For entrepreneur Maurice Lopes, the plight of today’s small business owner is epitomized by a cartoon that depicts a bunch of people staring through the window of a bank, while a policeman swings a club to try to get them to disperse.
Lopes said the punch line read: “What’s the matter? Never seen somebody get a loan before?”
All joking aside, Lopes confessed it’s not a pretty picture for startups and small firms trying to raise what he called “gap funding” of less than $500,000 in the current economy.
Earlier this year Lopes, a serial entrepreneur who also runs catering and dog-walking businesses, launched EarlyShares.com crowdfunding platform to try to fill the funding void.
Beta. Initial Form 1-A only. Target raise is the stated Amount to be Raised, totaled. Compared with the same dates one year earlier.
YTD: Jan 1, 2026 - Oct 24, 2026 vs Jan 1, 2025 - Oct 24, 2025
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Number of Filings131Prior 126 +4.0%
Target Raise, Total$3.40BPrior $3.54B -3.9%
This YTD
Year prior
Change
Filings
131
126
+4.0%
Target raise
$3.40B
$3.54B
-3.9%
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the leading digital news service covering the global Fintech Industry, including digital assets, crowdfunding, tokenization, and other innovations in capital markets. email us@CrowdfundInside
This display counts initial Form 1-A filings only. It does not represent subsequent filings, including Form 1-A/A amendments or Form 1-A POS post-qualification updates filed by the issuer. Amounts are the stated Amount to be Raised on the initial filing, not capital raised and not amounts revised in later filings.
Crowdfund Insider is the leading news website covering the emerging global industry of disruptive finance including investment crowdfunding, Blockchain, online lending, and other forms of Fintech.
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