PitchIt @ LendIt Europe is one of the industry's most popular startup competitions providing eight finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise and funding opportunities as well as invaluable exposure, branding and more at the event; hosted in partnership with Startupbootcamp, the event also offers fast-track status to the finalist round for Startupbootcamp Fintech Accelerator as one of its prizes; interested startup companies must submit their application by September 4 and finalists will be announced on September 10; more details about the competition can be found here. Source
Solva, an ID Finance subsidiary that offers personal loans in Georgia, is now on the Mintos platform; Solva has disbursed 28,000 loans totaling EUR12 million ($14.3 million) since late 2016; Mintos provides a platform for retail investors to allocate to various online lenders; Boris Batine, ID Finance co-founder and CEO, stated: "Solva is an innovative product in global online lending. It was developed for prime clients and offers very attractive terms for personal loans. It closely resembles traditional bank loans, but with a focus on transparency, ease and convenience of service. Thanks to our technological innovation and efficient operations, we can offer investors a high annual net return." Source
The platform reported a record month in August after launching the cashback offer, gaining over GBP2.25 ($2.91 million) million of investment; LendingCrowd will extend the offer through September 30, giving investors GBP150 ($195) for every GBP2,500 ($3,257) invested; the platform offers investors access to SME loans and has lent GBP17 million ($21.95 million) since launching in 2014. Source
CB Insights held a webinar discussing fintech trends in Europe; top trends included insurtech expansion, blockchain, open banking and the changing financial services infrastructure; reports that European fintech has raised $2.637 billion in 2017 from 300 deals with record financing in the first quarter of $1.1 billion. Source
UK-based Redwood Bank has launched digital banking services after obtaining a banking license for business in the UK; Redwood Bank is the first bank with a 100% cloud-based infrastructure and will offer SME mortgages for business owners and professional landlords as well as a 35-day business savings account; Redwood Bank is wholly-owned by Redwood Financial Partners Ltd. which is controlled primarily by Warrington Borough Council with a 33% ownership stake; the newly launched bank is covered by the UK's Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which protects customers' eligible deposits of up to a total of GBP85,000 ($109,846). Source
The platform currently works with approximately 1,000 brokers; source reports it is focusing its efforts on brokers using the platform regularly with a new master broker system for inactive intermediaries; Funding Circle is requiring brokers to make at least one introduction to the platform per quarter. Source
PayPal founder Peter Thiel, and his fund Valar Ventures, led a $10 million seed round in German insurtech startup Coya; other investors in the round include e.ventures and La Famiglia; Dr. Peter Hagen, one of the founders of Coya, tells Business Insider, "This investment will allow Coya to further extend our team and build up an exceptional product for our customers."; the company is planning to build a digital insurance provider and is in the process of trying to get full authorization from German regulators; founders of Coya include two former Kreditech employees and ex-CEO of Vienna Insurance Group. Source
PitchIt @ LendIt Europe is one of the industry's most popular startup competitions providing eight finalists with unparalleled access to industry expertise and funding opportunities as well as invaluable exposure, branding and more at the event; hosted in partnership with Startupbootcamp, the event also offers fast-track status to the finalist round for Startupbootcamp Fintech Accelerator as one of its prizes; interested startup companies must submit their application by September 4 and finalists will be announced on September 10; more details about the competition can be found here. Source
Renaud will kick off day two of LendIt Europe with a keynote speech discussing online lending 2.0 as well as the US online lending industry and its role within fintech overall; Laplanche is currently the CEO of newly founded US consumer lending platform Upgrade; the platform raised $60 million from a Series A fundraising and launched in April 2017. Source
LendIt has partnered with SeedInvest to include live fundraising at this year's PitchIt @ LendIt Europe competition; through the partnership LendIt Europe delegates and SeedInvest's 185,000 users can invest in the eight startup finalists during the event; these finalists will present before an audience and panel of judges on October 10 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. Source