RE-volv and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Offering Hurricane Zones $120,000 of Matching Funds to Install Solar Panels on Schools, Community Centers, Homeless Shelters, Churches and Other Types of Non-Profit Organizations

Good Samaritan’s that Donate $25 to $1,000 to Help Non-Profits Install Solar Power Arrays Will Receive a Tax Credit in Return for Their Donation to Help Generate Clean, Green Solar Electricity

By Robert Hoskins

Puerto Rico – The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation will provide a $120,000 award of matching funds to RE-volv, a solar crowdfunding platform, to install affordable roof top or community solar power for any non-profit organization located in Florida, Puerto Rico, Texas, and impacted cities throughout the United States. This makes it easy for any charity fundraising organization, school, community center, homeless shelter, pet welfare shelter, church or any other type of 503(c) non-profit organization that would like to install a solar power system to go to revolv.org and build a free crowdfunding profile that will allow them to raise enough money from friends, family and the general public to build solar power arrays that will generate free solar electricity for the next 25 years.

RE-volv and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Offering Hurricane Zones $120,000 of Matching Funds to Install Solar on Schools, Community Centers, Homeless Shelters, and Churches

Good Samaritans that would like join academy-award winner, Leonardo DiCapri, and RE-volv in supporting solar crowdfunding campaigns to provide free solar power can donate money online with a credit card.  Anyone that makes a donation will receive a tax credit that can be filed with their personal or corporate tax return at the end of the year.

The partnership will provide matching funding for RE-volv’s 503 (c) crowdfunding platform, allowing donors the opportunity to double their contributions with support from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

RE-volv supports solar energy projects for nonprofits that lack access to financing options. An estimated 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. face financial barriers to obtaining solar power, as they do not qualify for solar tax credits or are too small to attract traditional investors. RE-volv bridges this funding gap for organizations that provide valuable public services to vulnerable communities, including homeless shelters, schools, community centers, and houses of worship. This is the largest grant to date for RE-volv, a two-time awardee of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative.

“RE-volv is working to make sure that the benefits of solar can reach everyone, including nonprofit organizations and the people they serve,” said Andreas Karelas, Executive Director of RE-volv. “Thanks to this generous grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, RE-volv will be able to scale its impact and bring solar to even more nonprofits around the country.”

RE-volv’s unique solar crowdfunding platform is the first to employ a revolving fund. Donors select a specific nonprofit to support and, as the project pays back dividends through a solar lease agreement, the user can then reinvest their earnings into new solar projects through the RE-volv platform. This pay-it-forward model helps to accelerate solar energy deployment in local communities while keeping donors engaged in solar projects.

“The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is excited to support RE-volv,” said Gregory Lopez, Climate Program Director of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. “Not only is their work important in deploying solar energy and reducing greenhouse gasses, their unique solar crowdfunding business model provides an introduction of accessible, renewable energy to new communities.”

To date, RE-volv has raised over $300,000 from over 1,000 people in 22 countries. It has crowdfunded ten solar projects (150 kW of capacity) in four states, include Harbor House in Oakland, which serves refugee, immigrant, and low-income families with after-school programs and ESL classes, and Morris Chapel Baptist Church, the oldest African American Church in Philadelphia.

Thanks to the solar crowdfunding campaigns, grantees are expected to save between 15 and 40 percent on their electric bills. In total, these ten nonprofits will save more than $1.5 million over the life of their solar energy systems. RE-volv’s solar revolving fund, the Solar Seed Fund, is now worth $650,000 in future lease payments from these ten projects – payments which will be used to finance at least 20 more solar energy projects.

In addition to financing projects, RE-volv invites college students, community volunteers and solar advocates to become RE-volv Solar Ambassadors, who in turn lead ground efforts to deploy solar. RE-volv has educated 10,000 people about solar energy through training, outreach, and more than 100 events.

RE-volv empowers people to take direct action on climate change by crowdfunding solar energy projects for nonprofit organizations. Donations made to RE-volv’s crowdfunding campaigns grow a revolving fund that provides solar financing for nonprofits across the nation. RE-volv is an inaugural member of the White House National Community Solar Partnership.

Founded in 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) works to protect the Earth’s last wild places by implementing solutions that restore balance to threatened ecosystems, and ensuring the long-term health and wellbeing of all its inhabitants.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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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.

 

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Crowdfunding Investor Commitments Surpass $5 Million for Title III Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns that Met Their Minimum Goals

Seeking Out Great Title III, Reg. CF Investment Opportunities? Check Below for Some of the Most Popular Crowdfunding Campaigns!

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, TX –  The new Title III rules – also known as “Regulation Crowdfunding” – enable even first-time investors to fund startups online with as little as a few hundred dollars of investments. Using Title III, Reg. CF crowdfunding, companies are able to raise up to $1 million.

Wefunder Dominating the Title III Reg CF Equity Crowdfunding Marketplace

The following are Title III crowdfunding companies with Investor Commitments that have surpassed their minimum goals as of the time of this store and broken down by crowdfunding portal:

WeFunder:

• BeerFit: Endurance event production company featuring America’s Beer Run
• Beta Bionics, Inc.: “Bionic pancreas” to manage blood sugar levels
• Cleveland Whiskey LLC: Distillery that creates speed-aged spirits in just 24 hours
• Hawaiian Ola Brewing Corporation: Local farmers produce sustainable crops
• Hops and Grain Production, LLC: Sustainable craft brewery & taproom
• Legion M Entertainment, Inc.: Fan-owned entertainment company
• My Trail Company, PBC: Outdoor apparel and equipment company
• Red Bay Coffee Company: Wholesale specialty coffee, hand-roasted in Oakland, CA
• Shape Scale Inc.: A scale that scans your body in 3D to show changes in your body and appearance
• SlingFin, Inc.: Building a world class outdoor brand starting from the top of Mt. Everest
• SpeakEasy: Nightclub, bar, cabaret and casino in San Francisco

NextSeed:

• Native Hostel Austin LLC: Upscale youth hostel

SeedInvest:

• MF Fire: A fire technology company leveraging advanced combustion science to engineer superior fire products

FlashFunders:

• MobileSpike, Inc.: Allows law enforcement officers to stop pursuits from the safety of their vehicle

StartEngine:

• Snapwire: Connects mobile photographers with businesses and brands that need creative imagery

Seedrs:

• Everipedia, Inc.: A free, easy to use wiki and commenting platform

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Legion M Closes Over-Subscribed, Record-Setting $1 Million Equity Crowdfunding Campaign on Wefunder Portal

World’s first fan-owned entertainment studio leads the JOBS Act field with 3,000+ investors and significant demand above and beyond the $1 million cap allowed by the SEC’s JOBS Act Regulation CF

 By Robert Hoskins

Silicon Valley, CA – Legion M, the world’s first crowdfunded and now fan-owned entertainment company, announced they have raised one million dollars via their Title III crowdfunding offering on Wefunder. The Company raised the funds in less than three months from a record breaking 3,000+ investors, making it the most popular Reg CF company in the short history of Title III of the JOBS Act. At the time of closing, Legion M was also the number one company in terms of total investment interest and demand, with significantly more demand above and beyond the $1 million dollar funding cap allowed by the SEC, which leaves outstanding appetite for Legion M stock even after the round is closed.

Legion M Closes Oversubscribed, Record-Setting $1 Million Equity Crowdfunding Round on Wefunder

“Legion M shareholders worldwide are celebrating this significant milestone we achieved together. We are truly inspired by their energy, passion and unbridled support. This Legion of dedicated fans have rallied behind us and our movement to make our mark entertainment industry,” said Paul Scanlan, CEO and co-founder of Legion M. “We are grateful to the JOBS Act for the innovative reforms that make this possible. Today we made history, and this is only the beginning.”

 Legion M’s creative partners currently include Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, the team behind Robot Chicken, 42 Entertainment, Meltdown Comics and Alamo Drafthouse.

 “I was impressed with how Legion M’s fans rallied to help them hit the one million dollar milestone eight days early,” said Nick Tommarello, CEO and co-founder of Wefunder. “We designed Wefunder for companies looking to build a stronger relationship with their most passionate customers, who are eager to help their favorite companies succeed. It was great to see how well it worked with Legion M’s well over three thousand investors.”

 “With more than three times the number of investors as any other Reg CF offering, Legion M has set the bar for Title III,” says Sara Hanks, a definitive authority on the JOBS Act and CEO of equity crowdfunding specialists CrowdCheck. “The real power of equity crowdfunding is having an investor base that can increase the value of your company, and Legion M is one of the best illustrations of that so far.”

“Having raised in excess of $100 million from VCs and angel investors for previous companies, we can attest that equity crowdfunding is a game changer,” said Jeff Annison, Legion M president and co-founder. “It’s not just a way to raise money–it’s a whole new paradigm for building a company.”

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Brown Lane Studio Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign on CrowdBoarders.com, One of the World’s First Social Investing Networks

The venture capital  raised will be used to carry out the company’s growing expansion plans to meet the rising demands for the firm’s creative services

By Robert Hoskins

Dallas, Texas – CrowdBoarders announced that Brown Lane Studios has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to sell five-percent of its equity shares to raise $300,00 to fund future expansion.  J. Michael Brown is the sole owner of the futuristic studio that offers the Dallas creative community an exciting eco-system of private studios, commercial studios, media services and events of all kinds social networking mixers and parties “under one roof.”  The company has seen rapid growth over the past two years.

Brown Lane Studios has launched an equity crowdfunding campaign to sell five-percent of its equity shares to raise $300,00 to fund future expansion

The equity crowdfunding offering consists of nine different levels of public investment ranging from $20-$5,000. The venture capital  raised will be used to carry out the company’s continuing expansion plans to meet the rising demands for the firm’s creative services.

Please visit https://crowdboarders.com/brown-lane-studios to view the equity crowdfunding campaign’s financial details.

Similar to rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns, early J. Michael Brown investors will receive complimentary studios services dependent on their investment level in addition to their equity shares.

CrowdBoarders.com is a next-generation social investing network which connects investors with a stream of crowdfunding investment opportunities that are now open to accredited investors and more than 20 million non-accredited investors who reside in Texas.

The Brown Lane Studios is located at 1499 Regal Row, Suite 505 Dallas, TX 75204-2431.  Investors are invited to visit the studio for a free tour. Please call (214) 771-7395 for more information.

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(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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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. He consults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

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

“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

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 Reality TV Crowdfunding Platform Allows Talk Shows and Reality TV Programs to Fund Their Programming

New CrowdedReality.com crowdfunding platform gives reality TV and talk show producers a chance to crowdfund their passion for programming

By Robert Hoskins

Reno, Nevada – CrowdedReality.com, created by award winning producer Adryenn Ashley, is a new crowdfunding site that allows programming creators three ways to crowdfund their shows through a system designed to reveal the reach of new shows, and to incite competition for the opportunity to sponsor or air each show. 

Dog Rescue Club App and Reality TV Show

Traditionally television programming has been kept under lock and key, with many too many gatekeepers along the way, which prevents truly independent television from ever flourishing. That’s about to change and be completely reinvented.  Independent films, reality TV shows and other types of entertainment can now raise money directly from fans to support the production of their programming concepts. 

As Ashley explains, “Over the past year we have developed relationships with over 200 brands and in discussing sponsorship needs and wants, one topic kept repeating – they wanted to know, to quantify, the social reach potential. For every new show, that’s always going to be just a best guess. Until now.” With algorithmic triggers that alert pre-screened and “vetted” sponsors, the site interacts with and introduces show-specific sponsors even before the funding cycle is complete.

Using a factor called Social Currency, tied to proprietary back end tools, CrowdedReality.com can calculate the reach and value to a sponsor and the demographic most interested in a show. This feature encourages sponsors to take action and secure their position with the show to leverage the social currency the show has built and gives potential sponsors the certainty they are looking for when choosing where to invest their marketing dollars, while leaving creative control in the hands of the show creators.

Less than a week old, CrowdedReality.com has already attracted shows from all over the country and across . The Dog Rescue Club, The Sifu: Kung Fu Redemption and The Fab Lab have all jumped on board to be the first to leverage the platform. Even veteran Reality TV star Justine Tranchita from Game of Pawns is using to launch his new spin off show, “The Branson Family”.

With a keen eye for bringing shows to life that would otherwise be shelved, CrowdedReality.com is ripe to become the foremost destination for niche content discovery.

“I wanted to create a show that will truly honor the shift in our consciousness and our desire for all things good. To do that I needed to bring across guests and products in a conversational format that bridges the New Mainstream into the Existing Mainstream. I couldn’t do that if I didn’t have creative control of the show,” say Lisa Marie, Co-Creator of Wake Up! “Here I can prove to the most conservative sponsor the viability of both the show and audience through Social Currency.”

Crowdedreality.com is indeed an evidence of the times. Social voting until now has been interruptive, or a picture within a picture for TV. An after thought. A thirty minute reel after a show runs. “We are putting the value Social Currency front and center. This is the new power in entertainment. CrowdedReality.com both helps protect the creator with their creation, giving direct access – and helps protect a sponsor or distributor with their pre-valuation of a show, reducing risk.”

And from veteran Radio and TV Crowdfunding Expert Mike Hayes, “This changes everything! CrowdedReality.com is a smart, innovative funding model that finally has found that magic in leveraging real social campaigning. Unique to this model created by the media marvel Adryenn Ashley – people are able to create social campaigns that not only support the show, bring visitors, and donors – but they add a critical piece of voting with their Social Currency – CrowdedReality.com removes the historic blocks to funding.”

And industry leaders have noticed. Across the pond in the UK, Carlo Cocuzzi, UK Business Growth Strategist was the first to suggest a UK version of the site, “CrowdedReality.com is an absolute game changer.”

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

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

“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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Front Page PR Seeks Entrepreneurs, Small Businesses and Franchises that Want to Take Advantage of the New Texas Crowdfunding Rules to Market Equity Investment Opportunities

Top 50 cities in Texas are home to 13.3 million residents that will soon be able to invest up to $5,000 per year in private equity investment opportunities

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Front Page PR (www.crowdfundingPRcampaigns.com), one of America’s leading crowdfunding PR and marketing firms, announced that the firm is now seeking new startups and entrepreneurs that want to take advantage of the new Intrastate Texas Crowdfunding Exemption rules that allows companies to raise up to $1 million from non-accredited investors.

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

On December 1, 2014, for the first time in 80 years, Texas-based startups and entrepreneurs will be able to sell private equity shares to all residents living Texas. In addition, all parties will be able to use mass marketing to advertise and publicize their equity investment opportunities using media outlets that focus on Texas Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), which are home to more than 26 million potential customers.

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)	Population
Houston – The Woodlands – Sugar Land	6,484,279
Dallas – Plano – Richardson – Irving	4,627,393
Fort Worth – Arlington – HEB	2,358,186
San Antonio – New Braunfels	2,334,363
Austin-Round Rock	1,938,858
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission	862,768
El Paso	862,638
Killeen-Temple	445,356
Corpus Christi	443,351
Brownsville-Harlingen	439,437
Beaumont-Port Arthur	413,982
Lubbock	304,682
Laredo	275,686
Amarillo	265,821
Waco	260,728
College Station-Bryan	246,910
Longview	226,407
Tyler	222,781
Abilene	170,164
Wichita Falls	152,426
Midland	150,721
Odessa	145,960
Sherman-Denison	125,901
San Angelo	113,969
Victoria	96,883
Texarkana	93,457
Total:	24,063,107

Approximately 20 million of these customers are over the age of 18 and will be able to invest up to $5,000 per year in private equity placements. Once the state educates its residents and new investors become Internet savvy investors, Texas will represent a $100 billion per year pool of venture capital that small businesses and entrepreneurs can use to raise start up funding.

This will prove to be a boon for the large majority of ideas and business plans that are currently being rejected or ignored by the states 70+ business accelerators and incubators.

Any business that has received the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) rubber stamp to be pre-approved for SBA loans should strongly consider opening a business in Texas. Franchisors and franchises are the perfect business model to help franchisees raise money using the new Texas crowdfunding rules. Unlike many startups that will have an unproven track record, franchises with 5 or more profitable locations should be able to provide investors with a better than average chance of success.

Rural areas are a prime target for economic development in Texas where the demand is present for new restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, trampoline parks, entertainment venues, but until now have not had access to traditional venture capital due to their location.

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Contact:
Robert Hoskins
Front Page PR
(512) 627-6622
rhoskins@frontpagepr.com

 

New Crowdfunding Research Firm Wants to Shine Light on Best Practices for Shooting the Perfect Indiegogo/Kickstarter Crowdfunding Pitch Video

In their new research study, Understanding the Effectiveness of the Pitch Video:  A Crowdfunding Research Study, the team plans to measure the effectiveness of crowdfunding pitch videos and their impact on online fundraising

 By Robert Hoskins

Sydney Australia – What type of pitch video helps crowdfunding campaigns achieve success or lead to their failure? That’s what the folks at DigitalMindWorx want to research and document.  In their new research study, Understanding the Effectiveness of the Pitch Video:  A Crowdfunding Research Study,  the team plans to measure the effectiveness of crowdfunding pitch videos and their impact on online fundraising. Conducted by Jess Milne, a Masters student at the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Sydney, the upcoming research study will use an online survey to collect quantitative data that will help inform future creators on how to how to make a compelling pitch video based on past Kickstarter and Indiegogo success/failure rates.

Understanding the effectiveness of the pitch video: A Crowdfunding Research Study

“There is very little research in the crowdfunding arena,” said Jess Milne Masters, a film student. “The pitch video is the most persuasive tool available to crowdfunders I think more research insights are required to help crowdfunders make better and more effective videos.”

According to some sources,  such as the Indiegogo Playbook, including a video with a crowdfunding campaign to demo the product and explain the project can increase fundraising by 115%.

Kickstarter, another popular crowdfunding platform, reported that campaigns with a pitch video succeed at a much higher rate than others (50% vs 30%).

Last, but not least, MWPDigitaMmedia, a professional video production company, reports that projects that have a good crowdfunding pitch video are 85% more likely to achieve their fundraising goal.

“The aim of our research is to relate how the pitch video in a crowdfunding campaign can incite affective and emotional responses in the viewer and ultimately influence the decision to pledge to the campaign,” Masters continued.

With an estimated 49,000 launched projects in 2013 on Kickstarter alone, this research has the opportunity to make a big impact for entrepreneurs and creative types. After data has been collected the unbiased conclusions will be released in a guidebook for filmmakers and other individuals who want to lean how to create a compelling crowdfunding pitch video.

As an incentive all participants of the study will have the chance to win a 200 iTunes voucher after completing the research survey. Click here to participate in the Crowdfunding Pitch Video Research Study, which will be open to all participants until October 1, 2014.

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Investors Provide $1 Million Investment to Shore Up Seed&Spark, a Crowdfunding Platform that Funds and Distributes Independent Films

The investment in documentary and narrative films gives a huge boost to women due to the fact that within the entrepreneurship film space, 58% of all films successfully funded on Seed&Spark are led or co-led by women

By Robert Hoskins

Los Angeles, California — Seed&Spark closed an important round of $1 million in seed venture capital to expand its operations. In addition to the cash infusion, two seasoned film and entertainment executives will join the crowdfunding platform’s board of directors.  Julie Parker Benello (co-founder of Chicken & Egg Pictures and Gamechanger Films) and producer and Veritas Prep founder Chad Troutwine (Oscar-winning Undefeated, Freakonomics, Print the Legend) will join the board later this month.

Seed&Spark is building a truly independent filmmaking community where filmmakers and audiences come together for crowd-funding, production, and streaming distribution

Earlier this year, Parker Benello, along with Chicken & Egg Pictures co-founder Wendy Ettinger, launched Gamechanger films with Dan Cogan and Geralyn Dreyfous of Impact Partners to “shift the gender disparity in the film marketplace.” Parker Benello’s commitment to women in film both in documentaries and narrative films now extends to entrepreneurship in the film space. 58% of film projects successfully funded on Seed&Spark are led or co-led by women, a statistic Seed&Spark founder and CEO Emily Best attributes to the fact that women are so marginalized in the film industry they’re willing to take a risk on newer platforms. “It could also be that our company leadership is almost entirely women.”

Says Parker Benello, “I am excited to join Seed & Spark as an advisor, given the company’s interest in promoting women directors, both documentary and narrative, on their innovative crowdfunding and streaming platform. I look forward to working with the team to help build out the company while furthering the work of many filmmakers supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures and invested in by Gamechanger Films.”

“We are honored to add two incredibly experienced film producers to our board who are deeply invested in the social impact of the films they make,” says Seed&Spark founder and CEO Emily Best. “What’s more exciting is that we have been able to communicate our company’s mission as an impact investment. We are deeply committed to building tools to give access to a greater diversity of creators—tools we believe can help creators make a sustainable living from their craft.”

“We’re not taking the approach of building this company with money. We wanted to engage the community and grow organically only on the strength of what the community finds valuable about what we’re offering. It means we’ve been able to get a long way with a tiny fraction of the money our competitors have raised. It also means that more of our resources can get poured back into the community because we don’t have so much to pay back,” says Best. “We also hope that we can demonstrate to filmmakers that the strength of this community is more powerful than money. And we can build a sustainable business this way – together!”

Says Troutwine, who most recently produced Print the Legend, which was nabbed by Netflix Originals at SXSW, “There is an exciting new frontier in distribution, one that can more greatly benefit both creators and audiences. Seed&Spark’s founding team of filmmakers understands they’re working for the audience.”

The lead in this round is the Wadsworth Family investment fund Manitou Ventures. Other investors include producer and philanthropist Abigail Disney, Catapult Film Fun co-founder Lisa Kleiner-Chanoff, Emmy-winning producer and Spacestation Founder Matthew Mills, Mitro founder Vijay Pandurangan, and angel investor Deborah Meijer among others.

Having just announced a distribution partnership with American Express, Seed&Spark plans to pursue more distribution partnerships, “to put truly independent content in front of the widest possible audiences and make sure the creators benefit,” says Best.

Seed&Spark is a truly independent film community where filmmakers and audiences join forces to fund, promote and watch the best new independent films. As a selective crowdfunding platform and curated streaming service, Seed&Spark is an online destination for engaged audiences to get involved in exceptional projects at all stages. Seed&Spark’s film specific crowdfunding tool – the “WishList” – allows supporters to buy or loan specific items to a production. Every time an audience member supports a project, they earn rewards points called “Sparks” which they can spend to watch films on the streaming platform. Supporting films gives audiences greater access to watch them.

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