[alert type=yellow ]Every week, Tradestreaming highlights startups in the news, making things happen. The following is just part of this week's news roundup. You can get these updates delivered direct to your inbox by signing up for the Tradestreaming newsletters.[/alert]
Startups raising/Investors investing
Future Finance raises $171m to grow its student loan platform in Europe (
TechCrunch)
Future Finance — a startup based out of Dublin that provides loans to students — is today announcing a £119 million ($171 million) round of investment — £19 million in equity and £100 million towards future loans made through the platform.
Human capital investing platform, Cumulus Funding raises $36m (
PYMNTS)
Cumulus Funding, a consumer finance company specializing in providing Income Share Agreements (“ISAs”) to individuals seeking a more flexible consumer finance alternative, has announced a major funding round today.
StanChart PE arm, Goldman invest $28 million in Vietnam mobile payments startup (
Reuters)
A private-equity arm of Standard Chartered Plc and Goldman Sachs have invested a combined $28 million in Vietnamese startup M_Service, the operator of mobile e-wallet MoMo, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.
Online lending platform EZBob raises $28m (
VentureBeat)
Online lending platform EZBob has raised £20m (about $28.3 million) in Series C funding in a round led by Leumi Partners and Oaktree Capital Management.
Next Insurance raises $13m to sell insurance to small businesses (
VentureBeat)
Company founded by executives who sold Check to Intuit for $400m in 2014,Next Insurance announced a $13 million seed round led by Zeev Ventures.
The startup said that it plans to use the funds to launch its insurance sales platform for small businesses this spring — in a market in which “99 percent of small commercial insurance is sold offline through agents.”
Latin American P2P lender Afluenta banks $8m (
Finextra)
Afluenta, the leading Latin America peer-to-peer lending network, announced an investment round from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector institution of the World Bank Group, and Elevar Equity, an impact venture capital firm.
InstaRem raises $5m to make overseas money transfers cheaper and faster in Asia (
TechCrunch)
InstaRem, an international remittance payments startup headquartered in Singapore, has raised $5 million in a round led by Vertex Ventures.
Charting platform, ChartIQ raises $4m (
Finextra)
ChartIQ, a leader in HTML5 financial charting for capital markets, announces that is has raised $4 million in a Series A investment, led by Illuminate Financial, with participation from existing investors ValueStream, Tribeca Angels and additional angel investors.
Real estate crowdfunding marketplace /software, CrowdStreet secures $3.5m (
Crowdfund Insider)
Another real estate crowdfunding platform raises money. This time, it’s CrowdStreet.
"CrowdStreet has experienced incredible growth since launching its marketplace in 2014, which was complemented by our SaaS offering that debuted in May 2015. Our unique offering has attracted over 40 commercial real estate clients, with more than $1 billion in institutional-quality assets managed through the CrowdStreet platform."
The Startups: Who's shaking things up
DailyWorth, financial media co, launching female-focused roboadvisor (
WealthManagement)
Advancements in technology may also be creating a shift in the other direction, with media companies becoming increasingly involved in providing financial services. One website, DailyWorth, is preparing to launch a new automated digital advice service called WorthFM.
OCC: Fintech firms inquiring about national bank charters (
Banking Journal)
Several fintech companies—including one virtual currency firm—have made inquiries to the OCC about applying for national bank charters, American Banker reported this week, citing comments by OCC Chief Counsel Amy Friend at a recent fintech forum at George Washington University. Friend said firms could “be seeking the ‘regulatory umbrella’ of federal preemption of state rules,” since many are challenged by the number of state licenses needed to operate as nonbank lenders or money transmitters.
Crowdfunding platform, SyndicateRoom becomes IPO matchmaker with approval of London Stock Exchange (
Business Weekly)
SyndicateRoom has become the first crowdfunding platform to join the public markets.
It has been granted intermediary status by the London Stock Exchange, allowing crowdfunding investors to participate in IPOs and placings on the UK’s main market and AIM.
