Crowdfunding and investor resources

There is a lot of talk and interest in the investing community about crowdfunding and there are many online platforms coming online to cater to that interest. Some focus only on qualified investors (accredited or otherwise), others are preparing for the point in time where crowdfunding will let anyone invest (as is sort of promised by the JOBS Act), and some are planning to tackle both.

With the opinions out on the other half of the JOBS Act the part about general solicitation, these platforms may be able to provide another service as well by validating potential qualified investors in an easy way. Perhaps one or two of them will tackle the endless filings that entrepreneurs will have to do with state and federal governments if the rules are made with no chanages. More on that in a future post.

For now… here are the resources – if you see anything missing or want to add more detail, let me know.

Tech focused platforms

1. Angellist – The defacto standard in online Angel Funding – supports individual funding of startups with minimums as low as $1000 for some startups and funds listed on the site. Acts as a backend for Second Market for transactions.
2. Gust– Operates as a data room for funding early stage startups as well as allows individual funding of startups. Used by many angel groups to store data room details of investments
3. Seedups
4. MicroVentures
5. Seedinvest
6. FundersClub – Where private investors gain access to the world’s most promising startups.
7. RockThePost
8. WeFunder – Invest as little as $1000 in some of the hottest startups in the country.
9. Fundroom

Real Estate focused platforms

1. Groundbreaker
2. Fundrise –The company lets people invest in their local communities.
3. Realty Mogul– Incubated by Microsoft Techstars and won top awards in pitch competitions. Lots of deals funded – various minimum investment sizes.
4. RealtyShares– As little as $500 can buy shares in commercial real estate, apartment buildings, and homes.
5. Fquare– The firm  lets you invest in pre-vetted farmland for as little as $5,000. Farmers sell their land for 3-6% annual interest on 5- to 20-year leasebacks; once the lease expires investors sell the land and share the profits. There’s also a program to rent farm; instead of paying rent, the farmers deliver their harvest to food banks.
6. Collaperty – Oldest site in Real Estate
7. Prodigy Network– This platform for class-A real-estate investments serves the United States and Latin America; it is crowdfunding for various projects in New York and Bogota.
8. Primarq– The NASDAQ of residential real-estate equity has developed a platform where investors help consumers buy homes, and home-owners can monetize the value of their homes. It also offers a secondary market where investors can sell their shares without having to sell the actual properties.
9. Globerex– Globerex is focused exclusively on commercial real-estate deals of $500,000 to $50 million. Users can create and track deals involving their own investors or those in the Globerex community.
10. CrowdMason– CrowdMason is very basic, letting members identify and monitor commercial real-estate deals, in which sponsors will be required to make significant investments of their own equity.
11. iFunding– This firm chooses real-estate projects for you and shares the profits. For a $1,000 minimum, members can buy into any piece of the site’s portfolio of multi-family, hospitality, office, and residential properties. Each project is a distinct limited partnership that pays dividends in as little as six months.

General Small Businesses

1. SoMoLend
2. Fundable
3. Localstake
4. Dealstruck
5. LendingClub – peer to peer lending platform, new business owners can apply for a loan through here. There is no ability to sell equity through this platform today.
6. P2BInvestor
7. Raiseworks
8. Relayfund
9. EarlyShares – EarlyShares is the crowdfunding platform of the future where small investments ignite big ideas.
10. EquityNet
11. Ibankersdirect
12. ConfidentCrowd
13. 99funding – Gives individuals the opportunity to invest in new and growing private companies through crowdfunding. Look for opportunities, review offering materials, and make investments through our secure online platform.
14. IRAvest
15. Crowdfunder
16. FundAmerica
17. Optimize Capital Markets
18. Axial Markets

19. CircleUp

Health/Niche/etc. platforms

1. HealthFundr
2. VentureHealth
3. Poliwogg
4. ExplorationFunder
5. Agfunder
6. ReturnOnChange – Return on Change (RoC) is a funding platform by which high-impact startup companies are able to connect with impact investors who want to change the world.
7. WeSparkt
8. Slated
9. Pave – Pave empowers young people to advance their careers with mentorship and funding from backers who believe in them. In return, these young “prospects” offer their backers a financial return: a small share of income for 10 years.

10. Upstart – similar to Pave
11. Alumnifunder