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

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

By Robert Hoskins

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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Angel Capital Association Offers Reduced Memberships for Accredited Investors Who Attend Washington DC Event

No cost equity crowdfunding platforms and the introduction of general solicitation for the first time in 80 years presents challenge to high membership fees and the old way of doing business

By Robert Hoskins

Want a discount on the ACA’s membership fees? Angel investors who join  an accredited equity trading platform such as AngelList, FundersClub, SeedInvest, or DreamFunded, which are ACA members, a will receive an 85% discount off annual memberships. Individual investors are also being offered the ACA membership reductions.

Sessions include angel investing best practices, the latest trends in data in early-stage investing, new SEC regulations involving general solicitation, crowdfunding and the definition of an accredited investor, the future of angel investing, investing in different industry sectors, using crowdfunding platforms for successful syndication, and many others.

What’s at risk?  U.S. angel investors, individuals who support startup companies with passion, experience and funding – in 2012 invested nearly $23 billion in about 67,000 ventures, according to estimates by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.

“The ACA is the place to be for both experienced and (especially) new angels who want to share great ideas, to learn unique investment practices from each other, and don’t want to be left unaware of how the seed stage investment landscape is changing – particularly from a regulatory perspective,” said David Verrill, ACA’s chairman.  “We are hosting this meeting in Washington, D.C. for a reason – the Securities and Exchange Commission is not only assessing the underlying definition of who can be an accredited investor, but is also reviewing significant rules around the JOBS Act involving general solicitation and online crowdfunding platforms. Now more than ever is the time to join with angel colleagues to learn about, to shape, and to nurture this powerful economic engine.”

More than 700 angel investors, including those among the most active, sophisticated and successful in the world, will share expert advice and ideas.

Sessions include angel investing best practices, the latest trends in data in early-stage investing, new SEC regulations involving general solicitation, crowdfunding and the definition of an accredited investor, the future of angel investing, investing in different industry sectors, using crowdfunding platforms for successful syndication, and many others.

The Innovation Showcase, a related event at the Summit, will show angels in action when dozens of promising startups will receive invaluable advice and feedback from angels.

Discussions will include:

• New and proposed federal rule changes, including a potential change to the definition of who can invest in equity investment deals, will dramatically increase capital available to startups and introduce another 229 million hobby investors that will be able to invest up to $2,000 per year alongside the accredited investor population.
• Congressional leaders, including Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), will discuss how they support angel investing and its vital role in innovation and the American economy.
• Insight into tactics angels deploy to identify the best investment opportunities in top industries including life sciences and medical devices, information technology and internet, cleantech and cyber security.
• 2013 angel group deal trends, collected from more than 200 angel groups, will be shared by Rob Wiltbank, VP of research at the Angel Resource Institute (ARI), with the live release of the 2013 Halo Report, by ARI and Silicon Valley Bank, with data powered by CB Insights.
• Compelling stories, including from Blackboard co-founder Michael Chasen, who will recount how he took his learning management system company from angel backing to IPO.
• New accredited online platforms are disrupting the angel investing market. Leading platform companies including premier sponsor FundersClub will lead the discussion.
• Which are the most angel-friendly countries in the world — and how is angel investing helping spur their economies?

Registration is open to ACA members and accredited individual investors from around the world, as well as accelerator and incubator leaders, university innovation professionals, economic development leaders, and public policy makers.

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