Title III of the JOBS Act created a new securities exemption that allowed equity crowdfunding for non-accredited investors. This new exemption, also called Reg CF, may be viewed as another step in the capital ladder to complement Title II of the JOBS Act (accredited crowdfunding) and Title IV of the JOBS Act (Reg A+). Each exemption approaches capital creation in different ways but they all allow firms to raise money online. Title III enables SMEs to raise up to $1 million online.
Title III of the JOBS Act also allowed for a new type of online platform to sell and market securities. These “Funding Portals” must be approved by both the SEC and FINRA and become a member of FINRA. These Funding Portals do not need to become Broker Dealers – but Broker Dealers may choose to operate in the crowdfunding sector.
Below are the 14 funding portals that have been approved to offer securities under Title III of the JOBS Act. Today, Wefunder has dominated the Reg CF offerings but since the exemption is less than one year old (May 2016) this sector of finance is still very much in its infancy.
- Crowd boarders – Frisco, Texas
- CrowdsourceFunded – Chicago, Illinois
- DreamFunded Marketplace – San Francisco, California
- GrowthFountain Capital – New York, New York
- Indie Crowd Funder – Las Angeles, California
- Jumpstart Micro – Carlisle, Massachusetts
- NetCapital Funding Portal – White Plains, New York
- NextSeed US – Houston, Texas
- OpenDeal (Republic) – New York, New York
- SI Portal (SeedInvest) – New York, New York
- StartEngine Capital – Santa Monica, California
- TruCrowd – Houston, Texas
- UFP (uFundingPortal) – Herndon, Virginia
- Wefunder Portal – Cambridge, Massachusetts
