Alex Tapscott has raised $20 million for NextBlock Global, an investment firm investing in projects selling cryptographic tokens; he now has plans to list the company on the Toronto Stock Exchange; Tapscott is also the co-author of "Blockchain Revolution," which he wrote with his father, Don Tapscott, last year; with the IPO listing of NextBlock Global he hopes to further accelerate adoption of ICOs and blockchain. Source
Creditas recently closed one of the largest rounds in Latin American history and has originated more than $100mn in loans since 2011; they company offers loans backed by collateral, charging 17 to 25 percent for their home equity loan and 23 to 50 percent for auto equity loans; this is unique as banks typically charge 120 percent APR on unsecured loans and 480 percent APR on revolving credit cards; having a lower cost, more secure loan has seen them keep defaults around 1 percent and grow the company workforce threefold in the past year alone. Source.
In their recent annual results Funding Circle announced they will be opening up in Canada later this year; today the...
Small business, marketplace lender, Kabbage, has announced two new executive hires; the executive hires will focus on technology and data as the company seeks to expand and gain greater market share in online small business lending; Amala Duggirala will join Kabbage as the chief technology officer and Rama Rao will be the chief data officer. Source
Marketplace lender, PeerStreet, has raised $15 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz; PeerStreet offers secured real estate loans through its lending platform; the minimum investment is $1,000; investors on the platform include high net worth individuals, family offices and institutions; Andreessen Horowitz's Rampell noted the competitive advantages of PeerStreet compared to competitors included their fast growth and distribution model; he stated, "Most companies that are lending to consumers spend all the money in customer acquisition and it is very hard to get a profit." Source
A husband and wife from Sri Lanka were arrested in Canada for fraud and money laundering; the couple reportedly used fraudulent checks and synthetic identities for fraudulent charges and purchases; both are charged with fraud of CAD5,000 ($3,729) and possession of proceeds obtained of over CAD5,000 ($3,729); the fraudulent charges are an example of the emergence of sophisticated synthetic identities that are more difficult to be detected by fraud prevention systems. Source
In a press release this week, marketplace lender, SoFi, provided more details on its partnership with Protective and announced the launch of a new term life insurance offering for millennials; product provides life insurance for up to $1 million and features a 20 minute application and approval process. Source
Prosper released its October 2016 performance report with the month's estimated return of 7.12% just below the estimate of 7.17% for the third quarter; in October, vintage prepayment rates continued to trend higher; delinquencies and loss patterns since 2013 are below levels in 2012; cumulative gross charge-offs appear to be a factor trending higher; average FICO of the portfolio was 714.1 in October. Source
The marketplace lending platform has facilitated over $7 million dollars in financing to small businesses in Canada; it currently has over 9,500 investors; Auto-Lend will allow investors to automate investing on the platform through pre-set or customized strategies. Source
Canadian based insurance company Manulife launched a digital bank earlier this month and at the heart of that offering is...