Leading Crowdfunding Industry Analyst Firm, Crowdfund Capital Advisors, States Now is the Time to Update the Regulation to Further Enable Capital Formation
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
Sherwood Neiss, Crowdfund Capital Advisors, testifies at the SEC
In a letter to the SEC dated July 19th, the Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) industry’s largest equity crowdfunding platforms and industry influencers provided data and analysis to support increasing the Regulation Crowdfunding cap to $20 million.
The letter comes after SEC Chairman Clayton said in a live chat with FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook, “I continue to worry that retail investors do not have access to as broad a slice of our capital markets as I would like them to have. Said another way, you have private capital and public capital. Retail investors can really only participate in the public capital, and to the extent private capital has become so robust, you’ve shrunk opportunities. That bothers me a bit. If that trend continues, a much more select group is participating in the growth of the economy.”
The following bullet points below and the following analysis is provided to support the increase in Reg. CF.
Since the launch of Regulation Crowdfunding:
Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
By Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR
Horseshoe Lake, Arkansas – The Herbal Compliance Co. announced the launch of its compliance consulting services for legal medical cannabis and hemp businesses. This unique company will also be partnering with GrowthFountain to$1 million by selling equity through a unique form of investor fundraising called Title III, Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF).
Herbal Compliance fills a need created by differences in marijuana legislation at the state and federal levels. While it is currently legal in 26 states and the District of Columbia to grow and sell marijuana for medical purposes, it is still illegal on a federal level, resulting in thousands of conflicts between state and federal regulations.
“Understanding the laws governing medical marijuana and hemp is our core competency,” explains Chuck Carpenter, Herbal Compliance’s President. “But we also offer other types of business consulting like inventory management, branding, and employee education. Our mission is to help companies in this new area of American enterprise to grow and thrive.”
To fully fund their startup, Herbal Compliance is using a new form of funding enabled by recent changes in securities law in the JOBS Act called Regulation Crowdfunding. The rules for this sort of investing went into effect May 2016, allowing non-accredited investors to participate in a funding round for a private company for the first time in history.
“We’re excited to help Herbal Compliance raise the money they need to grow,” says Abe Orden, GrowthFountain’s Operations Manager. “For the first time in 80 years, average Americans now have the opportunity to support and invest in local businesses and entrepreneurs they believe in.”
Herbal Compliance’s campaign started on June 6, 2017 and will continue through Oct. 4, 2017. Their aim is to raise between $100,000 and $1 million with a minimum buy-in of $100 per investor.
The Herbal Compliance Co. provides companies in the legal medical cannabis and hemp business with services to ensure that they remain compliant with the law. Services include design and buildout, equipment fulfillment, regulator compliance, remote inventory control and reporting, vendor relationships, brand and marketing, and tax management and education.
GrowthFountain Capital LLC is a Regulation Crowdfunding platform aimed at simplifying fundraising and helping businesses build collateral. GrowthFountain is registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA.
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
San Francisco, California – HelloMD – one of the nation’s largest communities of medical cannabis patients – announced that it had received an investment of $200,000 from SeedInvest’s “Selections Fund.” The money will count towards the amount HelloMD is targeting to raise from the crowdfunding platform, as well as from accredited investors in its funding round.
HelloMD launched its crowdfunding offering on the SeedInvest platform last month and has already received over $1,216,314 from over 795 investors.
HelloMD launched its crowdfunding offering on the SeedInvest platform last month and has already received over $1,216,314 from over 795 investors for app that markets marijuana products/services
“We like what HelloMD has accomplished thus far and feel it’s well positioned to capitalize as an early leader in a rapidly growing market,” stated Ryan Feit, SeedInvest CEO and Co-Founder. “Our Selections Fund invests alongside individual angel investors in some of the most promising companies on our platform,” he continued.
Since launching service in California two years ago, HelloMD has developed a rapid following among medical marijuana patients seeking to remedy things like anxiety, stress and chronic pain to more serious medical issues like cancer and epilepsy. The site connects patients, doctors, retailers and brands in an online community where advice on product selection, health & wellness and anything related to medical cannabis can be discovered.
“We are on a mission to create the largest medical cannabis community and the first national retailer of cannabis products,” stated Mark Hadfield, HelloMD’s CEO. “We are thrilled that SeedInvest recognizes the value HelloMD brings to patients everywhere, and has decided to demonstrate that with a sizable investment of their own,” he continued.
HelloMD’s rapid growth has been fueled by its extensive library of proprietary patient generated medical information (question & answers about medical cannabis) as well as articles, videos and other unique content. Additionally, over 400 business partners (retailers and cannabis brands) have partnered with the site to make information available to customers seeking information on their use of cannabis. The company plans to use the proceeds of the equity round to expand it service offerings across all 30 cannabis legal states, as well as internationally.
HelloMD is the leading digital healthcare platform for medical cannabis patients. The service allows for easy, convenient online video access to physicians for medical cannabis consultations, recommendations to qualifying patients, product advice and more.
SeedInvest is a leading equity crowdfunding platform that provides individual investors with access to pre-vetted startup investment opportunities. SeedInvest has funded over 160 startups and boasts a rapidly growing network of over 160,000 investors. SeedInvest has had over 13,000 startups apply to raise capital since inception and has only accepted 1% of those companies to feature on the platform.
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
Los Angeles, California – Rentus.com, the leading online and mobile rental marketplace is launching a Crowdfunding (Reg CF) campaign on the Wefunder equity crowdfunding platform. The crowdfunding campaign allows anyone to become an investor and get in at the ground floor for as little as $100.
Investing in Rentus.com Provides an Investment Opportunity for Non-Accredited and Accredited Investors to Buy into the $60 Billion U.S. Rental Industry for as Little as a $100 Investment
Rentus.com is a website and mobile app available on Apple iOS iTunes store that allows people to shop, compare and rent anything. And users can also make extra income by renting out items they already own.
Rentus.com is targeting the enormous rental industry estimated to be $60 billion strong in the US alone.
With the crowdfunding campaign, Rentus.com is allowing potential investors to get in at the ground floor giving them the opportunity to make money off their investment as Rentus.com grows and expands.
To date, the Sharing Economy has produced very lucrative returns. For those that got in at the ground floor of Uber and Airbnb it turned $1,000 investments into $15 million for Uber and $10 million for Airbnb.
“The rental industry is old-fashioned, out-of-date and needs an upgrade, just like the taxi industry did not too long ago,” said Rentus.com’s CEO, Elias Chavando. “Rentus.com is giving it a new life by providing a technology up to create a brand new online, interactive, and accessible marketplace. Rental companies can now have online reservations and will be able to attract new customers while using our system as their back-end inventory system.”
Rentus.com is a mobile and online rental marketplace where people can rent just about anything. From tools and equipment, to party supplies and camping gear. Rentus.com is tapping into the rising trend of a sharing economy to bring the person-to-person rental industry to a user-friendly and trusted platform. For companies, already in the rental business, it provides efficient access to consumers.
“With the crowdfunding campaign, we are giving our users and crowdfunding investors an opportunity to get into the process early on as we continue to grow our business,” Chavando added. “It’s an opportunity for those that missed out on their chance to invest with Uber and Airbnb to buy into the the next wave of the sharing economy.”
Unlike traditional crowdfunding campaigns on platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, regulation crowdfunding through Wefunder enables campaign supporters to purchase an equity stake in Rentus.com and share in the rewards when the company goes on to future financial success.
“Rentus.com provides us with an additional source of leads and a consolidated portal where our clients go to find what they need,” said Dan Toomey, Pro HD Rentals’ President. “Understanding our need for additional sources of revenue was very attractive and led to our decision to become a client. Understanding the huge need for a platform like Rentus.com also convinced me become an investor.”
Rentus.com is available online at Rentus.com and the Rentus.com mobile app is available for iOS on the iTunes store. To learn more about the crowdfunding campaign and to invest, please visit Wefunder.com/rentuscom
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
Los Angeles, California – Crowd 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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Chico, California – FAFCO Inc., a leading solar thermal manufacturing company that’s been creating innovative products since 1969, last week announced the launch of the company’s first equity crowdfunding campaign that is selling equity shares in the company to both accredited and non-accredited investors for investments starting at $500.
CoolPV generates up to four times the power of PV alone and can convert 60% of the sun’s energy into usable power compared to approximately 20% for PV alone
CoolPV is an enhanced solar electric panel that generates electricity and heats water using the same panel on the same valuable solar roof space. Including the thermal energy, CoolPV generates up to four times the power of PV alone and can convert 60% of the sun’s energy into usable power compared to approximately 20% for PV alone. For the past eighteen months, customers across the U.S. have used CoolPV to heat their pools and power their homes.
Swimming pools are just a start. Over 33% of the energy used in the US is directly consumed for heating water and spaces. Nine million water heaters are replaced in the US every year. There are many other commercial and industrial applications where CoolPV can be used to offset a significant portion of the energy we use in the US for heating fluids.
“After more than ten years of development, we were finally able to combine a PV module with one of our engineered polymer heat exchangers and create a commercially viable combined solar thermal and solar electric panel. In addition to heating their pools, the electric power generated by the solar panels in CoolPV can reduce a customer’s electrical bill by 50% or more,” said Freeman Ford, FAFCO’s Chairman. “Now accredited and non-accredited investors can invest in the solar industry’s latest innovation and help us expand our extensive dealer network that we’ve built over the past 47 years.”
FAFCO’s CoolPV crowdfunding campaign has great timing as more and more investors are seeking to invest venture capital into the solar, wind and the renewable energy sector, which set new records for annual capacity being added, number of new investors entering the marketplace and the amount of investment dollars, which exceeded $280 billion. In addition, $12.8 billion was invested publicly traded renewable energy companies during 2015.
To make an investment in this new leading-edge, solar technology, please visit the company’s equity crowdfunding page at: https://wefunder.com/fafco
FAFCO is one of the leading solar thermal manufacturers and has been producing solar water heating systems since 1969, with an installed base of approximately 200,000 customers. Its products include solar thermal systems for homes, pools and commercial applications, as well as thermal energy storage.
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
Van Nuys, California – JetPack Aviation announced the sale and delivery of the world’s first commercial jetpack. The company, which designs and manufactures small, turbine powered VTOL jetpacks for military, industrial, and individual customers, is now offering its JB10 duel engine model at the retail price of $250,000. Currently under contract with the US military, JPA is also receiving international government inquiries.
David Mayman, JetPack’s CEO said, “We believe this sale is the definitive first step on the road to widely accessible Personal Flight Mobility. Whether we are enabling the extraction of Special Forces soldiers, moving emergency medics from hospital to disaster site, or commuters from home to office – JPA is focused on a wide range of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) transportation solutions. Our JB10 is designed to be a proof-of-concept and we are already working on several other long endurance aircraft including fully electric systems.”
JetPack Aviation made its first public demonstration flight around the Statue of Liberty in 2015 with full FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) authorization. Subsequent public flights were held in London, Monaco, and Los Angeles. JPA is now offering sponsored promotional flights for corporations and events.
Principal Designer, Nelson Tyler, said, “People have dreamed of individual flight for as long as we have looked to the sky. Now, after decades of work and thanks to our extraordinarily talented staff, the dream of personal flight is a solid reality. And it’s available for sale today.”
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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:
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.
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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR
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.
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:
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