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Adomani’s Reg A+ Title II Offering Subscriptions Are Now in Excess of $11.8 Million and May Become the First to List on NASDAQ Via Equity Crowdfunding in the U.S.

23 May

Adomani helps fleet operators unlock the benefits of green technology and address the challenges of traditional fuel price instability and local, state and federal environmental regulatory compliance

By Robert Hoskins

Los Angeles, CaliforniaAdomani, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADOM) is a provider of advanced zero-emission electric and hybrid vehicles, trucks and buses and replacement drivetrains that are focused on reducing the total cost of vehicle ownership. The Boustead Securities‘ client announced that its Reg A+ Tier II Crowdfunding Offering on FlashFunders.com has received in escrow subscriptions totaling $11.8 million exceeding the offering’s minimum amount. The Offering is for a total of up to $25 million, including up to $3 million from certain of the Company’s stockholders.

Adomani helps fleet operators unlock the benefits of green technology and address the challenges of traditional fuel price instability and local, state and federal environmental regulatory compliance

Adomani helps fleet operators unlock the benefits of green technology and address the challenges of traditional fuel price instability and local, state and federal environmental regulatory compliance

Dan McClory, Head of Equity Capital Markets at Boustead Securities, Adomani’s Lead Underwriter, congratulated Adomani and stated that, “Exceeding the Minimum Offering Amount with deposits into escrow pending acceptance is an important accomplishment for Adomani, as it makes further progress on the way to becoming what we believe will be the first Reg A+ offering to trade on NASDAQ,” McClory stated.

“We continue to be excited about the launch of our offering and the fact that we have exceeded the minimum amount required,” said President and CEO Jim Reynolds of Adomani, Inc. “We look forward to its successful completion soon, which will enable us to aggressively execute our business plan.

The Adomani is offering a minimum of 2,120,000 common shares and a maximum of 4,400,000 common shares at an offering price of $5.00 per share. Any interested parties should read the Company’s Offering Statement on Form 1-A, including the financial statements and risk factors, and other reports the Company may file with the SEC, and after having done so, should contact the Company for more information.

Adomani helps:

  1. Fleet operators unlock the benefits of green technology and address the challenges of traditional fuel price instability and local, state and federal environmental regulatory compliance.
  2. Designs, manufactures and installs advanced zero-emission electric and hybrid drivetrain systems for use in new school buses and medium to heavy-duty commercial fleet vehicles.
  3. Also designs, manufactures and installs unique and patented conversion kits to replace conventional drivetrain systems for diesel and gasoline powered vehicles, including buses, with zero-emission electric or hybrid drivetrain systems.

Our shareholders social impact investments will help improve the environment, and more importantly, improve the health of school children and citizens who live and work in and around traditional diesel and gasoline-fueled vehicles.

Boustead Securities, LLC is an investment banking firm that executes and advises on IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, capital raises and restructuring assignments in a wide array of industries, geographies and transactions, for a broad client base.

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-eight years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.
Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

Mainstreet Student Living Launches $1.8 Million Crowdfunding Campaign to Fund New Student Housing Community at Southern Wesleyan University

22 Nov

Dedicated to a student-centric approach, Mainstreet Student Living develops communities that allow students an opportunity at a true live and learn environment

 By Robert Hoskins

Carmel, Indiana Mainstreet Student Living has announced a new initiative to raise funds for a new student living community in Central, South Carolina. Helping with this effort is Oregon-based CrowdStreet, a crowdfunding marketplace and software platform that connects accredited investors with institutional-quality real estate investments, and Mainstreet Capital Partners, a U.S. registered broker-dealer that is focused on, but not limited to, opportunities in health care development, health care acquisitions, health care operations and student housing.

Mainstreet Student Living is an innovative investment, development and management firm of student housing communities throughout North America

Mainstreet Student Living is an innovative investment, development and management firm of student housing communities throughout North America

Mainstreet Student Living is the premier investment, development and management firm of student housing communities throughout North America. Dedicated to a student-centric approach, Mainstreet Student Living develops communities that allow students an opportunity at a true live and learn environment. Our redefinition of the student experience fuels design innovation, creative investment opportunities and provides students with a life-changing experience.

Mainstreet Student Living is seeking upwards of $1.8 million on behalf of MS Vita SWU, LLC through a private placement offering solely to accredited investors under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933.

“We are excited about our first online fundraising experience and to partner with CrowdStreet for this initiative,” said Justin Farris, managing director of Mainstreet Student Living. “Our mission is to transform collegiate lives and, with this initiative, it enables us to pursue high-quality opportunities to further growth and innovation in student housing.”

The 68,000 square-foot, on-campus student living development at Southern Wesleyan University will boast 114 units, 243 beds and feature a state-of-the-art clubhouse, study lounges, a resident lounge with television, a fully-functional kitchen and much more. The $9.3 million community is projected to be complete in August 2017.

Southern Wesleyan University was founded in 1906 and is a student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars. The main campus totals approximately 350 acres and current enrollment totals 1,883 students. In addition to the main campus, Southern Wesleyan University has six other satellite campuses located throughout South Carolina.

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-five years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.
Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns.

Crowdfunding PR Offers Startups New Service to Build Investor Databases for Title III and Title IV Reg. A+ Mini IPO Crowdfunding Campaigns to Target Precise Lists of Angel, Venture Capital and Private Equity Investors

3 Oct

Investor relations teams can now search through over 175,000 angel, equity and venture capital investors, analyze 575,000 of their prior investments and then target a very precise list of potential investors

By Robert Hoskins

Crowdfunding PR Shows Startups How to Build Investor Databases for Title III and Title IV, Reg. A+ Crowdfunding Campaigns to Target Precise Lists of Angel, Private Equity and VC Investors

Crowdfunding PR Shows Startups How to Build Investor Databases for Title III and Title IV, Reg. A+ Crowdfunding Campaigns to Target Precise Lists of Angel, Private Equity and VC Investors

New York City, New York – Crowdfunding PR’s new investor marketing database service allows equity crowdfunding campaign managers to drill down inside private equity and venture capital firms to find highly-qualified principals, partners, portfolio managers and family offices with the highest propensity to invest in their type of product/service and do sorts by vertical business segments, by geographical locations and by types of deals such as seed capital, private equity, series A/B, late-stage funding rounds and many, many other searchable financial database sorting characteristics, variables and demographics.

“The greatest challenge for startups, entrepreneurs and growing small businesses is finding potential angel investors, private equity investors and/or building out their own private investment syndicate of investors with a high propensity to invest in similar types deals as the one they want to pitch to investors,” said Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR’s Director of Investor Relations. “The same need is present for the hundreds of new equity crowdfunding platforms that have launched new equity crowdfunding platforms in the past twelve months. Crowdfunding PR can utilize the investor database to market any deal on any equity crowdfunding platform to a very wide, but yet very precise and carefully selected list of angel, private equity and VC investors.”

The new investor database provides private investment information on the end-to-end fundraising process. From initial exits to fund returns, it offers the best information available for the complete lifecycle of private investing. This includes Limited Partner (LP) commitments, fundraising, remaining dry powder in funds, deals, company evaluations and fund performance as well as the service providers, executives, and lead partners behind the deals.

The private investor database provides clients with access to stats to build pitch books, contacts to setup road tours, run private and public comps, source co-investors, model cash flows, conduct competitive analysis, follow the entire venture capital (VC) marketplace, build and expand investor networks, target deal makers and identify private equity (PE) and VC firms actively doing deals. The quality of work that can be turned around on a compressed timeline is nothing short of amazing and will be 10 times more efficient and 3 times to 5 times more accurate than other types of private investment information that can be found online via Google and LinkedIn.

If your startup or existing business needs help building and an investor database, creating an effective pitch deck, building a direct email marketing program and/or scheduling an investor “dog and pony” roadshow, please call Robert Hoskins at (512) 627-6622 or contact him via @Crowdfunding_PR on Twitter.

Crowdfunding PR’s
Investor Marketing Database

Access a Huge Database of Potential Investors

  • Angels
  • VCs
  • Portfolio Managers
  • Lead Partners
  • Deal Details
  • Partners

Drill Down to Develop Precise Investor Targets

  • Deal experience
  • Board seats
  • Biography
  • Education
  • LinkedIn profiles
  • LinkedIn connections
  • Phone and email contact information

Analyze Investor’s Past/Current Deals

  • Angel & seed
  • Venture
  • Buyouts
  • Secondary transactions
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Debt financings
  • Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
  • Valuations, terms & multiples
  • Cap tables
  • Participants
  • Deal history
  • Exits & IPOs

Perform Competitive Analysis of Funded Companies/Deal Structures

  • Startup and angel-backed companies
  • Venture capital-backed companies
  • Private equity-backed companies
  • Mature private companies
  • Public companies
  • Strategic acquirers
  • Key private company financials
  • Full public company fundamentals

Gather In-depth Competitor News & Big Data Analytics

  • News stories
  • Quarterly reports
  • Data visualization
  • Custom analytics

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-five years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.
Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns.

SEC Details Rules for Title III Crowdfunding Investors and Crowdfunding Investment Sites

31 Oct

The SEC’s final Title III Crowdfunding Rule (Regulation Crowdfunding) will enable individuals to purchase securities in crowdfunding offerings subject to certain limits, require companies to disclose certain information about their business and securities offering, and create a regulatory framework for the intermediaries facilitating crowdfunding transactions

Chair Mary Jo White Gives an Overview of Title III Crowdfunding Rules

Chair Mary Jo White Gives an Overview of Title III Crowdfunding Rules

By Robert Hoskins

SEC’s Title III of the JOBS Act 

On Friday, October 30, 2015, the SEC passed the final Title III Regulation Crowdfunding Rule that will allow the offer and sale of securities through crowdfunding.  The new rules will give small businesses an additional avenue to raise capital and provide investors with important protections.  If adopted, this would complete the Commission’s major rulemaking mandated under the JOBS Act.

Title III Crowdfunding Investor Rules

The recommended rules would, among other things, enable individuals to purchase securities in crowdfunding offerings subject to certain limits, require companies to disclose certain information about their business and securities offering, and create a regulatory framework for the intermediaries facilitating crowdfunding transactions.  More specifically, the recommended rules would:

  • Permit a company to raise a maximum aggregate amount of $1 million through crowdfunding offerings in a 12-month period;
  • Permit individual investors, over a 12-month period, to invest in the aggregate across all crowdfunding offerings up to:
    • If either their annual income or net worth is less than $100,000, than the greater of:
      • $2,000 or
      • 5 percent of the lesser of their annual income or net worth.
    • If both their annual income and net worth are equal to or more than $100,000, 10 percent of the lesser of their annual income or net worth; and
  • During the 12-month period, the aggregate amount of securities sold to an investor through all crowdfunding offerings may not exceed $100,000.

Under the recommended rules, certain companies would not be eligible to use the exemption.  Ineligible companies would include non-U.S. companies, Exchange Act reporting companies, certain investment companies, companies that are subject to disqualification under Regulation Crowdfunding, companies that have failed to comply with the annual reporting requirements under Regulation Crowdfunding during the two years immediately preceding the filing of the offering statement, and companies that have no specific business plan or have indicated that their business plan is to engage in a merger or acquisition with an unidentified company or companies.

Securities purchased in a crowdfunding transaction generally could not be resold for one year.  Holders of these securities would not count toward the threshold that requires a company to register its securities under Exchange Act Section 12(g) if the company is current in its annual reporting obligations, retains the services of a registered transfer agent and has less than $25 million in total assets as of the end of its most recently completed fiscal year.

In addition, all transactions relying on the new rules would be required to take place through an SEC-registered intermediary, either a broker-dealer or a funding portal.

Title III Crowdfunding Company Disclosures 

Companies that rely on the recommended rules to conduct a crowdfunding offering must file certain information with the Commission and provide this information to investors and the intermediary facilitating the offering, including among other things, to disclose:

  • The price to the public of the securities or the method for determining the price, the target offering amount, the deadline to reach the target offering amount, and whether the company will accept investments in excess of the target offering amount;
  • A discussion of the company’s financial condition;
  • Financial statements of the company that, depending on the amount offered and sold during a 12-month period, are accompanied by information from the company’s tax returns, reviewed by an independent public accountant, or audited by an independent auditor.  A company offering more than $500,000 but not more than $1 million of securities relying on these rules for the first time would be permitted to provide reviewed rather than audited financial statements, unless financial statements of the company are available that have been audited by an independent auditor;
  • A description of the business and the use of proceeds from the offering;
  • Information about officers and directors as well as owners of 20 percent or more of the company; and
  • Certain related-party transactions.

In addition, companies relying on the crowdfunding exemption would be required to file an annual report with the Commission and provide it to investors.

Title III Crowdfunding Rules for Portals

A funding portal would be required to register with the Commission on new Form Funding Portal, and become a member of a national securities association (currently, FINRA).  A company relying on the rules would be required to conduct its offering exclusively through one intermediary platform at a time.

The recommended rules would require intermediaries to, among other things:

  • Provide investors with educational materials that explain, among other things, the process for investing on the platform, the types of securities being offered and information a company must provide to investors, resale restrictions, and investment limits;
  • Take certain measures to reduce the risk of fraud, including having a reasonable basis for believing that a company complies with Regulation Crowdfunding and that the company has established means to keep accurate records of securities holders;
  • Make information that a company is required to disclose available to the public on its platform throughout the offering period and for a minimum of 21 days before any security may be sold in the offering;
  • Provide communication channels to permit discussions about offerings on the platform;
  • Provide disclosure to investors about the compensation the intermediary receives;
  • Accept an investment commitment from an investor only after that investor has opened an account;
  • Have a reasonable basis for believing an investor complies with the investment limitations;
  • Provide investors notices once they have made investment commitments and confirmations at or before completion of a transaction;
  • Comply with maintenance and transmission of funds requirements; and
  • Comply with completion, cancellation and reconfirmation of offerings requirements.

The rules also would prohibit intermediaries from engaging in certain activities, such as:

  • Providing access to their platforms to companies that they have a reasonable basis for believing have the potential for fraud or other investor protection concerns;
  • Having a financial interest in a company that is offering or selling securities on its platform unless the intermediary receives the financial interest as compensation for the services, subject to certain conditions; and
  • Compensating any person for providing the intermediary with personally identifiable information of any investor or potential investor.

Regulation Crowdfunding would contain certain rules that are specific to registered funding portals consistent with their more limited activities than that of a registered broker-dealer.  The rules would prohibit funding portals from, among other things: offering investment advice or making recommendations; soliciting purchases, sales or offers to buy securities; compensating promoters and other persons for solicitations or based on the sale of securities; and holding, possessing, or handling investor funds or securities.

The rules would provide a safe harbor under which funding portals could engage in certain activities consistent with these restrictions.  The rules also would require funding portals to maintain certain books and records related to their transactions and business.

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CrowdVenture.com Teams Up with Equipoise Capital Partners to Offer Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities to Accredited Investors Nationwide

18 Sep
@TheCrowdventure Teams Up with Equipoise Capital Partners to Offer Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities to Accredited Investors Nationwide

@TheCrowdventure Teams Up with Equipoise Capital Partners to Offer Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities to Accredited Investors Nationwide

Projects offered on the Crowdventure.com platform will be pre-funded by Crowdventure.com and its partners. As the management team only selects projects in which it is willing to make the investment itself, investors can be assured that the investment opportunities that are on offer have been through an extensive due diligence and underwriting process and are project managed by an experienced team. Investors get the added benefit that they start earning interest on their investment as soon as the project funding round closes escrow.

For real estate developers who want to raise funds for their own real estate projects, Crowdventure.com provides access to new sources of capital quickly and efficiently, using a nationwide network of accredited investors. The loan underwriting processes employed are swift and definitive, giving borrower/developers the money they need when they need it. The Crowdventure platform differs from other crowdfunding lenders, private money lenders and hard money lenders because its goal is to fund as much of the capital stack as possible. This can include the purchase price, rehab price, interest reserves, points and closing costs.

Matthew Sullivan, Crowdventure.com’s CEO, said “This important joint venture with Equipoise Capital Partners gives our investors access to real estate expertise and creative capital structures that previously were only available to ultra-high net worth individuals and hedge funds, delivering a winning combination of low minimum investment, above market returns, and wide geographical and asset class diversification.”

Tom Braegelmann, Equipoise’s CEO, said “We are delighted to partner with Crowdventure and to be able to give the benefit of our real estate experience, creativity, deal selection and project management expertise to a wider investor audience, and to play our part in the democratization of real estate investing that crowdfunding offers.”

Accredited investors can participate in Crowdventure’s investment opportunities with as little as $5,000. The entire investment process is intuitive, quick and frictionless and can be completed online in minutes, enabling investment decisions at a time suitable to the investor. After completing the process, Crowdventure keeps its investors updated with the progress of their investments, showing how much interest has been earned while delivering the monthly interest distributions to their respective accounts.

CrowdVenture’s mission is to make real estate investing a collaborative, intuitive procedure. Its aim is to give accredited investors the opportunity to participate in high quality, innovative real estate investments across the United States. And its objective is to deliver a range of investments that previously would only be available to ultra-high net worth individuals and hedge funds, which deliver above-market returns while contributing to social betterment.

CrowdVenture empowers its investors to participate in real estate investment opportunities directly, cutting out the middlemen, reducing fees and enabling increased potential returns. The Crowdventure.com platform is simple, intuitive and secure. It gives investors the tools and information they need to confidently make transactions and monitor their investments online.

Equipoise Capital Partners is a diverse group of real estate experts carefully combined to bring ultimate gains across the board. The Equipoise management team includes experienced real estate developers, lenders, and loan and fund servicers and they are able to make and manage investments in premier real estate projects around the country. Equipoise manages numerous funds that bring advantages to lenders and borrowers alike and through their established relationships they have the benefit of access to significant deal flow across the United States.

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Robert Hoskins, a seasoned Front Page PR veteran provides more than twenty-five years of external communications, media relations, digital social media and SEO skills to Front Page PR’s crowdfunding PR and media relations service portfolio.
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR


Mr. Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.
Hoskins is one of the crowdfunding industry’s foremost crowdfunding advocates and has amassed a huge social media following that is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns. Due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for crowdfunding information, he empowers entrepreneurs with some of the internet’s most affordable ($20) online crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.
Hoskins adamantly believes that the crowdfunding industry will empower everyone in the United States to rediscover the possibility of living the American dream with a little hard work, a great business idea and the dedication to researching, planning and launching a well-thought-out crowdfunding campaign. Heconsults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

MicroVentures Opens “500 Startups Fund III” Equity Investment Opportunity to Fund 4-Month Startup Accelerator Programs

27 Feb

Equity Crowdfunding Site Now Seeking Investors to Invest up to $10,000 in Multiple e-commerce, cloud services, mobile, education, digital health, payments and Internet startup companies

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – MicroVentures, an online equity crowdfunding portal based in Mountain View, California and offices in Austin, Mexico City and San Francisco, announced the launch of a new equity crowdfunding investment fund called “500 Startups Fund III,” which is seeking to sign up accredited equity investors to invest a minimum of $10,000 or more in early stage capital investments. The 500 Startups Fund III makes investments across multiple industry verticals, including e-commerce, cloud services, mobile, education, digital health, payments and Internet among others.

MicroVentures Equity Investment Network of 25,000 Global Investors to Date Have Invested $125 Million in Approximately 900 Startup Companies

MicroVentures Equity Investment Network Has Invested   $125 Million in Approximately 900 Startup Companies

Founded by Bill Clark in 2009, MicroVentures recruited Tim Sullivan, Garrett Paul and Jaclyn Strife from SharesPost in 2012, which is renowned for taking Facebook through its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and went on to found Oceanic Partners. The firm runs something commonly referred to an investment syndicate, where accredited investors who are new to the Angel and Venture Capital investment process follow seasoned, experienced lead investors.

“Over the years, MicroVentures has built a platform that gives investors the ability to diversify investments in early to late stage opportunities. Our level of due diligence and customer support are unique resources angel investors previously did not have access to,” stated Bill Clark, Founder and CEO of MicroVentures. “Investors are increasingly seeking diversification and international exposure. MicroVentures through the 500 Startups Fund III provides both, while reinforcing its long-standing commitment of supporting investor demand for diversified opportunities.”

Using this growth strategy MicroVentures had amassed more than 4,000 investors by the end of 2012 and over the past three years it has grown 625% to a very large pool of more than 25,000 global investors who have invested approximately $125 million in 900 companies.

Unlike typical broker dealers, which only solicit investments ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 and up, the MicroVenture site allows accredited as well as non-accredited investors to invest in a wide variety of funds that range from investments of $1,000, $3,000, and $10,000 and up. This allows investors to diversify their portfolio and spread their eggs across multiple startup baskets, which reduces risk and increases the chance of being able to discover and participate in the next Facebook, Oculus, or Pebble Time Watch at a very early stage.

The 500 Startups runs a four-month Accelerator Program for Startups that culminates in a private, invite-only Demo Day where each startup presents to a group of select investors in an effort to attract additional seed funding. About 30 companies participate in each four-month program offered at its various locations.  Batch 12 began January 2015 in San Francisco.

In addition to investing through its accelerator program, 500 Startups invests globally in early-stage companies through various seed-stage investment funds.

Across numerous funds, 500 Startups has committed approximately $125 million to over 900 portfolio companies.

The inaugural investment fund, Fund I, was formed in July 2010 and achieved an ultimate fund size of $29 million. As of September 30, 2014, the internal rate of return for Fund I stood at 18% with investment exits worth approximately $13 million.

Fund II was formed in April 2012 raising almost $45 million. Fund II has achieved $2 million in exits and a net internal rate of return of 27% as of September 30, 2014.

While Fund I and Fund II are closed to new investments, the 500 Startups is the fundraising process for four other funds: Fund III, Annex Fund, 500 Luchadores and 500 Durians.

Under its status as a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, MicroVentures offers both primary and secondary investment opportunities through their user-friendly, online equity crowdfunding platform. Series 7 licensed brokers develop personal relationships with Accredited and Sophisticated Investors to provide high-touch customer service, and support investment in startups with confidence.

The crowdfunding portal provides access to a flow of curated, vetted startup investment opportunities and allows novice investors to review due diligence, disclosures and speak with experienced licensed financial professionals prior to making an investment.

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GridShare.com Opens New Clean-Tech Equity Crowdfunding Site in San Francisco to Fund Renewable Energy Startups and Community Solar Projects

26 Feb

Potential investors can peruse investment opportunities in a variety of renewable energy sectors, including: solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and small hydropower

By Robert Hoskins

San Francisco, CA – GridShare.com announced the launch of its clean technology crowdfunding platform to help renewable energy and solar projects and clean-tech companies raise capital. By creating an online platform where investors can independently engage with project owners seeking funding, GridShare is positioned to be the leading force in crowdfunding for the alternative energy industry.

GridShare Enables Everyday People to Invest in Renewable Energy Projects in the Clean-Tech and Solar Companies around the World

GridShare Enables Everyday People to Invest in Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind, GeoThermal, and HydroPower Projects in the Clean-Tech Industry around the World

GridShare is a unique online platform where renewable energy project developers and clean-tech companies from around the world post their funding needs. Potential investors can peruse investment opportunities in a variety of renewable energy sectors, including: solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and small hydropower. GridShare also intends to host funding opportunities for energy efficiency initiatives and early-stage clean technology ventures.

“Raising money has been a huge impediment to the growth of the capital-intensive renewable energy industry,” said Jack Jacobs, CEO and Co-Founder, GridShare. “Now, with GridShare’s help, a project developer or cleantech venture can tap into a new funding channel and, ultimately, spend less time fundraising and more time focusing on their core business.”

There are three different types of investment opportunities that a company may offer through GridShare: debt, equity, and donations. High net-worth individuals, or “accredited investors,” can browse projects online, read pertinent information about the venture, and then pledge funding in exchange for equity or interest. Non-accredited investors can donate funds to a project or company that offers this option. As soon as the JOBS Act crowdfunding rules are finalized, all users will be able to invest freely for equity online.

Posting a project on GridShare is free and easy. Once the GridShare team approves the project, it will be published online. Investors will then have the opportunity to review the project details, and pledge their financial support online. The offeror then contacts the investor to arrange payment and finalize investment terms.

“For too long, large banks have controlled which solar projects can be financed. Finally, project developers like Samba Energy can rely on GridShare to offer high quality solar investments to investors nationwide,” said Michael Hidary, Managing Partner, Samba Energy, a national provider of software and services for clean energy and commercial building energy efficiency. “Samba Energy can now complete more installations and private investors can gain strong, predictable returns from solar power projects.”

GridShare earns a commission from the offeror only if its funding goal is fully achieved. GridShare also offers optional services for users that prefer to sell securities through a registered broker/dealer, conduct legal transactions under the guidance of an experienced law firm, and/or develop their materials with the help of a marketing professional.

GridShare enables everyday people to invest in renewable energy projects and cleantech companies around the world. GridShare is an independent online crowdfunding platform for renewable energy projects and clean-tech companies seeking funding.  

Investors can engage directly and independently with owners and developers through the platform. By significantly expanding the funding options available to business owners and project developers, GridShare opens up the renewable energy industry to a much wider audience of investors.

The platform is clean technology agnostic, posting investment opportunities from all types of renewable energy projects and clean-tech companies.

GridShare allows renewable energy projects and clean technology companies to raise debt, equity and/or donations from investors. By diversifying the available investment opportunities, GridShare offers a more inclusive environment for non-accredited and accredited investors alike. 

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Crowdfunding Site, OurCrowd.com, Shows the World that the Equity Crowdfunding Industry is Sailing into the Global Economy Full Steam Ahead

17 Feb

OurCrowd evolves from participating in early seed rounds to a leadership position by successfully pooling tens of millions of dollars from top tier venture capital firms

By Robert Hoskins

Jerusalem, Israel – OurCrowd leads equity crowdfunding deal that reels in $16M in Series E funding round for Borro.com, the UK-NY based, asset-backed online lender. OurCrowd was joined by Rocket Internet AG (RKET), Canaan Partners and Augmentum Capital in this funding round.

OurCrowd alone raised $6M of the capital invested, making this the single largest equity crowdfunding round ever completed and demonstrates how equity crowdfunding can complement and even lead traditional funding sources, such as venture capital.

“In under two years, OurCrowd went from participating in early seed rounds to now successfully  leading a $16M dollar major funding round together with top tier venture capital firms such as Canaan and the renowned internet company, Rocket,” said Jon Medved, OurCrowd’s CEO. “We are delighted to be investing in quality companies like Borro, which is redefining the Fintech industry.”

Launched in the UK in 2009 and in the US in 2012, Borro has defined a new category of online personal asset-based lending. Borro focuses on providing liquidity to individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners who use luxury personal assets such as watches, jewelry, supercars, fine art, antiques and high-end handbags as collateral for short term loans.

“Seven years ago, I joined the first angel investor group at Lending Club (LC) and witnessed first-hand the exponential growth of online lending,” Medved added.  “Lending Club’s IPO in December of 2014 was a pivotal point in the online lending industry and has shown that there will be multiple winners with eventual multi-billion dollar market caps. ”

Paul Aitken, CEO and Founder of Borro, said: “We are delighted with our collaboration with OurCrowd. Their ability to lead this important funding round has proven that equity crowdfunding has indeed come of age. I was excited by the quality of the investors they have brought to the table and am looking forward to their adding additional value to Borro as we move forward.”

Borro was recently ranked #8 right behind Lending Club (NYSE: LC) #6 and OnDeck #7 (NYSE: ONDK) in KPMG’s 50 Best Fintech Innovators Report. OurCrowd ranked #22 on the list.  Borro is backed by a consortium of high caliber VC investors with significant expertise in online finance.

Investing alongside OurCrowd is Rocket Internet AG, a German internet company based in Berlin that builds online startups and owns share of various internet companies including Foodpanda/Hellofood, Home24, Jabong, Jumia and Lamoda.  Other Borro investors include Canaan Partners (investor in Lending Club) and Augmentum Capital (investor in the UK’s top lending marketplace, Zopa). Borro has recruited notable financial industry veterans to its board of directors who bring a significant amount of experience to the company, including Nigel Morris (co-founder Capital One) as Chairman and Paul Grattan (ex-CEO Egg, First Direct.)

Borro launched in 2009 in the UK, and has gone on to open offices in New York and Los Angeles.  It is the leading online platform for luxury asset-backed lending and has defined a new lending category in a climate where loans to individuals, SMEs and entrepreneurs were few and far between. Borro offers loans from $5,000 – $2,000,000 secured against luxury assets including fine art, antiques, jewelry, luxury watches, fine wine, prestige and classic cars and other high-value assets. Borro investors include: Canaan Partners (Lending Club), Eden Ventures, Augmentum Capital. Borro’s board of directors includes Nigel Morris (co-founder Capital One) as Chairman, and Paul Gratton (ex-CEO Egg, First Direct).

OurCrowd is the leading hybrid venture capital equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors who wish to invest in Israeli and global early stage companies. Managed by a team of well-known investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd selects opportunities, invests its own capital and brings these startups to its accredited membership. Members choose those deals they invest in via OurCrowd-managed partnerships.

OurCrowd investors must meet stringent accreditation criteria and invest a minimum of $10,000 per deal. OurCrowd provides post investment support to its portfolio companies, assigning industry experts as mentors and taking board seats. OurCrowd has raised over $100 million in equity crowdfunding for its 57 portfolio companies which include leading companies, such as: BillGuard, Consumer Physics (SCiO), BioCatch, Abe’s Market and ReWalk, OurCrowd’s first portfolio company to complete a successful IPO on the NASDAQ.

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Texas Investors, Entrepreneurs and Startups are Invited to Attend a Capital Factory Angel Crowdfunding Event in Austin

27 Jan

“Inside Tips and Secrets on What It Takes to Get Angel Investors to Write the First Check”

Angel Investor Panel Discussion and Question and Answer Session will include guest speakers from the Capital Factory and DreamFunded of Texas

 By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas DreamFunded of Texas, Inc. announced that Manny Fernandez, CEO/Co-founder, will be the featured keynote speaker at an open-invitation angel/venture capital event, DreamFunded: Angel Investment Crowdfunding, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Thursday, January 29, 2015 at the Austin-based Capital Factory located at 701 Brazos Street, Austin, TX 78701. Mr. Fernandez’s keynote will provide “Inside Tips and Secrets on What it Takes to Get Angel Investors to Write the First Check” followed by an angel investor panel board discussion/Q&A session.

DreamFunded.com to Launch Texas Equity Crowdfunding Site Pending Approval from the TSSB

DreamFunded.com to Launch Texas Equity Crowdfunding Site Pending Approval from the TSSB

Click below to RSVP for a free seat at this exclusive angel investor presentation:
http://www.meetup.com/austin-crowdfunding-network/events/102002392/

The purpose of the event is to introduce a new generation of financial technology (fin-tech) investing platforms called Texas Crowdfunding Portals (TCPs) that will soon be providing equity investment opportunities to more than 20 million new Texas investors, who will have the legal right (when the TCP is approved by Texas State Securities Board) to invest up to $5,000 per startup company as angel investors. Investors can click here to register.

This new-style of Texas equity crowdfunding represents a vast departure from the old-school practice of working with broker-dealers where only accredited investors could get access to investments in up and coming high-tech, rapid growth areas to potentially spawn the next Uber, Google, or Facebook.

DreamFunded.com has highly vetted startups within its platform for accredited investor members. This streamlines the investment process and makes it much easier for promising entrepreneurs to market their startup to a wide variety of accredited angel investors,” said Manny Fernandez, DreamFunded.com’s CEO. Click here to apply for startup funding at DreamFunded.com.

Currently DreamFunded.com is active for accredited investors only regardless of what state they live in.  When the platform officially opens the site for non-accredited investors, Crowdfunders also known as Issuers will be able to market their private equity investment deals immediately to more than over 3,400 accredited investors.  This represents a large pool worth millions of dollars of seed and venture capital that is ready and seeking to be invested in attractive new Texas business opportunities.

“Our Texas equity crowdfunding portal is awaiting approval from the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB), but the site is currently open to accredited investors,” said Rexford Hibbs, DreamFunded.com’s CFO.

About Manny Fernandez, CEO, DreamFunded.com

Mr. Manny Fernandez is the founder of SF Angels Group, an angel investing group in San Francisco / Silicon Valley tech startups that is now seeking to invest in Texas-based companies.  Some of DreamFunded’s angel investors include a partner of Capital Factory, an angel member of CTAN and also an early investor of Heritage Bank in Texas.

DreamFunded won the equity crowdfunding leadership award by Startup Grind Monterey Bay.

Manny has been selected to join the prestigious panel of investors at South-by-Southwest Interactive 2015 (SXSW) and is a frequent speaker/judge for pitch contents and conferences across the world.

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
@FrontPage_PR

New Texas Equity Crowdfunding Investment Syndicate Created to Help Unaccredited Investors Learn How to Follow Successful Private Equity Investors

18 Jan

 Join the Texas Equity Crowdfunding Syndicate™ to Follow Experienced Private Equity and Seed Capital Investors that Are Investing in Private Placement Memorandums (PPMs) Being Offered to Unaccredited Investors by Top Texas Equity Crowdfunding Sites

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – If you are new to the world of equity crowdfunding, then one of the safest ways to invest in new Texas startups is to join the Texas Equity Crowdfunding Syndicate™, which is a large group of unaccredited investors that follow the lead of experienced, seasoned and accredited equity investors that have been investing in private equity and seed investment deals for many years with a higher than average track record.  Join our crowdfunding investment syndicate by filling out the form at the bottom of this page. 

Texas Equity Crowdfunding Investment Syndicate for Unaccredited Investors

Texas Equity Crowdfunding Investment Syndicate Allows Unaccredited Investors to Follow Professional Investors

The Texas Equity Crowdfunding Syndicate follows the most prestigious accelerators and incubators in Texas that continuously shop for, discover, and curate deals from the best startups, entrepreneurs and inventors that are seeking seed investments and venture capital.

For the past 80 years, private equity  investments have been solicited behind closed doors through registered broker/dealers that were only allowed to market private equity deals to a small pool of accredited investors.

But now that the SEC has lifted the ban on General Solicitation, equity crowdfunding sites can now market private equity investment opportunities to more than 8.7 million accredited investors in the United States.  

And for Texas-based startups and businesses, the Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has now legalized equity crowdfunding, which allows more than 20,000,000 Texas residents 18 years or older to invest up to $5,000 per deal in as many companies per year as they want.  That means every Texas business now has the ability to tap into more than $100 billion of Texas venture capital by issuing offers on Texas crowdfunding portals.

To get started and learn how to become a micro venture capitalist, simply fill out the form below and detail what type of crowdfunding investments you are interested in exploring.  All contact information will be kept extremely confidential, but will allow us to help issuers on various Texas crowdfunding sites and portals to send you valuable PPM investment deals for your review on new equity, debt and convertible note offerings.

This information will be delivered via highly targeted, double opt-in newsletters that will only deliver information on the precise information requested.

Hint: Don’t invest in any industry that you don’t fully understand

At any time, investors can change their investment interest categories or delete their name completely from our general solicitation marketing database if they get bombarded by opportunities that do not meet their specific investment objectives.

 

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