Techworld – 29th May 2018
The best UK digital investment apps: How to invest your money
ETFmatic – The startup was launched in 2014 and now claims to have the most downloaded robo advisor app in Europe, with over 160,000 downloads so far. Read more >>
UK Tech News (UKTN) – 17th May 2018
This startup wants to change how products are built and just raised £350,000
Maze, a London-based startup, has raised £350,000 in pre-Seed round led by early-stage funds Partech and Seedcamp. Read more >>
Peer-to-Peer Finance News – 2nd May 2018
How to become an IFISA millionaire in 25 years
Figures from P2P analyst 4thWay suggest if a lender invests £10,000 each year across several platforms and aims for nine per cent interest after bad debts, they could be a millionaire within two-and-a-half decades. Read more >>
Disrupt Africa – 26th April 2018
Nigeria’s TradeDepot secures $3m Series A round
Nigerian startup TradeDepot, an innovative SaaS platform for FMCG distribution in Africa, has secured a US$3 million Series A round led by Partech Ventures’ recently launched Africa Fund to expand in Nigeria and launch in other countries. Read more >>
Ventureburn – 26th April 2018
Nigerian startup TradeDepot scores big with $3m in funding from Partech
Nigerian web platform TradeDepot has received $3-million in funding from Partech. It’s the global investment firm’s first commitment from its €100-million Africa fund launched earlier this year. Read more >>
Daily Telegraph – 5th April 2018
Deadline day: are any of these 40 ‘peer-to-peer’ Isas worth your cash?
Neil Faulkner, of 4thWay, a peer-to-peer analyst, said: “Innovative Finance Isas are an investment and must not be misunderstood for typical savings accounts. As with all investments, by far the most essential step to reducing risks is to spread money around.” He warned investors not to lend without properly understanding the platform’s business model. Read more >>
Metro – 3rd April 2018
Early bird catches the worm
Neil Faulkner, from Ifisa comparison site 4thWay, has some tips for those just dipping their toes into the peer-to-peer lending space.
“Innovative Finance Isas are an investment and must not be misunderstood for a typical savings account,” he says. “As with all investments, by far the most essential step to reducing risks down to a sensible level is to spread money around, not putting all your eggs in one basket. Beginners might stick to platforms that have at least a few years’ history and are very open about their interest rates, and which have a record of low bad debts or great bad-debt recovery.” Read more >>
ETF Stream – 28th March 2018
The low-cost debate
“We like seeing ETF providers competing to reduce their costs,” says Johan Hellman, the co-founder at another robo-adviser ETFmatic. “Unlike other criteria that ETF providers like to compete on (for instance tracking error/difference) reducing cost is both easy to explain and more likely to be true in the future.” Read more >>
Daily Express – 26th March 2018
ISAs 2018: Innovative Finance Isas now offer a real alternative for savers
Neil Faulkner, co-founder and managing director of 4thWay, which rates the 30 or so products on the market, says savers must understand the added risk involved. “You need to treat this as an investment rather than a savings account, because your capital is not guaranteed and neither is the interest rate.
“Every Innovative Finance Isa is different, so you have to understand exactly what you are getting. “Do not invest if you have any doubts at all about the investment opportunity or the people running it,” he adds. Read more >>
Sunday Times – 18th March 2018
ISA guide: are peer-to-peer loans smart investments?
The returns are big – but the risks can be too
Neil Faulkner, founder of 4thWay, said: “Investors should stick to platforms that are very open about their performance. That includes the experience of their key staff and the process they use to approve loans.” Read more >> Subscription required
Daily Mirror – 23rd February 2018
New ISA offers savers 6% returns on their money – so what’s the catch?
Looking at the market overall, analysts at 4thWay calculate that there are hundreds of thousands of people getting decent returns lending money through this type of platform. Read more >>
Quartz Africa – 24th January 2018
A new pan-African fund will give a boost to Francophone Africa’s fledgling startups
Partech Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) firm, has launched an Africa-focused fund which will look to provide early-stage funding to promising startups and founders on the continent. The fund has raised $70 million of its $100 million target, making it one of the largest Africa-focused funds. Read more >>
The Wall Street Journal – 22nd January 2018
Partech Ventures launches Africa-focused fund
Firm opens a new office in Senegal
Partech Africa has raised €57 million ($70 million) with a target of €100 million. Backers include the World Bank Group affiliate International Financial Corp. and corporate investors JCDecaux Holding and Orange SA. Read more >>
VentureBeat – 18th January 2018
Partech Ventures launches $122 million fund for African startups
The company said that with its new Partech Africa fund, it plans to target early-stage growth startups, doling out between €0.5 million ($0.6 million) and €5 million ($6.1 million) per investment, backing teams that are using tech to “address large emerging market opportunities,” according to a statement. Read more >>
Muckle – 5th January 2018
Ever more sophisticated as ETFmatic offers robo advice based on tax preferences
Ground breaking digital wealth management platform ETFmatic has become the first in Europe to offer robo advice based upon an individual’s tax preferences. Read more >>
Techworld – 3rd January 2018
Tips for startups looking to expand abroad
It’s worth getting in touch with tech entrepreneurs from your country that have succeeded or failed in expanding to your chosen destination, says Marie Raichvarg, managing director of Paris coworking space Partech Shaker. They are likely to have useful advice on what you should prioritise – and what to avoid.
It seems obvious, but it’s crucial to take things like language or cultural differences into consideration. You should recruit natives for all of the countries you wish to expand to, suggests Paul Picard, head of business in France for startup ManoMano, an online DIY marketplace.
Marie Raichvarg from Partech Shaker adds: “The size of the market matters for sure but you also need to consider the local competition and all the (sometimes hidden) costs to enter the market efficiently.”
“Startups often underestimate the costs of opening operations in the US for instance. Plus it can be interesting to test your internationalisation process in a less strategic country,” she says. Read more >>
What Investment – 2nd January 2018
EIS and income tax relief – Growthdeck Expert View
Gary Robins, head of business development at Growthdeck, asks ‘where now for the Enterprise Investment Scheme?’, post the November Budget changes. Read more >>
Moneywise – 22nd December 2017
Leading comparison websites have removed potentially misleading information from their sites after a Moneywise investigation found peer-to-peer (P2P) investment products included in the same best buy tables as high street savings products.
While each of the four comparison websites have some warnings about the risks of peer-to-peer, Neil Faulkner, managing director of peer-to-peer comparison service 4thWay, says these sites are “falling short”.
“Clearly, peer-to-peer lending is not a form of saving, but an investment with all the risks that come with it.
“After the industry itself, pushed by the regulator, has made such a big deal about shifting the language away from savings, the low standards at generic money sites are still clearly falling far short.
“Words do matter.
“For instance, Go Compare continues to compare these investment products in its savings comparison table alongside easy access savings accounts and Cash Isas. It even calls them ‘peer-to-peer savings products’.” Read more >>
FT Adviser – 18th December 2017
Robo-adviser launches tax monitoring feature
A Europe-wide robo-adviser has launched a capital gains harvesting feature to help its clients optimise their investments and reduce the need for aggressive asset allocation rebalancing.
ETFmatic’s new feature will work by identifying and selling those ETFs that have increased in value and replacing them with similar ones to ensure the same asset allocation exposure is maintained for clients.
The robo-adviser claims to be Europe’s only digital wealth management platform that offers ETF portfolios in sterling, Euros and US dollars. Read more >>
Express.co.uk – 6th December 2017
Eczema treatment: The THREE clothing fabrics that could irritate skin REVEALED
People with eczema can often cope with wearing clothing made from silk, linen and soft acrylic, according to the National Eczema Society.
Silk is the key fabric for DreamSkin which has incorporated the material into 85 garments, including socks, gloves, leggings and tops, for sufferers.
“Silk is a natural, continuous fibre which is famously warm in the winter and cool in the summer and can absorb up to 30 per cent of its weight in water without feeling damp,” explained Wilson, who is seeking £1m of investment on Growthdeck, the private investor platform, for DreamSkin. Read more >>
The Times – 25th November 2017
Budget 2017: Prepare for a hi‑tech boost to company pensions . . .
Moves to raise cash for start-up ventures may be good news for your retirement.
Gary Robins head of business development at Growthdeck, an investment platform, points out that just over 500 investors took advantage of the previous £1 million annual limit in the past three tax years and only 33,000 applied for any EIS tax relief in the past tax year. “There is still limited awareness and understanding of the very generous tax reliefs,” he adds. Read more >> Subscription required
What Investment – 20th November 2017
EIS – why isn’t it more popular?
Figures just released by HMRC for the 2015/16 tax year show that UK taxpayers invested a total of £1.9 billion under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS).
The scheme is designed to incentivise investors to back private companies by offering 30 per cent income relief on up to £1 million of investment per annum into qualifying companies, states Gary Robins from Growthdeck.
PitchBook – 17th November 2017
How to build an Amazon challenger
Christian Raisson and Philippe de Chanville, founders of ManoMano: “One challenge of building a marketplace business today is building data-driven tools to allow automatic processing of large volumes, as marketplaces are essentially a volume play … always overinvest in IT and data to avoid constraints.” Read more >>
FT Adviser – 5th October 2017
P2P lending on course for 20 per cent jump
Lending across all of the peer-to-peer platforms in 2017 to date is already higher than in the whole of 2016, according to data from research agency 4thWay.
According to the data, total lending across all peer-to-peer platforms is likely to be at least 20 per cent higher this year than last with the largest platforms, Funding Circle and Zopa, leading the way. Read more >>
Moneywise – 3rd October 2017
Peer to peer: Can you really get returns of 10%?
Moneywise looks at how to take advantage of the boom in peer-to-peer lending while avoiding the risks that investors can fall prey to.
Neil Faulkner of 4thWay is critical of the way Wellesley operates, saying it does not provide as much data to customers as other providers regarding its performance, bad debts and security. Read more >>
New Model Adviser – 13th September 2017
Robo roundtable: ‘pimply youths’ are future of advice
It is an understatement to say the New Model Adviser® website comments sections host lively discussions, but the reaction to our series of videos on robo-advice was particularly intriguing.
The three ‘pimply youths’, as one commenter labelled them, directors of three of Europe’s most successful digital wealth firms, came to our offices to debate the future of online investment and advice.
The discussion clearly ruffled a few feathers. The trio were Adam French, chief executive of Scalable Capital, Giovanni Dapra, chief executive of Moneyfarm, and Johann Bornman, head of product at ETFmatic. Read more >>
Business Insider – 11th September 2017
B&Q beware – French DIY marketplace ManoMano raises €60 million and sets sights on UK
An online DIY marketplace has raised €60 million (£54.6 million) to fuel expansion across Europe, with Britain one of the top markets in its sights.
Paris-headquartered ManoMano raised the “Series C” funding from growth equity investor General Atlantic, as well as existing investors Piton Capital, Partech Ventures, and Bpifrance. Read more >>
Financial Times – 11th September 2017
French DIY website raises €60m to take on B&Q
ManoMano hopes its Europe-wide supplier network will help it keep costs down
Founded in 2013 in Paris, ManoMano sells DIY tools, products and furniture from a network of merchants, and is on track for sales of €280m in 2017, up from €89m last year. It operates in six countries in Europe and Germany is its fastest-growing market.
In its 18 months of operation in the UK, it has made £9m of sales. “DIY is a €260bn market overall in Europe, €65bn of which is Germany and €42bn in the UK,” said Philippe de Chanville, ManoMano co-founder.
Read more >> Subscription required
VentureBeat – 11th September 2017
French DIY retailer ManoMano raises $72 million to accelerate European growth
Paris-based ManoMano announced today that it has raised $72 million as it seeks to expand its DIY marketplace across the continent. Read more >>
Your Money – 24th August 2017
Peer-to-peer lending: should you worry about default rates?
Neil Faulkner, managing director of peer-to-peer research and ratings agency 4thWay, explains that investors should pay close attention to published bad-debt figures (which cover loan write-offs as well as simple defaults) of the different platforms. Read more >>
Peer-to-Peer Finance News – 22nd August 2017
Autobid vs manual: Which is truly P2P?
“Autobid is easier for the platforms to manage the flow of money, balancing borrowers with investors,” said Neil Faulkner, chief executive and founder of P2P analysis firm 4thWay. “Platforms also worry that investors are not diversifying enough.
“For investors, automatically lending increases the number of loans that you lend in. Lending across more loans dramatically lowers the risk of losses.” Read more >>
Muckle – 20th July 2017
ETFmatic adds robo advice to the wealthtech Revolut-ion
With the number of robo advice and wealthtech propositions seemingly inexorably on the rise, Muckle has learned of two new entrants to the UK market each targeting a late summer launch.
The first is pre-paid debit card, currency exchange and peer-to-peer payments app, Revolut, which is set to add investment management to its proposition in partnership with robo advisor ETFmatic.
To be launched as RevolutWealth, the initial service will be similar to that offered by Moneybox and others which card payments to be rounded up to the nearest pound with the spare change then invested; ETFmatic is to provide a range of risk-graded investment portfolios for the proposition which will launch in the next two months. Read more >>
Robo Advice News – 20th July 2017
Revolut’s robo-advice dance partner revealed
Revolut intends to partner with robo-advice platform ETFmatic.
App-based banking disruptor Revolut intends to partner with its first robo-advisor. A report in this morning’s Citywire suggests that Revolut has already partnered with ETFmatic to roll out its wealth offering. Revolut has confirmed that this is its intention. Read more >>
Financial Times – 10th July 2017
Partech Ventures raises €400m fund for European and US start-ups
Two-thirds of investments to focus on emerging technologies such as virtual reality
Partech Ventures, the France-based investment firm, has closed a €400m fund to invest in European and US technology start-ups, amid signs the funding freeze following the UK’s vote to leave the EU is beginning to thaw.
Jean-Marc Patouillaud, co-managing partner at Partech, said the fund differed from others of its kind because it would invest in both Europe and the US. Two-thirds of its investments will focus on European start-ups developing emerging technologies such as virtual reality, blockchain and drones, he said, while the rest will go into companies in Silicon Valley, where Partech also has an office. Read more >> Subscription required
Retail Gazette – 3rd July 2017
5 Minutes With Christian Raisson, Co-Founder, ManoMano
ManoMano is disrupting the DIY retail market as the first ecommerce marketplace specialising in DIY and gardening. Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson launched the site in 2013 to make DIY easy and affordable for all by bringing together the largest DIY offering online.
It now operates in six European countries with over one million referenced products and 700 partner sellers. We spoke to Christian Raisson for this week’s ‘5 Minutes With’ segment. Read more >>
FT Adviser – 27th June 2017
Robo-adviser offers fee-free investing for women
Women who open and fund an account with ETFmatic will not pay investment management fees for six months.
The robo-investor’s campaign is designed to throw light on the investment gender gap, which typically sees men in a better position to invest than women who are more likely to take career breaks or a cut in hours to raise their children. Read more >>
The Daily Telegraph – 10th May 2017
Peer-to-peer savings warning: easy access accounts at risk
A report from 4thWay, an analyst of the sector, warned “easy access” accounts offered by providers could not guarantee the quick return of cash. Providers typically offer accounts which tie your money for a year or more for higher interest rates, or low-yielding quick access deals.
Landbay, a property specialist, calls this its “tracker fund”, Assetz Capital has a “quick access” account while Ratesetter offers a “rolling market” option as part of its “everyday account”.
But 4thWay said when the number of bad debts rises during times of crisis, even people in these accounts “might struggle to leave as swiftly as they would like”. Read more >>
Daily Mirror – 6th April 2017
New ISAs offering 8.7% interest launch this week – if you get in very, very fast… This is what you need to know about the innovative finance ISA
Neil Faulkner, of peer-to-peer ratings and research agency 4thWay.co.uk predicts that lenders could set a “floor” – so while interest rates might drop, they won’t disappear or fall below those offered by cash ISAs.
“I don’t think most platforms will allow the markets to dictate interest rates completely without a lower limit,” he told Mirror Money. Read more >>
Retail Week – 5th April 2017
ManoMano takes aim at UK DIY market in debut year
A year after launching in the UK, European DIY and gardening etailer ManoMano has unveiled its maiden results… ManoMano claims that by providing a “wider choice at more competitive prices than current players” it has become the “leading challenger in Europe”. Read more >>
The Irish Times – 4th April 2017
Computer says . . . invest: the robo-advisers are coming
Fees are cheap but will Irish investors be tempted by computer-based advice?
Robo-advisers – online services that quickly construct and manage low-cost portfolios for ordinary investors – have been making waves internationally in recent years.
Now London-based ETFmatic is targeting the Irish market along with 31 other European countries, hoping that investors will be attracted by annual management charges starting from 0.3 per cent. The firm’s platform is available at its website or through a mobile app, which it says is the most downloaded robo-adviser app in Europe. Read more >>
Irish Tech News – 28th March 2017
What is Robo Advice? Luis Rivera explains more
Interview with Luis Rivera, CEO of ETFmatic – the first pan-European robo-advisory platform disrupting how exchange traded funds (ETFs) are customised for investors. Read more >>
VentureBeat – 20th March 2017
Techstars brings its startup accelerator to Paris in partnership with Partech Ventures
“Hosting Techstars at the Partech Shaker is in line with our approach of creating an international entrepreneurial ecosystem in the heart of Paris,” explained Marie Raichvarg, managing director of the Partech Shaker. “Techstars will bring the best startups, both French and international, to the Partech Shaker. It is also a way to offer valuable connections to the startups that we support, and to enrich our network of mentors.” Read more >>
Growth Business – 20th March 2017
Partech Shaker’s Marie Raichvarg on why Paris is the city of start-ups
Marie Raichvarg, managing director Partech Shaker, on start-ups in Paris, and building an international foothold working with American accelerator, Techstars. Read more >>
Daily Express – 8th March 2017
Savers are getting worse return than ever while risk takers are benefiting
Neil Faulkner, founder of 4thway.co.uk, a risk rating service for P2P platforms, says a number of sites pay around 4 per cent with little risk. “They vet borrowers, incur minimal bad debts and have defences to prevent losses.” Read more >>
International Adviser – 27th February 2017
European robo-adviser ETFmatic to target IFAs
The chief executive of fledging robo-adviser ETFmatic has said the company is looking to target the IFA market as it continues to expand across Europe. Read more >> Registration required
FusionWire – 23rd February 2017
ETFmatic: Bringing a personalised take to robo investing
Fee-free accounts for children is ETFmatic’s claim to fame in the budding robo adviser arena. We spoke to ETFmatic CEO and co-founder Luis Rivera about the quest to provide cheaper, but still personalised, access to exchange-traded funds. Read more >>
Citywire Money – 13th February 2017
P2P lenders finally launch ISAs after 10-month hold-up
Why have peer-to-peer lenders struggled to receive regulatory approval for their new Innovative Finance ISAs?
Neil Faulkner, founder of 4thWay, a provider of peer-to-peer lending ratings and research, suggests that the delay has been caused by both the regulator and the platforms. Firstly, turnover in staff and a lack of knowledge within the FCA about this new and growing sector partly explains why it has been a slower process than firms anticipated. Read more >>
The Times – 21st January 2017
Lending to strangers is still a good deal, despite the risks
Peer-to-peer is prospering, but there are still some concerns
4thWay has awarded six peer-to-peer lending platforms — Funding Circle, Landbay, Lending Works, Proplend, RateSetter and Zopa — a PLUS Rating, which is based on international banking stress tests and its own risk scores. Each of the platforms have shown zero or low levels of late payments and defaults, and four have provision funds, or insurance, to cover investors (Landbay, Lending Works, RateSetter and Zopa). Read more >> Subscription required
FT Adviser – 20th January 2017
Europe-wide robo-adviser bullish on Brexit
Robo-adviser ETFmatic has said it is making contingency plans for the process of Brexit disrupting its passporting activities. Luis Rivera, the company’s chief executive, said he hoped planning for Britain’s transition out of the European Union would be like the advent of the new millennium, when plans for an apocalyptic scenario proved unnecessary. Read more >>
Investment Week – 23rd November 2016
Robo-adviser ETFmatic introduces multiple currency trading
Increased demand for currency diversification
European robo-adviser ETFmatic has increased the number of currencies available on its platform so investors can now trade their ETF portfolios in sterling, euros or US dollars. Read more >>
Finextra – 23rd November 2016
Robo goes multi-currency and beyond ETFs
As the robo advisory sector continues to expand and its offerings increase in sophistication, ETFmatic, which positions itself as the first pan-European platform disrupting how exchange trade funds (ETFs) are customised for investors, says it is now offering accounts in three global currencies. Read more >>
Moneywise – 4th November 2016
Deal of the week: Fee-free investing for children
Even the most modest-sounding percentage based charge can have a hugely erosive effect on our wealth over time, so if you’re looking to invest for children you might want to consider ETFmatic, a robo-adviser that’s promising to waive all platform charges on its children’s accounts. Read more >>
Tech City News – 1st November 2016
Tech mentors: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Luis Rivera, CEO and co-founder of ETFmatic, discusses the pros and cons of having a mentor. Read more >>
FT Adviser – 27th October 2016
ETF robo-adviser sees 10,000 downloads in first flush
ETFmatic was launched in June and provides clients with “unique” diversified portfolios for 0.5 per cent a year. The service has been launched online and as a mobile app in 17 European countries, including the UK. Luis Rivera, chief executive of ETFmatic, said: “We all deserve a simple and cost effective way to put our savings to work. Customers are better off with unique portfolios that use ETFs as building blocks than with expensive fund products managed by financial institutions.” Read more >>
The Daily Telegraph – 14th October 2016
Peer-to-peer Isa to be launched ‘within weeks’ after first major platform gets go-ahead
Neil Faulkner, of peer-to-peer researchers and ratings agency 4thWay, said he had “no concerns” about the larger firms receiving full approval in the near future. He said Lending Works’ relatively simple structure and smaller size had made it easier and quicker for the regulator to assess. Read more >>
BBC News – 28th September 2016
Street UK short-term lender expands to London and Manchester
Street UK, which says it is the first ethical provider of online short-term loans in the UK, is expanding operations to borrowers in London and Manchester. The lender is non-profit-making and claims to be the cheapest such provider of short-term loans in the UK. It is designed to help those who are financially excluded or who cannot borrow from banks. Read more >>
The Times – 17th September 2016
Savings schemes that offer more than your bank
Neil Faulkner, of the peer-to-peer research agency 4thWay, says: “Peer-to-peer lending is an investment, not savings. The risks are entirely different in that you can suffer capital losses, although most sensible medium or long-term investors have a high chance of beating inflation.” Read more >> Subscription required
The Daily Telegraph – 17th September 2016
Peer-to-peer: how can I get 8pc for the least risk?
Specialist P2P analyst 4thWay compares peer-to-peer platforms and has developed its own “stress testing” formulas to gauge the ability of platforms to cope in a downturn. This includes assessing how borrowers would fare – in terms of continuing to make repayments – in a recession of a severity that occurs only once in a century and which involves, for instance, a 55pc crash in house prices. Read more >>
The Daily Telegraph – 21st August 2016
Cash, peer-to-peer, shares and bonds: the income portfolio that makes 4pc
A website called 4thWay.co.uk has conducted a risk analysis of the main peer-to-peer lenders, so it could help you choose. It called Zopa’s bad-debt record “extraordinarily impressive” and praised RateSetter’s “mostly prime borrowers and large bad-debt fund”. Read more >>
Moneywise – 10th August 2016
Peer-to-peer lending: the risks and rewards
Though P2P lending is inherently riskier than saving in a bank or building society, some firms are riskier than others. The most important factor is how well these companies can screen out uncreditworthy borrowers, says Neil Faulkner, founder of independent P2P analyst 4thWay. Read more >>
Tech City News – 2nd August 2016
How to secure your slice of Partech’s €400m tech pie
Imagine a time without iPhones, iPads or MacBook Pros. It’s hard, isn’t it? That’s exactly what the world was like when Partech Ventures, formerly Paribas Technologies, sprung into existence in 1982. Fast-forward a couple of decades and Partech Ventures has established itself as one of the go-to venture capital firms for tech entrepreneurs across the world. Read more >>
The Daily Telegraph – 8th July 2016
Peer-to-peer lenders ‘break advertising rules’, regulator warns
Neil Faulkner, of risk rating agency 4thWay, said that the UK’s “big three” lenders – Zopa, RateSetter and Funding Circle – had been very good at complying with the rules. He added that he expected the regulator to tighten up rules for how lenders were allowed to market themselves. Read more >>
City A.M. – 23rd June 2016
We French will continue investing in London’s world-beating tech sector no matter what
At Partech Ventures, we invest in online and tech startups across the world, out of our offices in San Francisco, Paris and Berlin. Over the past 12 months, we have invested in the UK more than in any other European country, and as much as in the US. Read more >>
The Daily Telegraph – 5th April 2016
DIY start-up ManoMano raises £10m to take on B&Q in the UK
ManoMano has raised €13m (£10.4m) in a round led by Partech Ventures, the French venture capital fund behind Made.com. Read more >>
Crowdfund Insider – 4th February 2016
Content Marketplace Lobster Announces Google Photo Integration Following SyndicateRoom Campaign Launch
Lobster, a content marketplace for brands to find and license photos from social media users, has launched a crowdfunding campaign on SyndicateRoom to raise £300,000 to help fuel its global expansion. Read more >>
The Memo – 19th January 2016
Tandem boss Ricky Knox on flashy apps and building a bank
As Tandem races to launch a new digital bank at the end of 2016, we sat down with its founder to find out how it’s going to compete with big established banks. Read more >>
This is Money – 1st December 2015
Gloves set to come off in online bank battle with Tandem the latest newcomer to receive a licence from Bank of England
Another online challenger bank is set to launch next year after being given the green light by the Bank of England today. Tandem Bank is the fifth bank in 2015 to be handed a new licence and will offer current accounts, credit cards, savings and loans, with finer details revealed early in the year. Read more >>
Business Insider – 1st December 2015
Britain just got a new digital bank and it’s raising tens of millions of pounds
Tandem Bank is the second digital-only bank to be licensed by the Bank of England this year after Atom Bank, which became the first mobile-only bank to get a licence from the Bank of England in June. Read more >>
Financial Times – 7th September 2015
P2P providers urged to come clean on fees
Peer-to-peer lending platforms have been accused of hiding some of the costs of investing by analysts who argue they should develop a standard formula for expressing costs and charges. Neil Faulkner, co-founder of 4thWay, a comparison site for peer-to-peer lending, said: “None of the P2P lending websites are fully transparent with lenders about their costs.” Read more >>