Although the equity crowdfunding rules haven’t hit a national level in the United States, that didn’t stop companies from turning to this option as a way to raise money. Many states and jurisdictions have set local rules in place and this has caused an explosion of growth. Although most of the equity crowdfunding that happened came from accredited investors, the information that these top campaigns have provided us about this medium will be essential data for 2015 and beyond.
Here are the 10 best equity crowdfunding campaigns that were seen in 2014.
1. PonoMusic
The first step on this company’s journey to success was a $6.2 million rewards-based crowdfunding campaign. This company then looked to Crowdfunder as a way to offer investors some equity in their company. This brought in an additional $4 million in revenues, plus millions more were turned away from international investors who were banned by law from claiming a stake.
2. Nomad
This smartphone accessory manufacturing company raised $1.2 million thanks to Circle Up. They also received a shout-out on CNBC during an equity fundraising segment.
3. Social Rewards
This company proves that you can have a national level of success by focusing on just one niche. Their idea is pretty simple: give people rewards by sharing brand and company information on social media and networking sites. They raised $1 million through angel investors and equity crowdfunding.
4. Plum
This company allows individuals to use their smartphone to control their electricity and lights from any place in the world where a connection can be achieved. They just recently closed an equity crowdfunding campaign that netted over $750k and they’ve also received $550k in pre-orders.
5. GoCoin
Although the Bitcoin space has cooled off as of late thanks to a few controversies, there’s no denying the impact that this merchant made in the equity crowdfunding world. Becoming a select PayPal payment partner also helped. They’ve raised $1.2 million in total to allow merchants to accept Bitcoin payments.
6. RAEN
Just 8 investors contributed to the equity crowdfunding campaign for this ultra-premium sunglasses business. What makes this company an equity crowdfunding success story is the fact that more than $825k was raised from those 8 investors.
7. Bitvore
With more than $4.5 million raised in Series A equity, this company puts the results of big data mining in the hands of everyone. Almost $1 million of that total amount came through a series of different equity crowdfunding campaigns, with many of the results being organic in nature.
8. Titin Tech
This company raised $1 million by using a mixed crowdfunding platform instead of a dedicated equity crowdfunding platform, which is a notable accomplishment. They make weighted compression gear so that workouts can be more effective and personal training more effective.
9. Atlas Wearables
There are a lot of fitness trackers on the market today and many of them followed a traditional rewards-based crowdfunding path to reach the market. This company followed a similar path, but also included an equity crowdfunding campaign to enhance their results. At the end of the day, this company was able to raise $1.1 million.
10. iFunding
What makes this company notable is that they are an equity crowdfunding platform start-up that used another equity crowdfunding platform to get started. They had an initial goal of $1 million to raise and it took them just 7 days to get the job done.
The future of equity crowdfunding looks extremely promising. As more of the rules for this method of raising capital are formalized and finalized, the growth in this field should be exponential. Equity fundraising now is almost always limited to accredited investors. When the new rules from Title III of the JOBS Act are put into place, almost everyone will be able to invest into the equity needs of a startup.
What should also be noted in these top results is the fact that many of them took multiple crowdfunding options to enhance the amount of money that could be raised. Not only were pre-orders a focus, but actual equity was also offered. This means proof of concept could be established for investors to feel secure enough to make an investment.
Companies are going to benefit. Individual investors are going to benefit. What we have learned from the top 10 equity crowdfunding campaigns of 2014 is this: we have barely tapped into this resource and the results have been amazing. Once the floodgates are allowed to open, there could be billions invested every year and that’s an exciting future indeed.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
