Posts Tagged ‘peer-to-peer lending’

I received a comment to last week’s blog, “Funding for the Rest of Us Entrepreneurs“, asking for specific alternative lending sources that start-ups could access. I had mentioned peer-to-peer financing as a potential funding growth area. Peer-to-peer financing or crowd financing are financial transactions between individuals without the intermediation or participation of a traditional financial institution. Peer-to-peer financing can take the form of debt, equity or grants.

Peer-to-peer lending sites registered with the SEC, such as Prosper and Lending Club, have become viable funding sources for debt capital, with $196 million and $113 million funded loans to date. This past week’s announcement that Diaspora.com, a proposed Facebook alternative, had raised more than $100K in pledges in less than 12 days on Kickstarter.com increased awareness and greater hope for peer-to-peer pledged capital.

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