Opinion

September 2, 2015 @ 5:00 pm By Bret Conkin and Alixe Cormick  |  

Causes and Lessons to be learned from more Developed Markets In this three-part series, we examine whether “conservative” Canadian business culture is having a negative effect on equity crowdfunding taking hold in Canada.  In Part I of this series we took a snapshot of equity… Read More

September 2, 2015 @ 9:06 am By JD Alois  |  

Paul Niederer, CEO of ASSOB  – a trailblazing investment crowdfunding platform in Australia, makes a very valid point. Regulators are too rooted in the past and they are at risk of botching the future as the finance industry inevitably moves online. Australia is in the… Read More

September 1, 2015 @ 7:00 pm By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  One of the UK’s leading figures in FinTech, Louise Beaumont is the head of public affairs and marketing at GLI Finance, a prominent investor in the SME alternative finance sector. Her straightforward self-summary–“I grow companies–from initial spark, to operationalisation, results delivered, and value created”–is… Read More

August 31, 2015 @ 1:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

As aptly stated in one publication, Massachusetts and Montana are giving Regulation A+  – an F.  While the failing grade is perplexing to most casual observers, the battle over this new investment crowdfunding exemption and the petitioning states is nowhere near completion. In a filing… Read More

August 31, 2015 @ 2:00 am By Alessandro M. Lerro  |  

Cyclically, innovation gets the top of the corporate agenda as a growth enabler that can play a major role in replacing existing products or services and in creating new markets, so anticipating future needs and eventually disrupting the current business models. But the “innovator’s dilemma”… Read More

August 29, 2015 @ 3:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

The finalization of rules regarding Title IV of the JOBS Act was a watershed moment in the history of securities law and a leap forward for investment crowdfunding.  Title IV, now commonly referred to as Regulation A+, not only allows issuers to raise capital in… Read More

August 28, 2015 @ 10:20 am By Jason Fritton  |  

The traditional world of real estate needs to prepare for the next wave of investors – Millennials. Currently ranging in age from 18 to 34, and numbering roughly 77 million, Millennials make up about one-fourth of the U.S. population – and are far less interested… Read More

August 27, 2015 @ 8:48 am By James Tuckett  |  

Hold the front page – the Chinese economy is slowing down. Who didn’t see that one coming? In an age of intertwined economies, extreme volatility in China is being exported globally. Calamity across the Chinese commodity markets this week is having largely foreseen global consequences…. Read More

August 26, 2015 @ 1:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding, and using the internet to raise money for an increasing number of industry sectors, is still in its infancy. It is really the internet that is the disruptive innovation. It is this technology that is altering the funding process and crowdfunding has become the term… Read More

August 25, 2015 @ 11:32 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Of course readers want to know what’s in your portfolio! Fundrise’s CEO Ben Miller just posted that he indeed invests in Fundrise’s offerings, 28 deals to date. “As a developer myself, I understand that there are risks in any real estate project and not everything… Read More

August 24, 2015 @ 9:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Title IV of the JOBS Act fixed some of the issues swirling around old Regulation A.  Lightly utilized in its previous incarnation, Regulation A+ (as it is commonly called) created two different funding tiers which allow non-accredited investors access to a new securities exemption and… Read More

August 22, 2015 @ 12:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The rewards-based crowdfunding realm has become a robust and diverse sector of the finance industry.  While some in the securities space look down upon platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, this is a misplaced perspective.  Rewards platforms have become an important testing ground, and funding… Read More

August 19, 2015 @ 5:00 pm By Charles Kaufman and Jor Law  |  

If your company has decided to take advantage of the new avenues for reaching investors under Regulation A, the biggest task you face will be preparing an offering statement that includes mandatory disclosures about the offering and the offeror, and obtaining Securities and Exchange Commission… Read More

August 18, 2015 @ 9:15 am By JD Alois  |  

Dick Bove, an equity research analyst and frequent commentator on CNBC, has published an Op-Ed on CNBC about the legislative disaster called Dodd-Frank.  Bove does not mince words when he states,  “I thought it would be impossible to find a worse piece of legislation in… Read More

August 17, 2015 @ 12:30 pm By Bret Conkin  |  

  American culture is known for celebrating “winners.”  Canadians are known for being modest and risk averse.  Could this cultural difference explain why Canadian equity crowdfunding appears to be relatively underdeveloped so far?  We checked out the funds actually raised in 2015 and talked to some of Canada’s… Read More

August 17, 2015 @ 8:23 am By Will Mahon-Heap  |  

The Australian government has recently released a consultation paper seeking feedback on their proposed framework for “crowd-sourced equity funding” (CSEF). The “CSEF” label is inaccurate, and likely to confuse both investors and companies. Instead, Australia should be adopting the globally-accepted term “Equity Crowdfunding”. The term, crowd-sourced equity… Read More

August 16, 2015 @ 10:30 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Earlier this year, I was researching the latest crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter when I stumbled upon this hilarious, Russian roulette concept game Exploding Kittens.  NEVER have I laughed so hard at project. Beyond the great name, Exploding Kittens raised over $8.7 million with the support of… Read More

August 14, 2015 @ 6:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

There is a one variable that will boost Angel investing returns 7X.  This is according to Fundify partner AJ Watson – and he has some interesting data to back up his claim. Perhaps you are psychic, or just super lucky, but for most early stage investors you… Read More

August 14, 2015 @ 4:00 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

Last week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responded to a “no-action” letter (RE: Citizen VC, Inc.) concerning the establishment of “substantive relationships” with previously unknown potential investors and what constitutes “general solicitation” in the context of a private securities offering. The SEC also issued… Read More

August 13, 2015 @ 2:45 am By Midori Yoshimura  |  

  “Finding the right balance between financial reform and risk prevention will be one of the most important issues of our time,” writes Ruizhe Zhang of Dagong Global Credit Rating Co Ltd, in a recent China Daily op-ed on ECNS. Following the release of Internet finance guidelines… Read More