The round was led by NEA and Wing Venture Capital; the company works with mobile operators to access consumers in emerging markets, offering pre-paid customers a micro-loan when they are low on data or minutes; through the app, users are also able to build up their credit over time and Juvo hopes to offer users more financial services products in the future; the seven carriers that Juvo works with also benefit by reducing customer churn and increasing revenue. 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
The Indian online lending platform has closed a $10 million debt funding deal with investment from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Financial Services and other financial institutions; follows other recent capital investments; firm plans to use the funds to support its loan book and expand to 700 cities; its platform originates loans ranging from Rs 1 lakh ($1,570) to Rs 40 lakh ($62,817) with interest rates of 16% to 24% and provides loan funds within three days. Source
Tencent, with advantages in cloud computing, big data, social networking, and mobile payments, will cooperate with China Development Bank to provide students loans; China Development Bank is a "policy financial institute" under the State Council; the bank covers over 90% of the student loans market. Source (Chinese)
Blend Network is a UK-based company, offering asset-backed property loans to retail, high net worth and institutional investors; officially launching loans on the site two weeks ago, the firm has raised GBP350,000 ($460,115) from a small network of investors; loans are expected to offer between eight and 15% with a minimum investment of GBP1,000 ($1,315); loans are introduced by F&P who acts as a sponsor in the P2P sector; the firm introduces borrowers to a wide variety of lenders and currently works with platforms such as ThinCats. Source
UK invoice financing platform MarketInvoice reported a record day of transactions this week; the platform transacted GBP4.1 million ($5.38 million) in invoice advances to UK businesses; the firm's MarketInvoice Pro product has been a factor supporting increased lending volumes on the platform with the new product offering an open funding line for businesses. Source
P2P-Banking.com has released international lending volumes for July; Zopa topped the list with originations of EUR119.6 million ($USD141.9 million) for the month; report includes a number of milestones including cumulative lending of GBP2.5 billion ($3.28 billion) for Zopa and GBP2 billion ($2.63 billion) for RateSetter; the report does not include data from US P2P lending platforms. Source
Firm says the platform is the first to introduce hire purchase loans for businesses; the firm has developed the product in collaboration with former wholesale lending partner Corporate Asset Solutions who will serve as a distribution channel; RateSetter will take full security over the specified asset and the platform says its hire purchase agreements will range up to GBP750,000 ($993,000). Source
Leading cloud based loan and leasing software provider Cloud Lending Solutions launches a new product offering for banking clients, CL Portal™; the new product will allow a lender to integrate loan product workflows and document management for a seamless customized experience; Snehal Fulzele, CEO of Cloud Lending Solutions, explains: "Every day, more and more banks are asking for an integrated loan portal that allows them to configure a highly personal, customer-centric experience. CL Portal™ allows banks to build that interaction with an origination platform in months, rather than years." Source
Leading non bank lender loanDepot opened the mello™ Innovation Lab where the tech team will continue working to expand their proprietary mello technology; in comments regarding the innovation lab, loanDepot CEO and Chairman Anthony Hsieh said: "Our lending professionals and LD tech team have combined strengths to create an unstoppable force in next-gen lending. Our never-ending, iterative innovation process is the basis of our business strategy and our true competitive advantage."; the mello technology is designed to make loan origination faster, easier and more accurate by integrating marketing tools and third party data; the digital experience is available to consumers, referral partners and lending professionals; this new lab is meant to foster innovation and allow the technology team to work in a unique environment that includes fun activities and nice weather. Source