Tagged: therese torris

February 10, 2016 @ 11:30 am By Therese Torris  |  

Today at Finovate Europe in London, quite a few attendees were startled to hear Jevhenijs Kazanis, Twino’s CEO, confidently assert: “Twino will buy back any non performing loan after a 30 day period of delinquency.” How could that work? Many wondered. It was already startling… Read More

February 9, 2016 @ 2:08 pm By Therese Torris  |  

At a time when many a crowdlending platform focuses on attracting institutional investors, it is very refreshing to see a startup go back to the roots of crowdfunding by addressing the needs of the crowd, the 99%, the retail investors. investUP is a crowdfunding portal… Read More

February 8, 2016 @ 10:33 am By Therese Torris  |  

Real estate crowdfunding started late in 2014 in France. But, hardly a year later, it is going strong with 26 platforms vying for a share of the market. However, as crowdfunding moves from real estate development to buy-to-let projects, new platforms are encountering some resistance… Read More

January 7, 2016 @ 2:30 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Lendix, one of the 60 companies who joined the fray of crowdlending platforms in 2015 has quickly taken the leadership position by designing a marketplace that meets the needs of institutional investors. Marketplace lending to small and medium size enterprise (SMEs) is taking off in… Read More

December 13, 2015 @ 5:56 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Is there more to the current blockchain hype than there was to the Bitcoin hype of the past? 7 myths debunked. 7 reasons to be skeptical. Two years ago, Bitcoin was at the peak of its hype cycle. The digital currency’s value skyrocketed. Increasing tenfold in… Read More

October 30, 2015 @ 1:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Insights from the European Crowdfunding Convention 2015 The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) has been holding its 4th Convention in Paris. The main topic of the first day was the Capital Markets Union and its implications for crowdfunding. The European equity funding gap The Capital Markets… Read More

October 23, 2015 @ 1:42 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Part II: Seen & Heard at Lendit Europe If you missed attending Lendit Europe, you missed a great event. You can catch up on a selection of presentations on Lendit . For short skimming, we’ve selected a few thought-provoking quotes from day 2. You may also… Read More

October 13, 2015 @ 5:12 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Particeep a provider of white label solutions for crowdfunding platforms had joined forces with insurance group Axa to offer a plug-and-play insurance service to cover investors’ and lenders’ risk. French consumers are notably risk-averse. They save a lot and like to invest their savings in… Read More

September 28, 2015 @ 4:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Crowdfunding, in particular in its presales form, has proven an excellent channel to accelerate the process of innovation and lower its risk. It enables entrepreneurs to get early feedback and submit their prototypes and service concepts to the ultimate market test: the customers’ willingness to… Read More

September 18, 2015 @ 10:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Financement Participatif France (FPF), the French national association of crowdfunding platforms has released the sector’s market numbers for the first semester of 2015: a 100% increase from the same period last year. Results were said to be “encouraging” as France is still a very long way… Read More

July 31, 2015 @ 8:41 am By Therese Torris  |  

SparkUp is a new French startup, the brainchild of 24 year old, now 26. And yes, age matters. Why? Because it takes a lot of disruptive energy to reinvent equity crowdfunding when it is barely emerging as a force. SparkUp positions itself as a B2B… Read More

July 21, 2015 @ 9:08 am By Therese Torris  |  

Alternativa.fr is an intriguing cross between an equity crowdfunding platform and an alternative exchange system which gives it something many crowdfunding platforms would like to have: a secondary market for trading SME’s private equity shares. Creating liquidity for private shares is an ongoing discussion in… Read More

July 10, 2015 @ 1:05 am By Therese Torris  |  

Seedrs is a star among equity crowdfunding platforms. Founded in 2009 in the UK, the company pioneered innovations such as raising funds for several crowdfunding platforms – including itself – and launching a crowdfunding campaign for a listed company. Such bold moves have made Seedrs… Read More

June 27, 2015 @ 10:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

  Not long ago the European Crowdfunding Network (ECN)  was just an informal group of Europeans involved in the emerging crowdfunding market. Only in 2013 did it come into legal existence as a formal body. Yesterday, during its second General Assembly in the beautiful city… Read More

June 15, 2015 @ 10:21 am By Therese Torris  |  

How does equity crowdfunding co-exist with business angel networks and seed investment clubs? Does it enable networks to attract new members, or, on the contrary, does it lure existing members away from the networks? Numbers from France Angels, the French Federation of business angels, seem… Read More

April 29, 2015 @ 8:24 am By Therese Torris  |  

Serial entrepreneurs are a rare species. Even rarer are serial co-founders like Vincent Ricordeau, Ombline le Lasseur and Adrien Aumont. In 2009, the three French entrepreneurs co-founded rewards-based crowdfunding platform KissKissBankBank with a mission to “free creativity”. Since then, the platform has collected more than… Read More

April 16, 2015 @ 12:19 pm By Therese Torris  |  

French equity crowdfunding platform SmartAngels and the French arm of global insurer Allianz announced today the launch of a crowdfunding investment fund. Allianz’s customers will be able to use SmartAngels’ crowdfunding platform to invest in startups and high-growth companies. Allianz France will co-invest in the… Read More

April 7, 2015 @ 8:50 am By Therese Torris  |  

Ulule Challenges Global Crowdfunding Platforms with Rapid Growth & Stellar Success Rates. France is home to the Pan-European reward-based crowdfunding platform Ulule. Ulule started in late 2010. Since then, it has collected nearly €29 million and recruited more than 650,000 members. In the neck and… Read More

March 23, 2015 @ 3:36 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Peer to peer lending platform Unilend has announced a significant investment in the amount of € 8 million from BPI France, a state government investment fund, Ventech and 360 Capital Partners.  The direct lender was launched in 2013 prior to formal regulations which were finalized in… Read More

March 10, 2015 @ 1:00 am By Therese Torris  |  

Leading French crowdfunding platforms Anaxago and WiSeed launched real estate business units to meet strong demand from both real estate developers and investors. In this interview, Souleymane Galadima, the Managing Director of WiSeed Immobilier, presents his company’s current real estate crowdfunding model based on debt… Read More