Congress Getting Fed Up with SEC Delays, Introduces New Crowdfunding Legislation to Speed Up JOBS Act Implementation

By Robert Hoskins

Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, joined bipartisan leaders in Congress to introduce H.R. 701 legislation providing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  with an October 31^st deadline to finalize Regulation A rules.

Rep. Patrick McHenry Introduces H.R. 701 to Speed Up SEC Implementation Guidelines, legislation providing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  with an October 31^st deadline to finalize Regulation A rules.

Congressman McHenry announced, “This legislation simply codifies an intended deadline for Regulation A as part of the JOBS Act.  The target date is reasonable, nearly 19 months after the JOBS Act was signed into law and 5 months before the official Reg A review would need to occur. Our economy needs efficient, vibrant capital markets to thrive and this legislation is a step in the right direction.”

Congressman Schweikert said, “It was a big win for the American people when we passed the Reg A bill to help small businesses go public. It will be an even bigger success if we can put Washington on a deadline to relieve small businesses from expensive underwriting costs as soon as possible.”

Congressman Eshoo said, “This bill puts the SEC on deadline to finalize new Regulation A rules so that startup businesses can have access to additional capital. When Congress raised the SEC Regulation A offering limit, we did so because it was essential in meeting the capital formation needs of startup businesses in our country. It will create jobs, strengthen our economy, and promote the high-tech, sustainable energy, and life science sectors. Now, it’s the SEC’s turn to follow through.”

Congressman Garrett said, “Congress took bipartisan action to pass the JOBS Act nearly a year ago.  The SEC has yet to finalize its rules.  This abject failure to implement key components – like Regulation A – stands in the way of economic growth and harms our capital markets.  I thank Congressman McHenry for his hard work on this bill, and I look forward to its swift passage.”

Congressman Scott said, “This bill is an important step in providing small businesses an exemption from burdensome requirements by offering a reasonable but firm deadline for finalizing the rules for Regulation A.  The JOBS Act passed with strong support in the House, and this legislation builds on that progress by putting the release of the final rules in sight.”

Regulation A offers small businesses an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. The JOBS Act requires the SEC to amend Regulation A by raising its threshold to $50 million and enact new regulations resolving issues that have made Regulation A unfeasible to date.

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itFits Launches Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaign for 3-in-1 SmartPhone Accessory

By Robert Hoskins

itFits rolled out their latest smartphone accessory which serves as a stand, recliner and hook for almost any phone on the market.  The itFits is an accessory with thermoplastic, rubber arms which flex to fit most smartphones, with or without a case.

itFits – The smarter smartphone accessory that flexes to fit your smartphone, with or without a case.

The patent-pending functionality of itFits allows users to use the product as a stand, recliner or hook and is compatible with the iPhone 3/3G/4/4S/5, iPod Touch, most Android and Blackberry smartphones, and a wide array of leading smartphones available today.

“You’re probably a lot like me in that you spend a fortune on accessories for your smartphone,” says Nancy Scala, co-creator of itFits. “Wouldn’t it be great if you had one accessory that performed multiple functions and fit around multiple phones? This is our idea behind itFits.”

For more information on the product or to make a donation in exchange for the new, universal accessory, visit the  itFits’ Kickstarter campaign which ends on Wednesday, March 6 at 3:57 PM EST.

Jambase integrates Get My Band Crowdfunding Platform to Raise Money for SXSW Music Festival

New partnership creates first-of-its kind crowdfunded SXSW event; enables more bands to play live for more of their fans.

By Robert Hoskins

Jambase and Get My Band announced a partnership that 1) gives fans the ability to bring their favorite bands to their hometown and 2) lets bands use crowdfunding to tour profitably and play more live gigs.

Jambase integrates Get My Band to utilize Crowdfunding for SXSW

Jambase will integrate Get My Band’s crowdfunding technology into its live concert platform, which currently boasts over one million concert listings for hundreds of thousands of music fans around the world. In addition to finding concert listings, Jambase users can now find and participate in crowdfunding concert offers.

Crowdfunding has already become a disruptive trend in the music industry. Just last year, fans pledged millions of dollars to help bands cut new albums, while money raised through crowdfunding overall increased from $1.5 billion to over $3 billion globally. In addition to driving funding for albums, the power of the crowd can help bands play more live gigs and create more profitable tours. Bands know ahead of time – before booking a show – that they can cover touring costs such as gas, hotel, and equipment rental. By giving fans the ability to “pledge” tickets with real dollars, bands can book new concerts with confidence and without financial risk.

“Jambase’s mission is to give fans the opportunity to see more live music,” said Sabrina Schulz, CEO of Jambase. “We’re excited to give fans a new way to see the bands they love. Now, in addition to easily finding a show and buying tickets, our users can find crowdfunding concert offers and pledge to bring their favorite bands to their hometown.”

To kick off their partnership, Jambase and Get My Band are hosting a crowdfunded concert event at SXSW. Through pledges from their fans, participating bands are raising the money needed to cover their costs to get to Austin and perform live at the SXSW event. The fans are benefiting as well; to “pay back” their pledging fans, the bands are offering unique rewards including signed CD’s, guitar lessons and even a live house party.

“By marrying our crowdfunding technology with the Jambase global live concert platform, we are empowering hundreds of thousands of fans to help their favorite bands tour profitably to more cities than ever before,” said Mike Angiletta, CEO & Founder of Get My Band. “And we’re thrilled to kick off our partnership by giving some great bands a chance to crowdfund their way to Austin and play live at our SXSW concert event.”

“Thanks to our fans, we’re at 70 percent of our funding goal in just a few days,” said Michael Craswell, lead singer of K-Sera. “Getting to Austin isn’t cheap, so it’s great to see how supportive our fans are. For the fans that help us out with a pledge, we’re giving them some unique “Thank You” rewards, like signed CD’s, unreleased recordings, and personalized songs. We’re off to an awesome start!”

Jambase and Get My Band will be hosting their crowdfunded concert event at SXSW on March 14th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Jackalope.

Stone Blade launches 10-day Kickstarter Crowdfunding campaign to bring Ascension Online to Android

by Leighton Owen

Back in 2010, Gary Games (now known as Stone Blade Entertainment) launched its first physical boardgame, Ascension, onto an unsuspecting world. The following year, Playdek converted this fast-paced deck-building game into an iOS app.

Since the launch of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, the duo has released three expansions for iOS – Return of the Fallen, Storm of Souls, and Immortal Heroes.

But since the iOS version launched, Stone Blade has been inundated with requests from gamers to port Ascension to Android. And guess what? It’s taken notice.

But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. Stone Blade is asking for $125,000 on crowd-funding site Kickstarter, and it needs it within ten days.

This isn’t just a simple port. There will be all-new features such as online tournaments, a new campaign mode and – most importantly – making it free to download for all.

There are plenty of rewards for backing the project. For $10 you can get a Kickstarter-exclusive promo card, and all the expansions up to Immortal Heroes.

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Business Finance Store Says Crowdfunding Platform Raised $762k for Small Businesses

For the second week of February, Business Finance Store was able to raise over $762k in funding for small businesses

By Robert Hoskins

As businesses continue to require critical funding needed for growth, Business Finance Store continues to provide products and services to help. In the second week of February, Business Finance Store raised over $762k in funding for small businesses across the country.

Business Finance Store Offers Crowdfunding to Small Businesses

Boasting a wide gamut of products and services, Business Finance Store offers up options from Unsecured Business Finance, Business-Directed Retirement Accounts, Equipment Financing, Crowdfunding, Revenue-Based Lending, and more.

The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.

The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting & bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.

For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $100 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come.

Danae Ringelmann: Success The Indiegogo Way

Geekmom Crowdfunding Q&A with Indiegogo Founder, Danae Ringelmann

By Laura Grace Weldon

Geekmom Crowdfunding Q&A with Danae Ringelmann, IndieGoGo

We’re big crowdfunding fans here at GeekMom. We write pretty regularly about Indiegogo campaigns, most recently about the Zuvo water filter and the documentary Self-Inflicted. Plus we use the platform to raise funds for our own projects like Amy Kraft’s app Zeenii and Jules Sherred’s book, Five Little Zombies and Fred. And we can’t help but talk about the newest Indiegogo offerings. There are too many great ones to name, but here are a few campaigns we like in particular:

• Magic Case for iPhone, like the Swiss Army knife of phone cases.
• Pinoccio: Complete Ecosystem for Building the Internet of Things, a awesome wireless, web-ready microcontroller with WiFi, LiPo battery, and built-in radio.
• Where No Man Was Born Before, a proposed documentary about the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk—Riverside, Iowa.
• People Not Stones, dedicated to preserving endangered archaeological sites by providing sustainable economic opportunities to people living nearby.
• Freeloader Child Carrier, ergonomically designed backpack seat for adventurers whose small to medium-sized kids get tired.
• Superhero For Kids with Cancer, graphic novel to be donated to kids with cancer.
• House of Cards, limited edition castle-building card set.
• SpotVac, for sub-surface carpet cleaning.
• Dead Man’s Land graphic novel to be created by Barry Duffield who plays Lugo on Spartacus: Vengeance.

Of course we jumped at the chance to do a phone interview with Indiegogo co-founder, Danae Ringelmann. Passionate about helping artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries embrace crowdfunding, Danae keeps busy spreading the word. She’s recently spoken at SXSW, MAD Hong Kong, Ted, and Big Omaha. Fast Company Magazine recently named her one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Technology. She explains how to power up a campaign and how crowdfunding is changing the world one campaign at a time.

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