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Real Estate Crowdfunding to Take Center Stage at Crowd Invest Summit in Los Angeles

3 May

Real Estate Crowdfunding to be Major Focus at Country’s Largest Crowd Investment Conference

By Robert Hoskins

Los Angeles, CaliforniaCrowd Invest Summit, the country’s largest crowdfunding investment conference, taking place on September 6th and 7th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, has announced that it will be expanding its focus on Real Estate Crowdfunding.

Since the signing of the JOBS Act in 2012, Real Estate Investing has been the fastest growing segment of the new Crowdfunding Industry. According to CBRE, the real estate has more than a $1.7 trillion dollars worth of dry power ready to be invested in residential and commercial real estate deals.

“We expect over 3,000 attendees at Crowd Invest Summit this September, a significant portion being investors who are looking to learn about new opportunities,” said Alon Goren, co-founder of Crowd Invest Summit. “Real Estate investing has been a major focus at the summit, and because of overwhelming demand, this September we’re expanding on the topic.”

Crowd Invest Summit will feature the crowd investment industry’s top leaders, investors and firms covering real estate investing over the span of two days in September:

“As one of California’s preeminent real estate and business law firms, we are excited to partner with Crowd Invest Summit for its first-ever discussion on the emerging issues and opportunities presented by the ever-growing real estate crowdfunding market,” said Chuck Jarrell, Partner, Allen Matkins. “Crowdfunding has become an integral part of real estate investing and a topic that will resonate well with conference attendees.”

“We are excited to be back at Crowd Invest Summit this September to discuss how we’ve quadrupled our investor base by combining technology and marketing with an institutional approach to real estate investing,” said Michael Episcope, Principal, Origin Investments.

“Commercial real estate is no longer reserved for the wealthy. Now, everyone has the ability to passively invest in multi-million dollar properties, all thanks to crowdfunding,” said Matt Schuberg, CEO, RealCap. “We are very excited to come back to Crowd Invest Summit in September to bring these types of opportunities to the masses.”

“401(k) and IRA accounts provide access to 12 times more investment dollars than checking and savings accounts,” said Todd Yancey, CSO of IRA Services. “We are excited to explain the process to real estate investors at Crowd Invest Summit how to easily access that capital.”

“Now more than ever real estate companies should focus on the fundamentals and principles in mitigating risks to investors capital. Crowd Invest Summit offers both Real Estate Companies and potential investors to engage first hand and learn more about the risks and rewards of investing in Commercial Real Estate,” said Rayaan Arif, CEO, FundingTree.

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OurCrowd to Host more than 5,000 Attendees at World’s Largest Equity Crowdfunding Conference on February 16, 2017 in Jerusalem, Israel

12 Feb

The event will feature 110 OurCrowd portfolio companies, 200 multinational companies, investors from over 80 countries, corporate partners, entrepreneurs, global delegations, financial and industry research analysts and leading fin-tech media outlets

By Robert Hoskins

Jerusalem, Israel – OurCrowd will host the 2017 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit, which is the largest equity crowdfunding event in the world, and the biggest investor event in the Startup Nation. Now in its third year, the Summit has hosted thousands of investors, venture and corporate partners, entrepreneurs, global delegations, industry leaders and members of the press. Attendees hailing from more than 80 countries gather in Jerusalem, the capital of the Startup Nation, to celebrate the global community’s collective drive for innovation.

Israel to Host more than 5,000 at World's Largest Equity Crowdfunding Conference on February 16, 2017

Israel to Host more than 5,000 at World’s Largest Equity Crowdfunding Conference on 2/16/2017

Each year, attendees come from all over the world to hear from expert industry speakers and participate in interactive programming featuring cutting-edge technologies and the future of crowd investing.  They also have the opportunity to support portfolio companies through significant fundraising and making strategic business connections to help grow their businesses.

Most of OurCrowd’s 110 portfolio companies making news are expected to participate. These include:

• Consumer Physics: together with Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd. (Changhong) and Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), demonstrating the world’s first material sensing smartphone able to scan the chemical composition of objects around it.

• MedAware: discussing the recent Harvard study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), which validated its big data analytics and machine learning platform to identify and eliminate prescription errors.

• VocalZoom: which last year announced a partnership with Honda, recently demonstrated its optical microphone technology to enable voice control inside noisy vehicles at CES 2017.

NSLComm: whose revolutionary expandable space antennas will transform satellite communications.

• Freightos: demonstrating their new online international freight shipping marketplace.

Zebra Medical: discussing its machine learning platform for automated interpretation of radiological images.

“Participants at the Summit will have the opportunity to interact hands-on with many of the latest technologies changing the world,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved. “The Summit provides a unique opportunity to evaluate and touch the remarkable pace of technology change together with thousands of friends and colleagues from around the world.”

Among the 100 + speakers  at the Summit will be noted author and WSJ Columnist Andy Kessler; Head of  Honda Silicon Valley Lab, Nick Sugimoto; Samsung Ventures lead  Gonzalo Martinez de Azagra; Joe Powers, Head of Commercialization, Johns Hopkins University; Horste Bente, Founder of the Dassler family backed LeAD Sports Tech Accelerator;  Andy Chan, founder of Kuaidi Taxi (Didi), which recently acquired Uber China; and Alec Ellison, former Vice Chairman of Jefferies, and new member of the OurCrowd Advisory Board.

Nick Sugimoto, Senior Program Director at Honda Silicon Valley Lab, said, “Honda has expanded and deepened our presence in the innovation ecosystem in Israel since the partnership between Honda and OurCrowd was announced at last year’s event. We are looking forward to sharing updates on our activities in Israel and meeting more potential partners who are focused on revolutionizing the future of mobility.”

Special events at the Summit will include workshops on collaborative innovation for multinationals, an investor Bootcamp, a Startup CEO interchange, investor hackathon, a due diligence drama, speed dating sessions between multinationals and startups, and the largest tech party ever thrown in Jerusalem, featuring unlimited Israeli microbrew beer tasting, plus entertainment provided by the iconic Israeli favorite band Hadag Nachash.

OurCrowd is one of the leading global equity crowdfunding platforms for accredited investors. Managed by a team of seasoned investment professionals and led by serial entrepreneur Jon Medved, OurCrowd vets and selects opportunities, invests its own capital, and brings companies to its accredited membership of global investors.

OurCrowd provides post-investment support to its portfolio companies, assigns industry experts as mentors, and takes board seats. The OurCrowd community of over 15,000 investors from over 110 countries has invested over $320M into 110 portfolio companies and funds.

For more information and to reserve your tickets please RSVP here.

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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.

Is Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding the Right Fundraising Tool for Your Growing Business?

21 Sep

A Checklist of Goals for Businesses Considering Raising Money with a Title IV Reg A+ Crowdfunding Campaign

By Robert Hoskins

Is Title IV, Reg. A+ Equity Crowdfunding the Right Fundraising Tool for Your Growing Business?

Is Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding the Right Fundraising Tool?

Austin, Texas – Trying to figure out if Title IV Reg A+ Equity Crowdfunding is the right fundraising tool to help your company move to the next level? Most people consider Reg A+ to be one step below issuing an IPO (Initial Public Offering) at a fraction of what it usually costs, thus it is also known as a Mini-IPO.

Most financial analysts consider existing businesses with several years of operations and generating significant revenue from multiple product/service lines to be the best candidates to launch a Reg A+ crowdfunding campaign. Smaller investment bookrunners will argue that even startups and small businesses are good targets to raise money using Reg A+, especially if they have goal of going public in 18-to-24 months based on certain revenue milestones.

Top Title IV Reg A+ Crowdfunding Questions:

  1. Do you have a strong management team?
  2. Do your founders or investors have any “Star Power?”
  3. Do you need to raise more than $1 million?
  4. Have you developed an effective 30-second elevator pitch?
  5. Have you developed a 3-minute crowdfunding pitch video with a strong call-to-action?
  6. Have you developed a “Pitch Book” for investors?
  7. Do you have a lead investor of $25k+ or more?
  8. Have you raised at least $100,000+ or more from prior investments?
  9. Is your business growing at 20% or more month over month?
  10. Have you generated at least $100,000+ of lifetime revenue?
  11. Is your business projecting  2x to 3x year-on-year profit growth?
  12. Can you provide investors with a 3x to 10x ROI over the next 3 to 5 years?
  13. Is your market valuation worth $5 million or more?
  14. Is your market capitalization realistic from a VC’s point of view?
  15. Have you run a successful rewards/perks-based crowdfunding campaign?
  16. Do you have a database of at least 5,000+ customer email accounts?
  17. Do you have a database of at least 1,000+ investor email accounts?
  18. Have you generated at least 3 or more press articles in the trade press?
  19. Do you have a $20,000 or more for a advertising/crowdfunding PR budget?
  20. Do you have a strong LinkedIn resume and a large social media following on Facebook and Twitter?

If you cannot answer “yes” to the majority of these questions, then your business may not be ready to launch a Reg A+ equity crowdfunding campaign. These are many of the milestones that private equity investors and venture capitalists like see in a pitch deck to make your company worth serious consideration for a seed stage or private equity investment. If not, use this list to set some goals and objectives for your business and work hard to achieve them.

Title IV Reg A+ vs. IPO

If you think you are serious about issuing a Reg A+ offering, it would be wise to read through the following white papers on Title IV Reg A+ vs. IPOs. Learning how a bookrunner works with various investment banks, institutional investors, venture capital and private equity firms can provide valuable insight into how Wall Street has been raising money for startups for the past 100 years.

The white papers will also provide key insights into how much money it will cost as well as the actual fundraising process including what it takes to put together a “Pitch Book” and how to market it via “Dog and Pony” investment road shows. The key to raising for a company’s management team to travel from city to city meeting with potential investors to pitch Reg A+ investment opportunities.

Title IV Reg A+ Background

The SEC has previously stated that the primary purpose in adopting Reg A+ was to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive procedure for small business use in raising limited amounts of needed capital. Reg A+ issuers submit a paper-based offering statement to the SEC; this offering statement is essentially an abbreviated version of an IPO prospectus and it must be “qualified,” or cleared, by the SEC and delivered to prospective purchasers.

In addition to SEC review, Reg A+ offerings have traditionally been subject to review under state securities laws (also known as “Blue Sky” laws). In comparison, a traditional registered IPO listed on a national exchange is exempt from Blue Sky requirements. Securities sold in a Reg A+ offering are freely transferable in the secondary market, though Reg A+ issuers are not subject to Exchange Act reporting requirements.

Title IV Reg A+ as Outlined by 2012 JOBS Act

Title IV of the 2012 JOBS Act directed the SEC to expand Reg A to exempt offerings of up to $50 million in equity, debt or convertible securities. The law mandated that issuers relying on this new exemption would be required to file audited financial statements with the SEC on an annual basis.

However, without infrastructure currently in place for A+ securities to trade on national exchanges, lawmakers left it within the purview of the SEC to settle the state jurisdiction question by establishing the definition for “qualified purchaser” in the rulemaking process.

The 2nd Tier of Title IV Reg A+ Offerings

The SEC’s final rule was adopted on March 25, 2015, and became effective during the summer of 2015. In the rule, the SEC expanded Regulation A into two tiers: Tier 1 for offerings of up to $20 million and Tier 2 for offerings up to $50 million.

By removing key procedural obstacles and introducing common-sense investor protections, this new Reg A+ framework creates a viable capital-raising alternative for issuers that want to remain independent and innovative. Below are some of the key provisions included in the SEC’s Reg A+ rule:

  • Testing the waters: Issuers may solicit interest in a potential offering with the general public, either before or after the filing of the offering statement.
  • Blue Sky: Offerings made under Tier 2 are generally exempt from state securities law registration and qualification requirements. And while Tier 1 offerings would still be subject to state Blue Sky regulations, the states’ new Coordinated Review process has dramatically reduced the burdens associated with this process.
  • Offering Circular: Issuers can confidentially file statements for SEC qualification. Offering circular must include audited financial statements and balance sheets for the two most recently completed fiscal year ends. The Offering Circular format is narrative disclosure, similar to what is required from smaller reporting companies in a prospectus, but more limited in certain respects.
  • Proceeds: For Tier 2 offerings, there is an annual offering limit of up to $50 million in equity, debt or convertible securities, including no more than $15 million from selling security holders. For Tier 1 offerings, the annual limit is $20 million, with not more than $6 million from selling security holders preceded or accompanied by a preliminary offering circular.
  • Transferability/Liquidity for Investors: Securities sold in these offerings are not “restricted securities” under the Securities Act, and thus are freely tradable in the secondary market.
  • Ongoing Reporting: Issuers that conduct a Tier 2 offering must electronically file annual and semiannual reports with the SEC, but those who conduct Tier 1 offerings generally have no ongoing reporting obligations.

Are Title IV Reg A+ Shares More Liquid?

Securities offered under Reg A+ are freely tradable, which makes them more valuable to employees, investors and founders.  This is beneficial for investors but also for issuer constituents, who may be early investors or insiders, seeking liquidity.  The issuers’ choice of venue is mostly to do with the size of the offering and the company’s market capitalization.

Need Help Preparing a Title IV Reg A+ Offering?

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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.
In addition, due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for information on crowdfunding, he empowers entrepreneurs, startups and existing businesses with the internet’s most affordable crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

Crowdfunding PR Raising Money via Wells Fargo Project Work to Build the Very 1st Equity Crowdfunding Co-Working Space, Incubator, Accelerator and Training Facility Center in Austin, Texas

22 May

Click on this image to vote YES for our Crowdfunding Coworking Incubator Accelerator Training Facility

Click on this image to vote YES for our Crowdfunding Co-working Incubator, Accelerator and Crowdfunding Training Facility on Wells Fargo’s Work Project Contest for Small Businesses

Show our crowdfunding campaign some love by clicking here and simply voting “Yes,” and then share this story with your friends on social media. Your one vote will help us WIN!

  By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Front Page PR’s 2015 Mission is to teach local communities how to buy distressed properties such as vacant warehouses and strip malls and invest a little bit of money to turn these properties into crowdfunding co-working spaces where entrepreneurs and startups can congregate and dream up new product/service ideas.

The Wells Fargo Works Project for Small Business

The Wells Fargo Works Project for Small Business. Please Click to Vote YES!

Utilizing co-working spaces, Front Page PR can teach startups via crowdfunding training classes how to use a new finance tool called “Equity Crowdfunding” to raise the sufficient seed capital needed to setup a business, transform their creative ideas into prototypes, pay for the very first manufacturing production run, and then convert these companies from fledgling startups into successful revenue generating machines.

Equity Crowdfunding was legalized in 2012 by the JOBS Act. By October 2015, the SEC should release the final Title III equity crowdfunding rules. Startups will then be able to use General Solicitation market their investment opportunities to over 180 million non-accredited investors throughout the United States. The result? Leading finance experts and venture capitalists agree that the crowdfunding industry will grow quickly into a $300 billion per year industry.

The biggest marketplace challenge is that 99% of the population is unaware of crowdfunding and will need to be trained on how to invest in new startups and how to raise money using equity crowdfunding campaigns. Our crowdfunding classes are complete, but the biggest problem we face is how to pay for an actual crowdfunding training facility, converting it into a co-working space, staffing it with experts, and then marketing the facility to the general public.

We would like to spend the $25,000 Wells Fargo prize to start the process of setting up a Crowdfunding Incubator/Accelerator facility for small businesses and utilizing it over the next two to five years to teach people how to use crowdfunding sites to raise seed investment capital. The business model should fund itself in less than 12 months based on monthly co-working memberships alone, but we need enough money to get things started.

Our Incubator will provide a directory of crowdfunding experts that mentor entrepreneurs/startups on how to use donation-based or rewards-based crowdfunding to raise enough money on sites like GoFundMe.com, Kickstarter.com, or IndieGoGo.com to get a business up and running. Our crowdfunding training classes will show startups the step-by-step process of how to conduct successful crowdfunding campaigns.

Our Accelerator will provide a directory of legal, finance and securities experts that will help businesses take their companies to next level by selling equity shares or debt in their company to investors to raise even more money. The investor training classes will show new, non-accredited investors how to vet deals and ride the coattails of super angels by utilizing investment syndicates.

Once the Incubator/Accelerator is established and producing successful startups, we plan to license the business model so that others can replicate this crowdfunding training business template anywhere in the United States, providing a tremendous boost to the US economy.

Why launch a Crowdfunding Training Center? After serving as the Director of Corporate Communications for several Fortune 50 companies, I was bitten by the entrepreneurship bug and jumped off the corporate ship in 2001.

Since then I have thrived on the joy of building industries one small company at a time and the love for sharing my accrued knowledge gained from a vast array of B2B industries, international sales & distribution channels and working with media organizations to maximize publicity.

My track record includes building a broadband wireless industry in 2001 with the Broadband Wireless Exchange Magazine, an Arizona solar industry in 2009 with the Arizona Solar Power Society and I have been working for the past three years on building a crowdfunding industry with Crowdfunding PR to score a hat trick in 2015 when the SEC approves the title III equity crowdfunding rules.

Please support our fundraising campaign to build the 1st Crowdfunding Co-Working Space, Incubator, Accelerator and Training Center in Austin, Texas. Click here and vote yes!

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Want to help us build a Crowdfunding Training Center?

Paid Mentorship Management Consulting Fees Can Help Fund College University Incubator and Accelerator Programs

14 Mar

Allowing Mentors to Earn Revenue while Colleges/Universities Collect a Commission for Facilitating the Knowledge Transfer is Great Way to Bring Leading Expertise to Remote Areas

By Robert Hoskins

Paid Mentor Management Consulting Fees

Another option for schools to generate funding is to create a management consulting practice in tandem with college and university incubators and accelerators. Many sources of mentorship can be attracted by allowing the subject matter experts to generate revenue by providing mentoring services for a consulting fee. 

Incubators/accelerators could take a 15% commission out of the consulting fee to add monthly recurring revenue to their incubator and accelerator programs. Payments for services can be paid in cash and/or might include an option to purchase equity shares in the first class of equity shares being offered during the seed fundraising round.

Using this strategy, schools with video conferencing capabilities can tap into talent on a worldwide basis. Using teleconferencing and distance learning applications schools can access the world’s leading entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and private equity investors, even in remote locations.

A single community college might not able to afford a speaking engagement with Guy Kawasaki, Elon Musk or Richard Branson, but working with numerous community colleges in any given state they could launch a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign to solicit enough cash to pay for an event that could be broadcast to a network of participating schools.  These single session tutorials, mentoring sessions or consulting engagements could be setup in a very similar manner to the very popular TedX talks.

Other sources of revenue can be earned by hosting conferences, trade shows, pitching competitions and/or training classes.

Learn more about crowdfunding:

 

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Want to learn more about setting up a college/university crowdfunding ecosystem?

Please fill out this form to get started:

 

1st Texas Equity Crowdfunding Community Outreach Event to Unveil Texas Crowdfunding Portals at Texas St. University

11 Feb

Learn How to Raise Money for Startups and Businesses with Texas Equity Crowdfunding Sites and a Crowd of 20 Million Accredited & Unaccredited Investors


Texas Equity Crowdfunding Event Agenda

Mission: To educate entrepreneurs, startups and any existing Texas-based business on how they can utilize a Texas Crowdfunding Portal (TCP) to market a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) to over 20 million non-accredited and accredited Texas investors to raise startup venture capital.

Tonight’s guest speakers will cover the following information:

  1. Information on the new Intrastate Texas Crowd Exemption Rules
  2. What information needs to be filed with the Texas State Securities Board
  3. What type of disclosures are required by every Texas crowdfunding platform
  4. What type of marketing can be used to raise awareness for equity investment opportunities
  5. What qualifications need to be met before investing on Texas crowdfunding platforms
  6. What precautions should be taken prior to making any financial investments

Crowdfunding Platforms:

Crowdfunding Escrow Service:

Question & Answer Session:

  • Panel Discussion Q&A

Research Links:

Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) Crowdfunding Rules:
http://www.ssb.state.tx.us/Important_Notice/Texas_Intrastate_Crowdfunding.php

Texas Crowdfunding Network:
http://www.meetup.com/austin-crowdfunding-network

Texas Crowdfunding Blog:
https://crowdfundingpr.wordpress.com

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins

(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

Front Page PR Targets New Texas Crowdfunding Portals and Private Placement Issuers with Advertising, Marketing and PR Consulting Services

17 Nov

Offers Texas Crowdfunding Portals (TCPs), Texas Equity Private Placement Issuers & Texas Investors Guidance on the Best Strategies to Launch and Market Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns in Texas

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Today a new Texas Crowdfunding Exemption Rule goes into effect that will give the state yet another financial tool to encourage more people with creative ideas to start new businesses in Texas. For the first time in 80 years, businesses will be able to sell equity shares in their business to more than 20 million unaccredited investors who live in Texas via new online Texas crowdfunding portals using general solicitation.

Front Page PR is one of the leading Crowdfunding PR firms in America

Front Page PR is one of the leading Crowdfunding PR firms in America

“Already armed with a zero income tax, low overall tax burden, sensible regulations and low housing costs, Texas is now armed with an even more powerful financial tool, Equity Crowdfunding,” said Robert Hoskins, Front Page PR’s Crowdfunding Director. “This new small business financing tool will be the key to helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and new startups in Texas raise venture capital by selling equity shares in their companies to Texas residents.”

Similar to the way that powerful and exclusive Silicon Valley venture capital firms built their wealth during the 1990s by betting on high-tech startups, every legal resident in Texas can now legally become a micro venture capitalist by investing up to $5,000 per deal in local Texas startups and existing businesses. As crowdfunded deals begin to go public, the wealth and economic development that will be created in Texas will be hard to match.

Texas offer investors a wide variety of industries to choose from including application development, software, mobile apps, communications, information technology, high-tech gadgets, video games, aerospace, aviation, bio-tech, life sciences, clean-tech, energy, oil & gas, real estate, film, entertainment, music and many other promising industries.

Already home to 1.7 million small businesses, gaining access to a market of 20+ million new potential investors combined with the SEC’s legalization of general solicitation will make Texas the best and easiest place in America to start a new business and raise venture capital.

And the seeds for a bumper crop of new Texas Crowdfunding Portals are already being planted. SeedInvest.com/Texas, TexasCrowdfunding.com, TexasEquityShares.com are already in the various stages of building their new crowdfunding portals and filing their applications with the Texas State Securities Board, but soon they will be harvesting their first round of Texas crowdfunded startups.

“SeedInvest has worked primarily with angel, venture capital and other accredited investors to match them up with startups in Texas such as Virtuix, based out of Houston,” said Marc Nathan, SeedInvest’s Managing Director of Texas. “But the Texas crowdfunding exemption will allow us to reach a much wider audience of unaccredited investors.”

“There are many great companies that connect technology startups with sophisticated investors, but we’re focused on working with businesses that want to build and grow with support from investors in their own backyard,” said Amy Forsyth, Texas Crowdfunding’s CEO. “To accomplish this goal we’re taking a different approach than most and plan to focus on featuring local small businesses and early-stage companies that are often overlooked, undervalued and under capitalized.”

“Our crowdfunding portal will be seeking high-tech crowdfunding equity issuers that are focused on Internet technologies, e-commerce, smartphone apps, digital properties and platforms, Software as a Service (SasS), etc.,” said Dusty Brogdon, Texas Equity Shares’ CEO. “We are seeking to serve mid-tier crowdfunding equity issuers with a minimum project value of $200,000+ with a long-term goal of taking the business public within two years.”

“Texas is about to see a dramatic surge in demand for Texas crowdfunding portals, equity private placement issuers and investors. Front Page PR is ready to help these companies bring their products and services to the Texas marketplace,” Hoskins continued. “Armed with the right community outreach programs needed to educate entrepreneurs and investors on the new crowdfunding rules, the possibilities for small business formation and growth in Texas will be limitless.”

Front Page PR provides a portfolio of crowdfunding marketing communications services, which will be instrumental in bringing these new crowdfunding portals to life and helping them launch successful crowdfunding campaigns for their fundraising campaign managers, including:

  • Crowdfunding portal selection
  • Crowdfunding deal structure
  • Crowdfunding disclosure documents
  • Crowdfunding profiles and pitch videos
  • Community outreach strategies
  • Advertising campaigns
  • Email marketing campaigns
  • PR/media relations campaigns
  • Investor education programs

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SEC and SBA Announcements Lay the Foundation for Training Small Businesses on How to Use Crowdfunding in the United States

19 Sep

SBA Partners with SEC to Offer Nationwide Jumpstart Our Business Startups (Jobs) Act Training Programs to Help Small Businesses Learn How to Raise Startup Capital

By Robert Hoskins

Washington, DC – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it will join the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in co-hosting a series of events around the country to help small business owners learn about new opportunities to raise capital under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.  The first event will be hosted by the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business on Sept. 25 from 2 p.m.to 4 p.m. EST.

SBA Partners with SEC on Offer Nationwide Jumpstart Our Business Startups (Jobs) Act Training Programs Events to Help Small Businesses Learn How to Raise Startup Capital

SBA Partners with SEC on Offer Nationwide Jumpstart Our Business Startups (Jobs) Act Training Programs to Help Small Businesses Learn How to Raise Startup Capital

“We believe that any new, inclusive and innovative paths that help small businesses gain access to the capital they need are good things, but these paths should be implemented with prudence and care,” said Javier Saade, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation. “We’re happy to join forces with the SEC to have these important, interactive discussions with small businesses around the country about existing and pending capital raising options under the JOBS Act.”

The JOBS Act events are intended for existing and aspiring small businesses, including minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned small businesses to learn about opportunities to raise capital under the JOBS Act.  One change already in place under the JOBS Act allows firms to advertise certain private offerings and another pending change allows firms to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding.

Representatives from SBA’s Offices of Investment and Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development, will join representatives from SEC’s Offices of Small Business Policy, Investor Education and Advocacy and Minority Women Inclusion to cohost the events highlighting additional ways for small businesses to raise funds under current and proposed SEC rules.

The events are designed for existing and aspiring small businesses, including those that are minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned, and will discuss the JOBS Act, which expands the options that businesses may use to raise capital.  One change already in place gives firms the ability to advertise certain private offerings; a second that is pending will allow firms to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding. The SEC is actively developing rules to implement JOBS Act provisions.

Representatives from the SEC’s Office of Small Business Policy in the Division of Corporation Finance, the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, and the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion will co-host the events with the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation and the SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurial Development.

The events will highlight additional ways small businesses may seek to raise funds under current and proposed SEC rules.  The events will also give small business owners an opportunity to ask questions of the SEC and SBA staff.

The events are free and will give small business owners the opportunity to ask questions of SBA and SEC staff members.  Those interested in registering for the Sept. 25 event at the University of Baltimore may do so: here.

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Raising Awareness for the Crowdfunding Industry through Free Online Crowdfunding Training Programs

4 Aug

Please help us spread the basic concepts of the crowdfunding campaigns with the masses by sharing the following free training class links with your social media networks

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – It amazes me to discover at business networking events the number of people that that have never heard of crowdfunding.  And while crowdfunding may still be under the radar for general population, based on the number of calls we receive each week, the crowdfunding industry is definitely experiencing hockey growth rates.

Our team at Front Page PR used to spend a tremendous amount of time on the phone educating future crowdfunding campaign managers one person, which was extremely time consuming.

Over the past 6 months, the demand for crowdfunding knowledge became overwhelming, so we decided to create the crowdfunding industry’s first free source of crowdfunding training classes.  The goal was to make it as easy as possible for anyone to learn more about crowdfunding by providing the basic crowdfunding training materials listed at the bottom of them page.  If you like the reading materials and find them useful, please help us spread the word about using crowdfunding as a small business finance tool to your social media networks.

“Just click to tweet. It is very easy!”

If you have a marketing background and would like to start a crowdfunding training class in your city or town, please give us a call (512) 627-6622.  We have several printed books that combined with the crowdfunding training materials listed below can help  any get a basic understanding of what it takes to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding Training Class Links:

  1. Introduction to Launching a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

     [Click to Tweet]

  2. How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-F [Click to Tweet]

  3. How to Shoot a Persuasive Video for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1r [Click to Tweet]

  4. How to Write an Effective Crowdfunding Profile that Converts Donors

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-S [Click to Tweet]

  5. How to Write Copy with Language that Encourage People to Donate

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-P [Click to Tweet]

  6. How to Offer the Right Perks/Rewards with Good Calls to Action

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1n [Click to Tweet]

  7. How to Utilize Perks/Rewards to Conduct Marketplace Research

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-P [Click to Tweet]

  8. How to Set Realistic and Achievable Crowdfunding & Fundraising Goals

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1a [Click to Tweet]

  9. How to Do a Great Job of  Explaining How Crowdfunding Funds will be Spent

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1e [Click to Tweet]

  10. How to Raise the First 30% of Crowdfunding Funds from Family and Friends

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-17 [Click to Tweet]

  11. How to Build a Great Crowdfunding Management Team to Enhance Success

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1i [Click to Tweet]

  12. How to Build a Press Room for Crowdfunding Campaign to Achieve Success with the Press

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1x [Click to Tweet]

  13. How to Build a Press Kit with the Materials Reporters Need to Write a Story

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1z [Click to Tweet]

  14. How to Write SEO’ed Press Releases to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1B [Click to Tweet]

  15. How to Create an Informational Crowdfunding Campaign FAQ Sheet

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-14 [Click to Tweet]

  16. How to Develop a Crowdfunding Timeline Complete with Milestones

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-2y [Click to Tweet]

  17. How to Plan an Effective Advertising Campaign to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-g [Click to Tweet]

  18. How to Use Content Marketing to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-u [Click to Tweet]

  19. How to Calculate Average Crowdfunding Conversion Rates by Industry

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-M [Click to Tweet]

  20. How to Use Email Marketing to Reach and Convert More Crowdfunding Buyers

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-12 [Click to Tweet]

  21. How to Conduct Media Relations to Generate Publicity for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1l [Click to Tweet]

  22. How to Find the Best Social Media Tools to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1M [Click to Tweet]

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Houston to Host Kickercon Crowdfunding Conference & Expo for the Lone Star State’s Entrepreneurs, Startups and Small Businesses

10 Jul

The Texas crowdfunding event will provide bootcamps, seminars, & networking events for entrepreneurs, startups and crowdfunding summits for real estate investors

 By Robert Hoskins

Houston, Texas Kickercon announced the final lineup for its all-encompassing Crowdfunding Conference & Expo that will provide crowdfunding educational seminars, boot camps and networking event that will be held in Houston at the Hilton Americas-Houston from Thursday, August 28th to Saturday, August 30th.

Houston to Host Kickercon Crowdfunding Conference & Expo for the Lone Star State's Entrepreneurs, Startups and Small Businesses in Texas

Houston to Host Kickercon Crowdfunding Conference & Expo for the Lone Star State’s Entrepreneurs, Startups and Small Businesses in Texas

The event, which caters to entrepreneurs, investors and students, captures the state’s “everything is bigger in Texas” personality, as it features five dynamic workshops and more than 50 speakers, in the three-day expo.

“What initially started as a fad, crowdfunding has become the status quo in the pursuit of securing equity in the growing startup culture,” said Terell Jones, Director, Kickercon. “In order to support the burgeoning entrepreneur community, Kickercon is establishing itself as the go-to national event for those interested in educating themselves on all-thing crowdfunding.”

No matter what industry your idea falls into, Kickercon has a speaker for you. The speaker lineup includes Indiegogo experts, Nathan Jones of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” crowdfunding success stories such as Misfit Wearables, numerous venture capitalist firms and investors, and even Forbes reporter Mark Fidelman, who will be moderating the “Social Media & Marketing Training” session.

Registration is now open to the public with general registration for the three-day expo starting at $399.99, available at Kickercon.com. Through the month of July, attendees can receive up to 20 percent off the price of a ticket with the coupon code Kicker20. Students may also register for a significant discount with evidence of their school ID.

Kickercon will also be held in conjunction with sister events including:

  • Crowdfunding Bootcamp – Receive insider tips and real-life case studies from industry experts.
  • Houston Investor’s Summit – Held on Saturday, this workshop is for the season investor who is seeking deeper insights into how to leverage the latest crowdfunding best practices.
  • Houston Real Estate Summit  – Held on the Thursday and Friday of the expo, learn how to start investing into real estate through crowdfunding and alternative funding.

Kickercon is the second major educational and networking crowdfunding event to be held in Texas. The three-day event is designed to appeal to crowdfunding enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and investors who are interested in learning about the various crowdfunding platforms and how to launch a successful campaign in various capacities, including real estate, social good, technology, and more.

Visit Kickercon.com or follow on Twitter or Facebook for the latest news. and information.

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