Frontfundr is the dominant platform in the Canadian investment crowdfunding sector. On May 29th, the platform celebrated ten years of online capital formation.
In a public statement, Frontfundr shared that since its inception, it has helped raise a total of $285 million. This amount entailed 269 private securities offerings involving over 19,000 investors. Frontfundr reports a community of 56,000+ individuals who have made over 30,000 investments. For the full year 2024, issuers raised $68.3 million on the platform – the best year so far.
In Canada, effectively, there are two exemptions utilized. The Crowdfunding Exemption allows issuers to raise up to $1.5 million, and Frontfundr dominates here with 93% of the market. The OM exemption, or Offering Memorandum, also plays a role, accounting for approximately 20% of listed offerings on the platform. The OM is somewhat similar to the Reg A exemption in the US, and retail investors may participate in offerings. OM requires more documentation and disclosure and has a higher hurdle for issuers. The entire industry is undermined by the fragmented regulatory environment in Canada, as there is no national securities regulator, and thus, you must deal with each provincial regulator, which is a challenging task (and makes zero sense).
By partnering with US platforms like Wefunder, Republic, and StartEngine, more investors have joined Frontfundr, gaining access to a broader portfolio of issuers.
As early-stage firms can be risky, it is notable that Frontfundr reports that 87% of their issuers remain active, with 13.7% having provided liquidity events for investors.
Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, Founder and CEO of FrontFundr, shares that what started as an experiment is now opening up capital markets.
“Our journey reflects the evolution of private investing in Canada—more inclusive, more accessible, more transparent, and more aligned with the values of today’s investors.”
Trieste Reading, VP of Growth at FrontFundr, says that during the past ten years, they have built a movement.
“Now we’re scaling that vision across Canada and beyond, proving that inclusive capital is the future of investing.”
Frontfundr highlights some of the platform’s milestones over the past decade:
- Social network Blossom Social set a Canadian equity crowdfunding record in 2025, raising $1.93 million in under six hours.
- Sheringham Distillery, creator of Seaside Gin, raised $1.2 million from over 800 investors, helping it to expand distribution across North America.
- HEMPALTA raised money on Frontfundr in 2022 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2024
CI connected with both Van Hoeken and Trieste to talk about the decade of investment crowdfunding, and Van Hoeken admitted that it had been a “journey.” The two shared their commitment to democratize access to opportunity for both private firms and interested investors.
Reflecting on the challenges of dealing with 13 different regulators, Van Hoeken said it has been a bumpy road as they sought to “put the pieces of the puzzle together.” He said Frontfundr has done quite a bit to raise awareness for both firms in need of capital and individual investors.
“We have come a long way in Canada. Obviously, there is a lot more work to do. To bring this way of raising capital to Main Street,” said Van Hoeken.
He predicts that the opening up of private markets will only continue to grow. At the same time, he would like to see the Crowdfunding Exemption increase the limit to $5 million, which is more in line with the US and EU environments.
Trieste added that they have experienced 14 different liquidity events, including mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and share buybacks.
While cross-border listings in the US are not their main service, Van Hoeken says the process is fairly simple to take a Reg A in the US and add an OM wrapper in Canada. The bigger challenge with cross-border offerings is the different accounting rules, which could be mitigated with the help of regulators.
Asked about the possibility of purchasing a broker-dealer in the US, and they have considered this strategy, but their intent for now is to partner with other platforms in the US to help expand services.
Secondaries in the US have become a mainstay for certain platforms. Purchasing shares in promising private firms and then reselling them to Accredited Investors has helped some US platforms to generate more significant revenue. This is an area that Frontfundr is considering, but it can “open up a can of worms from a regulatory perspective.” Still, they are discussing the possibility with provincial regulators.
“As private markets grow, it becomes a stronger rationale,” Van Hoeken said.
Regarding liquidity for private securities originating on the Frontfundr platform, this is a feature that is on their roadmap. Enabling a certain level of liquidity is good for investors, but this type of service may not manifest itself as a trading venue, but perhaps in institutional purchases of private shares or another matchmaking service.
Venture capital has been experiencing a slow period globally, as investors have backed away from risk. In Canada, a bullet was recently dodged as a planned increase in the capital gains tax was shelved by the new administration, at least for the time being. Van Hoeken believes that policymakers need to do more to encourage early-stage investing.
“You need to make it as easy as possible… Additional tax incentives for early investors makes a lot of sense.”
It has been hard, said Van Hoeken, but he shared he would do it all over again.
“What keeps me going is … it takes time…you are creating change… Alternative markets are going to get bigger and we are cutting edge. The longer trends are very clear. This will become a full fledged asset class.”
He said they are the market leader in Canada and are building out a retail private market platform, continuing to add features to support this mission.
Asked about digital assets, Van Hoeken said it is not a matter of if, but when.
“The securities business is moving on the blockchain and we are very well positioned with our compliance structure. This is definitely on the horizon.”