General News

April 7, 2016 @ 2:50 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Crowdfunder now provides unprecedented access — for both experienced institutional investors and everyday investors — to early-stage deals from many of Silicon Valley’s leading VC firms.  Crowdfunder has launched a VC Index Fund which co-invests with a select list of leading VCs (the Index), investing $100,000 per deal… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 2:47 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this week, crowdfunding portal Indiegogo announced the winner of its 2016 Fellowship Program with partner Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). The Indiegogo team revealed: “Congratulations to the winner of the Indiegogo Fellowship: Skye Von’s Falling Out Of Love! Instead of making yet another traditional music video, Falling Out… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 12:29 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

UBS has appointed Ben Crystal to a new role as Head of Fintech for Europe, Middle East and Africa, to help coordinate the Swiss bank’s coverage of the growing industry for financial technology, reported Reuters. Fintech has emerged as a large and growing sector in… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 12:01 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Resisting Fintech disruption amounts to a loss of $13 billion in aggregated revenues, according to Frost & Sullivan The Australian Banking sector is heavily regulated to prevent monopolies and collapses, and is guided by the Four Pillars Policy of the Australian Government which maintains the viability and separation of… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 11:20 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Since the inception of online lending, P2P platforms have had to rely on outdated Self-Directed IRA (“SDIRA”) paper-based processes and infrastructure.  P2P platforms have grown increasingly frustrated in their inability to offer retail customers a simple and cost-effective way to purchase notes using 401(k) and… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 10:57 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Groundfloor,a real estate crowdfunding platform based in Atlanta, Georgia, announced on Thursday it has reduced its loan interest rates by 10 to 50 basis points. According to the funding portal, the loan rates will now start at 5.9 percent for “fix-and-flip” renovations. According to Groundfloor, investors… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 10:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

BlueVine, an online provider of working capital financing to small businesses, announced on Thursday it was now offering “flex credit” for companies to obtain a revolving business line of credit. According to BlueVine, flex credit offers companies a business line of credit between $5,000 and $30,000 with simple, transparent… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 9:41 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, global toy brand Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) announced it has teamed up with crowdfunding platform Indiegogo once again to launch its Gaming Lab Spring 2016 Next Great Game Challenge. As previously reported, Hasbro’s first crowdfunding gaming challenge with Indiegogo ran from August through… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 9:39 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Elio Motors, Inc. (OTCQX: ELIO), announced on Thursday that it has appointed automotive industry veteran, Jeffrey W. Johnston, as its new vice president of engineering   In his new role, Johnston will be responsible for all engineering of the full Elio vehicle, validation, safety, program management… Read More

April 7, 2016 @ 7:30 am By JD Alois  |  

Last year JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon rattled Wall Street by stating the obvious. FinTech firms popping up across Silicon Valley and around the world were looking to challenge traditional banks and siphon their business away. This year the message from the fabled CEO has changed…. Read More

April 6, 2016 @ 11:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

As had been rumored for quite some time, marketplace lending leaders Lending Club (NYSE:LC), Prosper and Funding Circle, have announced the creation of an industry association to represent their interests and advocate on behalf of sector growth.  Formed as a not for profit membership organization,… Read More

April 6, 2016 @ 2:09 pm By JD Alois  |  

According to a complaint filed by the SEC, from 2010 to at least December of 2012, defendants Joseph Andrew Paul, John D. Ellis, Jr. James S. Quay and Donald H. Ellison operated a fraudulent scam that fleeced unsuspecting investors of millions.  Ellis and Paul created Paul-Ellis… Read More

April 6, 2016 @ 1:33 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Continuing to share more stories of its platform’s funding successes, Crowdcube revealed a timeline of its #FundedClub member, Silkfred. SilkFred, which is described as a platform that provides online and offline routes to market for independent fashion brands, secured £145,610 from 70 investors in 2013 and has since… Read More

April 6, 2016 @ 11:04 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week, Middle East peer-to-peer (P2P) liwwa announced that it has secured $2.3 million during a seed investment round, which was led by Silicon Badia with participation from by Bank al Etihad, DASH Ventures, and MENA Venture Investments (MVI). Established in 2012, Liwwa was incubated at Harvard’s Innovation Lab before… Read More

April 6, 2016 @ 9:27 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Kiva’s loan lender, Kiva Zip, announced that it has teamed up with ecommerce marketplace, Malena, to launch a crowdfunded order platform. The lender revealed how it works: Users invest in an entrepreneur or small business to fulfill an order of their products, and in return… Read More

April 5, 2016 @ 4:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, payment service provider, PayU, announced it conducted an analysis on ecommerce customs and fintech potential in Latin America, Central/Eastern Europe, India, and Africa at Money20/20 Europe. Findings that are featured in PayU’s report included: High growth of ecommerce in Africa. More than 65%… Read More

April 5, 2016 @ 2:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Four years ago today the JOBS Act of 2012 was signed into law by President Obama. The event was attended by a bipartisan group of both elected officials and industry advocates as Democrats and Republicans agreed on the noble legislative mission.  The much-heralded law… Read More

April 5, 2016 @ 2:41 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

VendorMach, an SME vendor trust monitoring platform is one of the 10 companies selected to participate in Startupbootcamp Fintech Accelerator in NYC which includes banking partners such as Deutsche Bank, Santander, Rabobank and MasterCard and Thomson Reuters. The program offers insights on US fintech issues for the 2016 cohort… Read More

April 5, 2016 @ 1:04 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

Fitness App Mammoth Hunters is fundraising for the second time in eight months on Crowdcube Spain, the platform’s first raise was overfunded by 166 investors. Half of Mammoth Hunters’ investors are investing again, alongside with Angels, according to Crowdcube Spain Co-Founder Pepe Borrell. “It is exciting to see… Read More

April 5, 2016 @ 12:15 pm By Erin Hobey  |  

SWIFT, a global member-owned cooperative and a leading global provider of secure financial messaging services, announced that 21 banks have started the pilot for its global payments innovation initiative, intended to improve the customer experience in correspondent banking by increasing the speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments. The… Read More