Featured Headlines

March 2, 2015 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

At the end of 2014, Robert Steinhoff, a JD candidate at the University of Colorado Law School, published a comment on the investment crowdfunding environment in the UK drawing a parallel to what could occur in the United States. The interesting thesis recognized the UK… Read More

March 1, 2015 @ 9:24 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

To expand access to legal justice for those who can’t otherwise afford it, a new national crowdfunding platform, CrowdDefend, will publically launch this week. CrowdDefend helps individuals, organizations and businesses raise funds to cover legal representation, court fees and associated trial costs for cases large… Read More

February 27, 2015 @ 9:25 am By JD Alois  |  

  Media conglomerate TOM Group is moving into the online finance space.  The entity, controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is set to expand its ecommerce operation, Ule, into peer to peer lending and online banking in an “aggressive” push via a partnership with… Read More

February 26, 2015 @ 12:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Union published a “green paper” on Building a Capital Markets Union for the broader European community.  The ambitious goals are laudable but the challenge is high. While in the United States, and other countries around the globe, SME’s are the engine of growth…. Read More

February 25, 2015 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Pebble Time, the new iteration of the Pebble Smartwatch, launched a promotional crowdfunding campaign yesterday on Kickstarter.  The first time around it took a few weeks to raise over $10 million.  This time it may take just 2 as already over 42,000 have blitzed the… Read More

February 25, 2015 @ 9:51 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

“Nobody wants to fail,” said the chief executive and founder of Fail Forward, Ashley Good, in a New York Times story on failure in Silicon Valley, published last fall. “It’s awful. You will never hear me say to celebrate failure.” But, Good, added, “failing intelligently is an increasingly… Read More

February 24, 2015 @ 3:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding Asia held its second Asian conference to review the power and potential of new forms of finance. Sponsored by the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission, the sold out event saw several hundred attendees from Thailand and surrounding countries in Asia and the United States…. Read More

February 24, 2015 @ 11:27 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

Is the JOBS Act Title II ecosystem being built around the art of the “con” by some Internet funding platforms and companies raising money on these platforms?  The answer seems to be yes, judging by investment advice provided by Morningstar, FINRA, psychologists, and business world… Read More

February 23, 2015 @ 10:09 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Early in 2014, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its intention to conduct an examination of certain registered broker-dealers and investment advisers in order to assess the general vulnerability of the securities industry, as a whole, to cyber-attacks…. Read More

February 23, 2015 @ 1:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

LendInvest, a peer to peer or “marketplace” lender that focuses on the commercial and residential mortgage industry, has lowered its investor minimum to a nominal £1000.00.  This is in stark contrast to the £50,000 minimum that was established when the platform launched in 2013.  The… Read More

February 22, 2015 @ 7:01 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Newly opened Centre for Alternative Finance of University of Cambridge Judge Business School reports European Alternative Finance Benchmarking Survey study results.  The European market could top €7 billion in 2015 The European alternative finance market grew 144% last year to €2,957m The UK is the largest European country for alternative finance,… Read More

February 20, 2015 @ 11:33 am By JD Alois  |  

SEC Chair Mary Jo White addressed the Practicing Law Institute in DC this morning and it appears that most of the big shots at the SEC are sharing their wisdom as well today. Following opening remarks by Andrew Ceresny, the Director of SEC Enforcement and Keith… Read More

February 20, 2015 @ 10:24 am By JD Alois  |  

Return on Change, an early entrant into the equity crowdfunding space, has launched a new investment platform: DarcMatter. Return on Change (RoC) was founded by Lee Sang, a reformed investment banker with a degree in financial engineering.  An early advocate of the power and potential… Read More

February 19, 2015 @ 10:00 am By Samuel Guzik  |  

  In July 2013 the SEC implemented Title II of the JOBS Act of 2012 through Rule 506(c) of Regulation D, which for the first time in over 80 years allowed companies to engage in general solicitation of investors in an unregistered private placement so… Read More

February 18, 2015 @ 10:08 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Interested in innovation, both in the finance industry and in the broader economy, Robert Wardrop began his career at Procter & Gamble before moving on to the Anschutz Investment Company and later to DAM Capital. The seasoned entrepreneur presently serves as a Non Executive Director at… Read More

February 17, 2015 @ 7:16 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Christin Friedrich serves as the Managing Director of Innovestment GmbH, a crowdfunding venture which began four years ago.  After studying Public Management and Governance at Zeppelin University, Friedrich sought creative solutions and innovative business ideas in several international projects, including a tourism startup in Iceland  and group for young… Read More

February 17, 2015 @ 12:01 am By JD Alois  |  

Global equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has dived into the world of Wall Street for its next hire.  Anthony DeChellis, former CEO of Private Banking Americas at Credit Suisse has been appointed President of the fast growing, innovative platform.  Deckles has held multiple executive positions in… Read More

February 16, 2015 @ 5:00 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Last week Crowdfund Insider published a write up on the regulatory review completed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. At that time Crowdfund Insider quoted the FCA document that summed things up: “We have seen the crowdfunding market continue to grow rapidly. We recognise that it is… Read More

February 13, 2015 @ 6:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

Investment crowdfunding nearly became legal in the state of North Carolina last year.  Unfortunately internal politics sidelined the bill but now new legislation has been introduced that may allow an unlimited amount of capital to raised for private companies. The bill has been introduced in… Read More

February 13, 2015 @ 10:03 am By Anna Duning  |  

Crowdfunding platforms just became the latest target for patent trolls – entities that purchase patents, not to produce any goods or services, but to threaten and file infringement suits and attempt to collect licensing fees. Take the case of AlphaCap Ventures, LLC, a company that… Read More