Feb 7th, 2018 at the Harvard Club of New York
Sherwood Neiss, is a Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a Partner at Crowd Capital Ventures. He is an expert at building successful businesses.
Blaine McLaughlin is the Chief Operating Officer of VIA Folio, an innovative IPO, private and alternative investment platform that makes it easy for online platforms, issuers, investors, brokers and advisors to engage with IPOs, private and alternative debt and equity offerings.
Georgia P. Quinn is the CEO and co-founder of iDisclose, an adaptive web-based application that enables entrepreneurs to prepare customized institutional grade private placement
Sara Hanks, co-founder, and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in the corporate and securities field.
By Paul Niederer, Founder Raiseworth. (Here is a post from 2015 when I started pushing for Crowdfunding to be moved to the Blockchain) If I go back to 2008, in the very early days of Equity Crowdfunding, the ASSOB platform has already been operating for around four years. This meant there were plenty of learnings in place even before any other equity platforms had started. There are parallels here with ICO’s as in the early days many people that approached us to raise capital on ASSOB had not much more than an idea or a sketch on paper. We learnt as the years went by that the existing regulatory structure was not detailed enough to protect investors so we put in place the ASSOB compliance framework. This stood the test of time as 300 odd raises later no evidence of fraud has emerged. This included an “offer document” not dissimilar to the “White Papers” that set out all aspects of the raise including: OPPORTUNITY KEY DETAILS KEY INVESTOR HIGHLIGHTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ABOUT THE COMPANY CORPORATE OBJECTIVES COMPETITION & RISK ABOUT THIS OFFER HOW TO APPLY FOR SHARES OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE STRATEGIC GROWTH PLAN USE OF FUNDS DIRECTORS DECLARATION DISCLAIMER GLOSSARY OF TERMS This was not […]
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 (10:00 AM) – Committee on Financial Services Hearing: “Examining the SEC’s Agenda, ICO’s Crowdfunding, Operations, and Budget”
By Navroop Sahdev Centre for Blockchain Technologies, University College London, UK Centre d’Économie de l’Université Paris-Nord, France June 2017 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Advent of Crowdfunding 3. Market design and Liquidity Considerations for CFE Trading on the Blockchain 3.1. Liquidity and Price Discovery 3.2. A game of Information 3.3. Asset Servicing and Voting 3.4. Market Making versus Tokenization 3.5. The impact of Transparent Holdings 4. Concluding remarks 5. Endnotes 6. References CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT Abstract Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, promises to be nothing less than Internet 2.0. The financial services industry, in particular, is preparing for the disruption blockchain/distributed ledger technology promises to cause. In the current business environment, the majority of startups and small businesses have to look for alternative sources of funding given that ‘going public’ is increasingly expensive. The crowdfunding space has seen tremendous growth as an alternative way to raise capital by businesses. However, these crowdfunded shares cannot be traded for 7 – 10 years on average on any given platform in the U.S. currently. To build a trading platform on the blockchain which is completely P2P, immutable, fully transparent and low-cost presents some key design issues. […]
By: Sherwood Neiss and Jason Best, Principals Crowdfund Capital Advisors, LLC Into the second year of Regulation Crowdfunding there are now over 475 companies that have filed offering documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $1,070,000 from their customers, communities, friends and family. But in which industries are these investors most interested in deploying their capital? The good news for companies considering using Regulation Crowdfunding, is that these online investors have a diverse appetite. While software/gaming application companies receive the most commitments, breweries, entertainment companies, personal transportation vehicles, restaurants and personal services (i.e. fitness training, veterinary, grooming, etc) aren’t far behind. They key data points for potential issuers to understand are: 1) How much money do you need to raise for your business in relation to the average amount raised for your industry? 2) Where is the crowd is engaged in deals and dollars? Meaning is there enough interest in your business (industry) to crowdfund. And 3) what is the crowd’s average check size – to determine how much you can realistically raise from your network compared with what you need? At Crowdfund Capital Advisors, we track all Regulation Crowdfunding offerings across the […]
by Brandon Raatikka According to FactRight’s tracking, the SEC qualified 21 Reg A+ Tier 2 offerings in the second quarter of 2017, maintaining a brisk pace by the standards of Reg A+’s relatively short history. Approximately 45% of the 96 Tier 2 offerings qualified since late 2015 (not later withdrawn or used for merger purposes) have been qualified in just the first half of this year. Three issuers made headlines in June 2017, when each listed common equity (that had been previously issued under Regulation A offerings) on a national securities exchange: Myomo, Inc. (NYSE: MYO), Adomani, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADOM), and ShiftPixy, Inc. (Nasdaq: PIXY). In the wake of successful public listings, it will be interesting to see whether a growing proportion of issuers will seek to use Regulation A as a stepping stone to becoming a fully public company. Interact with FactRight’s database through the charts below to glean additional insights about the state of the Regulation A space through the second quarter of 2017. The charts below are dynamic; if you click on a single data point in any chart, it will filter the data displayed on the sidebar at left and in the remaining charts. (For instance, if you click […]
By Trudy-Anne McLeary, Associate, Corporate and Finance | Benjamin T. Brickner, Associate, Corporate and Finance In an investigative report and investor bulletin, the SEC concludes that offers and sales of cryptocurrency coins and tokens may be subject to federal securities laws. On July 25, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) released an investigative report with important implications for issuers and sponsors of initial coin offerings (ICOs) that raise funds for cryptocurrency ventures. The report, prompted by the recent proliferation of such activity, concluded that coins offered to purchasers in ICOs constitute securities regulated by the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). As a result, absent an exemption, such offerings must be registered with the Commission, similar to other public offerings. The press release accompanying the report notably quotes the new Commission chairman and the new heads of the Corporation Finance and Enforcement divisions. This combined statement gives the report unusual weight and makes clear to Commission Staff that its contents describe senior officials’ current thinking on cryptocurrency regulation. Background In early 2015, The DAO, an unincorporated association, organized an IPO-style offering in which investors were offered DAO Tokens in exchange for Ether, a cryptocurrency […]
Crowdfund Beat News Wire, SEC issued an investigative report stating, “tokens offered and sold by a ‘virtual’ organization known as ‘The DAO’ were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws.” U.S. Securities Laws May Apply to Offers, Sales, and Trading of Interests in Virtual Organizations FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-131 Washington D.C., July 25, 2017— The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investigative report today cautioning market participants that offers and sales of digital assets by “virtual” organizations are subject to the requirements of the federal securities laws. Such offers and sales, conducted by organizations using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, have been referred to, among other things, as “Initial Coin Offerings” or “Token Sales.” Whether a particular investment transaction involves the offer or sale of a security – regardless of the terminology or technology used – will depend on the facts and circumstances, including the economic realities of the transaction. The SEC’s Report of Investigation found that tokens offered and sold by a “virtual” organization known as “The DAO” were securities and therefore subject to the federal securities laws. The Report confirms that issues of distributed ledger or blockchain technology-based securities must register offers and sales of such securities unless a valid exemption applies. Those participating in unregistered offerings also […]
UK based peer-to-peer lender RateSetter announced last week the results of its 2017-2018 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2018. The lending platform reported that revenues were up by 47% (which was £34.3 million) from the previous year (£23.4 million). The company noted that the... Read More
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INSIKT (pronounced “in-seekt”), a Lending as a Service (LaaS) company, announced on Monday it has raised $210 million through its social bond securitization program in 2018, which was backed by 174,447 of its responsible, credit-building consumer loans. According to INSIKT, this has propelled the total securitization volume... Read More
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Overstock (NASDAQ: OSTK) subsidiary tZERO has been asked by Hong Kong-based private equity firm GSR Capital to develop a smart contract commodity token for the sale of cobalt. GSR Capital is a significant investor in tZero having committed to invest up to $270 million at a... Read More
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Coinbase announced on Friday it is now allowing instant PayPal withdrawals for all U.S. customers. The company reported that U.S. customers can instantly withdraw Coinbase balances to PayPal, which will provide what Coinbase calls even faster access to their funds. These withdrawals are free and incur no fees.... Read More
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UK based Fintech Shieldpay has formed a partnership with Visa (NYSE: V) to provide card payments across peer to peer marketplaces and classified ad sites. Shieldpay said the partnership will open up the use of debit and credit cards to the £120 billion classified industry. Shieldpay reported... Read More
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Investment crowdfunding platform Downing Crowd has listed its first security that is debt with an equity kicker for investors. The bond includes a 7.5% annual coupon and a term of up to 5 years and 9 months. According to Downing Crowd, the fixed return on the... Read More
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The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) has just published an Open Letter directed towards EU member states and the ongoing debate regarding pan-European crowdfunding rules. Proposed rules would impact, and perhaps improve, the marketplace for both debt and equity crowdfunding. The ECN believes the European Crowdfunding... Read More
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Abundance, a renewable crowdfunding platform that allows investors the opportunity to earn money while making the world a better place, has successfully secured more than £1.5 million through its equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. The round was launched in October, originally seeking £1.2 million, with the platform reporting... Read More
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Verdant Brewing Co., a UK-based brewery, announced on Friday it was extended its equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, just as the funding round surpassed £750,000 from nearly 1300 investors. The initiative was launched last month and quickly raised its initial £500,000 funding target. As previously reported, the brewery stated... Read More
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Kraken cryptocurrency exchange, one of the largest and longest-established crypto exchanges in the US, is offering private equity shares of the company to accredited investors for a minimum investment of $100 000. Kraken sent an email soliciting equity contributions this week to “our most valued... Read More
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