Dow Jones has released its European Venture Capital Report for the fourth quarter; shows venture capital investment in Europe increasing from the third quarter of 2016 and also from the comparable quarter in 2015; European companies raised approximately 2.93 billion euros ($3.11 billion) from 539 deals in the 4th quarter, a 35% increase from the previous quarter; the number of deals also increased by 9% from the third quarter; the UK was a market leader for investment with 122 deals totaling 754 million euros ($799.35 million). Source
P2P lenders have been debating the definition of default as many investors seek standardization; Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) members define a default when a loan is 45 days overdue and begin recovery collection at 120 days; non-P2PFA platforms have varying standards that fit with their business models, ranging from two consecutive months to 180 days to three missed payments; in the banking industry banks do not have a standard definition, focusing more on delinquent payment collections than actually labeling a loan in default. Source
LendIt has announced the judges for its annual PitchIt @ LendIt Europe competition to be held on October 9 and 10; judges include Rob Moffat of Balderton Capital, Reshma Sohoni of Seedcamp, Dan Cobley of Blenheim Chalcot and Patrick Meisberger of CommerzVentures; in comments regarding the competition and its judges, Jason Jones, co-founder and chief executive of LendIt, said: "The high caliber of judges we've had over the years is a testament to how the competition has evolved, and it's inspiring to see another strong panel taking to the stage for the competition. I'm confident that their diverse professional backgrounds will see one of the most exciting PitchIt competitions yet." Source
