Singapore’s GIC leads $220 million funding round for Chinese P2P lender Dianrong
Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform Dianrong has raised $220 million from Singapore sovereign fund GIC Pte Ltd [GIC.UL] and other investors to fund R&D in China and potential ventures elsewhere in Asia. Other investors in the funding round included CMIG Leasing, a unit of China’s biggest private investment conglomerate China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG), and South Korean fund manager Simone Investment Managers, Dianrong said on Wednesday. The Shanghai-based firm will use the funds to automate some of its new branches across China, for research and development and potential acquisitions, Dianrong’s co-Chief Executive Soul Htite told Reuters. “Now we’ve graduated to another level, so people that know finance are also seeing us […]
Search for 2017 Fintech 100 innovators kicks off
Nominations are now open for the 2017 KPMG & H2 Ventures Fintech 100, the annual list designed to recognize leading fintech innovators. Visit www.fintechinnovators.com by Thursday, 31 August 2017 and nominate your company, or any fintech you think should be considered for the Fintech 100. The Fintech100, available at www.fintechinnovators.com, is compiled by fintech investment firm, H2 Ventures in collaboration with KPMG’s Global Fintech practice. The annual Fintech 100 includes both the leading 50 established fintechs, and the most intriguing 50 “emerging stars.” How to nominate and the judging process: Nominations for the Fintech 100 can be made at www.fintechinnovators.com website by Thursday, 31 August 2017. […]
Ireland is well placed to ride the fintech wave
It was almost inevitable that Dublin would emerge as the hub of a thriving fintech sector in Ireland. The co-existence along the banks of the Liffey of the well-established International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and the more youthful “Silicon Docks” with its coterie of world leading born-on-the-internet firms created an ideal breeding ground for the new sector, which merges traditional financial services with the latest advances in social media, data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies. According to the Fintech & Payments Association of Ireland (FPAI), fintech in its broadest sense comprises every area of technology and innovation in the financial services arena, including payments, trading and foreign exchange, big data, […]
LandlordInvest raises seed funding from Alan Gabbay, Director of O&H Properties
LandlordInvest, one of the first fully FCA authorised peer-to-peer lending platforms for residential mortgages, raises seed funding from Alan Gabbay, Director of O&H Properties, a London based privately owned property investment firm with assets valued at approximately £1 billion. LandlordInvest was launched at end of 2016 by founders Filip Karadaghi, Nikolajs Smirnovs and Joe Vallender and became the first peer-to-peer lending platform to offer a residential property-backed Innovative Finance ISA (“IFISA”) to UK savers, targeting tax-free returns of up to 12% per annum. The company’s achievements were recently highlighted by the industry as LandlordInvest was shortlisted as the “Crowdfunding Platform of the Year” at the PropertyWire Awards, holding off competition […]
HK, Singapore rivalry hobbling Asia in $100b Fintech race
Asia’s competitiveness in fintech is being undermined by the rivalry among the region’s financial centers that has created regulatory complexity and uncertainty, a financial lobby group has warned. Governments across Asia—most notably Hong Kong and Singapore—have launched a raft of initiatives to grab a slice of the $100 billion invested in financial technology globally but the regulatory hotch-potch is making it tough for firms to scale up, the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said in a report on Friday, PTI reported. “The regulatory landscape is very fragmented and a lot of the initiatives, though well-intentioned, are not necessarily well thought through,” said Mark Austen, CEO of ASIFMA. The […]
Peer-to-peer lending giant Zopa confirms £32m fundraise
Zopa scoops £32m in a new investment round led by Indian conglomerate Wadhawan Group, as it looks ahead to bank-build. Zopa, the UK’s original peer-to-peer lending platform, has clinched £32m in its first investment round since early 2014, when it raised £15m from Arrowgrass Capital Partners. The money will be used to help build-out the firm’s technology and product range in preparation for the submission of its banking licence application later this year. The investment round has been led by India’s Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd and European venture capital fund Northzone. Northzone is also an investor in leading invoice finance platform MarketInvoice. Zopa co-founder Giles Andrews currently serves and […]
Almost 40% of Growth Street investors are millennials
Growth Street has revealed that 37.4% of its investors are under the age of 35. The figures go against the views of those who have claimed millennials do not think about saving and investment. Growth Street felt simple digital interfaces and investment products offered by alternative lenders were aimed at giving younger people greater investment flexibility than ever before. Greg Carter, CEO of Growth Street, explained that millennials had traditionally been underserved by conventional investment products. “In the past, investment products have targeted older individuals with higher disposable incomes, but Growth Street is turning this convention on its head. “We’re delighted to see that almost 40% of our investors are […]
Banco BNI Europa makes €10M investment in Portuguese peer-to-peer platform Raize
Banco BNI Europa has signed a strategic agreement with Portugal’s largest peer-to-peer lender RAIZE to boost lending to SMEs in the country. The online challenger bank is looking to invest €10 million over a two year period. The Portuguese economy has experienced strong GDP growth of 2.8% in the 1st quarter of 2017 and in 2016 captured the largest amount of foreign direct investment in the last 20 years. Pedro Coelho, Executive Chairman of BNI Europa said: “The bank is extremely committed to supporting SMEs in the European space. Our partnerships with Raize and MarketInvoice are just some of the initiatives the bank is promoting with fintech businesses and more […]
