BLender is named one of the most promising young FinTech companies in 2015 by KPMG – H2 Ventures. Just two Israeli companies made it onto the list.

The FinTech 100 list features the 50 leading established companies in the world and 50 of the most exciting emerging companies in the field (the rising stars). The list is the result of global research in the field and includes 40 firms from the Americas, 20 from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, 18 from the U.K., and 22 from the Asia-Pacific region. The list includes just two Israeli companies: BLender (on the rising stars lists) and OurCrowd (on the 50 established leaders list). Complete list.

Dr. Gal Aviv in an Interview for Channel 20’s Economic Night

BLender CEO Dr. Gal Aviv is interviewed by Sharon Gal for Channel 20’s Economic Night on the global trend of social loans—which we pioneered in Israel!—and the venture’s first year. Watch here.

Bigger than the Industrial Revolution – Channel 10 covers the sharing economy

 In an interview for Channel 10 on the “sharing economy,” Dr. Gal Aviv, CEO of BLender, discusses the global trend of peer-to-peer lending, which we pioneered in Israel! Watch here.

Dr. Gal Aviv, CEO of Blender, named one of the 100 most influential people in our lives and the future of our children

The hottest word in the financial world these days is “FinTech”: that is, harnessing technological developments to provide financial services. The tremendous technological capabilities offered by the smartphone era, the complete access to information and services at any place and time, and the slowness of banks, has set the stage for organizations and individuals to come in and challenge the traditional banking systems.
Read more.
See the full list of the 100 most influential people.

BLender: Mixing up the money again

Efforts to create a social bank have failed due to the restrictions imposed by the government, so that’s where Israeli entrepreneurship comes in ● Meet the online financial platform that specializes in P2P loans. The result: higher interest rates for lenders and lower interest rates for borrowers. Read more.

The largest P2P marketplace on Earth – Lending Club – is currently worth $7 billion and has seen it loan volume grow 20 percent per month every quarter of 2015 so far. And while LendingClub is the biggest – it is finding itself in an increasingly crowded marketplace .

Analysts say that by the end of 2015, person-to-person lending will drive roughly $77 billion in loan volume — 15 times more than the $5 billion it drove in 2012, Bloomberg reports And while that growth rate is astonishing, P2P lending growth overall is a mere .08 percent drop in a $96 trillion total lending bucket worldwide

The rapid growth of the P2P lending world is of concern to some.
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Sensibly Connect the World’s Borrowers and Lenders

Powered by social data and $5 million in new funding, BLender is aiming to expand its lending platform to global borrowers and investors. Read more.

Funding: BLender raises $5 million to connect borrowers and lenders around the world

It has been a decade since social lending or P2P lending made its breakthrough in the loan arena. The idea is simple: it involves connecting an individual with liquid money that is available for investment with one who needs a loan but is deterred by high interest rates or the bureaucracy of banks or credit card companies. The Israeli company BLender operates an online platform to make such connections and announced today (Sunday) a funding round of $5 million fund led by Blumberg Capital. Read more.

Lending venture BLender raises $5 million

Today BLender announced a funding round of $5 million from Blumberg Capital. Since its founding, the company has raised $3.5 million, not including the current round. BLender operates a platform that allows people to lend money to other people—without financial intermediation. Read more.

BLender raises $5 million for peer-to-peer lending in funding round led by Blumberg Capital

”This funding will help us to strengthen BLender’s position in Israel and to enter new markets in Western Europe and Latin America,” said Dr. Gal Aviv, the CEO. David Blumberg, managing partner of Blumberg Capital, said, “We have witnessed the growth of the field of P2P and its transformation into a legitimate alternative to the traditional lending markets in many countries around the world. As a fund that has previously invested in B2B and B2C credit card companies and marketplaces and in many other companies in the field of credit and FinTech, we have no doubt that BLender offers a unique product in the field, with innovative and groundbreaking technology.” Read more.