List of US Investment Crowdfunding Platforms & Portals
There are now hundreds of crowdfunding platforms globally, with more coming online all the time. Most of these platforms, like KickStarter, focus on donation based crowdfunding, in which the funder gives money to a project as a donation or in exchange for a perk.
This is a comparison list of the top crowdfunding platforms which allow private companies to sell debt or equity to their funders as an investment in the United States.
LendingClub
Website: lendingclub.com
Territory: United States
Model: P2P lending
Status: Live
Founded: 2006
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA. USA
Funding: $95m
Focus: Personal Loans
Projects Funded:
Notes: Income and Net Worth based investment limitations
Prosper
Website: prosper.com
Territory: United States
Model: P2P lending
Status: Live
Founded: 2006
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA. USA
Funding: $120m
Focus: Personal Loans
Projects Funded:
Notes: Income and Net Worth based investment limitations
IndieGoGo
Website: indiegogo.com
Territory: United States & International
Model: Currently Donation/Perks Based
Status: Live, Investment Crowdfunding pending on SEC regulations
Founded: 2008
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA. USA
Funding: $16.5m, Insight, Khosla, Metamorphic, ff, Bee, Steve Schoettler, BOLDstart
Focus: Everything
Projects Funded: 100,000+ campaigns
Notes: Extremely international, in over 200 countries, accepts many kinds of payments. Not curated, projects displayed algorithmically. Has expressed clear intention to do equity Crowdfunding.
RocketHub
Website: rockethub.com
Territory: United States and International
Model: Currently Donation/Perks Based
Status: Live, Investment Crowdfunding pending on SEC regulations
Founded: 2010
Headquarters: New York, NY
Funding: Unknown, David Honig of Vision Ventures is a founder.
Focus: Everything
Companies Funded / Money Raised:
Notes: Has been closely involved with advising the SEC on JOBS act and Investment CrowdFunding regulation. Has expressed clear intention to do equity Crowdfunding.
Second Market
Website: secondmarket.com
Territory: United States
Model: Secondary Market
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only
Founded: 2004
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $34.2m, Temasek, Li Ka-shing, Camath Palihapitiya, Social+Capital Partnership
Focus: Restricted Securities, Private Company Equity, and other illiquid assets
Transactions: Approx $1bil per year
Notes: Registered broker-dealer. Used by funds and large organizations to trade restricted securities. For professional investors. Might not allow non-accredited investors even after SEC regulations.
AngelList
Website: angel.co
Territory: United States and International
Model: Angel Funding, Primary Market,
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only
Founded: 2010
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Funding: Unknown. Company said to be valued at $150m+.
Focus: Startups, Technology Companies
Companies Funded: 1000+ startups funded, 40+ acquired.
Notes: Acts as a Social Network, connecting Startups and Accredited Investors. Provides standardized equity and convertible debt term sheets, closing docs, and other legal docs. For professional investors. Might not allow non-accredited investors even after SEC regulations. Though investors can invest as little as $1k at a time via a partnership with SecondMarket.
FundersClub
Website: thefundersclub.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding, Primary Market
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only, Regular Investor participation Pending on SEC regulation
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $7m, Y-Combinator, Spark, Feilics, First Round, Intel, Chris Dixon, Plug & Play
Focus:
Money Raised: $3.5m+
Notes: FundersClub takes it’s fee when investors cash out, incentivizing it to really drive exits through to exit.
SoMoLend
Website: somolend.com
Territory: United States
Model: Debt Crowdfunding
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: Cleaveland, OH
Funding: $3.6m
CircleUp
Website: circleup.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding, Primary Market
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only, Regular Investor participation Pending on SEC regulation
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Funding: $1.5m
Focus: Consumer and Retail Products
Projects Funded, Money Raised: 12 Companies, $10mil (as of 03/13)
Notes: Registered broker-dealer. Consumer and Retail products is actually a niche in the funding space, as most of the focus is on startups and technology companies.
EarlyShares
Website: earlyshares.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding, Primary Market
Status: Launch pending on SEC Regulations
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: Miami, FL. USA
Funding: $1.15m
Focus:
Companies Funded:
Notes: Heavily involved in lobbying in favor of the JOBS act.
Fundable
Website: fundable.com
Territory: United States
Model: Donation/Perks Based and Equity Based
Status: Live, Equity investment currently for Accredited Investors only
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: Santa Monica, CA & Columbus, OH
Funding: Self Funded
Focus: Small Businesses and Startups,
Companies Funded:
Notes:
EquityNet
Website: equitynet.com
Territory:
Model:
Status:
Founded: 2005
Headquarters: Fayetteville, AR
Funding:
Focus:
Money Raised: $100m+
Notes: CAPS certified. Subscription based business plan software & Crowdfunding platform. Has various patents.
WeFunder
Website: wefunder.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding
Status: pre-launch
Founded: 2010
Headquarters: Cambridge, MA
Funding: $530k (raised via WeFunder)
Focus: Startups, Businesses
Money Raised: none, $40m committed
Notes:
RockThePost
Website: rockthepost.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only, Regular Investor participation Pending on SEC regulation
Founded: 2010
Headquarters: New York, NY
Funding: $700k
Focus: Startups, Businesses
Companies Funded:
Notes: Partnered with Broker-Dealer Bendigo Securities / CrowdClear.
CommunityLeader:
Website: communityleader.com
Territory: Global
Model: Equity Crowdfunding, Debt Crowdfunding.
Status: Live, Accredited Investors Only, Regular Investor participation Pending on SEC regulation
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN
Funding: $850k
Focus: Not a platform itself but a full service white-labeled software and services provider to other platforms.
Notes: CAPS certified.
MicroVentures:
Website: microventures.com
Territory:
Model: Equity crowdfunding
Status: Live for accredited investors only
Founded:
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Projects funded: $16mil raised by startups via MicroVentures
Funding:
Focus:
Fee Structure: 10% from money invested (5% from company, 5% from investor) + 10% on gains for acquisition.
Notes: Registered Broker-Dealer
Crowdfunder:
Website: crowdfunder.com
Territory:
Model: Contribution.
Status: Debt and Equity Crowdfunding pending.
Founded:
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Funding: $400k
Focus: Social, Tech Startups, Small Businesses
Companies Funded:
Notes: Major participant in JOBS act regulation.
StartupValley:
Website: startupvalley.com
Territory: United States
Model: Equity Crowdfunding
Status: pre-launch
Founded: 2012
Headquarters: Saddlebrook, NJ
Focus: startups and businesses
Companies Funded:
Notes: CAPS certified
iCrowd
Website: icrowd.com
Territory:
Model: Equity Crowdfunding
Status:
Founded:
Focus:
Companies Funded:
Notes:
Invested.In
Website: invested.in
Territory:
Model: Equity Crowdfunding
Status:
Founded:
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
Focus:
Funding: $880k
Companies Funded:
Notes:
