Investment Platforms and Marketplaces

September 9, 2015 @ 2:40 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Wednesday, Fundly, a crowdfunding platform that is primarily used for nonprofit projects, announced that it has been acquired by NonProfitEasy. Fundly President, Mark Feinberg, reportedly told Forbes: “NonProfitEasy, the integrated and affordable data management solution for nonprofits, has acquired Fundly, a top online crowdfunding platform… Read More

September 9, 2015 @ 10:33 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, new property crowdfunding firm A Piece of London announced that it has officially launched its platform. A Piece of London will now allow clients to choose a property from its portfolio and invest through their online platform. Operating under FCA guidelines, the platform will manage… Read More

September 9, 2015 @ 9:00 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

As the director of Trillion Fund, a renewable energy and social investment crowdfunding platform, Julia Groves has a key piece of advice for women new to working in crowdfunding: Learn to show off. “Grit your teeth and do it, otherwise someone less amazing than you might get the… Read More

September 9, 2015 @ 8:59 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

NexusCrowd Inc. today announced the launch of the first investment platform in Canada that provides accredited investors with exclusive access to co-invest alongside institutional investors in deals that have reached at least 50% of their funding target. It also provides private equity institutions with a… Read More

September 9, 2015 @ 8:14 am By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding platform FundedByMe has announced a new partnership with global auditing and consulting firm Grant Thornton in Sweden. According to FundedByMe, the intent of the new arrangement will be for Grant Thornton to provide valuation services to entrepreneurs and to help small companies connect and… Read More

September 9, 2015 @ 12:47 am By JD Alois  |  

Most people are not even aware there is a dividing line between who is allowed to invest in pre-IPO companies and who may not. A travesty of rule making, today investors are measured by the size of their bank account – and not the caliber… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 12:30 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Australian equity-based crowdfunding platform, VentureCrowd, has appointed finance industry veteran Rob Nankivell to the role of CEO, and John Ottaway as General Manager of Property. The appointments come off the back of what VentureCrowd says has been solid growth this year, with the company’s expansion… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 10:55 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Symbid, the financial technology brand behind The Funding Network, announced on Tuesday a strategic partnership with DNOB, the new funding platform for entrepreneurs led by Hans Biesheuvel, former chairman of MKB Nederland (Dutch SME Trade Association) and a highly influential voice in Dutch economic affairs. DNOB… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 10:44 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

CommonBond, a marketplace lending platform that lowers the cost of student loans for borrowers and provides financial returns to investors, today announced it has raised $35 million in Series B funding from August Capital and Nyca Partners, with existing investors participating. August Capital led the… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 9:15 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Property ownership accounts for almost 40% of household wealth in the UK, but buying into property requires a lot of time, local knowledge, and ever larger amounts of capital as the market rises in value. Accessing that locked-in capital easily and cheaply is also a… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 9:00 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  First, Indiegogo and Shock Top asked everyone to drop a brick in their toilet, as part of their partnership to battle the California drought. Now comes round 2 of the program, with funding for a new invention: EvaDrop, a water-saving shower head. Americans use more than… Read More

September 8, 2015 @ 8:12 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform iFunding announced on Tuesday that it has raised a total of $4 million for two real estate projects located in Asbury Park, New Jersey from investors nationwide. After the success of raising iFunding’s largest deal, $3.2 million for 301 Memorial Drive,… Read More

September 7, 2015 @ 12:39 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, UK equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube announced it has joined forces with organization TechBike to help bring literacy and gender equality in education. Crowdcube’s Matt Cooper declared in a recent blog post: “Like many of the Crowdcube team I’m an avid cyclist which is why we’re… Read More

September 7, 2015 @ 10:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Peer to peer lending platform Bondora announced late last month its forthcoming API.  Last week, the Estonia based direct lender released its Beta version of the API allowing individuals to access data directly. The Bondora API is a sandboxed, test environment that emulates the forthcoming… Read More

September 7, 2015 @ 8:29 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, UK crowdfunding platform Crowdfunder announced that it has joined forces with outdoor advertising company, JCDecaux, to help rapidly scale up 100 startups across Britain. Nurture, JCDecaux’s new division, is now working with Crowdfunder to find start-up businesses who want to grow, to help… Read More

September 4, 2015 @ 9:52 am By JD Alois  |  

Commercial real estate management firm Allegiancy has filed a $50 million offering under Tier II of Regulation A+ hoping to become one of the first companies in the US to leverage this new securities exemption.  The new capital will be used to “make significant investments… Read More

September 3, 2015 @ 7:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Marketplace lending platform Lending Club is celebrating $11 billion in loans – an accomplishment that took about 8 years to accomplish.  From the very first borrower who raised just $5000 for a home improvement project, Lending Club has grown to the largest direct lender in… Read More

September 3, 2015 @ 7:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a letter to Funding Circle investors, and a post on the Funding Circle site,  the UK’s leading SME direct lender announced within the next month the platform will shift to fixed interest rate loans. Presently Funding Circle uses a bidding process where investors compete… Read More

September 3, 2015 @ 4:38 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, Harmonix, the developer behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band, announced that it has formed a partnership with new crowdfunding platform, Fig. Last month, Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, inXile’s Brian Fargo, and Obsidian’s Feargus Urquhart, launched Fig, which focuses exclusively on games. The platform allows the reward-based… Read More

September 3, 2015 @ 4:00 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  With the publication of the Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights, one of the first consensuses on responsible small business lending practices, earlier this month, marketplace lending platforms including Funding Circle, Lending Club and Fundera showed their support for greater transparency for borrowers and accountability for platforms and… Read More