As a fund with access to 355 venture capital funds the European Investment Fund (EIF) was able to analyze European venture capital activity from 1996 to 2015 in their new report; the report points out that new funds performed almost as well as seasoned funds in selecting winners when economic times were good; on the contrary when economic times are not as fruitful the skilled venture capitalists were better at picking companies and avoiding big losses; the big takeaway from the report is that the real skill involves avoiding the big disaster investment in tough economic times. Source
Dynamic Credit is an asset manager that started in New York but has strong European ties; they have launched their...
P2P-banking.com has released its monthly report on marketplace lending originations; top lenders for the month included Funding Circle with EUR 142.3 million ($151.56 million), Zopa with EUR 101.6 million ($108.21 million) and RateSetter with EUR 65.4 million ($69.66 million); during the month both Mintos and Moneything reached new origination milestones since inception; the report does not include data from US lenders. Source
Marketplace lender, Spotcap, is headquartered in Germany and first launched in Spain; it now has opened an office in London and has begun serving the UK lending market; uncertainties with Brexit crossed executives' minds but didn't deter the launch; UK Managing Director, Niels Turfboer, said, "a lot needs to happen in the world [for London] to lose its position, which is basically number one in the world after Silicon Valley [for fintech]"; in fact, he adds, "Historically a period of uncertainty will lead to more restricted activity from the more traditional finance companies like the High Street banks. That has its effect mostly on the SMEs as they're considered to be more risky. I definitely think it's going to be a turbulent and challenging time but alternative finance will have more influence in the coming years, in my opinion."; the company focuses on offering working capital lines of credit for small businesses. Source
The EU is working on a license for crowdfunding and p2p platforms to operate across multiple countries across Europe; the aim is to simplify the work required in each specific country to operate; AltFi shares perspectives from multiple platforms in Europe on the plans for a license. Source
Businesses in Europe are having varying success of getting support from government backed stimulus programs; In France small businesses have...
Some of Europes largest online lenders have started to grapple with the idea of potentially becoming a bank; Funding Circle says it has no plans to do so, Zopa on the other hand says they are becoming a bank; other online lenders like YOUnited Credit in France and Raize in Portugal have thought about becoming a bank but thus far see the flexibility of not being a bank as an advantage; the banking market overall is going through quite the change and the definition of a bank is sure to be examined. Source.
EverCompliant’s Founder & CEO Ron Teicher says the internet has made money laundering a lot easier; according to Teicher up...
Despite the fact a recent study suggests only 22% of those in the UK had even heard of “open banking”...
The company turns premium bonds into an interactive social experience by allowing users to tap and spend money to win instant cash rewards.