Delaware to be Home to Nation’s First Crowdfunded “Venture” Exchange

DBOT seeks to create the nation’s first ever “venture” exchange, a crowdfunding exchange that will allow startups and small companies access to capital

By Robert Hoskins

Wilmington, Delaware – New Castle County Council voted to unanimously approve the Delaware Board of Trade (DBOT) resolution, allowing for the issuance of $15 million in revenue bonds to fund the construction of a new stock exchange in the City of Wilmington. The bonds will be the obligation of DBOT and will not place the County’s credit, or taxpayer money, at risk. The Resolution, proposed by County Executive Tom Gordon, was introduced by Council President Christopher Bullockand President Pro Tem Penrose Hollins, the primary sponsors on County Council.

Delaware to be Home to Nation’s First Crowdfunded “Venture” Exchange

“This project may be the biggest thing to happen to Delaware since the Banking Act. Our State will not only be the best choice to incorporate a new business, but also to raise the money necessary to fund it,” said County Executive Gordon.

In May, senior County Officials, including County Executive Gordon, Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi, and Deputy CAO Samuel Guy, met with representatives of the Delaware Board of Trade to discuss their proposal, which calls for a new stock exchange aimed, in part, at modernizing the over-the-counter market (OTC) in the United States.

DBOT also seeks to create the Nation’s first ever “venture” exchange, a crowdfunding exchange that will allow startups and small companies access to capital.

New Castle County’s Comprehensive Economic Development Plan identified the State’s relative lack of access to venture capital funding as one of its biggest constraints to economic growth. Startups are not candidates for traditional bank financing and rely on venture capital funding, which has been relatively non-existent in Delaware.

Chief Administrative Officer David Grimaldi, who put the DBOT deal together, noted that “DBOT has the potential of offering new businesses a more attractive alternative to traditional venture capital funding. Overnight, one of our major growth constraints can become our core competitive advantage. This is big.”

“This is a game changer for the state,” said Council President Bullock. “It will be a direct job creator and provide a shot in the arm to both the state and the city of Wilmington.”

Council President Pro Tem Hollins, who sponsored the resolution, noted the economic impact of the nearby Philadelphia Stock Exchange as an indication of the project’s potential for Wilmington. “The Philadelphia Stock Exchange contributed nearly half a billion dollars per year in annual capex spending and over $100 million in annual salaries. If that were replicated in Wilmington, it would be transformational.”

Deputy CAO Samuel Guy, who work closely with the County Executive and CAO in constructing the deal said, “The Delaware Board of Trade will be operated by globally recognized leaders in the financial services industry. The new exchange will position Delaware as a first mover to directly benefit from the incentives created under the JOBS Act and corresponding SEC Regulation A+, which was recently finalized. This may lead to a rebirth of our economy.”

Members and affiliates of The Delaware Board of Trade include former NYSE CEO Richard Grasso, former UBS Financial Services CEOJoseph Grano, former Philadelphia Stock Exchange CEO John Wallace, former Cincinnati Stock Exchange CEO Richard “Nick” Niehoff, and former US Postal Service Governor and top aide to Vice President Joe Biden, Dennis Toner.

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OurCrowd Opens Equity Crowdfunding Office for Canadian Startups in Toronto, Ontario

To provide local venture capital and a portfolio of management consulting services, OurCrowd has hired David Shore to head the Canadian operations and partnered with Influitive’s Advocate Hub for mobilization of its large global investor community for startups

By Robert Hoskins

Toronto, Ontario – OurCrowd announced the launch of its new Canadian equity crowdfunding operations, which will be targeting startups seeking at least a $1 million investment and will be utilizing Canadian-based Influitive, which helps companies build teams of advocates that drive sales and create buzz through often-underutilized channels such as referrals, recommendations, reviews and more.

Israel’s OurCrowd Takes Lead in Equity Crowdfunding

The OurCrowd office in Canada office will be headed by David Shore, a well-known Canadian technology venture capital executive with over 20 years of experience.

Influitive, founded by CEO Mark Organ in 2010, helps companies build teams of advocates to drive sales and create buzz through often-underutilized channels such as referrals, recommendations, reviews and more. A pioneer in B2B advocate marketing software, Influitive is already producing segment-leading revenues from more than 200 enterprise customers, including Acquia, Atlassian, DocuSign, HireVue, Hootsuite, HP Software, Marketo, and Oracle. Mark Organ’s prior startup company, Eloqua, was acquired by Oracle in 2013 for $871M.

OurCrowd is investing in Influitive because of its own use of the Influitive AdvocateHub product for mobilization of its large global investor community on behalf of its startups. OurCrowd founder and CEO Jon Medved explained, “There is no better way to source an investment than to be a happy customer. The company and its product impressed OurCrowd, and we asked to be included as a funder. We are delighted to invest in Influitive as our first venture in Canada.”

“We are proud to be the first OurCrowd investment in Canada,” said Influitive CEO Mark Organ. “It is exciting to have an investor who came to us because they used and loved our product. This really is what advocate marketing is all about.”

OurCrowd’s new Canadian Director, David Shore, brings an impressive track record as a venture capitalist and was a top ranked equity analyst at Mackie Research, CIBC, and Desjardins. Shore will be responsible for building the Canadian investor base for OurCrowd as well as sourcing new deals for the platform.

“I am excited to be joining the OurCrowd team as it continues its growth into Canada’s burgeoning tech hub,” said David Shore, Director of Investor Relations, OurCrowd Canada. “The Canadian market presents a significant opportunity for OurCrowd since startup investing is on the rise in Canada and most investors until now have not had access to high quality deals such as those available on OurCrowd. I look forward to bringing additional trailblazers from the Canadian tech ecosystem onto the OurCrowd platform, and to opening up the global technology market to accredited Canadian investors.”

As the Managing Director of Terracap Ventures, David developed the firm’s overall corporate strategy. David also served as Head of the Technology Group for Mackie Research Capital in the Equity Research department covering Software & Media sectors. Additionally, David is consistently ranked as a leading technology analyst (software) in Canada, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Canadian Innovation Exchange.

Following a commitment made by Medved at the Canadian Crowdfunding Summit in March that OurCrowd would open an office in Canada, Hon Brad Duguid, MPP, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure said, “I’m thrilled to see OurCrowd’s landmark entrance into Ontario’s growing technology, health sciences and venture capital markets. OurCrowd is an innovative global equity crowdfunding leader, providing significant entrepreneurial and start-up opportunities to individuals and businesses. I look forward to their continued success and growth into our province, and to Ontario companies showcasing their talent and entrepreneurial skills to attract investment and strengthen our economy.”

OurCrowd is a leading global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors to invest in Israeli and global companies. Managed by a team of well-known professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved,

OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital and brings these startups to its accredited membership. OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal of their choice.

OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigning industry experts as mentors and taking board seats. OurCrowd has raised over $140 million in equity crowdfunding for its 72 portfolio companies including Borro, BillGuard, Consumer Physics (SCiO), BioCatch, Abe’s Market and ReWalk (NASDAQ: RWLK), OurCrowd’s first portfolio company to complete a successful IPO.

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TriPoint Global Equities Announces New Crowdfunding Title IV Reg A+ Platform, BANQ.co, Which Is Now Seeking Equity Issuers

The BANQ.co site offers access to registered public offerings, such as IPOs and secondary offerings, private placements and now Reg A+ transactions

By Robert Hoskins

New Y0rk City, NY – TriPoint Global Equities, LLC (“TriPoint”) announced that a new fin-tech trading platform BANQ.co, which is now accepting Crowdfunding Title IV Reg A+ issuers looking to raise capital.

TriPoint Global Equities Launches Banq.co Title IV Reg A+ Crowdfunding Platform

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved the final rules to activate implementation of Regulation A+ which is Title IV of the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act, or JOBS Act. The approval of Regulation A+ allows startups and small businesses to raise a maximum of $50 million under this law.

The newly approved Regulation A+ allows these funds, subject to certain limitations, to be raised from the general public. This means that startups and small businesses can now accept investment in small Initial Public Offerings from the general public, even if the investors are non accredited.

TriPoint’s new online investment banking division, BANQ.co, aims to provide individual investors with direct access to the primary and secondary equity markets. BANQ’s platform takes the entire public and private offering process online and provides instantaneous confirmation of all investment transactions.

BANQ offers access to registered public offerings, such as IPOs and secondary offerings, private placements and now Reg A+ transactions. In addition, BANQ offers low-priced trading commissions, as low as $0.99 and $3.95 per trade. By charging a low commission, BANQ is making investing even more accessible to the growing number of individual investors.

“Reg A+ potentially is the greatest innovation in capital raising since Reg D itself in early 1980s. It allows a company to raise money and create immediate liquidity for its shareholders and now thru BANQ, issuers have a platform to reach the investing community,” stated Mark Elenowitz, CEO of TriPoint Global Equities. “We are excited about Reg A+ and look forward to seeing the Small Cap IPO return.”

TriPoint provides companies of up to $500 million in revenue with access and entry to the U.S. capital markets via its specialized practices in: equity capital markets (IPOs, SDOs, private equity, venture capital, etc), specialty finance (senior and junior debt, mezzanine, etc.) and corporate advisory.

TriPoint created www.banq.co to become an electronic investment banking platform that streamlines the matching of investors with quality growth companies and alternative investment opportunities. BANQ widely markets its U.S. offerings utilizing the new general solicitation and advertising rules promulgated by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, in response to the passage of the JOBS Act of 2012.

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