General News

August 28, 2014 @ 9:33 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding hit the radar when the two leading, rewards based crowdfunding platforms launched.  Indiegogo launched first in 2008 with Kickstarter following in 2009.  Kickstarter has always been fairly transparent in their data and approach.  They have a cool portion of their site that shows the… Read More

August 28, 2014 @ 7:44 am By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of England has released data on the UK Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), a governmental program created to boost lending. According to the report on 2014 Q2 data, “net lending by FLS Extension participants to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was slightly negative… Read More

August 27, 2014 @ 3:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanly to Act as Joint Leads. In a widely anticipated move, peer to peer lending platform Lending Club has filed their S-1 registration with the SEC to launch their initial public offering (IPO).  Lending Club made the announcement with an official… Read More

August 27, 2014 @ 3:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital intelligence company Compete recently published a post noting that in the month of July Kickstarter experienced a surge in traffic.  And what say you was the cause?  Potato Salad of course. Yes it is true.  But this should not be surprising as we have… Read More

August 27, 2014 @ 10:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

GNS3 Technologies has to announces that their crowdfunding campaign on Tilt Open has achieved record breaking status. GNS3’s modest $35,000 goal was surpassed by 1400%, raising over $600,000 from 13,000 contributors from more than 80 countries. The funding will help to further develop the GNS3… Read More

August 27, 2014 @ 8:21 am By JD Alois  |  

Voters Back Ruben Gallego as Mayday PAC Contributes $150,000 to His Campaign. Mayday PAC ran a grass roots crowdfunding campaign earlier this year to raised funds to battle special interests and big money in the US political system.  Essentially founder Lawrence Lessig took the approach… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 6:37 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

New data from Juniper Research has revealed that by 2019 worldwide revenues from tablet games will reach$13.3 billion – a threefold rise on the 2014 figure of $3.6 billion. The report highlights that growth will be fueled by a number of key factors including  improved storage capacity… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 5:28 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Grassroots momentum is rising in the crowdfunding industry, as potential investors, capital-seeking companies and funding option’s platforms urge the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement the proposed rules, as amended during the comment period, legalizing true investment crowdfunding and giving more businesses the… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 5:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Feather the Nest is a new online platform that allows friends and family to contribute to real estate-related and home improvement undertakings with monetary gifts. Feather the Nest contributions are gifts that can add real financial value to a home or assist a loved one… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 2:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Winsconin’s crowdfunding law went into effect this past June, signed into law by Governor Scott Walker. The state crowdfunding exemption allows entrepreneurs to raise up to $2 million via an online investment platform ($1 million without an audit).  The law was unique in their approach… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 12:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

Innovation charity Nesta has partnered with Cambridge University to launch the largest study ever on crowdfunding and other new forms of alternative finance.  Their research also includes the rewards based variant like Indiegogo, Kickstarter and Crowdfunder.  Nesta has the backing of Parliament, the UKCFA and Parliament – so… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 9:59 am By JD Alois  |  

Turns Down Acquisition by Investment Crowdfunding Platform Symbid. Equidam, a company valuation platform incorporated by crowdfunding platforms, has announced that it has closed €225,000 in seed funding to accelerate the growth and expanding the functionalities of the platform. The investment was led by a syndicate… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 9:43 am By JD Alois  |  

A recent study published by Cognizant addressing the fast growing peer to peer lending space in the United States.  The report calls the market “maturing” and makes recommendations for participants to maintain growth.  Prosper and Lending Club, the two largest P2P lenders in the space… Read More

August 26, 2014 @ 7:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

The Commonwealth of Kentucky Jumps from 49th to 4th in Entrepreneur Ranking According to State Entrepreneurship Index (SEI). Kentucky representative, Steve Riggs, announced on Monday (August 25th) that he is filing new crowdfunding legislation to bring the funding option to his growing, entrepreneurial state.  The… Read More

August 25, 2014 @ 6:17 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Over the weekend, the crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for The Fine Young Capitalists was randomly shut down on the platform without any indication as why it was cancelled. Sources reveal that the project was hacked. Luckily, Indiegogo stated on Monday (August 25th) that there was no breach… Read More

August 25, 2014 @ 4:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding remains small proportionally in one of the worlds largest economies – but it is growing quickly. Recent reports have stated that China generated 188 million yuan (over $30 million USD) from January to June.   This was the result of 1,423 crowdfunding campaigns.  This… Read More

August 25, 2014 @ 11:09 am By JD Alois  |  

Wealthforge, a company that started life in part as a crowdfunding platform and then successfully morphed into a crowdfunding service provider – is powering a new investment crowdfunding niche: Broadway. Earlier this month, Howard and Janet Kagan announced a new investment crowdfunding platform that is… Read More

August 24, 2014 @ 9:58 pm By JD Alois  |  

About 2 years ago a startup called Apigy was rejected by Kickstarter for their Lockitron project.  Their concept was pretty basic:  a connected door lock device that could be integrated with existing household hardware. Once installed the user could control their front door via an… Read More

August 23, 2014 @ 9:21 am By JD Alois  |  

In a posting on the Diaspora blog entitled, “Islamic State Fighters on Diaspora*”, the site operators have clarified they cannot prevent anyone from using their software as multiple reports have been released indicating ISIS is actively using their platform. ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq… Read More

August 23, 2014 @ 8:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Ferguson, Missouri Tragedy Has Captured Global Headlines as Both Sides Raise Funds via Crowdfunding. It has become the norm for sympathetic supporters, family members or those who just want to help out to launch crowdfunding campaigns to donate funds to assist those in need.  The… Read More