March 5, 2014 @ 11:30 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Fundrise has slowly but surely been expanding their ability to offer shares of real estate-backed securities to non-accredited investors. The equity crowdfunding platform has just crossed a major hurdle in that fight, and it could spell a big opportunity for Maryland’s Main Street investor class…. Read More

March 5, 2014 @ 9:42 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Most crowdfunding campaigns will fail to reach their funding goals, but that isn’t a bad thing. The crowd’s ability to vet campaigns and pick winners is just one of the many facets of “crowd wisdom.” Having said that, it helps to understand what successful campaigners… Read More

March 4, 2014 @ 11:46 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Hey, this week we got through a whole episode of Inside Crowdfunding without any major glitches! Success! Alon and I had a great conversation with Nick Meehan of The Lobby. Nick’s project piqued our interest after he was profiled in a piece for Vice. It’s… Read More

March 4, 2014 @ 11:31 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In an interview with BusinessDay, New Zealand Venture Investment Fund CEO Franceska Banga expressed optimism when asked about the impact equity crowdfunding’s implementation could have on New Zealand startups and the investment community as a whole. The early-stage investment community, and particularly angel networks and… Read More

March 4, 2014 @ 11:17 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Tabletop games continue to be a strong driver of growth for Kickstarter thanks in no small part to a tight-knit community of gamers and their voracious appetite for innovative games to play. Apparently Inceptor has struck a chord, because the game has raised over $50,000 with… Read More

March 4, 2014 @ 10:50 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Volpit, an equity crowdfunding platform based in the UK, plans on releasing a report detailing how the Financial Conduct Authority’s new regulatory regime will impact the UK economy and startup investing. The report is set to publish on March 31 and will be called “Enterprise… Read More

March 4, 2014 @ 9:06 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Throughout 2013, PayPal and crowdfunding project creators repeatedly found themselves at odds. First it was Lab Zero Games, the company behind the hugely popular campaign for Skullgirls. Paypal froze Lab Zero’s account only to later release all but $35,000 of Lab Zero’s Indiegogo cash. It… Read More

March 3, 2014 @ 12:42 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

For crowdfunding issuers, a bad actor in the ranks could be the difference between a successful campaign and a nightmare scenario. Of course, it can be difficult to determine whether or not an individual is a “bad actor” by the SEC’s standards. This is where… Read More

March 3, 2014 @ 10:33 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The Moov is crowdfunding now in a self-hosted effort, and it has seen some pretty impressive early success. The wearable fitness tracker surpassed a $40,000 crowdfunding goal in just 90 minutes. The device promises to be more than just a tracker, though. This actually plays… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 12:12 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Pro tip: If you want to leak out pictures of your company’s new and improved smartwatch, make sure you don’t have a bunch of crowdfunding deliveries hanging over your head. This is the problem Omate is forced to deal with now. The following Facebook post… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 12:00 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

A Saskatoon man weighing about 600 pounds has a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe launched in his name. The campaign is seeking $30,000 to fund a weight loss surgery that he says could save his life. In an interview with Metronews.ca, 21 year old Luke Deitner explained… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 11:25 am By Charles Luzar  |  

In May of 2012 a campaign for a printed book of web comics was fully funded, having raised $50,000 on a goal of $8,000. The web comics were hosted at PicturesForSadChildren.com. The book is called “Sad Pictures For Children.” Now the project has become a… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 10:55 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Patronomy.com founder Nigel Roth has announced the launch of an affiliate marketing platform for his crowdfunding platform. The program aims to help project creators solve the hardest problem for any crowdfunding campaign: where and how to find backers. According to Roth, Patronomy provides project owners… Read More

March 2, 2014 @ 10:43 am By Charles Luzar  |  

The Spanish Government and Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos are weighing regulations that would limit both overall project size and individual contribution size for crowdfunding-related campaigns in Spain. A draft bill would limit deal size to €1 million. Contributions for individuals would be capped… Read More

March 1, 2014 @ 12:09 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Design To Matter’s crowdfunding campaign for the Instacube stands as a cautionary tale for would-be crowdfunding backers. After a successful $620,000+ raise on Kickstarter, the campaign has been mired with turnover, internal strife, delivery issues and refund requests. I also proposed that D2M’s involvement in another… Read More

March 1, 2014 @ 11:20 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Today The Detroit News has published a short editorial in support of Michigan HB 5273 (embedded, bottom of article), a bill that seeks to cement Michigan’s recently-passed intrastate crowdfunding exemption by creating secondary markets where crowdfunded shares can be traded. The bill’s primary sponsor is a… Read More

March 1, 2014 @ 10:45 am By Charles Luzar  |  

A bit of history: Flappy Bird was an annoyingly difficult and incredibly addictive game for iOS and Android. I played it once on a friend’s phone, and after ten frustrating minutes I handed the phone back and swore not to download it lest I spend… Read More

March 1, 2014 @ 10:19 am By Charles Luzar  |  

Realty Mogul has been named to HousingWire Tech100 List for 2014, joining companies like Zillow, Accenture, and Auction.com. The annual list compiles the “100 most innovative technology companies” in the Real Estate sector. Innovation represents the center of this contest, and in every application we received,… Read More

February 28, 2014 @ 6:43 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

Mosaic has teamed with The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) and Sungage Financial in a $5 million deal to offer homeowners crowdsourced loans for solar installations. This partnership is creating an entirely new ecosystem for solar financing in which individuals can take part in and… Read More

February 28, 2014 @ 4:44 pm By Charles Luzar  |  

In late September of 2013 a group of gaming enthusiasts launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring a gaming and comic book convention to the South Bend, Indiana area. It was to be called River-Con. The group was able to raise $4,000 on a goal of… Read More