BURBANK, CA, SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 — StartEngine, a renowned alternative investment platform, is preparing to launch Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) for entrepreneurs, pending the passage of the proposed CLARITY Act in Congress. If passed, this legislation could mark the first time U.S. companies are able to legally raise capital through regulated ICOs, potentially opening the door to a new wave of blockchain innovation. Investors who invest will be able to freely trade the tokens on any platform that lists them, including the StartEngine Marketplace.
StartEngine has a long history of pioneering new forms of fundraising. In 2017 and 2018, the company hosted ICO 2.0 conferences in Santa Monica, drawing thousands of attendees and industry leaders.¹ While the market wasn’t ready at the time, the company believes the CLARITY Act could unlock hundreds of millions in offerings already pending in the crypto marketplace.
“For years, entrepreneurs in the blockchain space have had brilliant ideas but no compliant way to raise capital by selling digital tokens in the United States,“ said Howard Marks, Co-Founder and CEO of StartEngine. “That could finally change with the CLARITY Act. We’re building the infrastructure so founders can hit the ground running with a regulated platform registered with the SEC and a massive investor base behind them.”
As the regulatory landscape evolves, StartEngine has begun outlining a proposed ICO process for U.S. entrepreneurs. While details are still being developed, the anticipated model would allow companies to raise capital from StartEngine’s investor community, issue SAFTs during their campaigns, and then mint and distribute tokens once project milestones are achieved.
Tokens would be held securely with clear ownership tracking and the potential for secondary trading on dozens of established platforms, including on StartEngine, which will act as a market maker. This framework is designed to give entrepreneurs clarity and confidence, and for investors, a clear path to liquidity
“When I talk to entrepreneurs, the number one barrier to building in crypto has always been regulation,” said Kevin O’Leary (aka “Mr. Wonderful”), Strategic Advisor to StartEngine.² “With StartEngine, founders will finally have a compliant platform to raise capital and scale their vision.”
Since 2014, StartEngine has helped over 2.1 million users invest more than $1.4 billion across a wide array of private investment opportunities,³ ranging from emerging startups to offerings for exposure to pre-IPO companies like Kraken and Ripple.⁴ In the first half of 2025, the company almost tripled revenue year-over-year to a record $70 million (based on unaudited Q1 and Q2 2025 financials).⁵
For more information, please visit https://www.startengine.com/ico.
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About StartEngine
StartEngine is one of the largest alternative investing platforms in the U.S. led by Activision Co-Founder Howard Marks and advised by Kevin O’Leary,² StartEngine launched in 2014 with the mission to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams, while providing everyday investors with access to private investment opportunities. To date, over $1.4 billion has been invested on StartEngine’s platform from a community of more than 2.1 million users.³ In November 2023, the company launched StartEngine Private, an offering for accredited investors to gain exposure to prominent pre-IPO companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and Databricks.⁴
StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. is not a broker-dealer, funding portal or investment adviser. StartEngine Primary LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and FINRA/SIPC. StartEngine Secondary is an alternative trading system regulated by the SEC and operated by StartEngine Primary. To raise funds, invest or trade on the StartEngine platform, visit www.startengine.com.
Media Contact
Scott Murphy
Director of Content
StartEngine
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- Sources: Amy Wan, “First Regulated Initial Coin Offering Conference ICO 2.0 Summit Dives Deep into ICO Legal, Regulatory & Economic Implications,” Crowdfund Insider, November 13, 2017; Angela Scott-Briggs, “Interview with Howard Marks, the CEO of Startengine; ICO 2.O for Safe and Secure Investments,” TechBulletin, July 19, 2018
- Kevin O’Leary is not only a strategic advisor, but also an investor and paid spokesman for StartEngine. Please see this 17(b) disclosure for more information.
- Count determined as number of unique email addresses in StartEngine’s database as of April 3, 2025. One individual may have more than one email address. In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of competitor platform SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors and founders. Total invested and funding rounds achieved when combined with this acquisition. See additional information here.
- The underlying companies held by StartEngine Private Funds LLC, and StartEngine Private LLC (together, “StartEngine Private”) are not participating or involved in the offering. The availability of company information does not indicate that the company has endorsed, supports or otherwise participates with StartEngine Private or any of its affiliates. StartEngine Crowdfunding LLC purchases shares from current and former employees, early investors, and advisors of the companies and sells the shares to StartEngine Private for each offering. When you make an investment in a company on StartEngine Private, you are purchasing an interest in a series of StartEngine Private Funds LLC or StartEngine Private LLC, each a Delaware limited liability company (together the “Series LLCs”), which were created to hold shares of privately held companies. An investor will not directly own or hold shares of the private company but instead will own member interests in a series of the Series LLCs, which either directly or indirectly, will hold shares in the company. There may not be a one-to-one economic parity on the value of the Series LLCs interests and the underlying shares. This is offered only to accredited investors per regulation D rules.
5. Based on our Q2 2025 Form 10-Q/A. This revenue growth has been driven by StartEngine Private, a new product line that offers funds in late stage companies. This product line has driven over $34.1 million of the $39 million in revenue from Q2 2025. To understand the impact on margins, see financials. Past performance may not be indicative of future performance.