General News

June 15, 2016 @ 9:58 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Crowdcube #FundedClub member, Rise Art, announced that it has acquired Irish e-commerce platform, Artfetch.  Earlier this year, the online marketplace for contemporary art secured over £516,000 from nearly 200 investors during its equity crowdfunding campaign. The company allows art lovers to easily buy or rent… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:45 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

RateSetter, one of the UK’s largest P2P lenders, has announced its foray into small business loans with the aid of government backing, reported the Financial Times. In preparation for its expansion anticipated by this week’s end, Ratesetters hired a specialist team and built a technology platform to support business… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE: YRD), an online consumer finance marketplace in China, announced on Monday that it has appointed Yang Cao as both chief operating and technology officer. The website revealed that Cao will lead its technology, product and engineering divisions and oversee business operations including customer acquisition, business development and… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 2:04 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

FinLeap, the startup platform behind Germany’s SolarisBank, has secured €21 million in equity capital to support its fintech incubation program. Next to the founding shareholder Berlin-based HitFox-Group, new institutional investors from the insurance industry took a stake in the company including Hannover Re, the third largest worldwide reinsurer,… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 1:38 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Australian online lender Marketlend announced that the platform raised $1 million investment in a round lead by fintech entrepreneur Jon Barlow and former KKR Director and Borland Capital founder Mati Szeszkowski, according to Reuters.  The lender will use the new windfall to further automate its technology systems and… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 12:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

In 2011, an average of 8,000 small and micro businesses were denied funding each day from traditional banks. This statement is not from some fanatical Fintech entrepreneur but our current Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew.  It is this profound gap between demand, and supply,… Read More

June 14, 2016 @ 10:10 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Peter Hazlehurst, former CEO of Google Payments Corp., announced on Tuesday the beta launch of his new education crowdfunding platform, AngelScholars. According to its description, AngelScholars offers up a crowdfunding solution to the scholarship system providing a new and unconventional way of giving back. “Located in… Read More

June 13, 2016 @ 1:14 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Classy, a cloud-based fundraising platform that helps nonprofits and social enterprises mobilize and empower communities, announced on Monday it has formed a partnership with Room to Read, a San Francisco-based organization that is aiming to transform the lives of millions of children in low-income countries… Read More

June 13, 2016 @ 7:56 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Armed with an undergraduate degree in Electronics from Dharmsinh Desai University and MBAs from both the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and McGill University, Jaidev Janardana spent 12 years with Capital One, in the US and the UK. He was the CMO for Capital One UK, responsible… Read More

June 12, 2016 @ 5:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

How easy is it for Fintech startups to challenge established Wall Street firms? Charles Moldow, General Partner of Foundation Capital and an early investor in Lending Club, OnDeck and more, recently told CNBC; “I think it is hard to disrupt any mature industry. This one… Read More

June 10, 2016 @ 4:51 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Lending Works, a UK-based peer to peer lender, announced this week that it has been named Best Peer-to-Peer Platform for Savers Winner at the 2016 Moneywise Customer Service Awards, which is described as the “authoritative stamp of approval by the UK consumer,” recognition is given to… Read More

June 10, 2016 @ 11:33 am By JD Alois  |  

There is never a dull moment at our nation’s top securities regulator. Much of their budget and time goes towards enforcement of the many different securities rules.  From the Bernie Madoff’s of the world to small-scale fraud, the SEC is constantly on the alert for… Read More

June 10, 2016 @ 9:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Lord Adair Turner, former FSA Chair and pointed critic of the UK peer to peer lending industry is scheduled to speak at Lendit Europe in London this fall.  Turner, speaking with the BBC earlier this year, made the statement; “The losses which will emerge from… Read More

June 10, 2016 @ 9:42 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This Saturday, crowdfunded brewery, BrewDog, is set to host the Best Of Britain UK-wide tap takeover. This event is considered one of the biggest selections of brilliant British beer anywhere in the UK. The company shared: “From Soho to Stirling and everywhere in between, we… Read More

June 9, 2016 @ 4:43 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Spotfund, a mobile micro-donation platform, today launched its iOS app. Targeting millennials, Brooklyn-based Spotfund allows users to fund causes and current events with only $1, $2 or $3.  Donations made through Spotfund are tax deductible. At the end of each monthly billing cycle, Spotfund provides an itemized receipt of all… Read More

June 9, 2016 @ 4:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has extended its deadline for respondents regarding the 2016 European survey.  In a discussion with Crowdfund Insider, CCAF explained they are well over the number of participating platforms from their previous European survey but they wanted to allow… Read More

June 9, 2016 @ 2:28 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Like many other large banks, Royal Bank of Canada is now syncing with rising Silicon Valley fintech talent to better position itself with the ever dynamic fintech sector, RBC Vice President of Innovation Gabriel Woo shared with Reuters,  and launched an Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley. The bank has opened similar… Read More

June 9, 2016 @ 11:26 am By JD Alois  |  

OTC Markets (OTCQX: OTCM) has filed a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting the SEC to extend amendments under Reg A+ to a far wider range of SEC reporting companies. R. Cromwell Coulson, CEO of OTC Markets, explained that Reg A+ securities offerings… Read More

June 8, 2016 @ 4:29 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, founder of PledgeMe, Anna Guenther, announced the platform is gearing up for its Tour de South Island. Guenther revealed why she and her team decided to launch the Tour: “As New Zealand’s first crowdfunding platform, we’ve noticed some of our most amazing campaigns don’t necessarily originate… Read More

June 8, 2016 @ 3:15 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Just a couple months after its product, Sense, successfully secured $164,885 through its Kickstarter initiative, California startup Silk Labs announced that it is unfortunately no longer planning to make the intelligent camera and hub.  Sense was supposed to detect the user’s presence, recognize their voice and gestures,… Read More