Memo to all those who think the crowd isn’t sophisticated enough to make startup investments: Crowdfunding isn’t all that different from raising money from venture capitalists, a new study shows.
A study by Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, brought to my attention by a post on Point of Law this morning, shows that people investing in crowdfunding campaigns have similar criteria to VCs making seed investments in fledgling companies.
Mollick examined 2,101 crowdfunded projects and came to the conclusion that the crowd in crowdfunding looks for similar signals of success as a venture capitalist.
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 29, 2026 vs Jan 1, 2025 - Oct 29, 2025
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Number of Filings132Prior 128 +3.1%
Target Raise, Total$3.44BPrior $3.56B -3.5%
This YTD
Year prior
Change
Filings
132
128
+3.1%
Target raise
$3.44B
$3.56B
-3.5%
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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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