The financial press is asking difficult questions about US marketplace lenders' business models. Are Wall Street's favourites heading for a fall? What does that mean for the UK peer-to-peer lenders?

Another Crowd unpicks the Financial Times' 'doomsday extrapolations' and concludes the typical British SME could teach America's banking sector a few lessons in how to run a business.

Lending Club' s CEO resigned two weeks ago today,and its share price plummeted. New evidence has come to light of partnerships the company made on the way up, and deals that that worked very well, but bent its business model out of shape, and created conflicts of interest and an unsustainable trajectory.

Equity crowdfunding is doing extremely well in the UK, but that's no excuse to let standards slip, says Gary Robins. The founder and CEO of Growthdeck, which launched in January, is on a mission to raise standards in the sector.

The speed and low cost of crowdfunding platforms are impressive, but what benefit is a cost base without a profitable exit?

Investing in successful small business takes courage, collaboration, skills and knowledge. Now, one of England's most business friendly universities is taking academic industry partnerships to the next level, with the launch of the Centre for SME Development. We report from Thursday's launch in Preston.

Crowdfunding platform Seedrs sees a growth market in app-makers raising equity. Smartphone apps meet the needs of time-poor people who value instant access to information on the go.

"Many of us simply don't have the same amount of spare time that we used to have" said Seedrs founder Jeff Lynn, discussing the results of a survey conducted on the Seedrs own community.