace has closed a $165 million funding round led by Credit Suisse Group’s Next Investors.  The valuation was set at approximately $1.9 billion – a significant increase to previous valuations. Additional investors included JP Morgan Chase & Co’s Asset Management unit, SunTrust Banks, USAA,… Read More

April 8, 2015 @ 12:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Patch of Land, a leading real estate crowdfunding platform, has announced a solid $23.6 million funding round that captured the interest of SF Capital and Prosper President Ron Suber – a significant validation of their vision for the future of real estate investing.  Both Suber… Read More

April 8, 2015 @ 9:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Orchard, the nexus of institutional investors into the marketplace, or peer to peer lending space, has published a list of best practices to invest in this new asset class. The early days of P2P was slow to grow as platforms experimented and solidified processes and… Read More

April 7, 2015 @ 8:50 am By Therese Torris  |  

Ulule Challenges Global Crowdfunding Platforms with Rapid Growth & Stellar Success Rates. France is home to the Pan-European reward-based crowdfunding platform Ulule. Ulule started in late 2010. Since then, it has collected nearly €29 million and recruited more than 650,000 members. In the neck and… Read More

April 6, 2015 @ 9:03 am By JD Alois  |  

  In 2014 OTC Markets claimed a record “exchange graduation year” with 83 companies “up-listing” from the OTC marketplaces to a NYSE or NASDAQ listing. OTC Markets also experienced a 92% increase in the number of US companies that qualified for their OTCQX Marketplace and now has over 660… Read More

April 6, 2015 @ 1:47 am By JD Alois  |  

England’s oldest commercial vineyard, planted in 1952, is using a new form of finance to raise capital.  Hambledon Vineyard, located in Hampshire South Downs, has listed a mini-bond offer on CrowdBnk seeking £2.75 million in new funding.  The “English Fizz Mini Bond” is a 5… Read More

April 5, 2015 @ 8:01 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

One Spark, one of the world’s largest crowdfunding festivals, is about to fill Jacksonville, Fl., with 555 projects in art, education, health and science, music, social good and technology. From April 7 to April 12, the festival gives attendees a chance to contribute to Creator Projects, and vote for… Read More

April 3, 2015 @ 8:01 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

Australia’s real estate crowdfunding scene has been a hot topic in recent news, including the launch of real estate crowdfunding platform, CrowdfundUp, offering both debt and equity investment opportunities to investors of all types. But the Outback is also home to another online real estate… Read More

April 2, 2015 @ 9:29 am By Erin Hobey  |  

With an increasing number of start-ups launching with crowdfunding platforms, eBay has turned into a logical “step two” for entrepreneurs like FluxMob’s cofounders who are looking to expand their product’s reach.  Alan Tran and his childhood friend Justin Zito swiftly raised $90,253 in initial funds for their tech… Read More

April 1, 2015 @ 5:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

California, the most populous state in the country, is attempting to legalized equity crowdfunding once again. Last year the Assembly gave it a valiant effort but the bill died ignominiously in Appropriations committee.  The execution was said to be delivered by the AARP, a group… Read More

April 1, 2015 @ 11:33 am By Josh Kalish  |  

By now, the startup world has heard the news. Finance blogs are ablaze, and twitter feeds are lighting up with word that capital just became a whole lot easier to access. Entrepreneurs from coast to coast are leaning back in their chairs, greedily steepling their… 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