If you've ever worked in lending (or a non-profit), you know there is far, far, far more need than funds available. That is unlikely to change at a macro level. But that doesn't mean we can't reach tens of millions more by deploying capital more widely and more efficiently (and at a profit). 

Enter crowdfunding, and the subset, P2P lending.

I've been a huge fan since it burst on the scene in 2006, authoring several reports (note 1) along with the only open letter in my life when the SEC squelched P2P in 2008/2009. I just could not believe that something with so much potential for good was being reeled in while in its infancy.

But luckily, the tide is turning. Even though last year's Jobs Act is being held up (by guess who again), I'm encouraged that our government is seeing the light. Though I wish Washington would embrace P2P like the Brits.

And despite onerous disclosure requirements, Lending Club is on fire (with a $1.4 billion run rate in Feb) and proving to investors, and industry observers, that crowdfunding works. For the sake of the nascent industry, let's hope it doesn't stumble.

We are working on a new report on the space (note 1), but in advance of that, take a look at Pave (see below), one of hundreds of newcomers. Maybe I'm a just a sucker for the drama, but it absolutely gives me chills to see web-based investment/lending platforms helping move deserving folk forward. It's like a virtual credit union. 

At Pave, backers pledge money to prospects and form a team. In return, backers receive a portion of the prospects' future income. It's like angel investing, but focused on careers. Pave is just getting started, with eight funded teams, but the stories are compelling and the future bright. As it is for the whole industry. 

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Pave brings mentors/benefactors together with talented individuals needing support (28 Feb 2013)

Pave prospects

Pave backers

Pave teams

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Notes:  
1. We have published three reports in this area (OBR 127 in 2006, 148/149 in 2007, and SR-5 in 2009). We are working on our fourth. It will focus more on equity and debt crowdfunding for small and mid-sized businesses. Our latest P2P lending market forecast is contained in the current Online Banking Report here (Jan 2013, subscription).

While I've read TechCrunch since its beginning, I've only been able to make it to their semi-annual event, Disrupt, once before. It's usually just too close to our own Finovate. But this year I made the trek to Pier 94 in Manhattan to see what was going on in tech in general and to meet with the fintech startups in the Startup Alley or Battlefield launch competition.

There were six fintech companies in total. Three offered variations on card-linked offers, one has developed an alternative payment system, one was a newer payments gateway, and surprisingly there was just a single crowdfunding platform.  

Startup Battlefield competitors from fintech: TechCrunch selected thirty companies in advance. All have agreed to launch their companies on stage at the event. 

• Cardify: Card-linked loyalty/offers geared toward local merchants. Sean Rad is CEO and of the West Hollywood company which has raised $750,000.
• Mirth: Same as above. Jeremy Philip Galen is Founder. The NYC-based company is bootstrapped. 

Startup Alley participants from fintech: These are companies less than two years old that qualify for a table in the networking hall. Each day one of the Alley companies is voted to the stage to compete in the Battlefield.

• LocalBonus: A card-linked offers platform focusing on the local market
• Payintele: An alt-payments company using barcodes to pass info between merchant and payee (I'll do a whole post on them shortly)
• PayLeap: A payments gateway from two previous Authorize.net execs
• The Crowd Funds: A crowdfunding startup from former E*Trade CTO, Joshua Levine

Observations: It was interesting to see three new card-linked rewards companies all going after the local market. But if you look at what Groupon's done with local merchants and where Square is headed, you can see there are huge opportunities here.

And the payment APIs available from Cardspring (which both Mirth and Cardify use) are making it relatively easy for startups to tap into a merchant's card transaction streams to make offers, tally rewards, identify frequent customers, and communicate with them.

As a side note, Cardify has a gorgeous UI. It's very hip and high-end looking like something you'd see at more well-funded companies such as Square, Simple or Mint (screenshot below). Kudos to the design folk there.

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Cardify homepage (24 May 2012)

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Notes:
1. While not a fintech company, as an auction junkie, I was intrigued by Outbid's social mobile/online auction platform. The company said it's talking to four banks looking to host live auctions on their site to use for promotions and social gaming. I think it's a promising idea, one I've explored a few times over the years. But with Facebook Connect you can actually get a critical mass of customers involved very quickly. The company had the cheesiest demo I've ever seen (and that's saying something), but that shouldn't impact your decision.

If you dream of being Mark Cuban, Mr. Wonderful, or one of other Shark Tank investors (note 1), a wave of new angel-investing platforms are springing up all over the world.

TechStars, a NY-based incubator, said it had more than 30 applications from crowdfunding startups for its summer 2012 class.

In the United States, the recently enacted JOBS Act has spurred interest since it is expected to expand the market to several million more investors. But more importantly, the new legislation will lift the ridiculous "quiet period" rules that are supposed to keep companies from openly soliciting investors (note 2).

Once companies can openly look for investors (expected by early summer), private-placement investment platforms have a lot more to offer to companies seeking capital, namely a marketing opportunity.

Think about it. If you need $500,000 to launch a new line of organic granola bars sold nationwide, would it be better to get it from a couple local angels, or from 100 investor-fans kicking in $5,000 each? The latter approach gives you 100 evangelists in all corners of the country. And with only $5,000 invested, each investor has far less ability to meddle in your affairs.

In the past, the paperwork involved in booking $5k investments made it prohibitively expensive, even if you could find the investors under the old quiet period rules. But the new investment platforms promise to standardize the paperwork, reporting, and sales of small blocks of company shares.

So, who are the leaders in the space? AngelList certainly, but it focuses on tech only. Of the newcomers, CircleUp which is launching this week, seems to have the most traction, at least measured by press mentions. Co-founder Ryan Caldbeck has recently been featured in the WSJ, NY Times, TechCrunch and the other tech blogs (note 4).

I've been using the beta version for a week, and am impressed. Circleup is focused on consumer products, and three companies are currently featured within the site, raising $100,000 to $500,000 each. I'm itching to drop the minimum investment ($3,333) into one of them just for fun. However, my wife wonders if that will be the same "fun" we had the last time I thought I could pick stocks (note 5). So, I'm still just an observer for now, but a very interested one.

How it works
Circleup is a lot like a simplified version of P2P lending. Companies seeking capital post their investor deck, introductory video, and any other info they deem important to their story. An online forum allows investors to ask questions that the companies can answer publicly (though this was little used during private beta).  

Investing is as simple as clicking on a button, agreeing to the terms, and pledging the funds. Once the minimum investment round is reached, the money is taken from investor bank accounts.

Relevance to Netbankers
If it's allowed to flourish without being crushed by the SEC when the inevitable scams appear, crowdfunding could eventually provide stiff competition in small business lending. Probably not in its current form, where the investments are speculative, ill-liquid equity bets. 

But fast-forward a few years and imagine a marriage of crowdfunding with P2P lending, and with the liquidity issue fixed through secondary markets. Small- and mid-sized businesses could use a crowdfunding platform as one safe source to get a mix of equity, debt, and receivables financing.

Banks should also consider getting involved in crowdfunding by partnering with the platforms to provide debt and other banking services to the small business participants. Banks could even start, or at least invest in, crowdfunding initiatives of their own.   

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Company info page
Note: Fictitious listing; note investment button in middle-right.

Investing page
Note: For $25,000 (the max allowed), I get 134,000 shares, or 0.51% of the company.
Actual company seeking capital through Circleup, name masked due to the soon-to-be-ending prohibitions against soliciting investors. 

Notes:
1. Shark Tank is the U.S. version of Dragon Den. It's my favorite show on television, though I don't like how founders are sometimes ridiculed by the celebrity investors, whose egos struggle to fit on the same soundstage.
2. Though Shark Tank, watched by millions on prime-time network TV, demonstrates it's not a well-enforced rule.  
3. Ryan Caldbeck's 10-minute discussion of the JOBS Act is worth watching if you want a quick overview of its impact. TechCrunch covers the launch 18 April 2012 here.
4. Our policy at The Finovate Group is to NOT invest in fintech companies.
5. For more ideas on innovating in the small-biz banking market, see lengthy report on the subject, written 2 years ago.