With VentureHealth, InCube Ventures thinks crowdfunding can blend with traditional VCs. Some investors, particularly angel investors, may see equity crowdfunding as a threat to traditional venture capital.
But not InCube Ventures. Over the past few years, the San Jose, Calif. -based life sciences venture capital firm has co-invested with accredited individual investors on a handful of deals. On Friday, the firm went one big step further with the launch of VentureHealth, an equity crowdfunding site for biomedical technology companies. As report after report has shown, venture capital funding for life sciences companies has been on the decline. VentureHealth wants to give health startups — both early, but particularly later stage — a new option for raising funding, while embracing a model that enables doctors, health care professionals and others with sufficient means to support companies addressing issues they care about. Crowdfunding Convention, Vienna 15th May 2013. U. of Virginia Teams Up With 'Crowdfunding' Site to Finance Research - Bottom Line. The University of Virginia announced this week the creation of a university “crowdfunding” portal designed to enable alumni and other donors to support research projects.
The university is one of the first to start such a fund-raising effort through a partnership with a crowdfunding start-up company. UVa is teaming up with Useed, a company focused on promoting fund raising in higher education by soliciting donations for university research projects or student-proposed entrepreneurial projects. Crowdfunding Web sites, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, have become popular among individual students and researchers who want to raise money for specific projects or simply to finance their education.
S.Korea to Legalize Crowd Funding System. South Korea planned to legalize the crowd funding system as part of efforts to help venture companies finance their seed money from a number of small investors with fewer restrictions, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
Regulations for the crowd funding, including business requirements, investment ceiling and investor protection, will be introduced, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a joint statement with related ministries. The crowd funding, which began to gain attention after the U.S. legalized such system at the JOBS Act in April 2012, refers to the funding of a company by selling small amounts of equity to a wide pool of investors via the Internet. The ministry said that the crowd funding will help venture companies fund their seed money from a wide pool of small investors through online funding platform, saying that it will ease posting regulations over such funding. This Week in Crowdinvesting - Issue 8. From TheCrowdCafe # From the Cafe # Selected Articles # Lift-Off (Legend: Security | Vertical | Geography | Comments)
Union Square Ventures is Cornering the Crowdfunding Market. As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, CircleUp announced its $7.5 million Series A yesterday.
Surpassing Funders Club’s $6 million “seed” round in October, this represents the largest raise by a U.S. investment crowdfunding platform to-date. A few notable stats for context. CircleUp has facilitated over $10 million in investments for 12 companies;Median raise of ~$800k;~70% success rate for listed companies (keep in mind CircleUp’s curation rate of 2%);Average number of investors per deal is ~25 (ergo, average individual investment size is $32k). What does this mean for CircleUp? It could deploy the capital to grow horizontally into other verticals, copying and pasting its existing model and targeting comparable deal sizes.
How Crowdfunding can Reignite Alumni Engagement. A friendly forewarning: this is a long article.
Please accept a summarized, and downloadable, presentation embedded at the end as my apology :-). Also, if you’re involved, or interested in, the coupling of crowdfunding with higher education, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Imagine. Empowering each and every one of Ohio State University’s 63,000+ students—regardless degree, age, or background—to start, and fund, a business. Visiting its University’s crowdfunding ecosystem, ignite.osu.edu, students would find a centralized source of information, mentorship, and even a clear path to funding their ideas and ambitions.
Empowering students to ignite their entrepreneurial ambitions, anytime, anywhere, was the topic of the first part of this University series (Why Universities Need to Get Smart on Crowdfunding). Let’s loosely define innovation in this context as (i) student, faculty and alumni startups and (ii) research and development. CircleUp Raises $7.5M Led by Union Square Ventures - Liz Gannes. CircleUp — a company we’ve covered closely, given that it is one of the only crowdfunding platforms so far that legally helps people make equity investments in startups — has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding.
The round was led by Union Square Ventures, and also included Google Ventures, Rose Park Investors and Maveron. In its first year, CircleUp helped companies that make physical consumer products raise $10 million, ahead of the approved-but-still-not-yet-implemented JOBS Act, which would expand equity crowdfunding to a broader range of investors.
One notable aspect of the CircleUp investment is that lead investor Union Square Ventures has assembled an unusually dense portfolio around similar businesses that you might think would overlap too much. Other USV investments include Kickstarter, Lending Club, Funding Circle and Science Exchange. Which models, exactly? Investment Crowdfunding Weekly - 5/4/13. Talking Real Estate Crowdfunding with RealtyMogul. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jilliene Helman, the CEO of RealtyMogul.
RealtyMogul is an accredited crowdfunding platform for real estate, and we discussed how crowdfunding is going to re-imagine this asset class. I highly encourage watching the interview in its entirety as Jilliene provides great insight into her company’s structure and ambitions. (Apologies for my softened voice, I’ve been fighting a nagging cold. 3 Naked juices/day isn’t even cutting it!)
Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies Meeting, May 1, 2013. Part 1 See also Part 2 Additional Webcast Archives.
Page Not Found - The Crowd CafeThe Crowd Cafe. Investment crowdfunding is going to disrupt and re-shape early stage capital markets.
But not only for the reasons you’ve likely heard. There’s more to it. Crowdfunding is the product of not one, but two, strands of disruptive DNA. The first we’ll call technical disruption, the Christensenian strand of disruption I suspect many are quite familiar with. The second is much different. Compounded, these two agents of disruption will dramatically reshape our private capital markets. This is a dense topic so I’m going to break it into two parts. Technical Disruption. Investment Crowdfunding Weekly - 4/28/2013. AngelList Commits to Crowdfunding - Venture Capital Dispatch. The Italian Equity Crowdfunding Laws: where are the limits. It’s been three weeks since the publication of the Consultation Document on the Regulation on Crowdfunding by the Italian Financial Authority CONSOB. Three weeks full of discussions, praise and criticism of the regulation.
I have had the opportunity to discuss it with many people from various sectors and I wanted to share some points of view on a regulation that is innovative, challenging and the object of some criticism. Notably I have spoken to a number of lawyers who are, perhaps understandably, taking a particular interest in the regulation. Umberto Piattelli is a partner of the international law firm Osborne Clarke and he revealed that many of their clients present the same problem: they have innovative ideas but they struggle to get any funding from banks or investors – a problem not just limited to Italy! Updating our Global Investment Crowdfunding Database. I’m excited to announce an update to our Global Investment Crowdfunding Database.
I’ve appended it below and it can be permanently found under the Data section of our site. Here’s the link: Global Investment Crowdfunding Database I’ve done my best to track the birth of new platforms across different regions. To be sure, it’s a work in progress. The Fundrise Blog — How Big Money Took Over Real Estate. Over the last 20 years investment companies have come to dominate the real estate investment and development landscape.
But this was not always the case. Prior to the mid-1980s, most funding for real estate came from local people — usually through syndication networks and major real estate families. Insurance companies and side-arms of local banks also invested but almost always directly into the specific property. Beginning in the early 1990s things changed as the financial industry created and popularized an array of new products designed to increase diversification, specialization, and financial engineering. ING Direct Partners With StartSomeGood To Launch New Crowdfunding Platform Dreamstarter. Entrepreneurs with a social mission are the target of a new crowdfunding platform called Dreamstarter, created by a partnership between ING Direct and StartSomeGood.
StartSomeGood, launched last year by Tom Dawkins, is a crowdfunding platform for social innovation. Dawkins has described it as “Kickstarter but for social change”. And it seems the platform is living up to its name, launching a new initiative called Dreamstarter in partnership with financial services firm ING Direct in a bid to boost Australia’s social enterprise sector. Much like StartSomeGood, Dreamstarter enables Australian entrepreneurs to raise funds for social change projects, chosen by the Dreamstarter panel.
Real Life. Change. Project Startup A&E REAL LIFE CHANGE inspires people to take charge of their lives and encourages viewers to turn their passion projects into reality. A&E is now proud to partner with RocketHub, one of the leading crowdfunding platforms, to launch PROJECT STARTUP. We've found great synergy between A&E's unique brand of original programming that emphasizes the entrepreneurial spirit and RocketHub's mission to liberate ideas; and we believe that Project Startup will support a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovative thinkers. Why Universities Need to Get Smart on Crowdfunding. I speak often about the opportunity to couple investment crowdfunding with existing financial, intellectual and physical infrastructure.
Universities have invested decades in time, and millions in capital, in building all three. With access to biased and engaged capital (alumni); vast intellectual capital reserves (faculty and students); and expansive physical infrastructure (equipment, spaces), Universities are uniquely positioned to meaningfully capitalize on this opportunity. Clayton Christensen Talks Venture Capital, Crowd Funding, And How To Measure Your Life.
Editor’s note: Derek Andersen is the founder of Startup Grind, a 40-city community bringing the global startup world together while educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs. Silicon Valley CrowdFund Ventures Conference Palo Alto. AlumniFunder Launches A Crowdfunding Platform Where Alumni Can Back Student Entrepreneurs. AlumniFunder launched in beta this week with a simple mission: Help create a deeper relationship between current students and alumni, while supporting collegiate entrepreneurship and creativity. Crowdfunding: the threat for bankers. ASIC commissioner Greg Tanzer, who has been monitoring the crowdfunding market for the past year, says that based on overseas experience the potential for fraud on pledge and reward sites is real and, when it occurs, it is “extremely damaging for investor confidence in the market affected by it”.
TheCrowdCafe Weekly - 3/24/13. The Dawn of Accredited Crowdfunding is Upon Us. In the last month a number of new accredited crowdfunding platforms have come online. They join FundersClub, CircleUp, and Angellist in facilitating private equity transactions entirely online. Reg D Section 506 private placement crowdfunding. Like the entrepreneurs on Kickstarter trying to raise money to sell hot-chocolate cubes or cut an album, later-stage private companies may soon be finding investors online. Crowdfunding Motivations — What Drives People to Invest?
'Veronica Mars' reaches Kickstarter goal. You did it, Marshmallows! Less than 11 hours after Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell announced a Kickstarter campaign, fans have raised the $2 million necessary to finance a Veronica Mars movie. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. By SBE Council at 12 March, 2013, 2:25 pm. NASDAQ OMX and SharesPost to Form Private Market. Segmenting the Investment Crowdfunding Market. It’s tough to navigate the competitive landscape of U.S. investment crowdfunding as new platforms come online each day. Looking to capitalize on the digitization of our private capital markets, they’re positioning across geographies, industry verticals, investor classes and/or motivations, and security types. 'Third-Level Survivorship' in Crowdfunding. New crowdfunding platforms let you sell stock in yourself. MEDIA ADVISORY: The State of Equity-Based Crowdfunding...Primed, Capitalized and Waiting on the SEC.
Data Driven Crowdfunding: A Look into EquityNet. What’s Crowdfunding Without Advertising? U.S. Equity Crowdfunding Activity Infographic. David S. Rose: Entrepreneurs Embrace The New Reality: No One Funds Ideas On Napkins - Forbes. 3 Silicon Valley Trends That Will Reshape the Financial Services Industry. Equity Crowdfunding Insight from CircleUp Co-Founder, Rory Eakin. Investment Crowdfunding: Average Transaction Sizes. Equity Crowdfunding Industry Booming in the UK, CrowdBnk Opens New Crowdfunding Operation « Crowdfunding Press Center. Invesdor: Equity Crowdfunding in Finland, Estonia and Denmark. Crowdfunding Tips – Choosing a funding target – Part I: Why crowdfunding platforms matter.
Crowdfund Investing. Crowdfunding Webinar: A Competitive Look at the Investment Crowdfunding Industry. Global Crowdfunding Insight: Exploring Gust with CEO, David Rose. UK officially starts crowdfunding with the Business Finance Partnership scheme : £ 55 million new funding allocated. Top Ten Issues Raised at Texas Crowdfunding Conference. Crowdfunding Main Street: The Genesis of a Small Business Revolution. Diving into Equity Crowdfunding with Jeff Lynn, CEO of Seedrs. SoMoLend : @IABCstl @SoMoLend is hosting... Investment Crowdfunding Platforms: Who's Funded? Wefunder Raises $500K To Help Unaccredited Investors Put Money Into Startups. Dear SEC: The Right to Accept Risk Must be Ours.
SEC Small Business Forum post-mortem. Ryan Caldbeck - Disrupting Finance. Deadline approaching for crowdfunding regulators. Dear SEC: The Right to Accept Risk is Ours. Exploring ASSOB: A $130 Million Crowdfunding Model that Works. An Industry United: A Framework for Crowdfunding in Europe. Ryan Caldbeck: What the Presidential Election Means for Crowdfunding and Small Businesses. Prettiest girl at the crowdfunding dance, Invested.in raises an $830k seed round. Trendwatching Presumers. Investment Crowdfunding Comes to Sweden. Free Webinar: Making Sense of the Investment Crowdfunding Industry (10/26) Crowdfunding Platforms to Broker Dealers: Let's Hook Up. Enough with the rhetoric! Crowdfunding works — here’s the proof.
Investment Crowdfunding in the U.S. is Dead Before Arrival « Crowdfunding Law. The Occupy Crowdfunding Daily. Angel Investors Do Make Money, Data Shows 2.5X Returns Overall. Enough with the Rhetoric: Investment Crowdfunding Works. Here's the Proof. William Carleton, Counselor @ Law: New editorial on crowdsourcing.org: does U.S. equity crowdfunding legislation need a do-over? Equity Crowdfunding Must be a System of Value Creation, Not Destruction. CFIRA. Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding - The Industry Website.