funding

Crowdcube Raises 1.2M from the Crowd and 3.8M from Balderton Capital

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Today British crowdinvestment platform Crowdcube started pitching the crowd to raise 1.2 million GBP. This was on the same terms as the 3.8 million GBP it raises from Balderton Capital in this series B funding. The total raised is for 25.64% equity. This puts the valuation at about 19.5 million GBP. The pitch was funded  in a record 16 minutes by 142 investors. There was a minimum investment threshold of 1,000 GBP (and a maximum of 25K GBP) in this round.

Crowdcube launched in 2011 and has raised over 30 million GBP for more than 130 start-up, early stage and growth businesses. More than half of this finance has been secured in the first half of 2014. Crowdcube also succeeded to sign up international partners and now has a presence in seven countries: Brazil, Sweden, Dubai, Poland, Italy, Spain and New Zealand. I feel that Crowdcube has done tremendously well in terms of product development and building its market position.

Darren Westlake, CEO of Crowdcube commented: ‘We’re delighted to secure growth finance from such a renowned VC who will undoubtedly add tremendous value both strategically and operationally. We’ve built a pioneering and award-winning service over the last few years. This investment, alongside the crowd, puts us in an even stronger position to provide essential growth finance for businesses and inspire a new generation of investors.’

This round follows earlier rounds, where Crowdcube raised 320K GBP in Dec. 2011 (I invested a small amount during that round) and 1.5M GBP last year prompting Techcrunch to rightly state ‘Let no one accuse Crowdcube of not eating its own dog food‘. However I would expect a crowdinvestment platform to be a stellar role model in communication with its own investors and I feel there is lots of room for improvement there (especially when compared to some other equity crowdfunding pitches I invested in) as frequence and content of information provided has been sparse and I found the answers to my direct email queries to Crowdcube directors unsatisfying.

Funding Circle Raises 65M US$ Series D

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British p2p lending service Funding Circle raised 65 million US$ series D in a round led by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors, Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital. The new funding will be used to continue to fuel the company’s rapid global growth, expand product ranges and explore new international markets.

Today’s news follows Funding Circle’s record growth in both the US and UK markets over the past twelve months. The p2p lending marketplace is on track to lend 600 million US$ in 2014.

Samir Desai, CEO and co-founder of Funding Circle said: “We are thrilled to welcome Bob to our board. His expertise and experience is unparalleled. This latest round of funding will fuel our global ambitions and power the next phase of our evolution – catering for the increase in demand we expect to see over the next 12 months. Our vision is to build a better financial world, helping more small businesses access finance and offering attractive returns to investors.”

This news comes less than a year after the previous 37 million US$ round. In total, Funding Circle has now raised $123 million in equity funding.

(Source: press release)

Prosper Raises 70M

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Prosper raises a 70 million US$ funding round led by Francisco Partners. The additional funding will be used for growth and expansion plans. David Golob from Francisco Partners, global private equity firm which focuses on information technology, will join the Prosper Marketplace Board of Directors. The funding round also includes investments from Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms, as well as Phenomen Ventures. Continue reading →

Lending Club Buys Springstone Financial

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Lending Club announced today that it has acquired Springstone Financial for a total consideration of 140 million US$ in cash and stock. Springstone provides financing options for consumers looking to finance private education and elective medical procedures through a network of over 14,000 schools and healthcare providers.

“The acquisition of Springstone is significantly expanding the services we offer to help consumers achieve their goals,” said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. “Parents looking to finance their children’s education and patients undergoing elective procedures will now have access to Lending Club loans and benefit from responsible, transparent and affordable financing options.”

Mike Gilroy, CEO of Springstone, said, “Lending Club has established a great reputation as an innovator. We’ve built strong bridges between providers and patients and between educational institutions and parents. We’re excited to become part of the Lending Club platform, which will bring new financing options to our network.”

As part of the financing of this transaction, Lending Club also announced the closing of an equity capital raise. Investors in the $65 million round included funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Wellington Management Company, LLP, BlackRock and Sands Capital. According to Peter Renton the valuation of Lending Club at this round is at 3.76 million US$.

“We believe that Lending Club has an opportunity to transform an important part of the banking system into a transparent online marketplace,” said Henry Ellenbogen, Portfolio Manager at T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. “The Springstone acquisition is another step in that direction, and we are very excited at the prospect of being a long term equity partner of Lending Club.”

Lending Club also raised $50 million in debt financing to fund the acquisition.

(Source: Press release)

Ppdai Closes Series B Round

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Shanghai-based p2p lending service Ppdai.com has completed series B round (rumoured to be at 45M US$). The round was led by Lightspeed China Partners, an early stage investment company. Wealth management company Noah Private Wealth Management and Sequoia Capital also invested.

Funding Circle Raises 37M US$ – Will Merge With Endurance Lending Network

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UK p2p lending service Funding Circle which facilitates loans to businesses has raised 37 million US$. Funding Circle, launched in 2010, has raised a total of 58 million US$ venture capital now. The series C funding round was led by new investor Accel Partners, with participation from Ribbit Capital (another new investor) and Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures.

Funding Circle also announced that it will merge with smaller US service Endurance Lending Network. Launched in 2011, the Endurance Lending Network has carved out a niche working with fast food joint franchisees but is not releasing its loan volumes, although they are understood to be considerably lower than Funding Circle’s. Funding Circle says that, combined with its back-end technology platform, Endurance’s established team of around 15 employees with experience of the US market will help it crack America.  The entire Endurance team will stay on at the firm, which will re-brand as Funding Circle as it targets what the Small Business Administration estimates is a $100 billion funding shortfall in the US economy.

In the US, the model will be modified says Samir Desai, CEO of unding Circle: lending will only be open to accredited investors. This is partly because of regulatory issues.

This is a very big step as it is the first merger of large p2p lending service and at the same time the first international merger. Funding Circle will be able to target a huge market.

Source: press release (via Techcrunch, Venturebeat)