For startups looking to raise capital, more and more founders are turning to online fundraising. These platforms are relatively new, launching as a direct result of the 2012 JOBS Act, which paved the way for startups to publicly advertise their capital raises and leverage equity crowdfunding to turn everyday customers into investors — whether or not those customers were “accredited investors”.
Platforms work as a marketplace for investors to discover potential investments, startups ranging from robotics to SaaS, CPG, and more. From the startup founder’s perspective, the ideal is to have as many quality, engaged investors as possible considering their deal and a clear strategy for raising their full round once launched.
That is precisely why so many investors and startup founders are choosing SeedInvest. Compared with other platforms, SeedInvest is very selective about what startups are approved to fundraise on the platform. As a result, founders raised an average of $3.3 million in 2020, which historically has been higher than other platforms (Source: VentureBeat). A more successful raise is good for founders and investors.
“We are the most highly-vetted platform. We are very particular who we work with,” said SeedInvest CEO Ryan Feit. “We don’t fund ideas and we don’t fund projects. We have raised from a half-million dollars to over $20 million, supporting everything from Seed through Series C.”
One key differentiator for SeedInvest has been building extensive trust with active and influential investors, no matter their check size. Investors love to see spreadsheets, patents and impressive names on the executive team, but they also need to trust their gut instinct and operational experience to make decisions on which startups get money and how much. That’s where SeedInvest delivers — they have built deep trust with many investors.
It all means that SeedInvest companies can raise more money, during and after their online fundraise. Startup investing is risky and not every outcome is a win, but consider some of SeedInvest’s recent portfolio activity:
Heliogen – the first retail investor unicorn in the U.S., going public at a $2 billion valuation
Shelf.io – $50M+ Series B raised from Tiger Global and Insight Partners
Winc – Bessemer-backed company going public
CleanCapital – $300M commitment from John Hancock parent company
Apptopia – recently closed $20M round
Waycare – acquired by publicly traded company
SeedInvest, through its wholly owned FINRA/SEC registered broker-dealer, can help founders and investors navigate these relatively new waters so well because they literally helped write the new rules.
One of the startup founders that SeedInvest has helped is Jan Goetgeluk, the founder and CEO for Virtuix, a VR gaming business that also boasts Mark Cuban as an investor.
SeedInvest is strict about which companies make it on the platform and this helps generate the trust that in turn delivers successful fundraises and positive outcomes for both startups and investors.
One such confident investor is Sunmeet Jolly, who has been using the platform since 2016 and has already invested in 40 startups, mostly in virtual reality, B2B SaaS, robotics and fintech.
“How is Seedinvest different? SeedInvest doesn’t go for volume. They always always go for higher quality deals,” Jolly said. Speaking of startup candidates he has seen on other platforms, “99 percent of them, SeedInvest would not accept them.”
SeedInvest recommends that investors diversify—according to Jolly—encouraging them to set their own startup investment allocation, then spread the amount of money that investor is willing to spend amongst ten or so companies. For Jolly, that has translated into company investments as small as $1,000 (although the platform has minimums as low as $500 for some companies) and as much as $20,000. That gives smaller investors a lot of flexibility.
I am an angel investor in 36 technology startups and not all Founders file patents or diligently work through the prosecution phase. Also - this article is partly promoting my GROTU app and helping me connect with potential customers and investors.
I've been deeply involved in this for 17 years so my thoughts - H1Bs have to go thru some agony for 5 years or till they get Green Cards. But all of my friends who landed on H1B in Year 2000 are doing great in 10-15 years now owning multiple homes and many running own businesses. You should also take into account that H1Bs do not carry heavy Student debt like American students do. They get inexpensive education abroad and start working the day they land in USA. They also share accommodation and save money in case they have to go back to home country. I've also worked for a decade with Indian outsourcing companies and understand their business model. As businesses responsible for creating shareholder wealth, they run for profits under existing legal framework and even IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, Cap Gemini and other large Multinational consulting firms employ hundreds of thousands of employees in India and bring them to USA on H1B visas in similar business models. H1B reform is important but even more important is to train US students in new technologies. I'm a naturalized US citizen living in San Jose for 17 years. My son is in high school in San Jose and by the time he is ready for college, the 4 year college cost will be $200K. I think that needs to be addressed along with H1B reform. We need to lower entry barrier for US students to get into Science and technology by making college more affordable. Additionally, the H1B is not the only competition for US tech jobs. Tech workers around the world working at $15 to $25 per hour are a bigger competition. But I feel training US workers in tech and reducing college costs should be a priority of current administration.
All of above is true! H1Bs have to go thru some agony for 5 years or till they get Green Cards. But all of my friends who landed on H1B in 2000 are doing great in 10-15 years now owning multiple homes and many running own businesses. You should also take into account that H1Bs do not carry heavy Student debt like American students do. They get inexpensive education abroad and start working the day they land in USA. They also share accommodation and save money in case they have to go back to home country. I've also worked for a decade with Indian outsourcing companies and understand their business model. As businesses responsible for creating shareholder wealth, they run for profits under current legal framework and even IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, Cap Gemini and other large Multinational consulting firms employ hundreds of thousands of employees in India and bring them to USA on H1B visas in similar business models. H1B reform is important but even more important is to train US students in new technologies. I'm a naturalized US citizen living in San Jose for 17 years. My son is in high school in San Jose and by the time he is ready for college, the 4 year college cost will be $200K. I think that needs to be addressed along with H1B reform. We need to lower entry barrier for US students to get into Science and technology by making college more affordable.
Platforms work as a marketplace for investors to discover potential investments, startups ranging from robotics to SaaS, CPG, and more. From the startup founder’s perspective, the ideal is to have as many quality, engaged investors as possible considering their deal and a clear strategy for raising their full round once launched.
That is precisely why so many investors and startup founders are choosing SeedInvest. Compared with other platforms, SeedInvest is very selective about what startups are approved to fundraise on the platform. As a result, founders raised an average of $3.3 million in 2020, which historically has been higher than other platforms (Source: VentureBeat). A more successful raise is good for founders and investors.
“We are the most highly-vetted platform. We are very particular who we work with,” said SeedInvest CEO Ryan Feit. “We don’t fund ideas and we don’t fund projects. We have raised from a half-million dollars to over $20 million, supporting everything from Seed through Series C.”
One key differentiator for SeedInvest has been building extensive trust with active and influential investors, no matter their check size. Investors love to see spreadsheets, patents and impressive names on the executive team, but they also need to trust their gut instinct and operational experience to make decisions on which startups get money and how much. That’s where SeedInvest delivers — they have built deep trust with many investors.
It all means that SeedInvest companies can raise more money, during and after their online fundraise. Startup investing is risky and not every outcome is a win, but consider some of SeedInvest’s recent portfolio activity:
Heliogen – the first retail investor unicorn in the U.S., going public at a $2 billion valuation Shelf.io – $50M+ Series B raised from Tiger Global and Insight Partners Winc – Bessemer-backed company going public CleanCapital – $300M commitment from John Hancock parent company Apptopia – recently closed $20M round Waycare – acquired by publicly traded company SeedInvest, through its wholly owned FINRA/SEC registered broker-dealer, can help founders and investors navigate these relatively new waters so well because they literally helped write the new rules.
One of the startup founders that SeedInvest has helped is Jan Goetgeluk, the founder and CEO for Virtuix, a VR gaming business that also boasts Mark Cuban as an investor.
SeedInvest is strict about which companies make it on the platform and this helps generate the trust that in turn delivers successful fundraises and positive outcomes for both startups and investors.
One such confident investor is Sunmeet Jolly, who has been using the platform since 2016 and has already invested in 40 startups, mostly in virtual reality, B2B SaaS, robotics and fintech.
“How is Seedinvest different? SeedInvest doesn’t go for volume. They always always go for higher quality deals,” Jolly said. Speaking of startup candidates he has seen on other platforms, “99 percent of them, SeedInvest would not accept them.”
SeedInvest recommends that investors diversify—according to Jolly—encouraging them to set their own startup investment allocation, then spread the amount of money that investor is willing to spend amongst ten or so companies. For Jolly, that has translated into company investments as small as $1,000 (although the platform has minimums as low as $500 for some companies) and as much as $20,000. That gives smaller investors a lot of flexibility.