Amy Cortese | October 2, 2017
Laramie, Wyoming may not be the first place you would look for an innovative experiment in digital age economic revitalization. And at first glance, Diane Wolverton and Kim Vincent might not fit the image of change agents. But the pair has been quietly building a crowdfunding ecosystem across rural America that is helping communities lift […]
Locavesting Staff | September 25, 2017
Since 2011, 35 states plus the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow investment crowdfunding within their borders. At the recent ComCap conference, state leaders discussed their state laws, including what’s working and what’s not. If your state is one of the 15 or so without an intrastate crowdfunding exemption, or with one in […]
Amy Cortese | August 27, 2017
Grace Leung Shing and Catherine Yushina were working for a venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, when they were both struck by a puzzle: why was it that venture investors were willing to shower funding on startups with no revenues or traction—sometimes little more than idea—while many perfectly solid businesses couldn’t get funding at all? […]
Locavesting Staff | August 13, 2017
What do Alaska, Florida, Texas and Vermont have in common? They’re among the 34 states that have passed state-based crowdfunding laws. When it comes to crowdinvesting, most of the attention goes to the JOBS Act, the 2012 federal legislation that gave us Regulation Crowdfunding, Regulation A+ and other provisions that make it easier for small […]
Crowdfund Capital Advisors | August 4, 2017
As we like to remind people, “equity” crowdfunding is a misnomer. The word suggests issuing stock, but businesses raising money through investment crowdfunding may also issue debt—through convertible notes, standard loans or a variation called a revenue share agreement. In these deals, investors extend money to a business, and are paid back through a share […]
Amy Cortese | June 22, 2017
This spring, millions of people poured into the streets to show their dismay with the Trump administration’s backward-looking environmental agenda, including its pullout from a global accord to combat climate change that many Americans support. Now, citizens concerned about the fate of the planet can do more than protest; they can invest in climate-friendly solutions. […]
Anne Field | June 12, 2017
Women entrepreneurs tend to have a harder time raising money, but the opposite may be true online, as early crowdfunding data suggests. And new crowdfunding sites are cropping up to support women’s endeavors. The latest: Women You Should Fund, a Kickstarter-style crowdfunding platform for women and women-led, gender diverse teams. It debuted in March for […]
Mark Roderick | May 28, 2017
One of the bugbears of investment crowdfunding is the fact that the laws do not allow special purpose vehicles—legal structures that allow investors to be pooled into a single entity, which streamlines investor communications and management. You also cannot crowdfund an investment fund. That said, there are exceptions to every rule. Real estate crowdfunding platforms […]
Locavesting Staff | May 16, 2017
As its first full year draws to a close, Regulation Crowdfunding is making progress in breaking down barriers to capital for a wide range of entrepreneurs. But the flow of capital to women, minorities and rural entrepreneurs who stand to benefit the most from the new law is still just a drop in the bucket. […]
Benji Jones | April 7, 2017
It might have seemed like an April Fool’s Day joke, but, after four years of stop and go efforts, North Carolina’s intrastate crowdfunding law finally went live on April 1st. To date, 33 states and the District of Columbia have adopted local crowdfunding rules. But North Carolina’s law breaks new ground by creating a flexible […]
