Today is a new day. What was once reserved for the elite is now a thing of the past. You, too, can become an angel investor with equity crowdfunding. In May 2016, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enacted Title III of the JOBS Act, allowing non-accredited investors—the majority of the U.S. population—to invest in startups. There were a lot of legalities surrounding them so the birth of equity crowdfunding platforms was born.
There are several platforms that provide this opportunity and each has a slightly different setup.
Four top equity crowdfunding investment platforms:
Republic
Republic was built to democratize investing and level out the fundraising landscape for founders and investors alike. It’s SEC-registered, FINRA-licensed, and if you’re at all interested in startups, you’ve heard of their past work: Republic is part of a family of startup platforms together with AngelList, Product Hunt, and CoinList—one of the most trusted online startup ecosystems in the world. They have a minimum investment of $25.
SeedInvest
The startups on the SeedInvest platform are highly vetted. According to the site, in the past, they’ve accepted just ~1% of startups that apply. The startups listed must all successfully pass their comprehensive due diligence process. Their minimum investments start at $500.
Crowdfunder
Crowdfunder claims they are the equity crowdfunding leader for sourcing and funding high-growth ventures with a network of over 130,000 entrepreneurs and investors.
Crowdfunder and its VC Index Fund provide the opportunity for direct online investment into single ventures, as well as diversification into a broad VC-led portfolio (Index Fund) of early-stage startups—backed by many of the world’s leading venture capital firms and private investors. They have $160,000,000 investment commitments on the platform, 12,000 individual and institutional investors, and 36,000 companies. So far, they’ve funded 100+ deals at an average deal size of $1.8M.
IndieGoGo
We know them as a traditional crowdfunding site but they have since partnered with MicroVentures and launched, an equity component of the platform. They are one of the few platforms that support investments in cryptocurrency, blockchain, and ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings).