Invest in Startups…

Background

We began collecting stories to share on InventionStories.com back in 2008, the same year Indiegogo began crowdfunding. I love crowdfunding not only for the ability to raise money but for the market research it provides. We have shared many invention stories of inventors and their crowdfunding campaigns from Indiegogo and Kickstarter over the years.

MicroVentures

According to Wikipedia, MicroVentures is an equity crowdfunding website offering investments in early stage companies. MicroVentures connects accredited investors with startups, businesses and services looking to raise funds or participate in select secondary market opportunities. It is the only major equity crowdfunding site that is a broker-dealer registered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the first to take a portfolio company to a successful exit. As of October 2013, MicroVentures had raised $20 million, spread among 45 companies including Twitter, Facebook, and Yelp (before they reached the public markets).

Indiegogo

Indiegogo is an international crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowdfunding. Indiegogo allows people to solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business. Indiegogo charges a 5% fee on contributions. This charge is in addition to credit card and PayPal charges that range from 3.5% to 9%. Fifteen million people from all around the world visit the site on a monthly basis.

The site runs on a rewards-based system, meaning donors, investors, or customers who are willing help to fund a project or product can donate and receive a gift, rather than an equity stake in the company. Following changes in Security and Exchange Commission earlier in 2016, Indiegogo has partnered with MicroVentures to offer equity-based campaigns beginning in November 2016, allowing unaccredited investors to participate with equity stakes.

This Week

We received this email earlier this week…

…and believe this to be something special.  I would like to invest in startups.  There seem to be only four options at this time to invest in.

Coming Soon: Indiegogo and Microventures Part 2