General News

April 1, 2014 @ 4:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

With only a few days left before their 2nd annual event commences in Singapore, Crowdsourcing Week – CSW Global 2014 – is putting the finishing touches on their gathering  where crowdsourcing and the crowd economy come together.  The event will take place from April 7th… Read More

April 1, 2014 @ 4:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Alternative Funding Network is preparing to release data on the crowdfunding industry.  Some initial data points have been released prior to complete launch, including: 91% of equity investors and 82% of debt investors expect to increase their investment funds via a platform in the… Read More

April 1, 2014 @ 10:53 am By Charles Luzar  |  

How big is the crowdfunding market expected to be in 2014? How much of the crowdfunding market is made up of equity-based funding? How many jobs does crowdfunding create? Equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd released the following infographic that aims to answer these questions and more…. Read More

March 31, 2014 @ 10:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

The second annual Silicon Valley Crowdfunding Conference  will take place later this week in Palo Alto, California.  Crowdfunding advocates will gather to discuss the state of the industry and also recognize the anniversary of the signing on the JOBS Act two years ago – legislation… Read More

March 31, 2014 @ 8:00 am By Georgia Quinn  |  

Fresh from my trip across the pond, I can tell you I have seen the light. Crowdfunding can and is working and we (the United States) are behind the eight ball on this one. When describing the US regulatory regime to crowdfunding professionals in the… Read More

March 31, 2014 @ 8:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Real estate crowdfunding platform RealCrowd has received an additional $1.6 million in seed funding to aid in the growth of the young company.  The  San Francisco based startup  received the investment from multiple investors including: Data Collective, Garry Tan, Alexis Ohanian, Paul Bucheit and several… Read More

March 30, 2014 @ 8:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

BiteMyApple.co is a unique e-commerce site.  Basically they take all of the super cool products for   Apple (Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPad) and bundle them all together on a single e-commerce platform and offer them up to the faithful following.  In a release posted on… Read More

March 30, 2014 @ 3:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

Abe’s Market, an all natural online retailer, raised funding on OurCrowd back in early 2013.  At that time they were doing a $5 million funding round with a portion of that via crowdfunding.  Recently they raised another $10 million as they size up to compete… Read More

March 29, 2014 @ 8:48 am By JD Alois  |  

A new crowdfunding platform is preparing to launch and they have ambitious plans.  Xeelion is a crowdfunding site only for US students.  Apparently you will need an @university.edu to even start a campaign.  While there are great entrepreneurial communities within the universities, young entrepreneurs typically… Read More

March 28, 2014 @ 1:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has called upon the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make substantial revisions to its Regulation A proposed rule.  The NASAA has requested these changes be made “to remove potential harms to issuers and investors, especially those of… Read More

March 28, 2014 @ 1:02 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Director, Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Keith Higgins, gave the keynote address at the Angel Capital Association Summit in Washington, DC today. Higgins, who has been in the thick of rulemaking with the JOBS Act and correspondingly all types of… Read More

March 28, 2014 @ 9:58 am By Charles Luzar  |  

It seems everyone has an opinion on Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR and what it means for crowdfunding. That was the topic of conversation on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” Yesterday the program hosted New York University Stern School of Business Professor Anindya Ghose and a… Read More

March 28, 2014 @ 8:07 am By JD Alois  |  

Kiva has announced their newest partnership – Kiva City Pittsburgh.  This is an initiative that brings crowdfunded microloans to small business owners and entrepreneurs to the Pittsburgh area.  This is similar to other city partnerships that Kiva has initiated over the past several years..  Kiva… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 2:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

  Crowdfunding Festival Helps to Put Florida City on the Startup Map In a release from the city of Jacksonville, the northern Florida community has noted they have captured some entrepreneurial recognition.  A recent article in CNNMoney states the city is engendering a reputation as… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 12:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

In sifting through the various public comments on the European crowdfunding consultation that was just released it was interesting to see an unsigned comment letter from NASDAQ OMX. NASDAQ OMX is a trading / exchange platform that operates across six different continents and today powers… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 10:34 am By JD Alois  |  

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions. The organization’s members range from mom-and-pop shops and local chambers to large corporations.  The group is really global in… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 9:55 am By JD Alois  |  

As part of the massive release from the European Commission today on their Roadmap to meet the long term financing needs of  European Union, the EC published a document on Frequently Asked Questions regarding crowdfunding. While some of the responses are basic, much of the… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

As part of an initiative launched last Fall, the European Commission has published the responses to a consultation on crowdfunding.  While the commenting period closed on December 31, 2013, the document was published on March 27, 2014 as was widely expected. The EC received a… Read More

March 27, 2014 @ 8:41 am By JD Alois  |  

LONG-TERM FINANCING NEEDS OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY The European Commission has adopted a package of measures that it hopes will address the long term financing needs of the European Economy.  As part of the communication the EC put forward a communication on crowdfunding as they… Read More

March 26, 2014 @ 5:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Brooklyn based Spelt Right Foods has won the Grand Prize in FreshDirect’s Next Big Food Thing contest, a crowdfunding contest launched by FreshDirect in collaboration with RocketHub to “find the next food idea, product or innovation that could change the food world.”   Spelt Right produces bagels,… Read More