US stock exchange firm Nasdaq has announced the launch of Nasdaq Ventures; Nasdaq Ventures will be a venture capital investment unit of the firm; the business will focus on discovering, investing in and partnering with fintech companies globally; the business unit plans to make minority stake investments of $1 million to approximately $10 million in companies at all stages of development. Source
The European Investment Fund (EIF) supports venture capitalists across Europe. Its publication, "The European venture capital landscape: an EIF perspective Volume III: Liquidity events and returns of EIF-backed VC investments," studies the investment performance of over 3,600 EIF-backed venture capital investments made from 1996 to 2015. Its primary goal is to identify the effects of the EIF's venture capital activity.
Results across venture capital investments are wide ranging with 4% of exits returning more than five times the investment and generating 50% of the total aggregated proceeds. Among these successful exits are 152 company IPOs of EIF-backed start-ups from 1996 to 2015 on 20 different stock exchanges around the world.
Investment from the European Investment Fund could be an important factor for the UK to manage as it exits from the European Union. Approximately 20% of the EIF's investment has been in the UK and over the past four years the EIF has invested EUR2.8 billion in the UK directly. If funding ceases many venture capital firms may consider moving their headquarters to provide for continued EIF investment in EU locations. Source
Peer-to-peer platform Octopus Choice is estimating GBP50 million ($64.08 million) in loans in its first year of business; the platform offers loans secured on residential property with average returns of 4.2% and loan to value ratios of up to 70%; the firm's loans have ranged from GBP95,000 ($121,744) to more than GBP5 million ($6.41 million); the firm has been fully authorized by the FCA and has received its HMRC approval to offer an IFISA. Source
Quint owns four companies in the consumer credit sector including Monevo, Monevo Data Services, CreditAngel and MoneyGuru; according to the announcement: "The Queen's Award for Enterprise is widely recognized as being the UK's highest accolade for business success. The annual awards recognize British firms that have excelled in exporting, social or environmental good work, or innovation." Source
Biz2Credit has partnered with Puerto Rico's Oriental Bank to support online lending for the bank's commercial clients with a specific focus on small businesses; Biz2Credit and Oriental Bank will develop a digital lending platform for business credit cards, lines of credit, term loans, real estate loans, equipment purchases and SBA loans; the platform is reported to be the first of its kind in Puerto Rico. Source
41 fintech artificial intelligence deals occurred in the first quarter of 2017; other top industries for investment in the first quarter included sales and client relationship management and health care; overall, there have been 2,320 total deals from the first quarter of 2012 through the first quarter of 2017 accounting for investment of $15.4 billion. Source
According to CB Insights, real estate tech received $2.6 billion in funding in 2016 across 277 deals; the category is broad including companies providing technology to brokers, investors, lenders, mortgage providers, property owners, managers and buyers; given current run-rates total volume for 2017 is expected to increase; notable financings include Homelink, PropTiger, Placester, Knock, OfferPad and Nested. Source
Kevin Caley from ThinCats writes on the evolution of the P2P lending industry and why financial advisers should consider the investment for their clients; reports on the industry's growth and the comparable returns of the product; notes the introduction of the IFISA as a factor for greater investment and increased acceptance from financial advisers. Source
European marketplace lender Lendix will offer loans to Italian SMEs; the platform will now support peer-to-peer loans from EUR30,000 ($32,175) to EUR2 million ($2.1 million) for Italian businesses; Lendix has originated a total of over EUR70 million ($75 million) in business loans from borrowers in France and Spain. Source
eOriginal has appointed Brian Madocks as the firm's new CEO; co-founder Stephen Bisbee will become president of the firm working directly with Madocks on eOriginal's digital documentation offerings and the company's growth; Madocks brings 25 years of business technology and application software experience with work in executive roles at Rivitas Inc., Vitalyst Inc. and SunGard Higher Education. Source