The AltFiNews Letter
Welcome to the AltFiNews Letter!
The major news this past week has been the mounting excitement over an SME referral system that now appears to be on the cusp of realization. It’s believed that the legislation forcing banks to refer businesses that they reject for loans to Alternative Finance providers will be announced in the Queen’s Speech next week. We recently recapped Vince Cable’s keynote address at AltFi – which seemingly jumpstarted the Treasury’s consultation on the matter into life.
On the p2p front, AltFi Data revealed today that the sector has now surged past the £1.5 billion mark. What’s shocking is that a third of that figure was originated in the last 5 months alone! We also looked into the blossoming relationship between RateSetter and mobile operator giffgaff – which is providing RateSetter with a sizeable boost in custom.
A new report from The Crowd Data Center has highlighted the exponential growth of the crowdfunding industry. The paper – ‘eFunding: The State of The Crowdfunding Nation’ – shows the global crowdfunding sector to be doubling every two months, and the UK sector to be growing faster still. Meanwhile, the innovation charity Nesta reported that the number of crowdfunding platforms shot upwards by over 50% through 2013.
A new entrant has emerged that will provide both debt and equity services. Crowd For Angels is the first hybrid platform of this kind to be regulated by the FCA.
In the invoice finance space, Platform Black announced that it has smashed through the £60 million barrier, just two years removed from its inception.
AFN was the beneficiary of an intriguing guest piece this week from Marc Glazer – CEO of Boost Capital. The article traces the origins of Boost Capital, as well as shedding light on what makes the non-p2p business a nonetheless “alternative” finance provider.
Look for our coverage to expand over the next few weeks to include regular updates on the US and Asian AltFi markets.
Kind regards,
David Stevenson
Director
AltFi
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