Seed Equity, founded by Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year, launches U.S. Registered Broker-dealer and online equity-based investing platform for Startups
San Francisco, CA and Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) August 19, 2014 -- Seed Equity Ventures, LLC (Seed Equity) announces the launch of its U.S. Registered Broker-dealer and proprietary equity-based crowdfunding platform, built to connect investors with entrepreneurs and startups across the globe.
The platform allows entrepreneurs to share information about their startup, carry out due diligence processes, apply for funding, and close formal international investment agreements with multiple investors.
Investors receive the necessary registrations and accreditations, after which they can become mentors or thought leaders for specific industries and keep their eyes on potential investment possibilities around the world.
Seed Equity’s launch comes at a time when the startup market is expanding geographically and investment is being diversified through crowd-funding initiatives.
“Countries like Israel and Chile have actively been supporting their own startup ecosystems through grants and tax breaks which has spurred a boom of promising startups across the globe,” said Seed Equity founder and CEO Todd Crosland, a former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and winner of multiple Inc. 500 awards.
However, hundreds of foreign entrepreneurs continue to move their startups to the US to improve their access to investors who continue to invest mostly in local tech hubs such as San Francisco and New York City.
“This is why we are seeing an increase in equity investment crowd-funding that allow promising foreign entrepreneurs to seek their investments at home,” Crosland adds.
According to recent research, US investors invested $200 million into startups using equity investment crowd-funding campaigns in 2013. Multiple analysts estimate that this amount is likely to at least double this year.
“This trend to seek investment through crowd-funding is much more prevalent abroad, especially in developing tech hubs where the geographical and psychological barriers between the entrepreneur and potential US investors long impeded local startups to push through,” said Crosland.
“Seed Equity was founded to provide growth equity to entrepreneurs whether they are located in San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Bangalore, London, or Shanghai. The company’s mission is to help find the best and brightest entrepreneurs and connect them with global institutional and individual investors,” adds the founder.
The platform “provides investors with greater interaction and transparency with their potential investments. We believe our technology will help assist the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ in the vetting and investing process,” says the founder.
Seed Equity is a registered Broker-dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and a member of FINRA and SIPC.
Crosland stressed that his company provides “one of the first global equity based, social investing platforms that connects startups and growth companies with institutional and individual investors from around the world,” adding that the focus of many prior funding services has been on the US market only.
Seed Equity’s current network already spans countries like the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Egypt, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Romania, Singapore, South Korea and Turkey, Cyprus, Honduras, Nicaragua, United Kingdom and is expected to grow.
The company itself is also branching out and is preparing to open an office in Tel Aviv, Israel, in support of existing offices in San Francisco and Salt Lake City.
In order to create the company necessary to make the platform work, Seed Equity is working with Stanford Computer Science graduate Clifton Crosland and a number of leading members of the team that helped grow Interbank FX, a company founded by Crosland in 2001 and sold in 2011. Interbank FX is a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer, registered with the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission, a member of the National Futures Association and authorized and regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Now, more than ever, startups are rethinking the role of crowd-funding, and Seed Equity -- founded by an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year -- is poised to play a central role at the forefront of that shift.
About Seed Equity
Seed Equity Ventures, LLC is a registered Broker Dealer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of FINRA and SIPC. The firm is authorized to engage in private placement of securities and M&A advisory services. Seed Equity was founded to provide growth equity to Entrepreneurs and their Startups in exciting industries throughout the world. Seed Equity’s mission is to help find the best and brightest entrepreneurs and connect them with global institutional and individual investors.
About FINRA and SIPC
For more information about FINRA, please visit http://www.finra.org.
For more information about SIPC, please visit http://www.sipc.org.
Contact:
Name: Todd Crosland
Phone: 385-887-8496
Email: crosland(at)seedequity(dot)com
Todd Crosland, CEO, Seed Equity Ventures, LLC, http://www.seedequity.com, +1 (801) 554-6182, [email protected]
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