October 11, 2013 @ 10:35 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In a recent blog post commemorating Kickstarter’s third birthday, Yancey Strickler shared some pictures of early Kickstarter designs that may have helped formulate today’s design. One of Kickstarter’s strengths is their clean, usable design. It is probably one of the top contributing factors to their… Read More

October 11, 2013 @ 9:08 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Anyone who pays attention to tech news undoubtedly saw a handful of headlines this week detailing turmoil within Twitter around the time of its founding. (For anyone that hasn’t read about this yet, this was my personal favorite synopsis.) In light of this news, Matthew… Read More

October 10, 2013 @ 3:46 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Ohio Division of Securities Commissioner Andrea Seidt is now acting President of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), the “oldest international organization devoted to investor protection.” She was previously Vice President of the NASAA. She replaces A. Heath Abshure of Arkansas as President of… Read More

October 10, 2013 @ 10:42 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In a seemingly random interview done on a taxi ride from Nazareth to Jerusalem, OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved shares some interesting statistics about his company. He says that OurCrowd is the largest equity-based crowdfunding platform in the world. We have now emerged as the world’s… Read More

October 10, 2013 @ 10:16 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Innovative pens tend to do fairly well on rewards-based crowdfunding web sites like Kickstarter, and the Polar Pen is no exception. The “world’s first modular pen made from magnets” has raised CAD $700,000 with a week left in the campaign. To be fair, this pen… Read More

October 9, 2013 @ 9:50 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

In the wake of legalized general solicitation under Rule 506(c), some media outlets, individuals and pundits have shared information that is not accurate. See this infographic as an example, which appeared on Forbes. That isn’t to pick on Forbes or the creators of that infographic…. Read More

October 9, 2013 @ 8:53 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

The Tessel has successfully raised $196,682 on Dragon Innovation, a maker-focused crowdfunding platform. This represents the largest raise in the short history of Dragon Innovation, which opened to the public on September 5th. Tessel is an internet-connected microcontroller programmable in JavaScript that enables developers to… Read More

October 9, 2013 @ 8:37 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

It has been a busy week in the world of intrastate crowdfunding legislation. Yesterday we reported on Michigan introducing a crowdfunding bill. Yesterday the Wisconsin Assembly passed a similar bill. The bill will now make its way to the Senate. Thus far Wisconsin Governor Scott… Read More

October 9, 2013 @ 1:30 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

A new project on Kickstarter promises backers an “artificially intelligent robotic bartender.” The Monsieur is like a soda fountain for cocktails, and it has raised almost three-quarters of a $100,000 crowdfunding goal with over a month left in the campaign. The precision of the software… Read More

October 8, 2013 @ 10:12 am By Charles Luzar  |  

We’ll be the first in Canada to allow it, but we expect other regulators to come along, and we think this is going to be something that takes hold in all of Canada. It’s something that I think has come along because of the rise… Read More

October 8, 2013 @ 10:01 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The second campaign for Reaper Miniature Bones is just a week in at the time of writing, but already the campaign has raised almost $1.5 million on Kickstarter. This is especially remarkable when considering the first campaign for these small gaming miniatures raised over $3.4… Read More

October 8, 2013 @ 9:12 am By Charles Luzar  |  

On September 18th of this year a bill was introduced by Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives (embedded, below) that would effectively legalize intrastate equity crowdfunding in the “Great Lakes State.” The bill would amend Section 202 of the Uniform Securities Act of 2002,… Read More

October 7, 2013 @ 10:36 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The DoorBot was the first campaign on product-centric crowdfunding platform Christie Street. It was also the first success on the platform, having raised over a quarter of a million dollars. RELATED: As ChristieStreet Prepares Launch, Crowd Feedback Means An Improved DoorBot For Backers Now the team… Read More

October 7, 2013 @ 10:20 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Australia’s Climate Council was the victim of what some may see as austere budget cuts recently when prime minister Tony Abbott decided to shutter the agency. Professor Tim Flannery, formerly at the agency’s helm, had been displaced. However, Flannery wasn’t content to rest on his… Read More

October 7, 2013 @ 9:40 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Enough is enough.  The crime in lower Rockridge north and west of the Rockridge BART station is completely out of hand.  My neighbor two doors down was mugged walking home from BART at night.  My neighbors next door were mugged midday.  My neighbors across the… Read More

October 4, 2013 @ 11:04 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Polygon recently did an installment of Polygon Live where Polygon staffers Chris Plante and Russ Pitts discussed whether Kickstarter has been a success or failure by video gamers until now. If you’re interested in watching their segment, it is embedded to the right. However, I… Read More

October 4, 2013 @ 10:46 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The FCA takes responsibility for regulating consumer credit markets starting in April of 2014. This responsibility includes the peer-to-peer lending space. The FCA has announced plans to release guidance on lending-based crowdfunding and regulatory compliance later this month. In a recent release, the FCA detailed… Read More

October 4, 2013 @ 10:14 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Despite the SEC’s delay in proposing and implementing key aspects of the JOBS Act, it seems that US House Republicans will be seeking to expand upon the law in forthcoming legislation. This according to Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ), a member of the House Financial Services… Read More

October 3, 2013 @ 12:13 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Foundry Group is a VC fund focused on early-stage IT, internet and software startups. The firm has just announced the formation of FG Angels, an AngelList Syndicate that aims to funnel $2.5 million in funding into 50 companies between now and the end of 2014…. Read More

October 3, 2013 @ 10:59 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The Peachy Printer is a small form factor 3D printer raising money on Kickstarter. The Canadian project launched with a goal of $50,000 CAD, but to date it has raised over 10 times that goal with 17 days left in the campaign. We want to… Read More