Individual investors have now invested $100 million of the company's $1 billion funded; the investments have been growing at a fast pace with the platform launching in January 2016 and doubling its $50 million investment level from mid-October of 2016; LendingHome markets returns of 8.75% and requires a $50,000 opening balance with a minimum investment of $5,000; at the LendIt USA 2017 event the firm received the 2017 Top Real Estate Platform award. Source
Dianrong has obtained $220 million from a Series D funding round; this latest funding was led by GIC Private Limited (Singapore's sovereign wealth fund), CMIG Leasing, and Simone Investment Managers, among others. Source
Ron Suber has been involved with Credible since 2015, investing in both the Series A and Series B rounds as well as acting in an advisory role; Suber will now spend about one day per week helping Credible in a broad range of activities from fundraising to helping the team as the company grows; Credible CEO Stephen Dash noted that despite headwinds many other industry participants faced, Credible continues to grow; Ron Suber will play a role in navigating the growth they expect going forward; the company also announced a pilot for a credit card marketplace which launched today. Source
SuperMoney reviews the new US consumer lending platform founded by Renaud Laplanche; firm is an online lender focused on personal loans, also offering consumer credit monitoring and education for its customers with benefits for high quality borrowers; SuperMoney outlines the platform's underwriting standards, application process, and pros and cons versus competitors. Source
Today, Prosper appointed Usama Ashraf as its new CFO; Ashraf will also oversee the capital markets side of the business to bring in new investors; Ashraf has more than 18 years experience in corporate finance and capital markets; recent positions include being the deputy chief financial officer and treasurer at Annaly Capital Management and corporate treasurer at USAA; David Kimball, Prosper's CEO stated: "We're thrilled to have someone with Usama's experience and track record in finance and global capital markets join our team. Usama will be instrumental in bringing new institutional investors onto the Prosper platform, including banks, as we continue to grow the platform in 2017." Source
German-based marketplace lender Bitbond has partnered with African payments provider BitPesa to improve the lending experience for small and medium enterprise (SME) borrowers; Bitbond will enhance the blockchain lending services of its platform by incorporating cross-border payments through BitPesa; the BitPesa payments platform can make payments in 20 minutes and is now live in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania. Source
Approved has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding and announced its launch; Approved provides lenders with a solution for moving their lending operations online; the platform technology provides for increased transparency and faster processing times; the company will target established originators seeking to modernize their lending businesses. Source
Emerging online lending platforms from traditional banks could be the market's disruptors with their ability to offer low fees; few banks have emerged with proprietary online lending platforms however the fee structures offered by Marcus from Goldman Sachs have caused some industry participants to fear the emergence of similar models; other speculators believe traditional banks are not agile enough to build and offer market leading online lending capabilities in a competitive timeframe; Orchard says competition will be fierce but the end result is likely to produce improved and expanded access to capital for customers. Source
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has released data for its February Small Business Optimism Index; the Index shows a decrease to 105.3 from 105.9; the NFIB says that the reading is still one of the highest in 43 years; the lower report for February is primarily due to uncertainty around President Trump's deregulation plans, new healthcare law and tax reform. Source