Front Page PR Offers Broker Dealers General Solicitation Campaigns to Market the Oncoming Wave of Equity Crowdfunding Investment Opportunities to the Next Generation of U.S. Accredited Investors

SEC legalizes Crowdfunding marketing, PR and social media campaigns to solicit investments from Reg. D accredited investors, which include, in general, people with a net worth (excluding their residence) of $1 million, income of $200,000 a year (or $300,000 with their spouse), officers and directors of the issuer and various institutions that have more than $5 million in assets

By Robert Hoskins, Front Page Public Relations

Front Page PR announced new turnkey Crowdfunding marketing programs for FINRA-registered broker dealers that want to begin planning advertising, marketing, media relations, PR and social media campaigns to reach a target audience of accredited investors that have remained allusive for the past 30 years due to securities laws.  On July 10, 2013, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to lift rules that strictly prohibited the use of mass marketing strategies to promote investment opportunities to potential investors.

Beginning September 2013, leading broker dealers that want to make a big push into one of the most promising financial opportunities in the last eighty years can now begin working with Front Page PR’s team of marketing experts to start planning targeted marketing campaigns to reach this lucrative new audience of prospective accredited investors.

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July 10, 2013 SEC Guidelines passed for Crowdfunding and Title II of the 2012 JOBS Act:

• Eliminating the Prohibition Against General Solicitation & General Advertising in Rule 506 and Rule 144A Offerings
• Amendments to Regulation D, Form D and Rule 156 under the Securities Act

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“Aggressive broker dealers are already partnering with popular equity crowdfunding sites such as Circleup.com and MicroVentures.com in order to begin marketing to investment early adopters who are joining popular crowdfunding sites in droves,” said Robert Hoskins, Front Page PR’s Director of Media Relations.  “Adding to the crowdfunding marketing opportunity is the pent-up demand that has been building over the past five years as entrepreneurs and small businesses that have been rejected over and over when seeking traditional bank and small business loans.”

“On the flip side of the crowdfunding market opportunity are millions of qualified investors in the U.S who meet the official SEC guidelines to become accredited investors, which can participate in new equity crowdfunding opportunities, but are unaware of their unique credentials,” Hoskins continued.  “These potential investors have large sums of money sitting in their bank accounts, savings plans and 401k retirement accounts because they simply cannot find attractive deals that will provide a decent return on their investment.”

On September 2, 2013, broker dealers will be able to put together marketing campaigns to educate new investors on the potential to invest in lucrative crowdfunding investment opportunities as well as the best strategies on how to find and evaluate good deals that have serious potential as well as time proven strategies on how to identify red flags and eliminate deals that do not.

Front Page PR encourages broker dealers and equity crowdfunding platforms to contact the firm to begin planning marketing campaigns prior to September 2, 2013, the date when the race begins to build new relationships with millions of new accredited investors via mass marketing communication strategies.

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Related SEC Crowdfunding Guideline Articles:

• The Crowdfunding Gold Rush
• CrowdCheck Offers Crowdfunding Compliance Management for New Reg. D and Accredited Investor Marketing Programs
• Mary Jo White, SEC Approves JOBS Act Requirement to Lift General Solicitation Ban on Crowdfunding for Accredited Investors
• Crowdfunding Press Center Releases the First Global 100 Crowdfunding Site Index
• Crowdfunding Sites Scoot Around a Regulatory Traffic Jam
• Rich Man’s Crowd Funding
• Jeff Pulver’s Zula Equity Crowdfunding Campaign Pushes Israel’s OurCrowd into the Worldwide Lead of Broker Dealer Crowdfunding Deals
• SEC Lifts Ban on Advertising to Accredited Investors
• SEC: Startups can now advertise they are fundraising; crowdfunding has to wait
• SEC Lifts Ban Against General Solicitation, Allowing Startups To Advertise That They’re Fundraising

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Click Here to Review the 2015 Top 10 Rated Crowdfunding Sites to Help Anyone Launch a Fundraising Campaign to Raise Money to Bring Creative New Business Ideas to Fruition

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Thinking about launching a Crowdfunding campaign to raise money to fund your creative business idea and bring it to fruition?  The Crowdfunding Press Center provides regular news reports on new Crowdfunding sites that have opened their doors to help entrepreneurs and small businesses launch fundraising campaigns to help bring their ingenious business ideas to fruition.

Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites for 2014

The big question that most crowdfunding campaign managers want to know is what crowdfunding site is the best to launch their fundraising campaign? Kickstarter vs. Indiegogo, which crowdfunding site is better? Or would one of the other crowdfunding sites outlined below be a better match for their precise crowdfunding goals and objectives.

Directory of Recently Launched Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• 99Funding
• AlumniFunder
• BanktotheFuture
• Bellavate
• Big-Concepts
• ClickStartMe
• cMEcompete
• Crowd Valley
• Crowdcube
• Crowdfund It Today
• Crowdfunder
• Crowdit
• CrowdTilt
• Foodstart
• Fundable
• FunderHut
• Fundly
• give2gether
• GivetoBenefit
• iCrowd
• KrowdKidz
• Launcht
• Mini America
• PiggyBackr
• Pik a Venture
• PledgeCents
• RockthePost
• Seed&Spark
• SeedInvest
• Start a Cure
• Sterlingfunder
• UInvest
• VentureHealth
• WeFunder
• YouCaring

Directory of the Top Rewards-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• ArtSpire
• Crowdtilt
• Feed the Muse
• FunderThunder
• IndieGoGo Crowdfunding
• iPledg
• Kickstarter Crowdfunding
• MassiveMov
• RocketHub
• Springboard
• TechMoola

Directory of the Top Disaster-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Go Fund Me
• HelpersUnite.com

Directory of the Top Non-Profit-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Crowdrise
• Fractured Atlas
• Fundly
• Razoo
• Start Some Good
• USA Projects

Directory of the Top Music-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• ArtistShare
• Hifidelics
• PledgeMusic
• Sellaband

Directory of the Top Film-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Offbeatr
• Slated
• VODO

Directory of the Top Design-Based Crowdfunding Prototyping Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• FabLabs
• Inventors Warehouse
• NextFab Studio
• NYC Resistor
• TechShop

Directory of the Top Sports-Based Crowdfunding Sites:

• Involved Fan

Directory of the Top Publishing-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Magcloud
• PubSlush
• Unbound

Directory of the Top Photojournalism-Based Crowdfunding Sites

• Emphas.is

Directory of the Top Arts & Crafts-Based Crowdfunding Sites:

• Etsy

Directory of the Top International-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Buzz Entrepreneur – France
• Fund R Venture – United Kingdom
• Geldvoorelkarr – Netherland
• Indulu.be – Hungary
• New Jelly – Norway
• PPL – Portugal
• Starteed – Italy
• The Crowd Angel – Spain
• Ulule – France
• WazoKu – United Kingdom
• WEBclusive – Netherlands

Directory of the Top Crowdfunding Accelerators, Boot Camps, and Incubators:

• AlphaLab
• Capital Factory
• DreamIt Ventures
• Good Company Ventures
• Junto Partners
• Seed Hatchery
• TechStars
• Y-Combinator

Directory of the Top Lending-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Funding Circle
• Kiva
• Lending Club
• Funding Circle
• SoMoLend

Directory of the Top Donation-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• Fundrazr
• GiveForward
• Pifworld
• Rally

Directory of the Top Equity-Based Crowdfunding Sites: [Click to Tweet]

• ASSOB
• Angel List
• AppsFunder
• CircleUp
• EarlyShares
• FundedbyMe
• GrowthGroup
• GrowVC
• I-Bankers Direct
• inCube Ventures
• MicroVentures
• OurCrowd
• Pozible – Australia
• Quirky

Directory of White-Label Crowdfunding Site Providers: [Click to Tweet]

• CrowdfundHQ
• CrowdfundingSite
• Crowd Fund Magic
• Crowdforce
• Crowdhoster
• Crowdtilt
• Fundrazr
• Hayduke Labs
• IgnitionDeck
• Invested.in
• Katipult
• Launcht
• Mimoona
• Selfstarter
• Thrinacia
• Towema.com

Directory of the Top Securities-Based White-Label Crowdfunding Site Providers: [Click to Tweet]

• Community Leader
• CrowdValley

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• Start A Cure Donation-Based Crowdfunding Platform Launched to Streamline Cancer Research Donations
• Kickback Machine: The World’s Best Tool for Researching Kickstarter Crowdfunding Platform Campaign Successes vs. Failures
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• Equity crowdfunding by unaccredited investors is legal in exactly one place in North America
• Crowdfunding: the good, the bad, and the ugly
• Kid-Friendly Crowdfunding Platforms – ‘Piggybackr’ Teaches Youth the Power of Crowdfunding (TrendHunter.com)

Crowdfunding Gathers Business Mentors, Financial Advisors and Investors in India

By Deepti Chaudhary

LiveMint – Crowdfunding, a practice that takes advantage of the collective effort of individuals who pool money mostly through the Internet to support start-ups, appears to be gathering momentum in India with at least four such initiatives being introduced in the past one year.

Crowdfunding platforms gather momentum in India

Referred to as crowdfunding platforms in investment circles, they have created a new asset class with shared risks that promises start-ups not just funding but also mentoring and advisory services.

Take the case of India’s first crowdfunding portal, Pik A Venture, launched by an MBA student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Ruchi Dana, in July. Besides funding, the portal also provides advice on legal and company registration issues and offers consulting and guidance on campaigns.

Pik A Venture targets creative minds, budding artists, technical brains, student entrepreneurs and innovators, according to Dana. “We are currently mentoring 12 business ideas and are putting their campaigns online. We don’t want start-ups to just come on our website and fail,” she said.

Pik A Venture will not take any equity stake but charge a percentage of the funding. It will do a soft launch of the platform in the middle of May.

In India, these platforms seem to prefer the creative arts such as films and social causes for raising capital from the general public.

For instance, filmmaker Abhay Kumar raised around Rs.5 lakh over the last 20 days for his documentary Placebo; Onir’s I Am raised around Rs.1 crore over six-nine months, while Kannada film Lucia by filmmaker Pawan Kumar raised more than Rs.50 lakh over 30 days.

Starting Blocks Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd is launching its crowdfunding platform, Catapooolt, to focus on creative projects such as films, music, performing arts and books in mid-April.

“In case of crowdfunding for films and music, the copyright of the project lies with the producer or the one who posts the project on the site,” said Satish Kataria, managing director, Catapooolt, adding the site is the first ever official crowd-funding platform for the Hong Kong Film Festival 2013.

Experts say while crowdfunding takes time, as much as 8-10 months for a deal, it increases the pool of available capital.

Start-ups can use crowdfunding to make a pitch that can be accessed by investors subscribing to the service. The investors range from professional ones to business people. The minimum investment could be as low as Rs.1,000 with no upper limit.

The pitch includes details such as the background of the entrepreneurs, the business offering and plans, financials and funding requirements.

Once a pool of investors shows interest in backing the start-up, the funds raised are directed to the company through the platform. The platform could have a member of its team on the board of the venture. Investors will have complete access to the company’s financial plans and performance on a monthly basis. The platform typically takes a percentage of the fund raised through it.

Varun Sheth and film star Kunal Kapoor launched Ketto on 15 August to build an online network focusing on philanthropy in India. It connects non-profits and other companies aiming for social impact with the public.

There is a large opportunity in crowdfunding as it resolves the problem of lack of funding, according to Sheth, who added that at least half a dozen more crowdfunding platforms would start by the year end.

“Crowdfunding is a big disruption for financial services industry, it cuts the middlemen away. Social media and Internet growth has increased the awareness and viability of such platforms,” said Sheth. Ketto is right now raising Rs.1 crore for itself and expects to close the fund raising in about 45 days.

Sheth said facilitating donations is an interesting space for a crowdfunding platform as there is a lot of disposable income in India and increasingly more people are looking at giving back to society.

“The mandatory 2% CSR (corporate social responsibility) would also increase pools for crowdfunding platforms,” he said, referring to the new companies Act that mandates such spending. The Act is yet to be passed by Parliament.

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