BlueVine raised $49 million in a Series D funding round from existing investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners; BlueVine has so far provided $200 million in working capital and says they are on track to lend out $500 million in 2017; BlueVine credits partnerships for a lot of their success, in particular the deal with QuickBooks who says the BlueVine offer is very popular among users. Source
News Roundup
This page contains an archive of the Global Newsletter summaries and the weekly fintech news roundups.
Every day the Fintech Nexus news team scours the globe for the most important stories of the day to include in our daily newsletter.
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One, Inc. has announced the closing of a Series B funding round which raised $20 million for the firm; the Series B funding follows a Series A funding round in 2014 and brings total capital raised to $36.7 million; investors in the Series B funding round included AXA Strategic Ventures, MassMutual Ventures and H&Q Asia Pacific; over the past three years the company has tripled its annual revenue and quadrupled its number of customers; offers a full Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that provides for all the core functions an insurance company needs; provides solutions for both new market entrants and large insurance providers seeking new technology platforms; it plans to use the new capital to add products and business lines as well as for global expansion. Source
Insurtech company, Hippo, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by Horizons Ventures; firm provides online home insurance offerings at a more affordable market price due to its online business model and direct to consumer offerings; says its policies are customized to meet the needs of modern lifestyles; plans to use the funding for product development and marketing for its launch to customers in California in 2017. Source
The National Crowdfunding Association of Canada (NCFA) has published a report providing insight on the country's crowdfunding market; identifies a need for regulation that will help support the industry's growth while also setting standards for the market overall; predicts transaction value of $190 million for 2016; says the industry has grown 48% from 2013 to 2015. Source
Online multi-lender, Bizfi, has announced a new partnership with Internex Capital; Bizfi will add Internex to its network of lenders on the platform; Internex will offer asset-based revolving lines of credit from $250,000 to $5 million for small to mid-sized businesses in manufacturing, wholesale, trucking, business and consulting services; through its online lending platform Bizfi originates loans and also matches borrowers with its network of over 45 lenders. Source
Money Platform has launched in the UK with full authorization from the Financial Conduct Authority; the platform provides short term personal loans and seeks to offer a more affordable solution than payday loans; it will include 3 to 12 week loans of up to 1,000 British pounds ($1,255) with interest rates ranging from 0.3% to 0.7% per day; the platform is targeting 12% net returns for investors and will retain 35% of the interest payments from each loan; overall the most a borrower will pay in interest on the platform is 165%. Source
FinSight Ventures, a global venture capital firm focused on fintech companies, is seeking a portfolio manager for investing in real estate loans; the position will first be on a consulting basis which may lead to a permanent role; the firm has invested in companies such as Earnest, Dianrong, Lending Club and Financeit.
Even Financial has been rapidly growing its business, now reporting over $1.5 billion in loan requests through its technology offerings; firm says loan originations from its services have been growing at a quarterly rate of 205%; the growth has been the result of increased interest in its offerings and expanding partnerships with lending businesses; firm provides technology for publishers seeking to build online solutions that compare lenders; it also offers its technology services to merchants for helping their clients identify the best financing options for purchases. Source
ApplePie Capital has received endorsement from Fifth Third Bancorp as more large banks take an interest in marketplace lenders; Fifth Third Bancorp participated in a funding round that resulted in a $16.5 million investment for ApplePie Capital; Lend Academy provides details in their article; the funding will help ApplePie Capital continue to improve its market positioning; it currently provides loans for franchisees affiliated with its 40 franchise brand partnerships. Source
US legislators have proposed that student loan debt be discharged in the case of bankruptcy; the current law gives added protection to student loan lenders by requiring the debt to be repaid in bankruptcy; lawmakers and lobbyists are also considering other provisions that would provide debt relief to student loan borrowers who have filed for bankruptcy; while the debt relief initiatives will benefit borrowers, the effects will add increased default risk for investors in private student loans and private student loan securitizations. Source