In a surprising twist, however, the SEC also published a new and binding interpretation of existing areas of securities law which renders more traditional angel funding inoperative — effectively making crowdfunding not only legal but mandatory for startups seeking funding.

Reached for comment, SEC chief of hats Shane Fleenor explained: “Well, we all knew that with the arrival of investment crowdfunding there would be little or no demand for angel investing anymore; so we just went ahead and made it official. Nice and clean, this way.”

Active angel investors took to twitter to express their consternation. “Wht now evryone can invest in strtups? No fair that wz my turff! #Lame” garnered more than 2,400 RT’s before someone took the time to correct the spelling.

While most people we interviewed for this story felt that this is a huge step in the right direction for small companies who need access to capital, and for the inherent fairness represented by this democratization of startup investment, opponents of the move said negative things — as they always do.

We now officially declare today, April 1, to be Investment Crowdfunding Happened Day. Celebrate with us by sharing this exciting news!

Back? Great!

So on May 3rd, come down to see Dave Milliken and Shane Fleenor, two of the founding team of Funding Launchpad, speak at the Colorado Crowdfunding conference.

From  their website:

Our speakers are chosen based on their expertise and diversity of the opinions about crowdfunding and its future in private investments eco-system. You will see neither boring panels consisting of people who are agree on everything nor sales speeches. You will witness intense debate between the opponents and advocates of crowd investing. The attendees will hear from private investors, lawyers and entrepreneurs sharing their experiences and evaluating the potential of involving general public in private investments. The information will help you make educated decisions about the benefits and drawbacks of different fundraising options.
We invite you to participate in honest discussion, to ask questions and to make new connections.

There are some truly fantastic people on the program, and of course there is a Cocktail Party to finish off the evening. The cost is quite affordable too — we hope to see you there!

(And if you can’t make it but know someone who might be interested, please share this page!)

Photo by: Symlink

We are back!

After spending most of 2012 focusing on investment-based crowdfunding, we have decided that the best way to help small businesses raise money right now is through rewards-based crowdfunding.

And since helping small businesses raise money is what we live for, we have now added rewards-based functionality to Funding Launchpad, and are now helping some exciting companies prepare their campaigns for launch.

Over the next few weeks you will see some exciting companies on our site (teasers of two of them are on our homepage now).

How does rewards-based crowdfunding work? If you are familiar with Kickstarter you know the model… we do have some unique ideas, though, on how to make crowdfunding work better for retail establishments such as restaurants, gyms, and stores — and we will provide all the support you need to make your campaign a success.

Stay tuned to hear more about how we plan to help Main Street businesses raise money!

If you are running a retail business, restaurant, or a similar small business and would like to raise $25k or more to launch, remodel, or expand — get in touch with us today! We also love franchises…

Earlier this month, Dave had the opportunity to lead a Webinar about how individuals can use their self-directed IRAs and 401Ks to participate in Investment Crowdfunding projects. As we previously told, he joined Gordon Nutall, CEO of Couragent, Inc., and Clay Malcolm, Business Development Manager at New Direction IRA.

The webinar offers an overview of investment crowdfunding, and touches on a number of topics, including:

• How investment crowdfunding will open doors to both entrepreneurs and investors
• A visual explanation of both rewards-based and investment crowdfunding, and the differences between the two
• The (surprisingly long) history of crowdfunding
• How the internet has eliminated multiple barriers of entry to the use of crowdfunding
• An overview of the different types of investment crowdfunding that are currently available, or that will be available in the future (DPOs, JOBS Act Title II, and JOBS Act Title III)
• A high level overview of the use of IRAs in investment crowdfunding.

Following Dave, Clay Malcolm goes into much greater depth on this last point, with a particular emphasis placed his company’s New Direction IRAs. If you are looking for a detailed description of what investment crowdfunding is going to look like in practice to the investor, Clay’s presentation is a great place to start.

Finally, there are some very good questions answered in the last third of the video.

We would like to thank Gordon Nuttall and everyone else at Couragent for allowing us to participate in this webinar, and we hope that you find it useful. As always, we would love to hear any questions or feedback that you have.

Victory MMA Gym is a mixed martial arts themed facility that will be franchise owned and operated by Charles Hickingbottom and Patricia (Trish) Anderson. Charles is a nine year U.S. Army veteran and Patricia is a ten year veteran of the Marine Corps. Victory MMA Gym and Fitness is based out of San Diego, where they offer training in boxing, kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai. They also offer classes in crossfit and yoga, as well as personal training in their full fitness facility.

Charles and Patricia have chosen a rewards-based crowdfunding model to help them bring this service to their community. Some of the rewards will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.  The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization, whose purpose is “to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service members; to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.”

We are excited to be working with Charles and Patricia on bringing Victory MMA Gym and Fitness to Fort Hood and Killeen. In January, we will tell you more about this business, as well as the crowdfunding project that is helping to get it going!

Let us know what you think! Does this video answer your questions? Does it raise another set of new questions?

If you are an entrepreneur in the Boulder – Denver area, and you want to learn more about this meetup, you can find that information here.

Consider:

1. Both of the charges in this article are made against sellers of unregistered securities. This activity is illegal, and will continue to be illegal when investment crowdfunding becomes a reality.
2. Of course, since the rules for investment crowdfunding are still being completed, and since crowdfunding under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act has yet to take place, how can the headline possibly claim that crowdfunding has taken an “early hit?”
3. After we learn about the charges that have been brought, and the responses of the parties involved, we are treated to eight paragraphs about crowdfunding, none of which have the slightest thing to do with the event in question.

The fact of the matter is that the events described in this article are not about crowdfunding at all. Securities fraud is nothing new, and the regulations governing crowdfunding will still safeguard against this sort of activity:

“When crowdfunding does go live, it must take place on SEC registered websites, noted Sherwood Neiss, principal of Crowdfund Capital Advisors LLC. He added that it also requires a crowd, not just one or two people as in the two cases filed by the state of Massachusetts. The legislation for crowdfunding also requires an issuer to hit 100% of their funding target that is listed on an SEC-registered website,” Mr. Neiss said. 

The paragraph above is a decent summation of why the headline of this article is just plain wrong. Funny thing is, it comes from the very same article, right there in the last paragraph.

It was nice of the author to include this information at all, but it does not surprise us that it is buried at the end. After all, who wants to ruin a nice sensational headline?

Implementation of the rules will now fall to current SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, who has been tabbed by President Obama to replace Chairman Schapiro.  Ms. Walter has a resume that closely resembles Schapiro’s, and she has spent the past four years as Schapiro’s “closest confidant and behind-the-scenes adviser.”

It has been our contention that the November election would have a profound impact on the future of investment crowdfunding. Given President Obama’s pledge to move ahead with the crowdfunding provisions outlined in the JOBS Act, this appointment would seem to bolster the notion that he is going ahead with his previous intentions, and that we should have some concrete regulations to work with in 2013. We will be watching with some interest to see how Ms. Walters agenda will accommodate investment crowdfunding.

Couragent, Inc. will be conducting a webinar on Wednesday, December 5 at 12:00 PM (Noon) MST. We would like to encourage to join in and learn more about Couragent, an investment crowdfunding pioneer.

Couragent is a Fort Collins, Colorado company “that delivers patented solutions to common problems with electronic equipment that is simple to use and offers a uniquecombination of benefits.” (Source: ) Their primary product is the Flip-Pal mobile scanner, which employs a patented “flip-and-scan” allows users to safely and simply scan photos and documents.

In August, we told you about Couragent, and their bold step into the world of investment crowd funding.  If you would like some insight into the development and growth of a new and dynamic company, we encourage you to join this 30-minute webinar. Gordon Nuttall, CEO, will describe the Couragent’s

- Mission, Vision, Strategy, Tactics
- People
- Intellectual Property / Patents
- Suppliers / Partners
- New Products
- SCOR offering

We have shared the stories of a lot of companies who have chosen to be at the forefront of the crowdfunding wave. We have told you about sports teams, breweries and distilleries, musicians, tech companies, and companies creating new green technology, just to name a few. To look at the world of investment crowdfunding is to look into the future. Now let us tell you about a company that is seemingly rooted in the past, and is an example of why crowdfunding presents an incredible opportunity to so many different types of businesses.

Meet the nice folks at Quimper Mercantile Company. Last year, the residents of Quimper Peninsula in Washington State recognized that they were losing businesses that allowed them to purchase basic items locally. A group of residents got together and decided to do something about it, something that places like this have been doing for hundreds of years. They decided to open a good old-fashioned General Store.

Now let’s be clear. If you have ever visited a small town anywhere in the United States, you have seen General Stores that mostly serve to provide trinkets to visiting tourists. But, to the residents of Quimper Peninsula, it is an opportunity to preserve and grow their local economy, and to protect the community ideals that they hold dear. To that end, they set out to create the Quimper Mercantile Exchange, and drafted the following Mission Statement:

Jefferson County needs viable local shopping options for many essential goods. Using a model of broad-based community investment and support, Quimper Mercantile Group will create and fund a General Store that will meet those needs in an inclusive and innovative manner.

Because the Quimper Mercantile Exchange was conceived as a community owned and operated business, they have taken great care to ensure that they have the support of their community as a whole. They have actively solicited feedback from their community to determine what goods they should carry.

Quimper Mercantile Exchange has chosen a crowdfunding model to make their idea a reality, and we are pleased to report that they cut the ribbon at their Grand Opening Celebration in Port Townsend on Saturday, November 17!

To learn more about the Quimper Mercantile Exchange, check out their website and Facebook page…