May 16, 2013 @ 9:00 am By CFI Correspondent  |  

All this week CNBC will be sharing their list of 50 disruptors.  Crowdfunding platforms CircleUp, LendingClub and Kickstarter have made the list of a new companies which are shaking up their sector – financial services.  LendingClub has recently hit front page headlines with the $125 Million investment for tech powerhouse Google. Kickstarter and CircleUp are… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, General News  |  Tagged circleup, cnbc, kickstarter, lendingclub, list of disruptors

May 7, 2013 @ 8:34 am By CFI Correspondent  |  

In a push to grow their crowdfunding platform CircleUp has raised $7.5 Million in a Series A round of investment.  Led by Union Square Ventures (USV), other participants included Google Ventures, Maveron and Rose Park Advisors. It is notable that Rose Park Advisors participated in this round as this is the investment vehicle for Clayton Christensen, the… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals  |  Tagged circleup, clayton christensen, google ventures, maveron, rory eakin, rose park advisors, ryan caldbeck, union square ventures, wr hambrecht

April 22, 2013 @ 9:59 am By VentureBeat  |  

Small business owners play a big role in the battles against disease, climate change, and corporate wrong-doing. In the past year, a company called CircleUp has helped them with their fight. CircleUp is a crowdfunding platform for up-and-coming consumer product businesses. In the year since its launch, CircleUp has helped 12 companies raise more than $10 million…. Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Offerings  |  Tagged circleup, food, stats

April 11, 2013 @ 11:57 pm By Ryan Caldbeck  |  

At CircleUp, an equity crowdfunding site, we accept fewer than 2% of the companies who apply to raise capital on our platform. While there are a myriad of reasons why we pass on companies, one that always pokes its head up is valuation—that is, we are pessimistic that the company will successfully raise capital on CircleUp at the… Read More

Read more in: Strategy  |  Tagged circleup, equity, ryan caldbeck, valuation

March 27, 2013 @ 9:35 am By Ryan Caldbeck  |  

  Steve Rattner, former Obama “Car Czar” and prominent financier, recently wrote an article in the New York Times denouncing the JOBS Act as, “a hodgepodge of provisions that together constitute the greatest loosening of securities regulation in modern history,” saving his most scathing criticism for the legalization of equity based crowdfunding. Mr. Rattner raises many valid concerns, some that… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged anti, circleup, ryan caldbeck, steve rattner

March 24, 2013 @ 5:07 am By TechCrunch  |  

Is angel capital an attractive asset class? Is the crowd capable of being good investors, willing to spend 20-40 hours doing due diligence per investment? These are critical questions to help determine just how big equity crowdfunding will become, right? I say no. Successful startup investing is way too hard, and the wisdom of the crowd… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged angellist, circleup, fundersclub

March 2, 2013 @ 2:50 am By Forbes  |  

Online marketplaces have already eliminated so much inefficiency in our world.  Dating (OK Cupid, Match.com), restaurant reservations (OpenTable), buying most physical goods (eBay) and countless other marketplaces serve both sides of the marketplaces (i.e. buyers and sellers) and provide value- typically making it more efficient to transact (or date!).  Other marketplaces are eliminating inefficiency we… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged circleup, clayton christensen, disruptive innovation, ryan caldbeck

February 26, 2013 @ 2:29 am By Jonathan Sandlund  |  

What is FundersClub? FundersClub is an accredited crowdfunding platform live today. The company avoids the term “crowdfunding,” preferring the verbiage, “online venture capital firm.” Or, the new age of VC per say. But hey, let’s not argue semantics. In a nutshell: it’s an online funding platform that allows accredited investors to invest as little as… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals  |  Tagged angellist, circleup, fundersclub, jonathan sandlund

February 23, 2013 @ 10:48 am By Jonathan Sandlund, The Crowd Cafe  |  

Monday’s article highlighted EquityNet, an accredited crowdfunding platform with technology positioned to make the due diligence process more efficient for investors. Raising a big question: what exactly is the role of due diligence in investment crowdfunding? What are the mechanisms? Who’s doing the diligence: the Crowd or the Platform? When in the process? And how? Fresh,… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged circleup, due diligence, equitynet, jonathan sandlund

February 20, 2013 @ 9:00 am By CFI Correspondent  |  

For those of us who are fortunate enough to be considered an “Accredited Investor”, crowdfunding is available today.  In fact Private Placements or Regulation D offerings have been around for quite some time.  It is just with the internet and a vibrant interest in crowdfunding that platforms facilitating these private placements have come to the… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, Featured Headlines, Strategy  |  Tagged angelfund, circleup, confidentcrowd, fundersclub, growvc, iravest, microventures, rock the post, seedinvest, seedups, startups.co

February 7, 2013 @ 10:17 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

From the event description… The panel will include Naval Ravikant (CEO and co-founder of AngelList), Rory Eakin (Founder and COO of CircleUp), and Professor Joe Grundfest (Stanford Law School) and will be moderated by Evan Epstein (Executive Director, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance) Co-sponsored Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance and Advanced Degree Student… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged angellist, circleup, joe grundfest, naval ravikant, rory eakin, stanford

February 7, 2013 @ 4:26 am By Entrepreneur  |  

If you are growing a skin-care business, networking with execs at consumer products giants could open some valuable doors. But how to make those connections? A new partnership between niche crowdfunding platform CircleUp and Procter & Gamble could help entrepreneurs build those links. The goal of the partnership is to swap expertise. P&G gets insight into consumer and investor… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, General News  |  Tagged circleup, p&g

January 30, 2013 @ 8:25 am By CFI Correspondent  |  

Clayton Christensen is a business thought leader who is standing on the shoulders of some of the great economists of our times.  Schumpeter, a Professor of  Economics at Harvard, focused on the importance of entrepreneurism to modern economics.  But it is Christensen who applied Schumpeters basic thesis to the empirical experiences of contemporary business. In… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, General News  |  Tagged circleup, clayton christensen, disruptive innovation, harvard, schumpeter, wef, world economic forum

January 30, 2013 @ 7:34 am By CFI Correspondent  |  

Crowdfunding: The New Age of Venture Capital or an Invitation to Fraud and Disaster? A Panel is scheduled  to be held at Stanford University on Thursday, February 7,  2013.    There is an opening reception at 5:30PM with a 6PM presentation.  The address is: Room 190, Stanford Law School 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford CA… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged angellist, circleup, evan epstein, event, naval ravikant, rory eakin

January 29, 2013 @ 5:35 pm By BusinessWeek  |  

For small companies selling consumer products such as makeup or snack food, a partnership with a big multinational company can mean the difference between obscurity and becoming a household name. How does a small brand get a behemoth’s attention? CircleUp, a crowdfunding website that connects startup consumer brands with investors, wants to be part of… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, General News  |  Tagged circleup, general Mills, p&g, proctor & gamble, ryan caldbeck