Wefunder: We're like Kickstarter for investing. Help us fund 20,000 more founders.

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Wefunder

We're like Kickstarter for investing. Help us fund 20,000 more founders.

wefunder.com

San Francisco

Wefunder

We're like Kickstarter for investing. Help us fund 20,000 more founders.

I started Wefunder because I wanted to invest in my friends - to help them dream bigger, be the best versions of themselves, and reach their ambition. Seven years later, we do that for the rest of America. So much raw talent is being wasted. The purpose of my life is to fix that, to help tens of thousands "take their shot".

Nick Tommarello CEO @ Wefunder

Last Funded February 2019!

$9,265,788
total funds raised

717
total investors

Why you may want to support us...

1	Over $107 million in investments made on Wefunder.
2	$4M revenue run rate. Profitable since March 2019. $350,000 revenue in August 2019. Expenses typically run $240,000 per month.
3	2X year over year growth in revenue and investment volume
4	44% market share. Largest funding portal by investment volume and investors. About as large as our top three competitors combined.
5	$2.2 billion of follow-on financing into startups first listed on Wefunder. 40%+ IRR from 2013-16 vintage years.
6	We're the first funding portal. We helped change the law in 2012 and launched the first day Regulation Crowdfunding was legal.
7	Helped Congress pass JOBS Act in 2012; invited to watch President Obama sign into law.
8	Helped House pass JOBS Act 3.0 406-4. Now in Senate. This is expected to turbo-charge our growth.

Our Team

And Our Major Accomplishments

Nick Tommarello

CEO

Designer, engineer, MBA, holder of Series 65, alumni of Y Combinator and Techstars. Also enjoys rock climbing, bungy jumping, and climbing mountains.

Greg Belote

CTO

Master's from MIT. Alumni of Y Combinator and Techstars. Codes in VIM with 8 windows open. Built embedded robot operating system as a hobby.

Jonny Price

Director of Business Development

Former head of Kiva US and member of the community advisory council of the Federal Reserve.

Suzanna Rush

Director of Fundraising

Katie Powers

Fundraising Team

Katie Holman O'Neill

Director of Operations

Kieran Ryan

Fundraising Team

Jenna Perelman

Marketing Manager

Jacqueline Hoang

Community Team

Mike Norman

Founder (indefinite sabbatical)

MBA from MIT. Former national kickboxing champion. Holds Series 7. Alumni of Y Combinator. Loves interviewing founders and telling their story.

Why people love us

I've worked closely with Nick Tommarello for five years. I’ve been an investor, a co-worker, a mentor, and a friend. Nick has a simple and powerful vision for Wefunder: To give regular businesses the same access to capital that high-tech startups enjoy. From the very beginning, Nick said he was going to build a company to help every deserving business that needs capital start or grow. I watched as he and his team went to Washington to help convince Congress to enact the Crowdfunding Bill. And I’ve watched as they’ve built a remarkably fast and simple system that turns a concept of crowd funding into a reality of new growth for businesses.

Bill Warner

Founder of Avid - Investor in Wefunder

Some of our investors

we've raised $9,990,788 from 725+ investors since our founding

Y Combinator Seed funded 1500+ startups (including AirBnB) with total valuation over $85 billion. 70 startups valued over $100m.

Shen Tong Serial entrepreneur, angel investor, writer/poet, social activist, foodie, film buff

Paul English KAYAK CTO & Cofounder @englishpaulm

General Catalyst Venture capital firm in Boston and Palo Alto

Andrew Ellis Founded SignNow (Khosla funded) & sold it to Barracuda (May 2013), hedge fund background, USC Business.

Eugene Zhang Founding partner of TEEC Angel Fund since 2010. Experiences at JEDA, Juniper, Cisco, SUN. Two time entrepreneur.

Bill Warner Founded Avid and Wildfire. Working to supercharge Mass tech scene.

Lynn Walder Capitalism with a Conscience; Opportunity guided by Accountability; Crowdfunding builds Communities

Amish Shah Founding Partner, Sierra Maya Ventures early stage seed/angel fund for startups.

along with 716 other investors

In the news

wefunder.com

San Francisco

technology y combinator pbc b corps crowdfunding

The Story of Wefunder

We've spent seven years bending the world to our will. In 2012, we helped Congress pass the JOBS Act. On May 16th 2016, it finally happened. Wefunder has been the largest funding portal ever since.

Jan 2012

Lobbied Congress to legalize equity crowdfunding

We thought it wrong that it was illegal to invest in our friends. So we launched a petition to Congress to change the law. We were invited to DC by Senator Brown, Senator Bennet, Senator Merkeley, and Rep. McHenry, and helped teach them how startups raise money. We were mentioned in the Senate and the Congressional Record several times.

Wefunder a few hours after launch; January 2012

Senator Brown & Rep. McHenry at Wefunder Forum

After a full day of meetings with Congress

Apr 2012

Invited to watch president obama sign

Congress passed Regulation Crowdfunding as part of the JOBS Act, and we were invited to the Rose Garden to watch President Obama sign it into law. The only hitch: the SEC had to write 600+ pages of rules before it could take effect. Little did we know that would take 4 years.

Mike Norman and Senator Brown at the signing ceremony

Jan 2013

Y COMBINATOR

We packed our bags and headed to California to attend Y Combinator, the Harvard of startup accelerators. We drank a lot of red bull and coded all night long. We also became friends with some of the most talented startup founders in the world. It helped us understand how to work with high-quality startups with lots of other financing options.

Right after our YC interview

This is how we survived for 3 months

Apr 2013

Launched 'rich person crowdfunding'

It became evident the SEC was not going to roll out Regulation Crowdfunding anytime soon. So we decided to use current law to help wealthy accredited investors around the world invest in promising tech startups. On March 25th, we launched our first company: Zenefits. At a $9 million valuation. Last we checked, it was worth $4.5 billion.

The first startups we funded in 2013

Apr 2014

Talks with sec

The rich person crowdfunding gig was fun, but it's not what we wanted to do long-term. We never took our eye off the SEC and their rule-making on Regulation Crowdfunding. We offered nearly 20 pages of detailed comments on their proposed rules and flew to Washington DC to meet the SEC in person.

Just before our friendly chat

Our official SEC comment letter

Jul 2015

make beautiful software

Thanks to our new designer, Linlin, we upgraded the entire web site with a more usable and beautiful design. And thanks to Greg and our new software engineer Omar, we became a "full-stack startup". We wrote our own payment transfer, electronic contract signing, accounting, funding portal, income verification, and SEC filing software. We knew we had to drive down costs if crowdfunding was going to work.

Oct 2015

sec posts final rules for reg crowdfunding

The SEC released 685 pages of rules. Wefunder was mentioned 72 times. Overall the rules were good, but there are a couple of flaws that Congress needs to fix to protect investors. Senator Bennet wrote a letter to the SEC with our concerns, and Congressman McHenry introduced the Fix Crowdfunding Act.

Mar 2016

Amtrak across America

For three years, we focused on funding tech startups in Silicon Valley. With Regulation Crowdfunding coming, it was time to expand. Our vision was always to help fund a cross-section of the economy in "real America". So our entire company hopped on a train and met hundreds of business owners across America, 12 cities in 2 weeks, coast to coast.

From SF to Boston via Amtrak

May 16 2016

regulation CROWDFUNDING GOES LIVE!

On May 16th, the law changed: startups can raise up to $1 million per year from their friends and supporters, who can invest as little as $100 each. Companies can be funded as they were 80+ years ago: by their friends, neighbors, and local communities. Not some conglomerate bank headquartered on Wall Street that treats you like a FICO score.

Why small businesses need Wefunder

Tom Lix, CEO of Cleveland Whiskey

Sep 2018

Launched XX: a community of founders

With the XX, we've recuited a community of all-star founders (who have built startups worth over $4.2 Billion) to scout out, invest in, and help startups succeed. 42% of our pre-seed investments have later been accepted by Y Combinator. We expect this to be the primary way new companies are recruited to use Wefunder.

Sep 2019

Wefunder is the largest funding portal

Over the first couple years of Regulation Crowdfunding, Wefunder is the largest funding portal by number of investments, investment volume, and investor returns.

In 2019, reforms are expected to fix Regulation Crowdfunding, greatly expanding the market. JOBS Act 3.0 has passed the House 406-4. Additionally, the Commision of the SEC has directed the staff to independently revise the regulations in the near-term.

Stats & Traction

Annual charts

On May 2016, Regulation Crowdfunding rolled out. Our business changed from serving only the wealthy to allowing anyone to invest as little as $100. We spent much of 2018 on more automation and operational improvements to handle the dramatic increase in investments. In 2019, our growth re-accelerated.

Our market share is increasing

Over 2019, we've done about as much Reg CF funding volume as our three closest competitors. This is despite Wefunder having a team of 12. Many of our other competitors have over 40 people.

Source: Crowditz

Economics

On average, each company raises ~$300k. We earn 9% cash fee for each dollar of funding volume. So we earn, on average, ~$27,275 per company funded. Our direct costs to launch each company is under $500. Our cost of acquisition is under $200.

We've been profitable since March 2019. Our monthly expenses have been about $240,000 over 2019. At a 9% average fee, we need to exceed $2.5M in Reg CF investment volume per month to be profitable. We've easily done that over 2019.

$303,053

Avg. Funding per Company

7.5%

Cash Transaction Fee Paid by Company

1.5%

Avg. Cash Transaction Fee Paid by Investors

$27,275

Revenue per Company Funded

$500

Direct Costs per Company

$200

Acquisition Cost per Company

$359,445

Revenue, August 2019

$241,824

Avg. Monthly Expenses,
2019

$2.5M

Reg CF Investment Volume to breakeven at 9% fee

Our Growth Driver: Companies

We're a double-sided marketplace. But we focus on acquiring companies, not investors. Each company we launch brings their friends, customers, and supporters to Wefunder - 58% of their total. 22% of these investors then invest in other companies.

$303,053

Average funding per company funded since May 16th 2016

334

Average Investors per company funded since May 16th 2016

58%

194 of 334 investors are new to Wefunder, referred by the company

22%

22% of these 194 new investors make another investment in a different company on Wefunder

$99,370

These 42 new investors invest a combined $99,370 in other companies within a year

Lifetime Value per Company

The value per company funded is at least $29,920 in the first year. The lifetime value may be 5X higher if we include referrals, follow-on financings, future value of equity or carry, the LTV of each investor the company signs up, & other services we can cross-sell. Here are two examples.

Barrow's: $154,000+

Barrow's raised $301,688 in 2016.

Barrow's signed up 224 new investors to invest in their round. They have since invested $1,082,069 in other companies on Wefunder.

The founder referred two companies - Vaute and Avua - that raised $336,854 on Wefunder.

At our current fee, the value of adding Barrow's Intense to date would be $154,000.

LegionM: $1M+

Using Reg CF, LegionM raised $1M in 2016 and another $1M in 2018. LegionM also raised another $5M+ using Reg A+

LegionM signed up 19,119 new investors to invest in their rounds, who since invested over $3,440,017 in other companies on Wefunder.

Reg A+ is free until we decide to be a broker/dealer. Otherwise, LegionM's value would be over $1M.

Cost of Company Acquisition

Our average cost per company is ~$200, all of which was paid to our scout program. We did not have any other marketing, direct sales, or advertising expenses.

As a long-term strategy, we expect referrals from the XX to be the primary way we acquire companies to fund. The XX is a team of very experienced founders who personally invest in and mentor early-stage founders on our platform. The best of those will eventually use Wefunder to crowdfund from their users and customers.

2013-2016 Investor Returns

Results as of December 2018, assuming an investor chose to invest $25,000 in each company that was funded on Wefunder from 2013-2016.

41%

Unrealized net IRR²

Vs. 15% IRR for Top 25% of venture capital firms³

$2,975,000

Total if invested $25K in each startup on Wefunder

$9,569,549

Current unrealized value as of Dec 2018

3.3X

Return multiple

81%

Startups still active
(96 of 119)

40%

Startups who went on to raise a Series A over $3M

$2.2 Billion

Follow-on financing
after our investment

11 @ $100M

11 startups now valued at over $100 million

Company	Follow-on Funding after We Invested	Last Status	Return Multiple	Value of $25K Investment
Zenefits	$581,500,000	$500M Series C by Fidelity	206.1X	$5,152,500
Ginkgo Bioworks	$429,000,000	$270M Series D by General Atlantic	4.37X	$109,250
Rappi	$339,000,000	$200M by DST Global	12.34X	$308,500
Checkr	$149,000,000	$100M Series C by T. Rowe Price	34.31X	$857,750
UBiome	$105,000,000	$83M Series C by OS Fund
GrubMarket	$62,000,000	$32M Series C by GGV Capital	3.15X	$78,750
ShipBob	$61,500,000	$40M Series C by Menlo Ventures	7.31X	$182,750
Equipment Share	$56,500,000	$26M Series B by Insight Venture Partners
Ironclad, Inc.	$30,750,000	$22.75M Series B	2.9X	$72,500
Goldbely	$30,000,000	$20M Series B by Enlightened Hospitality Investments
Unbabel	$29,500,000	$23M Series B by Scale Venture	1.45X	$36,250
Guesty	$22,750,000	$19.8 Series B by TLV Partners	2.56X	$64,000
Casetext	$19,000,000	$12M Series B by Union Square	2.4X	$60,000
Eight	$19,000,000	$14M Series B by Khosla Ventures	1X	$25,000
Flirtey	$16,000,000	$16M Series A by Qualcomm and Menlo Ventures	1.11X	$27,750
Paperspace	$15,778,000	$13M Series A by Battery Ventures	1.63X	$40,750
Astranis	$13,500,000	$13.5M Series A by Andreessen Horowitz	1.87X	$46,750
Skymind	$11,900,000	$8.9M By Translink Capital & others	1.81X	$45,250
Regalii	$11,900,000	$7.9M by Kapor Capital	1.68X	$42,000
Aptible	$11,800,000	$11.8M Series A by Maverick Ventures	1.08X	$27,000
Freight Farms	$11,000,000	$7.3M Series B by Spark Capital	1.75X	$43,750
Bonfire	$11,000,000	Acquired by GTY Technology Holdings for $108M	1X	$25,000
SimpleLegal	$10,000,000	$10M Series A by Emergence Capital	2.49X	$62,250
Eden Tech	$10,000,000	$10M Series A by S28 Capital	1.23X	$30,750
Mux	$9,000,000	$9M Series A by Accel	1.33X	$33,250
Ross Intelligence	$8,700,000	$8.7M Series A by iNovia Capital	1.53X	$38,250
LabDoor	$7,740,000	$3.4M Series A by Floodgate	1X	$25,000
Jopwell	$7,500,000	$7.5M Series A by Cue Ball	1X	$25,000
Gecko Robotics	$7,000,000	$7M Series A by Founders Fund	2.58X	$64,500
Virtuix	$7,000,000	$7M on SeedInvest in 2016	1X	$25,000
Zenprospect	$7,000,000	$7M Series A by Nexus Venture Partners	1X	$25,000
Replenish (Liveblends)	$6,900,000	$6.9M by Alumni Ventures	1X	$25,000
Privy	$6,350,000	$4.25M Series A by Accomplice	2.68X	$67,000
Senic	$6,300,000	$4M by Birchmere Ventures	1X	$25,000
Zenysis	$5,800,000	$5.8M Series A by Tencent Holdings	1.65X	$41,250
Second Measure	$5,400,000	$5.4M seed round	1X	$25,000
Terrafugia	$5,350,000	Acquired by Geely for Stock	1X	$25,000
Next Caller	$5,000,000	$5M Series A by Crystal Towers	1.9X	$47,500
Cleanly	$5,000,000	$5M Series A by AddVenture	1.24X	$31,000
Shinesty	$4,460,000	$3.38M Series A	1X	$25,000
Gravitational	$4,200,000	$4.2M seed round	1X	$25,000
Alphaflow	$4,100,000	Seed Round $4.1M	1X	$25,000
Plate iQ	$4,000,000	$4M Series A by Eileses Capital	1X	$25,000
Circle Medical Technologies	$3,500,000	$3.5M by A. Capital Ventures	1X	$25,000
Wevorce	$3,100,000	$3.1M Series A by TechStars	1X	$25,000
OncoSynergy	$3,000,000	$3M Series A by Connecticut Innovations	1.44X	$36,000
Final	$3,000,000	Acquired by Goldman Sachs	1X	$25,000
Dealflicks	$2,900,000	Failed	0X	$0
Flaviar	$2,250,000	$2.25M Series A by Speedinvest II International	2.08X	$52,000
Mtailor	$2,000,000	$2M by Khosla Ventures	1X	$25,000
Chai	$2,000,000	$2M seed round	1X	$25,000
TranscendLighting	$2,000,000	$2M Seed Round by Rose Capital	1X	$25,000
Scopear	$2,000,000	$2M by New Stack Ventures	1X	$25,000
Lawnlove	$1,900,000	Alive	1X	$25,000
One Month Rails	$1,900,000	$1.9M by Arena Ventures	1X	$25,000
Instavest	$1,700,000	$1.7M seed round	1X	$25,000
Real Crowd	$1,600,000	$1.6M seed round	1X	$25,000
Pakible	$1,500,000	$1.5M seed	1X	$25,000
Naytev	$1,300,000	Alive	1X	$25,000
Roomstorm	$1,300,000	$1.3M seed round	1X	$25,000
Asseta	$1,000,000	$1M by Flight Ventures	1.54X	$38,500
Statuspage.io	$0	Acquired by Atlassian for Cash	2.87X	$71,750
7 Cups of Tea	$0	Alive	1.62X	$40,500
Geekatoo	$0	Acquired by HelloTech	1.28X	$32,000
Interviewed	$0	Acquired by Indeed for Cash	1.21X	$30,250
Bitaccess	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
GBatteries	$0	$1.2M grant by Canada	1X	$25,000
Motionsavvy	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Ravti	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Roost	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Two Tap	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
CapLinked	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Chronos	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Depict	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Experiment	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Give Me Tap!	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Italist	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Meadow	$0	$2.1M seed round	1X	$25,000
Olset	$0	Acquired by Deem Inc.	1X	$25,000
OwnLocal	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Parknav	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Toymail	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Underground Cellar	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Voiq	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Mashgin	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
NexTravel	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Smarking	$0	$3M seed round led by Khosla	1X	$25,000
Placenote (previously Vertical)	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Worklife	$0	Acquired by Cisco Systems Inc.	1X	$25,000
AppCanary	$0	Acquired by Github	1X	$25,000
Her	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Ticketfairy	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
DealGamed (Lynks)	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
TrendMD	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Unima	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Nomiku	$0	Alive	1X	$25,000
Outbound.io	$0	Acquired by Zendesk	0.84X	$21,000
Bikanta	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Watchsend	$0	Failed	0.78X	$19,500
Camperoo	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Gone	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Bluesmart	$0	Failed	0X	$0
CoolChip	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Emberlight	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Kash	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Automate Ads	$0	Failed	0X	$0
MadeSolid	$0	Failed	0X	$0
SourceEasy	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Stayful	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Swapbox	$0	Failed	0X	$0
ValetAnywhere	$0	Failed	0X	$0
WhalePath	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Beep	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Doblet	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Fixed	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Magnises	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Traction	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Skynet	$0	Failed	0X	$0
Vive	$0	Failed	0X	$0

1.Assuming all startups funded by Wefunder Advisors were in the portfolio of one fund with equal $25K investments, comparison data by Cambridge Associates.
2.Net IRR after fees and carry. Marked as of Dec 2018, to latest valuation paid by an investor. Unaudited. Unrealized. Learn about IRR
3.Source: Cambridge Associates. Note that unrealized IRR often goes down over time. The final realized return will likely be lower.
4.Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Read Other Disclosures

2016-2017 Regulation Crowdfunding

Company	Date Closed	Amount Raised on Wefunder	Last Status
Everipedia	Dec 2016	$129,878	$30M Series A by Digital Galaxy
Beta Bionics	Aug 2016	$1,000,000	$12.5M by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordis, & others
Meow Wolf	Jul 2017	$1,069,938	$7.5M follow-on-financing
Discotech	Oct 2016	$126,788	$1.2M by Wavemaker Partners
Snapwire	May 2017	$184,752	Raised $800k seed by angels
fun-gi	Feb 2017	$238,222	Alive
Chareau	May 2017	$390,782	Won Double Gold Medal at the 2017 SF World Spirits Competition
That Christmas Movie	Oct 2017	$308,900	Alive
CrowdMed	Apr 2017	$403,471	Alive
Epec - James F.C. Hyde Sorgho Whiskey	Oct 2017	$222,459	Alive
Rentus.com	Aug 2017	$130,038	Alive
PlantSnap	Sep 2017	$118,150	#8 paid iPhone app on app store in April 2018
EVELO	Jan 2017	$729,723	Alive
Powur	May 2017	$1,036,888	Alive
BioClonetics Immunotherapeutics	Sep 2017	$386,766	Alive
Balance	Sep 2017	$1,078,200	Launched the public beta of Balance Manager
Hopsters	Feb 2017	$1,070,000	Opened 2nd location in Seaport on Jan 4
WhiteClouds	Jul 2017	$1,070,000	Alive
Minds	Jun 2017	$1,036,095	Over 1 million users and over 105,000 monthly active users
Hops and Grain	Aug 2016	$1,000,000	Alive
Legion M	Aug 2016	$999,999	"Bad Samaritan" is opening 5/4!
LiquidPiston	Apr 2017	$999,999	Entering UAV market with rotary engine for drones
Scrap Connection	Nov 2017	$993,499	Alive
Neurohacker Collective	Nov 2017	$808,454	Alive
Cleveland Whiskey	Oct 2016	$711,787	Annual sales increased in 2017 by 63%
Daplie	Apr 2017	$500,000	Alive
Boardwalk Hospitality	Nov 2017	$500,000	Opened location on Venice Beach
Ola Brew Co.	May 2017	$496,140	Alive
The Speakeasy	Aug 2016	$459,551	Alive
Monkey Rum	Feb 2017	$425,058	Recruited former chief growth officer for Pabst as CEO
Force for Good Fund	Nov 2016	$401,401	Alive
Digitally Imported	Dec 2017	$396,112	Alive
Voyage Media	Jun 2017	$375,983	Alive
VetPronto	Nov 2016	$362,718	Acquired by Vetted
VAUTE	Nov 2017	$341,406	Upcoming documentary about Vaute from Shopify
TAXA Biotechnologies	Aug 2016	$309,807	Failed
Edge	Dec 2016	$304,708	Alive
Barrow's Intense	Dec 2016	$301,688	Partnership with Vermont-based Mad RiverDistillers
Happy Tax	Dec 2017	$284,800	Alive
The Speakeasy	Aug 2017	$270,788	Alive
Mobodexter	Dec 2016	$266,641	Alive
Haint Blue Brewing Company	Dec 2016	$266,429	Alive
MaestroConference	Dec 2016	$264,069	Alive
This Is Ground	Oct 2016	$252,336	Alive
Happy Tax	May 2017	$242,205	Alive
Recoup Fitness	Oct 2017	$238,824	On Season 2 premiere of "Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch"
South Austin Brewery	Feb 2017	$210,680	Alive
Palmia	Jul 2017	$204,565	New distributor, now in Good Eggs & Mollie Stone
FAFCO	Aug 2017	$204,528	Alive
Bloomery	Jan 2017	$197,000	Successfully lobbied West Virginia to change the law
Ridgemont Outfitters	Oct 2017	$195,272	Alive
ShapeScale	Dec 2016	$190,889	Alive
My Trail	Sep 2016	$189,675	New retail location at The Outlets in Silverthorne
N1CE	Nov 2016	$177,232	Alive
Urban Juncture	Nov 2017	$176,829	Bernard Lloyd earned 2018 Governor’s Difference Makers Award
Magic Instruments	Dec 2016	$175,348	Alive
Ohos	Nov 2016	$169,611	Alive
Legion M	Sep 2017	$167,940	Alive
Red Bay Coffee	Oct 2016	$160,269	Two operations in Oakland and expanding into Richmond
ZipZap	Jul 2017	$134,933	Alive
MySwimPro	Sep 2017	$131,530	Official training partner of the Global Swim Series
Vera Roasting Company	Apr 2017	$128,165	Alive
Native American Natural Foods	Dec 2017	$123,152	Alive
Tampon Tribe	Apr 2017	$119,119	876% net subscriber gain in 2017
Payroll4Free.com	Jan 2018	$113,471	Alive
Oodles Corporation	Aug 2017	$107,000	Alive
SlingFin	Dec 2016	$105,891	Alive
N1CE	Jul 2016	$101,386	Alive
QMedic	Sep 2016	$100,000	Named one of the "best entrepreneurial companies in America" by Entrepreneur Magazine
Vodi	Jun 2017	$90,391	Partnership with Viettel Group
Ganaz Inc.	Nov 2017	$89,420	Accepted to Techstars Seattle
Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters	Nov 2017	$89,037	Alive
ComicBlitz	May 2017	$87,810	Alive
Motoroso	Apr 2017	$87,200	Alive
Rumor	Nov 2016	$84,670	Alive
VooDoo Spirits	Sep 2016	$84,312	Alive
MobileSpike	Mar 2017	$83,147	Alive
My Trail	May 2017	$80,820	Alive
BLAZnTECH	Dec 2017	$68,706	Alive
Spotlight:Girls	Dec 2016	$62,500	Grant from RSF Social Finance
Bogobrush	Oct 2016	$57,500	Alive
Veditz	Oct 2016	$54,620	Failed
Maison Marcel	Dec 2017	$48,025	Alive
Kibin	Nov 2016	$27,602	Alive

Investor Q&A

Expand all

What does your company do?

"Kickstarter for investing" was legalized on May 16th, 2016: now, anyone can invest $100 in a startup. Since then, we have become the largest funding portal by investment volume and investor returns. We started this journey in 2012, when we helped pass the JOBS Act that made this all possible, and were invited by Congress to watch it signed into law.

Where will your company be in 5 years?

Our goal is to fund 20,000 more startups by 2029, while outperforming the S&P 500. Entrepreneurship has been dying over the 30 years, falling from 10.6% to 3.6% among those under 30. We must fix that: everyone deserves a shot at the American Dream. If we succeed, we will increase the GDP of the United States

Why did you choose this idea?

How do you earn money?

We have two main revenue streams: transaction fees on investing volume and carried interest. For companies that raise with Regulation Crowdfunding, we earn on average 9% of investing volume. We charge the company 7.5% of their total fundraise. We also charge the investor 2% of their investment (min: $8, max: $100), which averages out to around 1.5%. We also have have venture capital funds that charge 2% management fees and 20% carried interest.

What is the value of your current carried interest stake?

We have carried interest stakes in most companies funded via Regulation D. Our IRR is over 40% from 2013 to 2016: https://wefunder.com/results However, we discounted our fees in the beginning. For instance, Zenefits was the first company we listed on Wefunder, and as such, we charged 0% carry. If we had invested $150k at 20% carry, the value of our carried interest would have been $1,260,000 18 months after we funded them.

How do you convince high-quality companies to work with you?

Our past portfolio speaks for itself on our previous success in Reg D. We must continue to attract high-quality companies for Regulation Crowdfunding. First, it's important to define "high quality". It does not mean that companies are like Zenefits, offering investors a 4000%+ return in two years. To us, high-quality means deserving businesses with legitimate founders who can grow profitable companies. A donut shop that offers a return to their investors qualifies. It also typically means businesses who also can raise with Regulation D from professional investors. That is, they have other financing options. Our biggest strength is that we've spent years immersed in the Y Combinator startup culture, so we intimately understand how founders who have leverage against investors (as their startups are highly sought-after) think. When we take this understanding to the "real world" outside of San Francisco, we expect to blow away the competition. Customer service: save founders timeAn obvious truism is that successful founders with other financing options don't want to waste a lot of time. So we do nearly all the grunt work for them. We schedule an hour interview, ask for some disclosures and assets, and then hand them a fully-fleshed out fundraising profile and "Form C" SEC filing for their review and approval. Our customer service is key. Companies with other options won't pay an obscene amountAnother obvious point is that high-quality companies don't need to pay to get funded. Our competitors - typically the ones with a broker/dealer finance background - who charge over 10% of the round will not get the best companies. We currently charge the company 7.5%. In our experience, companies can justify this cost in return for the marketing value of having their customers be investors. We will continue to drive down company costs as long as possible and take more of our compensation in the same form as our investors, so our goals and interests are aligned. (We also charge $0 for a "Form C" instead of the up to $5000 of some of our competitors). Companies care about "signaling"Finally, working with credible companies is a virtuous cycle. High-quality companies want to be funded alongside other high-quality companies. Think about the difference between Y Combinator and Techstars. Most credible startups apply to Y Combinator first, and only go to Techstars if YC rejects them. It's much more prestigious to be in YC. We understand follow-on financing Another great benefit of being immersed in Silicon Valley for years is that we intimately understand the issues around follow-on financing when the venture capitalists come aboard. So we pioneered new crowdfunding securities to ensure that companies don't shoot themselves in the foot if they are successful. Our competitors don't do this to the same extent.

Why are your fees lower than your competitors?

Our costs are lower than our competitors', and we want to pass on the savings so we can fund more higher-quality companies. We're a "full stack" software and nearly entirely vertically integrated. We outsource almost nothing. This was an intentional decision as we knew we had to drive down costs to make thousands of investors cost effective. We wanted to control the user experience. We spent four years writing software to automate nearly everything. For instance, we wrote our own electronic contract signing software, ACH payment transfer software, investor management software, accounting software, SEC filing software, and are now working on tax filing software. We've partnered with a bank for on-demand escrow accounts at nominal cost and CPAs to offer independent reviews to our clients at nearly 20% of the market rate. We've also worked with our lawyers at Wilson Sonsini on legal structures that limit some franchise taxes and other unnecessary costs. Finally, we operate as an exempt reporting investment advisor and funding portal, limiting compliance costs that broker/dealers are burdened with.

How are you different than AngelList?

AngelList was our primary competitor before May 16th, 2016, when Regulation Crowdfunding was implemented. After May 16th, we moved in a different direction. AngelList is a beautiful web site for accredited investors who know the "inside baseball" game in Silicon Valley. It's perfectly designed for professionals. It's also the "operating system" for startups, with a number of useful services. We are different in a few ways: 1) We let everyone invest, not just the wealthy. This allows startups to raise money from their most passionate fans, not just a few rich people. 2) We fund a dramatically more diverse swath of the economy, from breweries to tech startups. 3) We're focused foremost on spreading the Silicon Valley ethos to the rest of the country. We want to lift up others who don't have opportunity.

Who are your competitors?

Our direct competitors include StartEngine, SeedInvest, Republic. The results speak for themselves. We're larger than all of them combined by investment volume. Our biggest strength is that - as founders ourselves - we know what is takes to find and work with high-quality companies. Check out our investor returns: https://wefunder.com/results. We've already proven that we can attract high-growth, high-profile companies to crowdfund from accredited investors (i.e., Zenefits), and now we're doing it again for Regulation Crowdfunding (i.e., Beta Bionics). Another strength is that none of us are finance types. We ourselves are startup founders & startup investors creating this for others just like us. We deeply care about the product we are building. We see the world differently. Our product isn't about just taking a cut, it's about relationships, community, paying it forward, and helping startups succeed. Wall Street doesn't do that. As technologists and designers, we also have an edge on execution. We've created software that dramatically reduces costs and is simple and easy to use for founders and investors alike.

How big can you be?

If you ask this question, you don't understand our ambition. We're talking about turbo-charging the entire economy. We want to accelerate GDP growth by making us a nation of owners in the true engine of our economy: small businesses and startups. We want to explode the number of new businesses. Our ambition is not to be a VC. We're aiming to create a new type of stock market that can allocate more capital to all sorts of worthy businesses, be it a local community-supported coffee shop or the next Uber. We want to create and dominate the emerging private/public hybrid stock market for new businesses, where it's accepted that these are riskier, longer-term investments (i.e., not the NASDAQ). We believe the "wisdom of the crowd" is superior to the judgement of a few gatekeepers like bankers and venture capitalists. Markets beat top-down decision making. We also want to single-handedly increase the percentage of under 30 year olds that own stakes in private businesses from the current 3.6%, back over 10%, like it was in 1989. Entrepreneurship is dying in this country, outside of tech hubs like SF and NYC. We aim to revitalize capitalism for young people.

How will a new venture stock market work? Why is this needed?

Our long-term vision is to create a new type of stock market for risky and early-stage companies, for long-term investments subject to investment limitations. We believe that informed investors can allocate capital more efficiently across our society than a few bankers or venture capitalists. Markets beat gatekeepers. Unlike the NASDAQ, since it's expected by the public that these investments are far more risky (and as such are subject to investment limits), the burden of regulations are far, far less than that required by a company going public. Companies that refuse to go public until forced to do so (i.e., Uber) as a result of the burden of regulations imposed after Enron may consider a private/public hybrid stock market with a lighter regulatory regime. The features of this stock market should include: Acceptance of risk with every purchase. Investors should affirm that they may lose all their money and afford to bear this risk with every purchase. Investment limitations. Investors should not invest more than the 5%-10% limit of net worth or income imposed by Regulation A+ or Regulation Crowdfunding. Proxy voting power to one person with fiduciary responsibility. Minor shareholders should appoint one representative - who may be on the board of directors -to advocate for their interests. The company only needs to deal with one person with sophisticated knowledge of their business, and the voting power of small investors is aggregated to increase their leverage. No daily price ticker; limited resale. The short-term focus to manage quarterly earnings is often detrimental to long term vision. We envision a stock market where companies can opt to allow resale on a secondary market only once per quarter or year. The benefits to our society include: More capital goes to where it is needed most. Capital will be allocated more efficiently to a wider range of businesses. We expect an explosion of entrepreneurship. There are enough people in our society who want to support riskier ideas. We can start reversing the disparity of wealth. In the 1990's, it was a badge of honor for companies to go public, and they did it as soon as possible. Now they delay it as long as possible. This means ownership in the fastest growing companies are no longer available to people who are not rich. This is wrong.

What is your Cost of User Acquisition? How will you scale it out?

We expect word of mouth to always drive our growth, and for our CAC to remain nominal. We are not like a bank advertising to give out business loans. Wefunder is a social network, where people fund companies they love. Each founder drives their entire network to Wefunder to invest in them. These investors later refer us companies. More impactfully, each founder we fund tells their founder friends to use Wefunder. Network effects have continually driven us more companies than we can handle, without us trying. We have little experience running paid ad campaigns because we’ve never had too. Equity crowdfunding has the same network effect dynamics as product crowdfunding. There will be a major player (a Kickstarter), and perhaps a secondary player (an Indiegogo). Everyone else will go out of business because they can’t get good companies. In terms of deal flow, we are somewhat analogous to a VC, where signaling and prestige is a factor. Much like how YC gets first dibs and the other incubators get the leftovers, crowdfunded companies also want to list on the biggest and best portal, the one that is proven to not only deliver the most funds, but has the most prestige. Companies want to be funded alongside other good companies. This is a virtuous cycle. Our biggest challenge right now is how to accelerate scaling this out "on the ground" across the entire country. For us, the answer revolves around working with local communities. We’re building a platform where other investors and groups can endorse and curate companies... in the geographies or industries they care about. The long-term idea is that Wefunder becomes the monopoly, and these communities compete within our ecosystem based on their reputation.

What are the most important parts of your user experience?

We've made it dead easy to invest in a company - it takes 30 seconds to fully execute an investment and transfer the funds. Consider it a "one click Amazon-style checkout" for investing. We've also created some beautiful software that lets founders highly customize how they wish to present their company to investors... and helps them generate and file a "Form C" with the SEC at a fraction of the complexity and cost of our competitors. Next, we want to execute better on our long-term vision. The investment is meant to be the start of our product experience. We want to help people "feel behind the curtain" -- that they are making a difference in the world, that they can find ways to help their portfolio companies, be it by spreading the word about product launches, providing introductions to new hires or partners, or giving detailed product feedback.

Why is your team awesome? Why you?

We've been relentlessly pursuing our vision for seven years. We don't let anything stop us, starting before Congress even passed a law. We helped Congress write the sections of the JOBS Act that will enable all Americans to invest, were mentioned by name in the Congressional Letter of Intent, and were invited to watch President Obama sign it into law. When we first started, we did not appreciate what we were getting ourselves into. Now we do. We were already proven product designers and software engineers... with MBAs. But we also needed to learn securities laws inside out, obtain our Series 65 and Series 7 licenses, and learn what it takes for investors to attract high-quality startups. But, most importantly, after 7 years, we have results. With a team of 12, we've built the largest funding portal, with above 40% market share in Regulation Crowdfunding in 2019. In comparison, our closest competitors - despite being larger than almost all of them combined - have teams of 35-50 people.

Why did you pick this idea to spend your life on?

Initially, we built this for ourselves. We wanted to make investments in our friends (back before we were accredited). One of Nick's best friends is angel investor Bill Warner, who founded a public company and sold another for about the same amount. He's inspired all of us: Bill spends practically all of his time helping founders. We wanted to be like him and help and invest in our startup friends. But we didn't have $50k to invest in each company... we had more like $500. Plus, it was effectively illegal for us to do so. We thought that was stupid. We’ve always wanted to invest in founders we believed in. Not primarily for the financial returns, but to give back, to help, and to live vicariously through their experience. It made no sense to us that only the wealthy had the privilege to act on these emotions prior to the passage of the JOBS act. People are people; the dollar amounts are just smaller. As we built Wefunder, we also learned that we could help our country by revitalizing entrepreneurship. It became evident to us how many deserving businesses can't get the capital they need to start or grow; the banks got way more risk-adverse after 2008, and venture capitalists pour money into a small sliver of the economy. We believe we can help fix that. The people who care should be allowed to allocate capital to businesses that need it.

What's the most surprising thing you've learned?

We've spoken to thousands of investors on Wefunder. We were surprised to the extent that they were motivated by the same things as us. We don't want to lose money, but we're not investing in startups solely for the financial returns. We want to support things we believe in. We consider our startup investing to be socially good lottery tickets. We were surprised that even accredited investors with a finance background feel the same way. We were also surprised that unaccredited investors pick the same exact startups on Wefunder as accredited investors. There is no correlation between income and the startups chosen.

What is your biggest risk?

While we can build a profitable business under present law, our vision will not be fully reached unless Congress and the SEC further improve securities regulations. We've worked with the Deputy Majority Whip, Congressmen McHenry, to help draft the Fix Crowdfunding Act that would greatly increase the potential of Regulation Crowdfunding. We've also been in touch with the offices of Senator Bennet, Senator Merkeley, and Senator Daines to support it in the Senate. In 2019, Congress and the SEC are expected to reform equity crowdfunding to make it more appealing for startups and investors, greatly increasing our growth potential. The House of Representatives passed JOBS Act 3.0 406-4 (it's now in the Senate) which includes important amendments to Reg Crowdfunding. Concurrently, the SEC is revising the regulations in the near term. As the largest funding portal, Wefunder is best positioned to take advantage of these reforms.

How will regulatory reforms help you grow faster?

Our growth is dependent on the number of high-quality companies willing to use Regulation Crowdfunding. There are three reforms which will make Reg CF far more appealing to a greater number of companies. Specifically: 1) Single Purpose Vehicles (SPV's). Right now, a startup that uses Wefunder will end with hundreds of direct shareholders. The way this should work is to have investors invest in a simple-purpose fund, which then makes an investment into the startup, so the startup has one shareholder on their cap table. SPV's are legalized for Reg CF as part of Jobs Act 3.0, which passed the House of Representatives 404-4. 2) Reform the 12g limit. Right now, a company with more than 500 unaccredited investors and more than $25M in assets would be subject to burdensome requirements akin to going public. JOBS Act 3.0 also addresses this. 3) Legalize Testing the Waters. Right now, a company would have to do a lot compliance and accounting work before they are allowed to list on Wefunder and ask investors if they are even interested in investing. A company should be able to fill out a profile in a day and start collecting commitments from investors. We expect the S.E.C to issue this reform as part of their three-year Reg CF look back in 2019.

Wefunder is conducting a Regulation D offering via Wefunder Advisors LLC. CRD Number: #167803.

Q3 2019 Update: Profitable, 2X Growth, & 44% Market Share

Nick Tommarello on Sep 10

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Vivek Dixit, Will E. R. Shaw, Eric Tracy, and 19 others

Ideas Results

Nick Tommarello on Aug 19

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Ankita Tiwari, Jacqueline Hoang, Brian Manley, and 7 others

Q1 2019 Investor Update & Special Invite

Dear investors, I'd like to apologize for the delay since my last update. We've been crushed by an overwhelming workload and have been busy making Wefunder m...

Nick Tommarello on Apr 14

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Kevin Matthew Lee, Ankita Tiwari, Mark Dumas, and 26 others

Founder-in-Residence (Full-Time)

Nick Tommarello on Oct 16 2018

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Ankita Tiwari, Zeeshan Butt, Tyler Kelly, and 18 others

Exploring the Most Unique Relationship in Investing

We live in an era of funding options. Between traditional venture capitalists, micro-lending, prolific seed accelerators, and yes, Regulation Crowdfunding, ...

Everett Cook on Oct 9 2018

Chief Storyteller @ Wefunder

Founders Investors Regulation Crowdfunding

Ankita Tiwari, Zeeshan Butt, Best Background Editor, and 15 others

Wefunder goes to the woods to build

It started with an idea. The cabin idea came to me when I felt lonely. We grew from a ten-person team to now 23-people (including our wonderful interns) in...

Jiwon Moon on Jul 24 2018

head of community at Wefunder & founding partner at XX Wefunder Staff

community team building family cabin trip

Ankita Tiwari, Zeeshan Butt, Keith Salinas, and 16 others

Mid-Year Wefunder Update

TL;DRSince our last investor update, we hired 17 new team members and solved many of the operational problems that constrained our growth in 2017. In Q1 201...

Nick Tommarello on Jun 19 2018

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Ankita Tiwari, Zeeshan Butt, Best Background Editor, and 26 others

The Six Types of People You Meet on a Cross-Country Train Trip

We'd been on the train a week already by the time we got to New Orleans. After rolling our way through four cities, countless meetings, and a truly alarmin...

Everett Cook on Jan 12 2018

Chief Storyteller @ Wefunder

Ankita Tiwari, Zeeshan Butt, David Nikzad, and 11 others

What should I look for in a good startup founder?

Many investors would agree: the founding team is the most important part of any investment decision. A formidable founder can take a crazy idea to space and ...

Jiwon Moon on Aug 29 2017

head of community at Wefunder & founding partner at XX Wefunder Staff

founder what to look for investor education

Ankita Tiwari, Norman Tanner, David Nikzad, and 8 others

Let's make capitalism more human

https://medium.com/@nicktommarello/le...

Nick Tommarello on Jul 27 2016

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Ankita Tiwari, David Nikzad, Kieran Ryan, and 1 other

Nick Tommarello on Jul 11 2013

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

Howard Nathan and Best Background Editor

Mike Norman on Feb 28 2013

Founder (indefinite sabbatical) @ Wefunder Team Member

Nick Tommarello on Nov 27 2012

CEO @ Wefunder Founder

What people are saying

Bill Warner

Founder of Avid - Investor in Wefunder

Equity crowdfunding is 1 year old today: Wefunder is top platform.

Venture Beat

Its lower fees, relative to its competitors – there are a few other portals offering a similar service, including SeedInvest, NextSeed and StartEngine – has meant that about 90 percent of crowdfunded investments made by non-accredited investors since the May 2016 switch have gone through Wefunder.

San Francisco Business Times

Notes from investors

I just made an investment in your company. I love the idea of what you are doing. I need to understand more about it so that I can decide if investing more makes sense. Thanks, Chris Price' 360-460-4069

Chris Price on 02/06/2019

Investor and owner of several businesses.

Hi, I’m the CEO of by CHLOE (backed by Bain Cap), and Chris (from Kingscrowd) introduced me to your platform. I look forward to participating and being helpful when and if possible. All the best, Patrik Hellstrand Phellst####@gmail.com (818) 268-8793

Patrik Hellstrand on 01/13/2019

At the age of 20, I started traveling the world cleaning toilets, and now as a CEO of an PE-backed business, I share ideas and lessons.

Hey guys, good luck with the fundraising! Thanks for helping democratize investing! Would love to see you keep investing and providing opportunities for female and minority-owned companies! Thanks!

Al Sparks on 12/18/2018

Hi , I will be reaching out to you via linkedin . Thank you

Vikash Kumar on 12/16/2018

Hi, I am Founder/CEO of DriveMind (self-driving vehicles). I have 20+ years experience as a digital signal processing and embedded computer system design engineer. Good luck on your endeavor!

Howard Stark on 12/13/2018

Hi, I am Founder/CEO of DriveMind (self-driving vehicles). I have 20+ years experience as a digital signal processing and embedded computer system design engineer.

Howard Stark on 12/13/2018

Tony Quadros. Grew up in the SF Bay Area and now live 5 months in Montana and the rest in Arizona. I have invested in 2 other offerings. Best of luck.

Anthony G Quadros Sr on 12/13/2018

Heya, good stuff. You guys should do more podcasts. I invested a lot using another company due hearing a great interview/pitch/advertisement on a podcast before I found you guys... But you ended up having a few new features that they don't have. Now I use both, but probably wanted to hear of you guys earlier! Thank you.

Huan Chang on 12/08/2018

All the best from Australia - give me a shout if you need some down under talent.

Tim Fielding on 12/05/2018

Crypto and startup investor.

In the news

Equity crowdfunding is 1 year old today, Wefunder is top platform

Since Regulation Crowdfunding began on May 16 last year, 335 companies have filed offering documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to fundraise on securities-based crowdfunding platforms. Of those companies, 43 percent were funded, 30 percent failed, and the remainder are still open and trying to get funding.

May 16, 2017 @ venturebeat.com

Investment-Crowdfunding Platform Legally Commits to 'Defend the American Dream' - B The Change Media

Why and How Wefunder Filed to Become a Legal Benefit Corporation When Kickstarter announced it would become a public benefit corporation in September 2015, it was a fairly radical idea, especially for a high-flying tech company that could have reaped millions or billions of dollars by selling or going public.

November 2, 2016 @ bthechange.com

Wefunder Now Accepts Bitcoin, Says Deal Pipeline is Very Strong - Crowdfund Insider

Wefunder, the Reg CF platform that has now crowdfunded over $8.4 million since May of this year dominating the sector, has now added a new feature. Wefunder now accepts Bitcoin transactions making it even easier to invest in early stage companies. Bitcoin is generally thought of as a highly secure and efficient method of transferring value.

October 28, 2016 @ crowdfundinsider.com

This is the Future of Equity Crowdfunding

Now that US law allows privately held companies to raise investment from everyday people - so-called unaccredited investors - anyone can now financially support the companies they care about. (For more on the law, see previous page.) A number of investment crowdfunding platforms have emerged to meet the growing demand for these opportunities; think Kickstarter, but for investment deals.

September 26, 2016 @ consciouscompanymagazine.com

Reg CF 3 Month Report: Wefunder Dominates Retail Crowdfunding - Crowdfund Insider

Reg CF, created under Title III of the JOBS Act, was launched on May 16th of this year as the new securities exemption became available to SMEs seeking investors. Under Reg CF, issuing companies may sell securities to both accredited and non-accredited investors to raise a max amount of $1 million.

August 16, 2016 @ crowdfundinsider.com

WeFunder uses new crowdfunding regulations to open tech investing to the masses

Annie Gaus Reporter San Francisco Business Times Email |Twitter SAN FRANCISCO - Crowdfunding platforms have been around for years now, helping entrepreneurs and artists fund everything from gadgets to feature films through crowdsourced donations.

August 1, 2016 @ upstart.bizjournals.com

An artificial pancreas is crowdfunding's first $100 million unicorn

A company creating an "artificial pancreas" for diabetics this week became the first startup to raise $1 million using new type of online stock sale open to the public at large.

July 29, 2016 @ technologyreview.com

New tool lets regular folks invest, benefiting 'The Speakeasy'

The immersive theater experience "The Speakeasy" might be set in the 1920s, but its funding mechanism, equity crowdfunding, just came into being in 2016. Made legal through Regulation CF of 2012's Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, but available to the public as an investment option only since May 16, equity crowdfunding allows anyone, not just accredited investors, to invest in a company or project.

July 14, 2016 @ sfchronicle.com

House Passes Bill to Raise Equity Crowdfunding Cap to $5 Million

A bill passed the House of Representatives last night that would allow entrepreneurs to raise up to $5 million with equity crowdfunding, five times the current $1 million cap. Called the Fix Crowdfunding Act (H.R. 4855), the bill was one of two pieces of legislation aimed to help small-business owners get access to capital that representatives passed with a strong bipartisan majority.

July 6, 2016 @ entrepreneur.com

Equity crowdfunding can do for biotech what Kickstarter did for hardware

Building any company is hard, but building a biotech company is particularly hard. Not only do biotech companies have significant inherent costs due to lab space, DNA, and reagents purchase, but the life cycles of the organisms in question limit product development speed.

June 12, 2016 @ venturebeat.com

Democratized capital initiatives allow anyone to be an investor

The middle class might not have to bend over and kiss its ass goodbye after all. Two events at the end of May point the way to a more equitable future-as in, a future that's good for a broad swath of society, not just the tiny slice that can blow $55,000 on a Louis Vuitton City Steamer alligator bag.

May 28, 2016 @ newsweek.com

Equity crowdfunding is here: Thanks Wefunder

Yesterday, the world of investing shifted dramatically, and in large part thanks to a group of people who rolled through Fargo earlier this year. The group, Wefunder, came through on a cross-country quest to meet the startups of underdog cities - that is, everywhere outside of the Silicon Valley bubble.

May 17, 2016 @ emergingprairie.com

Everything You Need to Know About Equity Crowdfunding

Starting today, companies using crowdfunding websites to raise money can offer stock options to donors. More than four years after equity crowdfunding was signed into law through the 2012 JOBS Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission is permitting start-ups to offer stock in their companies to the investing public through consumer-facing websites.

May 17, 2016 @ abcnews.go.com

Musicians' Network Gigmor Stakes Its Future On Crowdfunding As New Rules Go Live

The S.E.C.'s long-awaited crowdfunding rules take effect today, but the waiting continues as platforms rush to launch offerings.

May 17, 2016 @ forbes.com

Crowdfund my startup, please!

The Securities and Exchange Commission has ushered in a new era of small-investor equity crowdfunding under Title III of the JOBS (Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups) Act. It allows ordinary investors, subject to various regulatory restrictions, to purchase equity shares in small businesses that publicize their investment opportunities on new crowdfunding platforms, such as NextSeed, FlashFunders, SeedInvest and Wefunder.

May 17, 2016 @ marketplace.org

New "crowdfunding" system means almost anyone can invest in startups - The Boston Globe

The idea behind equity crowdfunding is to “create a new kind of stock market” where people can support causes and companies they care about, even if the chances of a big payday are remote, said Nick Tommarello, chief executive of Wefunder Inc.. “It’s basically a socially good lottery ticket,” he said. “You make an investment in some early stage company, and it either does really, really well, or it works out badly.”

May 16, 2016 @ bostonglobe.com

The biggest change to hit start-up investing in years is here

Tom Williams | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images A change is coming to private investing markets, and it could revolutionize how small businesses are financed: unaccredited investors can start buying stock in start-ups.

May 16, 2016 @ cnbc.com

Now Anyone With $2000 Can Invest in a Startup

If you've ever wished you could invest in cool startups like they do on "Shark Tank," you may be in luck. New rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission will now allow anyone to invest $2,000 a year or more in a small company in exchange for a stake in the business, the New York Times reported.

May 16, 2016 @ time.com

Equity Crowdfunding Is Here: Now You Can Own A Share In A Startup's Success (Or Failure)

Nick Tommarello has been waiting four years for this: The day when everyday people can start investing directly in companies over the internet. Today Title III of the JOBS Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2012, goes into force, enabling anyone-not just "accredited investors," who have at least $100,000 in assets-to invest in startups, small businesses, and other private firms. And that means Tommarello's Wefunder platform can move into the next stage.

May 16, 2016 @ fastcoexist.com

WeFunder: "People are Going to Be Surprised by the Quality of Companies that Decide to use Reg CF" - Crowdfund Insider

WeFunder is one of a handful of crowdfunding platforms that have received regulatory approval to operate as a Title III (Reg CF) funding portal by May 16th launch. WeFunder is a big believer in the potential of Reg CF and what it can do for capital formation and entrepreneurship in general - even with the intrinsic challenges.

May 15, 2016 @ crowdfundinsider.com

New Crowdfunding Rules Let the Small Fry Swim With Sharks

But what got people excited was the crowdfunding provision allowing companies to raise up to $1 million with few regulatory obstacles. Sounds simple, right? Not to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Concerned about protecting investors from charlatans, bad ideas and their own poor judgment, the agency spent years drafting its proposed rules.

May 14, 2016 @ nytimes.com

Next Generation Crowdfunding Starts May 16. Expect Opportunity and Growing Pains.

People like Tom Lix, who's keen to raise $1 million on the Wefunder portal so he can expand his Cleveland liquor startup. "I would love for my customers to be my shareholders," says Lix, whose Cleveland Whiskey LLC says it can age whiskey in 24 hours. "I couldn't ask for better fans."

May 12, 2016 @ entrepreneur.com

Crowdfunding rule to open investing to public

When his friend started building an exoskeleton to help disabled people stand and walk again, Tommarello wanted to invest. The crowdfunding regulation will allow businesses to offer equity to people regardless of their net worth.

May 12, 2016 @ sfchronicle.com

New Rules Give Startups Access to Main Street Investors

Fees will vary. NextSeed Inc. expects to charge 5% to 10% of the amount raised. SeedInvest LLC will charge a fee that is 5% of the amount raised and take a 5% equity stake. Wefunder Inc. plans to collect 3% from issuers and 2% from investors.

May 11, 2016 @ wsj.com

Equity Crowdfunding For Non-Rich People Is Coming

Another equity crowdfunding site, WeFunder, does plan to open to non-accredited investors beginning May 16. "I think we’re going to help a lot of companies that wouldn’t have been able to get off the ground get started," its founder said in an interview earlier this month.

May 10, 2016 @ fastcompany.com

An Entrepreneur's Essential Guide to the New Wild West of Funding Opening on May 16

“Entrepreneurs will be able to raise money like they did generations ago, from their neighbors and communities that know them, not from some conglomerate risk-averse bank headquartered on Wall Street," says Nick Tommarello, the co-founder and CEO of equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder, in an email with Entrepreneur. "We expect that this is that start of a renaissance of entrepreneurship in the United States.”

May 9, 2016 @ entrepreneur.com

Soon You Won't Have to Be Rich to Back a Startup

New crowdfunding rules taking effect Monday will allow anyone to invest in startups-not just wealthy people. The change overrides a longstanding Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that investors backing private companies be "accredited," meaning they make at least $200,000 a year and have a net worth of $1 million or more (excluding their home).

May 6, 2016 @ bloomberg.com

Starting May 16, Entrepreneurs Can Raise Money in a Whole New Way. Here's What You Need to Know. | Fox News

Monday, May 16, 2016, will be a very big day in the world of crowdfunding. More people will be able to invest in entrepreneurs through crowdfunding than they were just the day before. And that means that more entrepreneurs with more innovative ideas will be able to launch more businesses.

May 5, 2016 @ foxnews.com

WeFunder Plans to Go Big on May 16 With Title III Crowdfunding

Amy Cortese | May 4, 2016 The crowdfunding platform WeFunder began five years ago with a simple premise: everyone, regardless of their net worth, should be able to invest in small businesses that they believe in. The only problem was, securities laws basically prevented all but the wealthiest individuals from investing in private companies.

May 4, 2016 @ locavesting.com

Equity crowdfunding: Investing in emerging biz

Happy National Small Business Week, May 1-7! How many of us haven't said something like "if only I had invested in (fill in the blank: Starbucks, Whole Foods, etc.) back when they were getting off the ground? I'd be set now!"

May 2, 2016 @ westhawaiitoday.com

All aboard! Crowdfunding startup is hopping a train to find and fund businesses across the U.S. - GeekWire

Crowdfunding evangelists Wefunder are getting out of what they call the "Silicon Valley bubble" and hopping an Amtrak train for a cross-country trip aimed at finding and funding small businesses. In 2012, the startup literally helped Congress pass the JOBS Act, a new law that allows businesses to raise up to $1 million online.

February 18, 2016 @ geekwire.com

F-U-N-D-E-D: New rules mean you, too, can be a startup owner - CNET

So you want to be the next Marc Andreessen? Friday could be the day when you start trying. New federal rules will allow the American public at large to go online and buy shares in startups.

December 7, 2015 @ cnet.com

Tech Startup Crowdfunding Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be

News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. High-growth firms face powerful discentives to use JOBS Act provisions Allowing everyday Americans to invest in today's high-growth startups-picture grandma and grandpa putting a portion of their retirement savings into the next pre-IPO Facebook-has long been the dream of advocates of so-called equity crowdfunding.

December 7, 2015 @ wsj.com

WeFunder to SEC: Title III Critical Flaw Harms Investors - Crowdfund Insider

Investment crowdfunding platform WeFunder, a site that has raised over $10 million using Accredited Crowdfunding, sees a serious flaw in final rules of Title III of the JOBS Act. In a recent open letter to the SEC, WeFunder CEO and co-founder Nicholas Tommarello said while the final rules were much better than expected there remains "one critical flaw".

November 7, 2015 @ crowdfundinsider.com

SEC opens door to startup investing for all - The Boston Globe

Everyday people will soon be able to invest thousands of dollars in small companies and receive an ownership stake under new rules passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. The SEC approved a set of long-awaited regulations that will allow companies to "crowdfund" up to $1 million from investors online.

October 30, 2015 @ bostonglobe.com

The Incredible Spirit of San Francisco

We have all heard of the incredible entrepreneurial ecosystem in San Francisco. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco, thanks to Jason Calacanis who was kind enough to invite hundreds of founders for free access to his two-day conference called SCALE, which saw 3,000 investors, founders and potential entrepreneurs attend.

October 17, 2015 @ tech.co

Small Business Success Story: MadeSolid Raises $303,000 on Wefunder

“We got involved to really help them understand how entrepreneurship works, how the Internet works, and how to formulate some legislation that would actually work in practice,” says Norman, who was in the White House when President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law on April 5, 2012.

April 24, 2015 @ nerdwallet.com

With New State Rules, WeFunder to Offer Equity Crowdfunding in MA

“It was a pleasant surprise for us,” said Mike Norman, co-founder of online investment company WeFunder, which plans to help businesses seek investment under the new state rules.

January 16, 2015 @ xconomy.com

Start-Ups Turn to the Crowd for Financing

Dealflicks, a discount site for movie tickets, based in Los Angeles, used Wefunder this year to raise $173,450 from 64 backers.

December 10, 2014 @ dealbook.nytimes.com

Dealflicks Raises $1.7M on Wefunder: Startup Continues to Fill Empty Movie Theater Seats

In its concurrent fourth round of crowdfunding in two years, Dealflicks has now raised $1.7 Million on Wefunder. Investors in this most DealFlicks gets butts in Movie Theatersrecent round include 500 Startups, Siemer Ventures, Archer Gray, Rubicon VC, Wefunder, Be Great Partners, Rosepaul Investments, Mogility Capital, Sierra Maya Ventures and Warner Brothers Media Camp.

July 28, 2014 @ crowdfundinsider.com

SEC crowdfunding plan wins fans

“There are a few things they’ve done which actually are going to make it hard if the proposed rules wind up being finalized as written,” said Mike Norman, president and co-founder of Wefunder, which plans to operate a portal under the new rules.

October 24, 2013 @ politico.com

Investing along with the crowd

"For publicly traded companies, individual investors don't have the ability to influence the success and failure of a company," Dietrich said. "But for small start-ups, they absolutely have the ability to influence success and failure. That's exciting and something we haven't seen before."

October 23, 2013 @ latimes.com

The Flying Car Tries Crowdfunding

Terrafugia signed on with Wefunder last month, and it is now the “Startup of the Week.” The website says more than $10 million has been raised, but that’s from the angel investors that have supported the company so far. The Wefunder model is newly legal equity crowdfunding, which means larger amounts invested and bigger payoffs—not just the insider CDs and books that sites such as the wildly successful Kickstarter have been able to offer.

October 22, 2013 @ cartalk.com

All-comers join web party for a punt on best start-ups

For the first time in 80 years, private companies hunting for capital can now advertise to all-comers. The $22bn that angel, or individual, investors invested in private companies last year – and perhaps even the $27bn put to work by more established venture capitalists – is about to see some competition.

September 25, 2013 @ ft.com

Shackles drop off fundraising for startups. Should we worry?

The shift allows retirees, doctors, lawyers and the like to get a piece of investments with a little more razzledazzle than they are used to-- say Terrafugia, the flying car company using Wefunder to find investors, or Rick's Picks, "artisanal pickles crafted with nuance and wit," working with CircleUp. Both Wefunder and CircleUp are among the relatively new sites that put young companies in front of potential investors.

September 25, 2013 @ reuters.com

The Crowdfunding Economy Is About to Pop

One such website, WeFunder, is already accepting money from accredited investors. Mike Norman, co-founder of the site, says this new approach to venture funding will eliminate inefficiencies he associates with courting venture capitalists and angel investors through in-person meetings. “A lot of this is about their investor experience,” he says. “We’re going to have the ability for everyone to get involved in helping out a company or a startup that they think is really important to get off the ground and be successful.”

September 24, 2013 @ business.time.com

Online Platforms Give the First Public Look at Private Equity

Wefunder was founded last year out of the MIT startup community with the JOBS Act specifically in mind. Since then, it has worked hard to curate a diverse stable of consumer-relevant, high-quality startups, and present them in an appealing magazine-like fashion designed to attract widespread interest. Example offerings launching on the site include Terrafugia, a startup that has prototyped a real-life flying car that’s FAA approved, street legal, and folds its wings up with the touch of a button; and Meta, whose augmented reality glasses render manually manipulable 3D objects like you see in sci-fi movies. Many of Wefunder’s startups come from the alpha Silicon Valley accelerator program Y Combinator, of which Wefunder itself is also an alumnus.

September 24, 2013 @ pbs.org

Cambridge firm seeks funds for start-ups online

After the SEC changes were put in place Monday, Wefunder’s site immediately began promoting 25 companies seeking investments, including Terrafugia, a Woburn company working on developing a flying car, and RoomHunt, a San Francisco apartment rental start-up.

September 24, 2013 @ bostonglobe.com

Startups can now ask for your money, but you can't give it to them

"It’s the first step in a long process," says Nick Tommarello, founder of WeFunder, a company backed by the prestigious Y Combinator incubator that serves as a platform for startups raising money. WeFunder is planning for the future when startups will be allowed to accept funds from anyone, says Tommarello. He’s hoping that non-accredited investors — which would be your average internet user — will see that nifty new startups are fundraising and start to pressure the SEC to hurry up on its rulemaking on equity-based crowdfunding.

September 23, 2013 @ theverge.com

The ban has lifted: Here’s what these 6 companies think about general solicitation

WeFunder is a Y Combinator startup that has a platform similar to RockThePost. While the company is not going so far as to host a public event, founder and CEO Nick Tommarello said that WeFunder’s site will look more like Kickstarter, where anyone can browse through the opportunities without signing up. “If you are a founder fundraising, you want to stop fundraising as soon as possible and go back to work,” he said in an interview with VentureBeat.

September 23, 2013 @ venturebeat.com

SEC ends ban on public startup pitches, but some remain wary

Of the three funding networks, WeFunder is leading the charge, encouraging startups to take advantage of the new rules. AngelList is opening its network to general solicitation, with some cautions. FundersClub isn't opening up to public appeals at all.

September 23, 2013 @ bizjournals.com

The JOBS Act: 8 Sites to Solicit Accredited Investors Starting Today

Backed by Y Combinator, WeFunder launched earlier this year in response to the new post-JOBS Act investment market. It's a lot like other investor-entrepreneur matchmaking sites, but it already expresses a strategy to add on all investors if Title III of the JOBS Act is passed, which would allow for non-accredited crowdfunded investing. It also looks and feels super user-friendly like Kickstarter.

September 23, 2013 @ inthecapital.streetwise.co

A Big Day in Crowdfunding History

"If you're a company building something in the legal space, it's super valuable for you to have maybe 50 attorneys that are all coming in at smaller dollar amounts," he says. "They're in your sector, they can help you with sales and connections and get users on your product. It's not just about money. There's a ton of people that can provide tactical, grassroots value that people haven't had the opportunity to access before."

September 23, 2013 @ inc.com

Crowd Investing Is the New Way to Finance Technology Development

Wefunder’s website, with a menu of companies and short promotional videos, looks a lot like Kickstarter, the popular site where filmmakers, authors, and technology companies can raise donations for individual projects. That site has already spawned several technology companies, like Pebble, maker of a smart watch (see “A Smart Watch, Created by the Crowd, Debuts in Vegas” and “10 Breakthrough Technologies 2013”). With crowd investing, however, people will actually be buying shares in new companies.

September 23, 2013 @ technologyreview.com

Startups Consider Crowdfunding to Raise Investment Capital

It is the mother's milk of Silicon Valley startups – money, often from investors, to get going and keep growing. And next week new federal regulations will give startups and investors more ways to find each other.

September 19, 2013 @ blogs.kqed.org

4 reasons new SEC fundraising rules are a really, really big deal

With the new rules, a startup could go as far as buying advertising to state it's raising money. "Previously, most of us never had a shot at investing in the rounds of the best companies. The insiders only had that kind of access. That's all about to change," writes WeFunder cofounder Nick Tommarello.

September 18, 2013 @ upstart.bizjournals.com

Five Things the General Public Should Know About Crowdfunding

... If you’d like to learn more about this topic, I highly recommend the WeFunder FAQ section. Also, keep an eye on the Securities and Exchange Commission as its rules, when they are eventually issued, will make huge waves in the startup community.

August 29, 2013 @ forbes.com

SEC Lifts Ban On General Solicitation, Allowing Startups To Advertise That They’re Fundraising

With General Solicitation it will be much easier for investors to find companies they are passionate about supporting,” writes Mike Norman of crowdfunding website, WeFunder, to us in an email.

July 10, 2013 @ techcrunch.com

Cambridge-born WeFunder helps YCombinator peers find financing out west — but doesn’t rule out return home

The basic premise of WeFunder is that it will allow anyone to make a small crowdinvestment in young companies, meaning that instead of pitching angel investors, start-ups can go directly to early users, fans, friends and family for their early capital rounds.

March 28, 2013 @ boston.com

WeFunder gives startups a 'green button' to meet their fundraising goals

We are not just giving startups dumb, quick, and easy money," said founder Nick Tommarello on stage at Y Combinator's demo day. "With the power of the crowd, we are giving them an army of evangelists that feel a sense of ownership and are driven to help their startup succeed.

March 27, 2013 @ venturebeat.com

7 Amazing Startups to Watch

Wefunder allows people to invest in startups with as little as $1000. The startup eliminates the need for some startups to raise an initial round of funding from traditional investors, and creates a group of evangelists for a company in the process.

March 26, 2013 @ mashable.com

WeFunder and the Creeping Democratization of Startup Finance

We’re not replacing their current fundraising efforts," said WeFunder co-founder Nick Tommarello. "If you open up a small part of your round to the crowd, if your users and evangelists can have that feeling of ownership, they’ll be much more inclined to help you.

March 25, 2013 @ bostinno.com

Cambridge-founded Wefunder aids fellow Y Combinator startups, mulls staying on West Coast

Wefunder, founded in Cambridge last year as a site aiming to eventually enable crowdfunding of startups, may remain on the West Coast after taking part in this winter's Y Combinator accelerator, CEO Nick Tommarello said in an interview.

March 19, 2013 @ bizjournals.com

Meet WeFunder, the Crowdfunding Platform for Would-Be Investors

The platform, which launches on Tuesday to certain accredited investors (more on that in a minute), ostensibly allows anyone who sees promise in one of the startups featured on WeFunder’s platform to invest in it, pitching in a mandatory minimum amount of cash (currently $1000, but as little as $100 when the site rolls out to all). The idea, according to CEO Tommarello, is to “fill the funding gap between angel investors and that first major round of capital.”

March 19, 2013 @ allthingsd.com

Y Combinator-Backed WeFunder Launches To Bring Crowdfunding Startups To The Masses

The ultimate goal is to enable anyone to invest in startups that they find promising. To that end, founders Mike Norman, Nick Tommarello, and Greg Belote lobbied hard last year to get the JOBS Act passed. That act should help overturn a few rules which, to date, have held back greater adoption of crowdfunding for startups. And with a new SEC Chairwoman in place, the whole thing could finally move forward.

March 19, 2013 @ techcrunch.com

Is Crowdfunding Going to Pass Congress? WeFunder Panel Continues the Legislative Push With Guest Scott Brown

In his opening remarks, WeFunder’s Mike Norman described the advocacy process they’ve undertaken thus far, grown out of a simple online petition. "Because of its success we were down in D.C. just a few weeks later meeting with the White House," he said. "It was really an affirmation of our belief that the startup communtiy needed to have more of a voice at that table."

March 5, 2013 @ bostinno.com

Wefunder Raises $500K To Help Unaccredited Investors Put Money Into Startups

Crowd investing startup Wefunder is announcing a $530,000 seed round from just under 60 investors, over half of whom are unaccredited. Nihal Mehta, Jim Pallotta, Dharmesh Shah, and Bill Warner also participated in the round.

November 28, 2012 @ techcrunch.com

Before CROWDFUND Act takes effect, investors can help boost local start-ups — within limits

With rules about actually investing in companies about to become a bit more lax, the crowdfunding floodgates might open even wider, with new crowdinvesting site WeFunder, based in Cambridge, hoping to join the ranks of Kickstarter and IndieGoGo as a marquee crowdfunding platform. The fundamental difference with this new breed of sites is that, rather than receiving swag, warm feelings, and early products, crowdinvestors actually buy a (very small) piece of the company.

September 28, 2012 @ boston.com

What Technologies Will Crowdfunding Create?

While some investors will be in it for money, the riskiness of investing in startups is likely to mean that equity crowdfunding ends up resembling the donation model, says Nicholas Tommarello... "technologies that are fun or solve social problems are likely to be popular categories. People want to give back, see progress, live vicariously, and learn something.

September 17, 2012 @ technologyreview.com

Does the JOBS Act Help You?

A slew of these portals is already popping up, including Wefunder, Crowdfunder, and Motaavi. The founders of these companies were pushing hardest for this legislation.

May 29, 2012 @ inc.com

Ten Companies Poised To Profit From The JOBS Act

April 11, 2012 @ forbes.com

8 crowdfunding sites to watch

We're not a bunch of finance guys who saw a big number on a spreadsheet and decided to do this," Norman says. "We're focusing on the quality of experience for people who are just like us.

April 5, 2012 @ money.cnn.com

In 9 Months, Anyone Can Invest in a Startup

The SEC needs to determine the actual guidelines," said Nick Tommarello, one of the founders of WeFunder, an equity-based crowdfunding platform that decided to launch a preliminary site before the law passed. "Then we apply to the SEC.

April 5, 2012 @ betabeat.com

Crowdfunding successes show value of small donations

There is tremendous value in having your most passionate users be your investors," says Nick Tommarello, founder of the site Wefunder.com. As New Scientist went to press, more than 3000 people had signed a petition on the site, saying they would invest if the law passes.

April 4, 2012 @ newscientist.com

5 Companies Working Hard to Change the World

Big Idea: Wefunder provides a platform that allows startups to hold fundraising with a crowd of investors. Why It’s Working: WeFunder drives innovation by giving startups the ability to go through a formal funding series, and it also takes crowdsourcing to a new level by giving equity to funders.

April 1, 2012 @ mashable.com

Would the JOBS Act Help Small Business or Unleash Fraud?

But Nick Tommarello, a Boston entrepreneur who has become something of a crowdfunding activist, shares the view of many who have real-life crowdfunding experience. He says incentives are already there for intermediaries to regulate themselves. Tommarello believes crowd investing platforms will need to do due diligence on businesses they host in order to attract investors

March 15, 2012 @ forbes.com

Boston Globe Weighs in on Crowdfunding

Crucially, Brown’s bill would require that people invest through an intermediary, an organization that would have to register with the government and would broker the deals, the way eBay brokers auctions. The Boston-based WeFunder hopes to be one of these intermediaries. It is hosting a petition drive in support of the legislation: More than 2,500 people have signed, pledging to invest $6.5 million if the law is changed.

March 11, 2012 @ bostonglobe.com

Crowdfunding Could Open New Doors For Small Businesses

At the least, crowdfunding appeals to Boston-area startups because it would offer a new funding option. Mike Norman is a co-founder of Wefunder, a brand new Cambridge-based company that’s hoping to become a crowdfunding intermediary. “And if you have a way to demonstrate that you have a good idea, that it’s been vetted by someone who’s trustworthy, and that you can raise capital in a much shorter period of time and you can get back to focusing on your business, I mean what entrepreneur is not gonna be excited about having that as an option?" Norman said.

March 6, 2012 @ wbur.org

Alone in a Crowd: How Crowdfunding Could Strand Startups

Such supporters of crowdfunding as Nick Tommarello say it will give businesses—from neighborhood restaurants to high-growth tech companies—a fresh source of capital. Tommarello is co-founder of Wefunder, a site he hopes to turn into a crowdfunding platform in the event the law is changed."If this happens, what we can do is fill that funding gap in between angel [investors] and first round venture capital," he says

March 6, 2012 @ businessweek.com

Scott Brown: Crowdfunding for startups would mean economic stimulus

Brown, sponsor of one of the bills now before Congress that would legalize the funding source, spoke during an event organized by Cambridge startup Wefunder.com. The startup has launched with an online petition asking Congress to legalize crowdfunding, but has also built a crowd-fundraising site in the event that legislation passes.

March 5, 2012 @ bizjournals.com

Entrepreneur eyes change to 'crowdfunding' restrictions

As an entrepreneur who works with other entrepreneurs, Nicholas Tommarello has seen many great ideas in which he'd like to invest. The problem is that he doesn’t have a lot of money to invest, so he can’t legally do it at all. He is among a growing number of people lobbying for changes to decades-old federal regulations that he says are outdated in the Internet Age.

February 12, 2012 @ bostonherald.com

Venture Capital for the 99%

For now, the WeFunder crowdfunding petition has been a runaway success. Launched with a modest goal of attracting $100,000 in pledges and raising awareness about the democratization of capital, WeFunder has now attracted nearly 2,000 funders who have pledged a total commitment of nearly $5.5 million.

February 7, 2012 @ bigthink.com

Startup's Petition Raises $3M in 24 Hours if Senate Passes Crowdfunding Act

We can gamble in Vegas. We can donate on Kiva or Kickstarter. But it's illegal to purchase $100 of stock in a job-creating business? That makes no sense." That is the tagline to a new project called WeFunder from three TechStars Boston alum who are trying to garner support for the "Democratizing Access to Capital Act" (S.1791) that would allow entrepreneurs to crowdfund startups.

January 31, 2012 @ readwriteweb.com

These Guys Built a Crowd Investing Platform Even Though It’s Not Legal Yet

From the makers of Startup Workaway comes WeFunder, a Kickstarter for startups. Trouble is, Congress hasn't yet approved the law that makes amateur investing legal.

January 30, 2012 @ betabeat.com

Cambridge's Wefunder builds startup crowdfunding site (but it's illegal for now)

Step one: Build a site that lets anyone invest a small amount of money into a startup. Step two: Build support for actually legalizing the site. That's the strategy at new Cambridge startup Wefunder.com, a project of local tech startup veterans Nicholas Tommarello and Nick Plante.

January 30, 2012 @ bizjournals.com

If This Guy Has His Way, You'll Only Need $100 To Invest In Startups

"I'd love to give a small portion of my income to entrepreneurs changing the world, rather than blowing it in Vegas, or investing in GE," Tommerello said. "I want to invest in start-ups, and I'm frustrated that I can't.

January 30, 2012 @ businessinsider.com

Crowdfunding exemption - WeFunder and other Senate nudging

Within a couple of hours this morning, this petition quickly passed 1 million in pledges, and if it gets enough signatures, the people behind it have the opportunity to present it to Senate Majority Chair Mary Landrieu on Wednesday.

January 30, 2012 @ boingboing.net

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