How Fintech Should Help to Close the Gender Gap in Business Lending

The number of women-owned businesses has been steadily increasing globally. Despite this, accessing finance to start or grow their business remains a struggle for many women. A study by the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Kansas City found that women are less likely… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Global, Opinion, Strategy

Innovate Finance Releases UK Fintech Report: Very Big Deals

By Erin Hobey

According to Innovate Finance‘s new report 2018 FinTech VC Investment Landscape, investment in UK Fintech rose by 18% to $3.3 billion in 2018. Some additional highlights from the report include: Growth private equity investment rose 57% to $1.6 billion, while venture capital dipped to $1.7 billion… Read More

The House Financial Services Committee: What Should Fintech Expect from Chair Maxine Waters?

By JD Alois

The House Financial Services Committee is one of the most powerful Congressional committees on the Hill. The Committee oversees not only the entire financial services industry but its policy portfolio also includes other overlapping responsibilities such as Housing, entrepreneurship and international financial organizations. Last election… Read More

Smart Regulation Will Help Blockchain. We Need to Get Involved

By Zoë Adamovicz

We often hear that “code is law”. It means that all transactions happening on decentralized networks are final and immutable. It does not mean, however, that code derives from the law. The legal frameworks we operate within are not God-given. They are social agreements that… Read More

Fintech Focused Analytics Firm MaxDecisions Appoints Nicole Houston as CEO

By JD Alois

Nicole Houston has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of MaxDecisions, Inc. Founded by Timothy Li and Henry Wang, MaxDecisions is a Fintech focused analytics, marketing, and risk management firm advising the online lending industry. According to a note from the firm, Houston has been with MaxDecisions since… Read More

Brief: Catching up with Billion Dollar Fund Co-Founder Sarah Chen & MENA Update

By Erin Hobey

The Billion Dollar Fund for Women (TBDF), founded by Shelly Porges, Sarah Chen, Anousheh Ansari, Nadereh Chamlou and Anu Jain, aims to mobilize and connect venture funds with institutional and other investors to create larger pools of capital for investments into women-founded companies. The global venture consortium’s funds… Read More

Germany: Blockchain Industry Representatives Meet with Bundestag to Work on Common Sense Regulation

By JD Alois

It has been a few choppy weeks in Germany for the blockchain / digital asset industry. Last month, a German court ruled that Bitcoin was not a financial instrument. The case centered around an enterprising teenager who launched a Bitcoin exchange five years ago. He was… Read More

Insurtech omni:us Closes Series A Funding. Total Investment Stands at $22.5 Million

By JD Alois

Insurtech omni:us has closed on a new funding round. The specific details of the funding were not reported but omni:us said that total funding to date now stands at $22.5 million. Crunchbase reports a seed round in 2016 of €4.2 million. The investment was led by… Read More

Fintech Smart Valor to Launch Stablecoin backed by Swiss Franc

By JD Alois

Announced the first day of the Crypto Summit in Zurich, Switzerland, Smart Valor has launched a project to create the first stablecoin backed by the Swiss Franc. Smart Valor is a digital assets platform and compliant marketplace for crypto – including security tokens. The Swiss… Read More

DLT Provider Digital Asset Adds Big Names to Board including Blackstone, former Google, and Deutsche Börse Execs

By JD Alois

Digital Asset, a blockchain or distributed ledger (DLT) technology provider, has signed up Tony James, Executive Vice Chairman of Blackstone, AG Gangadhar, former engineering executive at Amazon, Google and Uber, and Stephan Leithner, Executive Board Member of Deutsche Börse Group, to its board of directors. Founded… Read More

Read more in: Blockchain & Digital Currency, Global

Crypto is Experiencing Dramatic Growth – But Where Are The Women?

By Masha Prusakova

Male and white – this was the start of the cryptocurrency world. Since the early days of cryptocurrencies, miners, and blockchain developers have been comprised of men – and today’s token projects are reflective of that gender disparity. There is a gender imbalance in the… Read More

Elevate: Providing Responsible Credit to Non Prime Lenders

By JD Alois

Recently, CI had the chance to speak to part of the team from Elevate (NYSE: ELVT) – an online lender that is servicing the non-prime market. As most people are aware, a prime borrower has a lot of options in the marketplace from both from traditional financial… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Fintech

Zoe Adamovicz: Neufund is Going to be a Game-Changer

By AdaPia d'Errico

Zoe Adamovicz is the CEO and co-founder of Germany-based Neufund. Neufund is a blockchain-based equity fundraising platform specializing in Legaltech and Regtech. She and co-founder Marcin Rudolf are building more than a platform. They are building an ecosystem of smart contracts and a community of… Read More

Neufund is Next Crypto Startup to Set Up Shop in Blockchain Friendly Malta

By JD Alois

Neufund, a Berlin based Blockchain equity crowdfunding platform, has announced it will establish a “strong presence” in Malta to support its rapidly expanding ecosystem. Neufund has taking an interesting approach by enabling the tokenization of equity and raising capital on the blockchain. Malta has quickly… Read More

Hope Liu: Eximchain’s Mission is to Become the Blockchain Infrastructure for Supply Chain Applications

By AdaPia d'Errico

From supplier credit to inventory management, Eximchain is developing a Blockchain that combines privacy, accessibility, and security to support enterprise-ready applications. Eximchain looks to leverage the power of Blockchain, so stakeholders within a supply chain can connect, transact, and share information more efficiently and securely…. Read More

There are 53 Women-Owned Ventures Raising Capital Now on Two-Dozen Funding Sites

By JD Alois

Investibule is a platform that highlights women founders seeking growth capital. Currently, there are 53 women owned ventures raising capital across two dozen online funding sites that are being featured on Investibule. Founded by Amy Cortese, a well known crowdfunding advocate, author, and creator of… Read More

Crypto Valley in the Rockies: Wyoming May Become the Switzerland of the US when it comes to Cryptocurrency

By JD Alois

Switzerland has become known as a center of excellence for the cryptocurrency industry. In fact, many initial coin offerings (ICO) call Zug, Switzerland home – even if they are not really based there. The Swiss regulators (FINMA) have recognized the emergence of digital currencies as… Read More

P2Binvestor CEO Krista Morgan on Marketplace Lending: What to Expect in 2018

By Erin Hobey

P2Binvestor CEO Krista Morgan founded P2Binvestor in 2012 with a mission to help growing businesses succeed. Morgan is not only CEO of a fast growing Fintech, she is also the cohost of the podcast “Women Who Startup Radio”, an ardent mentor to other women entrepreneurs… Read More

Producing Change: Seed&Spark CEO Emily Best Discusses #MeToo, the Film Industry & Crowdfunding

By Erin Hobey

“We are asking everyone in our community to take responsibility for their part. We ask all of our filmmakers to make a public facing statement about how their project is increasing inclusion in entertainment. We make it very clear to our audiences that what we… Read More