General News

September 1, 2016 @ 2:03 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Tile, the smart location company, today unveiled its newest consumer product – Tile Slim, a Bluetooth tracker designed specifically for wallets. The company also introduced today the Tile Smart Location Platform, a B2B offering that allows companies to embed Tile’s smart location technology into their own… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 3:59 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Peer to peer lender Harmoney is taking some heat from the New Zealand Commerce Commission as they have filed Fair Trading Act (FTA) charges in the Auckland District Court against against them. The Commission previously revealed six FTA charges that Harmoney faced related to 27 versions of… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 1:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Kickstarter offered some advice on how organizers can attract media attention towards their crowdfunding projects. The funding portal decided as release a list of ways campaigns can get noticed. The Kickstarter team stated the core question that creators have asked when they launch… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 11:35 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Moody’s has published a report on the marketplace lending industry stating that platforms are “steadily expanding credit to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – but challenges remain. The authors are of the opinion that partnerships with traditional banks may ease the path forward for… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 8:48 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Australia’s accelerator H2 Ventures announced this week it has filed a prospectus with the country’s securities regulator for its new fintech investment venture, H2Ocean. The company is seeking to raise a minimum of $27.5 million (max $55 million) and it will also be looking to obtain a… Read More

August 31, 2016 @ 7:15 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a monthly complaint report for banks and other financial services. The monthly report uses a three-month rolling average, comparing the current average to the same period in the prior year. CFPB Director Richard Cordray commented on… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 4:43 pm By Oleg Seydak  |  

In recent weeks, marketplace lenders have hit a rough patch. Once the darlings of Wall Street, they have now come under fire, after a string of internal scandals and disappointing earnings. For the traditional banks – who have been saying, “we need to disrupt these… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 4:11 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Finvasia announced it has received an undisclosed investment during its pre-launch phase. The India-based fintech company revealed it has a valuation of Rs 150 crore, and the round was led by Intrinsic Investment Limited with participation from other venture capitalists. Founded in 2009 by Sarvjeet Singh… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 3:44 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Following the release of their Kickstarter-funded album “and the Anonymous Nobody,” hip-hop group De La Soul released their new documentary, which features the campaign launch and the album’s development. Vincent Mason, David Jude Jolicoeur, and Kelvin “Posdnous” Mercer, launched the crowdfunding initiative last year to secure only… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 2:51 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, crowdfunding giant Kickstarter announced Hong Kong and Singapore project creators may now launch campaigns on its funding portal. This news comes nearly one month after the Kickstarter team revealed their plans for the two countries. ? Creators in Singapore & Hong Kong can… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 2:14 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, CEO of New Zealand crowdfunding platform PledgeMe, Anna Guenther, introduced a new feature called “PledgeMe.Friends,” which will offer a nice “bonus” for those who inspire companies to use its website. The funding portal first introduced the PledgeMe.Friends concept while updating users on its yearly progress earlier… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 12:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, technology giant IBM announced it is set to join the fintech hub in Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District. The high profile company is said to be the first technology resident that will be located in the space, which is occupied by mainly financial services… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 12:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Hello, a hardware, software, and data science company, announced on Tuesday its Kickstarter project, Sense, will be available at Target and Best Buy later this year. The device contains a speaker, so it may play white noise or similar sounds such as pink noise or… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 11:34 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, UK-based equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube announced the acquisition of its #FundedClub member, Wool and the Gang. The London-based DIY fashion brand was acquired by BlueGem Capital Partners. Crowdcube also reported since 2013 more than 5 million has been returned to investors following the exits… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 10:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Finovate kicks off next week in Manhattan and it is celebrating an anniversary. While it may be hard to imagine, Finovate is now 10 years old. Greg Palmer, Vice President of the Finovate Group told Crowdfund Insider that was hard to believe they were prepping… Read More

August 30, 2016 @ 10:18 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, Hitachi) announced it has teamed up with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) for a blockchain technology project to check digitalization in Singapore. Both companies reported that they had started Proof of Concept (PoC) testing. During the PoC testing,… Read More

August 29, 2016 @ 10:27 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, Crowdcube #FundedClub member, Mondo, announced it has rebranded to Monzo during a live video presentation. The company declared earlier this summer it was changing its name after an undisclosed company with the similar name challenged it and the company allowed its fans to… Read More

August 29, 2016 @ 8:10 am By JD Alois  |  

Robert Herjavec, founder of Herjavec Group and star of ABC’s hit series Shark Tank, will be presenting a “Fireside Keynote Chat” at the forthcoming “Crowd Invest Summit” scheduled for this December.  The two-day equity crowdfunding conference has also upgraded their venue to accommodate demand. The Crowd… Read More

August 28, 2016 @ 9:15 pm By JD Alois  |  

A Crowdfund Insider reader reached out to us last week with an excellent question: can foreign nationals invest in US investment crowdfunding offers. We checked with several leading Fintech legal experts for their feedback on this question and we share some of this below. In… Read More

August 28, 2016 @ 5:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Steven Dresner of Dealflow.com is one of the regular suspects in the online capital formation sector.  He has been an active voice and participant in the shift to leverage the power of the internet to make capital formation more efficient. Working with broker-dealers and other… Read More