How to claim your 'share' and open up the 'closed' world of investing.

The financial world can seem closed off and intimidating because of complex products and jargon, which threaten to stand in the way of the PM’s promised idea of ‘Shared Capitalism’.  At Crowdstacker, we took the time to ask people what they really think about investing, and believe we have come up with some interesting ideas to simplify and open up the process.

The Peer to Peer (p2p) loan for property development specialists Quanta Group, has well surpassed its target raise of £3m with over £3.7m raised in total. 

All the monies invested via this Peer to Peer loan are being used to buy and refurbish property with the aim of selling them within a few months. This is markedly different to the majority of other Peer to Peer property products that focus more on the buy-to-let market.  

Disruption is a widely used word in business, especially relating to technological innovation; however, it is also a term that is increasingly relevant to our personal finances, especially if we want to make the most of the money we earn, save and invest.

Disruption means a development, innovation or change that throws a standard or traditional business practice or way of thinking into disorder, or interrupts its usual course or process.

When we started Crowdstacker, we set out to make a difference to those wanting a better return on their money and at the same time wanting to support the growth of British businesses. It is a rarity when investors and businesses can both benefit and this is what we believe we have been able to achieve.

In recognition, Crowdstacker won Best New Peer to Peer Provider 2016 at the Moneynet Awards and came second place in the Online Personal Wealth Awards 2016 for Best Peer to Peer Lender. We are extremely proud of these achievements.

It has just been announced today by the Bank of England that interest rates are to be cut to an all time low of 0.25%.  This represents the first cut since March 2009 and will be viewed in different ways depending on your personal circumstances. 

First off, let’s establish that as a technology entrepreneur I’m going to be looking at this in terms of the evolution of how technology is changing our lives, and frankly is doing so with ever faster momentum every year.

I’m going to pay particular attention to financial technology and how it is disrupting an industry steeped in tradition and history. There’s no doubt we are lucky enough to be living through a time of seismic change, the likes of which, in years to come, will undoubtedly be studied as a culturally defining era in global history.

With the prospect of lower interest rates and higher inflation are more people choosing Peer to Peer than ever before?

For some Peer to Peer is something they use all the time but for others, it’s a term they have never heard of or just don’t understand. 

It was a full house on Thursday night at Google's Campus London where people came along for the evening to hear about the Crowdstacker journey - from a Financial Technology (FinTech) start-up to an FCA regulated Peer to Peer platform. Crowdstacker has raised over £9million for UK businesses and is one of only 3 platforms in the UK to launch the new Innovative Finance ISA in April 2016.

At the start of 2016 the Crowdstacker team had an idea to create an eBook. We knew we wanted the book to be about the fast changing world that we, as a fintech (or financial technology) business, inhabit. But we were equally clear that we wanted to inspire people by talking about the pace of change and innovation that we hear about every day in the media, at industry events and from conversations with fintech peers. Getting this balance right is key.

With Midsummer behind us, Britain deciding to leave the EU and the end of the first half of the year just around the corner, Crowdstacker is extremely pleased to announce it has surpassed mid-year funding targets for both Quanta and Amicus.

Amicus is well on track to achieving the goal set for the end of 2016, having raised more than half already – over £5million.