Carlson Wireless Launches $5 Million Crowdfunder.com Equity Crowdfunding Campaign to Raise Money to Deploy TV White Space 802.22 Broadband Wireless Networks

The New FCC-Approved “Super Wi-Fi” TV White Space Radios will make it possible to serve 4 billion people living in 3rd world developing countries, 90% of which do not have access to the Internet

 By Robert Hoskins

Sunnyvale, California – Carlson Wireless Technologies announced a $5 million Crowdfunder.com equity crowdfunding campaign to develop and deploy its a global leader in TV White Space (TVWS) unlicensed broadband wireless technology. At speeds of up 25-Mbps, which is three times faster than current technology, and half the cost, Carlson’s RuralConnect Generation 3 TVWS radios (470 to 698 MHz) will offer a superior broadband wireless solution than is currently available in the marketplace. These white space wireless radios will make it possible to build wireless networks in underserved rural areas where there is a huge pent up demand from millions of customers that currently do not have any form of broadband internet access.

Carlson Wireless Technologies Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign on Crowdfunder for RuralConnect TV White Space Radio Gen3

In order to transform its FCC-approved prototype into a mass produced reality for worldwide distribution, Carlson Wireless is offering the private placement memorandum and is currently selling equity shares to raise investment venture capital. 

The equity fundraising will enable completion of both the software and hardware for the new product, as well as provide working capital for the first Generation 3 production run, with an expected release to market before the end of 2015. Carlson Wireless currently has a presence on the equity crowdfunding platforms AngelList and Crowdfunder.

This funding will allow Carlson Wireless to help fuel world-wide Internet connectivity through next generation dynamic spectrum wireless communication systems. By helping the company fund the final stages of this project, investors can be a part of this fundamental economic and social change.  

Globally, there are 4 billion people without access to the Internet, 90% of which are from the developing world. Domestically, millions of Americans in rural areas lack access to broadband connectivity due to current market and technological constraints.

Carlson Wireless developed the FCC Certified RuralConnect as a solution that provides affordable broadband Internet access by transmitting signals over vacant TV frequencies. Using this spectrum, the RuralConnect signal penetrates foliage and travels around hills to provide broadband in rural and remote locations throughout the world that cannot be served by traditional line-of-sight radio technology.

RuralConnect can cover an area up to 20 km in diameter, with the ability to deploy a hotspot using minimal infrastructure. TVWS technology also expands the capability of businesses and governments to extend communications and private networks such as: small cell sites, smart cities, the Internet of Things (M2M), utilities, oil & gas operations, public safety, wireless backhaul, security, video surveillance and more.  Moreover, acceptance of the technology is accelerating worldwide, with regulatory approvals earlier this year in Canada and the U.K.

In the United States, the abandoned television frequencies are primarily in the upper UHF 700-Megahertz band, covering  TV channels 52 to 69 (698 to 806 MHz).  This new spectrum became available as TV broadcasters migrated from analog to digital broadcasting technology.

Digital transmission uses much smaller slices of spectrum and can be packed into adjacent channels, while analog ones cannot. This means that the band can be “compressed” into fewer channels, while still allowing for more transmissions. In addition to white space assigned for technical reasons, there is also unused radio spectrum which has either never been used, or is becoming free as a result of technical changes. 

For more than a decade, Carlson Wireless has designed and developed products to deliver high-speed Internet and wireline-quality voice connectivity to rural communities and businesses with remote operations. Specializing in hard-to-reach regions, Carlson Wireless provides fixed-wireless systems using TV White Space and microwave technology to deliver voice and data connections.

Working with customers, trial participants, and other industry leaders, Carlson Wireless has created a third-generation product that will exhibit the enhanced throughput and superior propagation characteristics required by the market at an attractive price point. The RuralConnect Generation 3 will utilize channel bonding in order to triple Internet connection speeds up to 25 Mbps, reduce latency, and support four times as many users per sector; all under the new IEEE 802.22 standard.

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iFunding Raising $2 Million with Equity Crowdfunding Campaign on Crowdfunder

After raising nearly $30 million for real estate projects, iFunding is now crowdfunding its own equity crowdfunding site

By Robert Hoskins

New York City, New York – iFunding, the company that makes real estate investing simple through crowdfunding, announces it is raising a corporate financing round of up to $2 million. The round of financing uses the same types of crowdfunding techniques that iFunding applies to its day-to-day business in real estate investment. This is another sign of evolution in the crowdfunding sector and real estate financing.

iFunding.com Equity Crowdfunding for Real Estate

iFunding will use the funds for expanded operations, technology enhancements, marketing and sales. It is performing this fundraising through a Crowdfunder crowdfunding campaign.  Crowdfunder has over 77,000 registered users and $56 million committed across investments to-date. This current financing round follows on earlier investments by select strategic partners, customers and colleagues into the company. A “Series A” venture round is planned for 2015.

iFunding is one of the longest-operating real estate crowdfunding sites, connecting thousands of registered investors with real estate developers and opportunities to finance their building projects. The company has raised tens of millions of dollars for projects ranging from new home construction or refurbishments, to commercial spaces, condominium communities, mobile home parks, apartments and mixed-use urban facilities. iFunding has been covered in publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Forbes, Seeking Alpha, Real Estate Weekly, The Real Deal, Realty Today, Multi-Housing News and Urban Land magazine.

Accredited investors wishing to participate in iFunding’s fundraising can visit the Crowdfunder investment portal for more information. On the project web page, readers will find information including a strategy and investment presentation, and introductory video.

Founder and CEO of iFunding, William Skelley, noted “Our team is excited to have been working with thousands of investors and real estate developers in our first full year of operations. Now, we plan to expand our real estate operations, enhance our technology platform with more user-friendly features, and broaden our marketing and sales activities to reach more investors and developers. Our growth also creates a compelling case for investors to participate in this early success stage of our company.”

Co-Founder, Sohin Shah, added, “The crowdfunding approach to our own fundraising was an easy decision for us. It opens this opportunity to a broad audience, as people can own shares in iFunding for as little as $10,000.”

iFunding has chosen Crowdfunder to list its fundraising campaign. Entrepreneurs use the platform to tell the story of their business and raise investment from a community of institutional and individual accredited investors. iFunding selected Crowdfunder because of the volume of investor activity on the site, and the easy-to-use web application that supports investor research and interactive communications. iFunding’s goal is a $1 million raise, with a $2m maximum, on Crowdfunder.

iFunding also is partnering with Accredify for online verification of an individual’s accredited investor status. Instead of individuals having to manually verify status each time they invest in private placements, Accredify securely automates verification via tax records or collects letters stating one’s liquid assets. The platform also allows investors to share their accredited status easily across multiple investments they make, all the while keeping sensitive information confidential.

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After Raising $6.2 Million for Pono Music on Kickstarter, Neil Young is Now Selling Piece of the Action So Fans Can Buy Equity Shares in the Company

In a move for what may become the “new norm” in crowdfunding, Accredited Investors can now purchase shares in PonoMusic for as little as $5,000 and become an part owners of the company

By Robert Hoskins

San Francisco, California – PonoMusic’s revolution is stirring unprecedented interest in the music community’s high-resolution digital music market, as the startup’s successful Kickstarter campaign recently raised $6.2M from over 18,000 backers — the third largest Kickstarter campaign ever — far surpassing even the campaign initiated by Oculus Rift.

In a move for what may become the new norm in crowdfunding, Accredited Investors can now purchase shares in PonoMusic for as little as $5,000 and become an part owners of the company

Now Neil Young and PonoMusic are continuing their crowdfunding momentum by launching an equity crowdfunding campaign exclusively on Crowdfunder.com at PonoMusic on Crowdfunder. Accredited investors can invest as little as $5,000 and become an equity owner in PonoMusic alongside Neil.

Neil and the team at PonoMusic are excited about democratizing the investment process of PonoMusic by giving their Kickstarter backers, and anyone who loves music, the opportunity to now invest and become an owner in Pono.

Oculus Rift previously raised over $2.0M via Kickstarter, then sold to Facebook for $2 Billion. If their Kickstarter backers had been given the opportunity to invest in Oculus Rift through equity crowdfunding, they would likely have seen a significant return on their investment, but they didn’t — which stirred quite a backlash at the time.

Neil Young conceived of the idea behind PonoMusic to breathe life back into the experience and quality of audio in the digital age of highly compressed, poor quality music files such as MP3s. There’s recently been a huge resurgence of analog vinyl records among music lovers desiring true, undistorted sound. Yet the true, organic, nuanced experience most vinyl delivers hasn’t been convenient or portable, until now. PonoMusic offers a complete digital ecosystem, including a premium portable music player paired with a comprehensive digital music store offering high resolution music files with up to 30x more sound data than low-res MP3 files. PonoMusic is supported by all major music labels and their huge growing catalogues of premium quality digital music.

Says Crowdfunder’s CEO, Chance Barnett, “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Neil and his team to democratize the opportunity to invest in PonoMusic. Neil and his team get it; that’s why they’re going the route today’s most successful startups follow: first validating their business through pre-sales of their product on Kickstarter, then raising investment via our leading equity crowdfunding platform and rapidly growing base of institutional and individual accredited investors.”

Says PonoMusic’s visionary, Neil Young, “Pono is an artist-driven movement to rescue music and the art of recorded sound for posterity. It’s about the people who make the music, about the way it sounds to the artists when they record it in the studio and about preserving the original sound created by artists over the history of recorded sound. It’s also about fans hearing what we hear and that hasn’t happened in a long time. We wanted music lovers everywhere to be a part of this from the beginning and have an opportunity to help us launch this new music ecosystem into the world, together.”

“Pono” is Hawaiian for righteous. What righteous means to our founder Neil Young is honoring the artist’s intention. That’s why he’s been on a quest, for a few years now, to revive the magic that has been squeezed out of digital music. Through Pono, you no longer have to choose between quality and convenience when listening to music — you can have both. This is the fundamental idea behind PonoMusic.

Pono’s mission is to provide the best possible listening experience of your favorite music. PonoMusic is not a new audio file format or standard. PonoMusic is an end-to-end ecosystem for music lovers to get access to and enjoy their favorite music exactly as the artist created it, at the recording resolution they chose in the studio. PonoMusic is more than just a high-resolution music store and player; it is a grassroots movement to keep the heart of music beating.

Crowdfunder is where the power of crowdfunding meets investing. Entrepreneurs use the company’s platform to tell the story of their business and raise investment from a community of institutional and individual accredited investors. The company played a significant role in JOBS Act legislation, creating the new market for equity crowdfunding that brings private investing online and creates positive impact and economic opportunity.

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Equity Crowdfunding Campaign Targets $100 Million Personal Submarine and Superyacht Market

DeepFlight launches Crowdfunder.com Series A fundraising campaign to fund the next evolution of super yacht submarines and meet the booming demand for the deep sea exploration and tourism industry

By Robert Hoskins

Point Richmond, CA – DeepFlight has launched a Series A round Crowdfunder.com equity crowdfunding campaign to address an estimated $100 million market for personal submarines for the superyacht and tourism markets. The Company has already established initial sales to early adopters, including the late adventurer, Steve Fossett; venture capitalist, Tom Perkins; the founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz; Sir Richard Branson, and others. The goal of the campaign is to raise $2.5 million to support the next evolution of the DeepFlight submarines and dominate the market for private submarine ownership, as well as access the emerging market of undersea tourism.

Led by industry pioneer, Graham Hawkes, DeepFlight has invested the last twenty years perfecting the DeepFlight submarines through five generations of working prototypes. The Company’s flagship technology, DeepFlight Super Falcon, is a fundamentally new type of submarine whose patented winged design offers the unparalleled experience of underwater flight and the unique safety of automatic return to the surface. Over the last two years, DeepFlight has refined its product roadmap with five different craft, optimized for the various market segments. While several other companies have recognized the market potential for personal submarines, none have adapted their designs for large-scale recreational use.

DeepFlight presently generates revenues through sales and service contracts, and currently has contracts in-house worth over $3 million. The Company’s first sales have been to high net worth individuals (HNWI), including superyacht owners. Its near term business model is to continue to target the $10 billion global superyacht market, with the goal of equipping 1% of the superyacht fleet with DeepFlight craft by 2020 for a projected $80 million in revenues. Additionally, the Company has delivered DeepFlight craft to two resort locations and the Company anticipates continuing to expand its revenues from resort and tourism operations..

DeepFlight is taking advantage of Title II of the Jobs Act which has recently allowed private businesses to generally solicit and publicly raise money from accredited investors via equity crowdfunding. This technique is entirely different from rewards crowdfunding which does not allow for equity investments. The Company is seeking to raise $2.5 million; information regarding the equity raise is available at http://www.crowdfunder.com/deepflight. The funds will be used to build and commercialize the next generation of DeepFlight personal submarines, including its newest product line to be introduced in Q4 2014, and to expand its marketing presence in its target markets.

President of DeepFlight, Adam Wright, stated, “We are excited to launch our campaign on crowdfunder.com. Having proven our technology and established initial sales, we see a great opportunity to grow the market for undersea recreation and tourism. In the short term, the Company expects most of our orders will continue to come from individuals, however, we anticipate expanding our business to include other large-scale recreational and tourism activities.”

Tom Perkins, venture capitalist and owner of a DeepFlight Super Falcon, said, “I spent three years adventuring in the South Pacific with my DeepFlight craft, and the experience exceeded my wildest imagination. I believe DeepFlight is well-positioned, with a proven technology, to capitalize on the new possibilities for private exploration of our oceans, and to grow this company to its potential.”

Graham Hawkes, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, added, “Even though we live on an ocean planet, there are few commercially available technologies that can provide an engaging underwater experience to a large number of users. From the beginning, our DeepFlight submersibles have captured the public’s imagination, and I am thrilled that we are now able to invite the public to support our initiatives to open the oceans to a larger audience. I look forward to introducing our newest product line in the coming year, and I am fully confident that our DeepFlight personal submarines will expand the market for undersea recreation.”

DeepFlight, formerly Hawkes Ocean Technologies, was founded in 1996 by world-renowned engineer, Graham Hawkes, with the goal of innovating underwater technologies to expand human access to the oceans. In 2012, the Company pivoted from a research and development organization to focus on commercializing its submarines for the recreation and tourism markets. The Company’s flagship technology, DeepFlight Super Falcon, is a fundamentally new type of manned underwater vehicle that is a combination of submersible and high-performance aircraft. DeepFlight is globally recognized for its series of advanced personal submarines, designed, built and operated for the private owner and recreational markets, including the superyacht and tourism industries.

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