National Seed-Stage Business Accelerator for Real Estate Startups, elmspring, Prepares to Take Advantage of Illinois HB 3429 to Offer Equity Crowdfunding Deals in Chicago

The elmspring accelerator mentors companies such as PeerRealty, which provides a real estate equity crowdfunding platform that soon will be providing a secondary market for crowdfunded assets and private investment offerings

By Robert Hoskins

Chicago, Illinois – The elmspring accelerator applauds the Illinois state legislature for passing HB 3429, a crowdfunding state exemption bill that will allow Illinois small business owners and entrepreneurs the opportunity to raise funds through intrastate equity crowdfunding. The bill has a particular interest to elmspring program participants such as PeerRealty, because they are a real estate crowdfunding platform that will soon be providing a secondary market for crowdfunded assets and private investment offerings.

elmspring business accelerator in Chicago, Illinois

According to Elliot Richardson, CEO and President of SBAC, “The passing of HB 3429 allows Illinois to take much needed steps to funnel investment dollars back into the state. Intrastate equity crowdfunding makes it possible for small business owners and entrepreneurs to raise money from one another and invest in Illinois businesses, thus supporting the very communities they live in.”

Thomas Bretz, Co-Founder of elmspring, agreed, “We applaud the efforts of the SBAC in urging the Illinois General Assembly to pass HB 3429. The bill will immediately impact the success of our recent graduating startup, PeerRealty, but also open doors for other future participants with similar business models. Building healthy, innovative and competitive businesses is what elmspring is all about, and the SBAC fully supports that mission.”

The elmspring accelerator was founded by top real estate professionals and offers participants exclusive access to real estate connections and resources. Select start-up companies are provided with seed capital, office space and opportunities to beta test and refine sales strategies. Participants also demonstrate their products to a host of serious investors at the culmination of the three-month elmspring session. The accelerator is now accepting applications for its third Chicago session until June 19, 2015. Please visit elmspringaccelerator.com for more information.

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CFX: the Crowd Finance Exchange, a Secondary Stock Exchange for Real Estate Crowdfunding Securities Expected to Be Online within 60-90 Days Pending Approvals

Shares of crowdfunding offerings purchased on the PeerRealty portal can be resold on the secondary market, subject only to SEC resale restrictions

 By Robert Hoskins

Chicago, IL – PeerRealty.com announced the introduction of a secondary market crowdfunding stock exchange called the CFX: Crowd Finance Exchange for crowdfunded assets and other private investment offerings. The mechanics of the secondary market stock exchange are simple. Shares of crowdfunding offerings purchased on the PeerRealty portal can be resold on the secondary market, subject only to SEC resale restrictions.

PeerRealty Real Estate Equity Crowdfunding Platform in Chicago, Illinois

The secondary market acts as a stock exchange for private investments, allowing investors to buy and sell shares from other participants in the market. The secondary market, branded as “CFX: the Crowd Finance Exchange,” is expected to be online within 60-90 days pending the completion of SEC regulatory procedures.

“PeerRealty is all about providing access, transparency and flexibility, and our secondary market will provide investors with sorely needed liquidity for private placements and crowdfunding offerings,” says PeerRealty COO Juan Hernandez. “Creating a secondary market has been one of our primary goals since we founded PeerRealty last year, and we’re thrilled to announce the arrival of this private exchange to the marketplace.”

PeerRealty has finalized the back-end technology supporting the exchange, and has a patent pending on the technology and process. CFX acts as a centralized asset exchange system, managing the registration of listed assets and the ownership of participating investors.

The internal transaction engine manages incoming orders to buy and sell, and processes these orders using a matching algorithm with price-time priority. The CFX system handles the complete lifecycle of an investment purchase or transfer, including the clearing of investor funds and settlement process of the private assets.

The establishment of a secondary market promises to be a huge development for a quickly growing industry. According to a recent report by research organization Massolution, the equity crowdfunding industry grew by 182% in 2014, with over $1.1 billion raised on equity crowdfunding platforms.

PeerRealty.com is a streamlined, online portal that allows any accredited investor to participate in high-quality real estate deals. A strong team and advisers with institutional backgrounds review and select deals. The leadership team has over 30 years of real estate investing experience, and includes M.B.A.’s from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the University of Miami (FL), along with J.D.’s from the University of Chicago Law School and the University of Miami (FL).

Current investment opportunities available on the PeerRealty platform include a senior housing development project and a retail shopping center in the Chicagoland area.

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