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Stockholm 29/05/2012

New partnership offers one-stop-shop for Crowd Equity Funding

European regulated marketplace operator GXG and Swedish equity based crowd funding innovator Crowd Equity are delighted to announce that an agreement has been signed to integrate respective companies business platforms for the establishment of an unique format and process for the new and booming crowd equity market.

 The cooperation combines in essence a primary crowd equity issuance with a regulated branded secondary trading market for crowd equity funded small and medium sized companies.  GXG and Crowd Equity are first on the market with this offer.

The founders of Crowd Equity, Leo Padazakos and Peter Sjögren together with Peter Almberg the CEO of GXG, are convinced that the crowd equity market, after the introduction of the JOBS act in America, will turn into a real game changer. In order to make crowd equity funding sustainable they strongly believe that it is essential to provide a secondary regulated market.

“A well functional crowd equity market will contribute to the creation of jobs and a more sustainable economy,” says Peter Sjögren, Chairman at Crowd Equity.

“Crowd funding will radically lower the cost for fund raising and investors will enable growth, rather than providing venture capital,” says Peter Almberg, CEO at GXG.

For further information please contact:

Peter Almberg, CEO GXG Global Exchange Group, [email protected]

Peter Sjögren, Chairman, Crowd Equity AB, [email protected]

   About Crowd Equity AB

Crowd Equity has pioneered the Equity based Crowd Funding industry. Crowd Equity has invented the ”local capital” model primarily aimed at the development of local economies through “local investment companies (LIC)”.  The model is equally suited for other thematic groups with a strong and active Crowd. Based on a hybrid financial instrument the model successfully avoids all complex valuation issues, simplifies Due Diligence and consolidates the crowd investment to one single shareholder (the LIC). The model is based on transparency and is licensed through an end-to-end web based platform.

 About GXG Global Exchange Group AB

GXG Global Exchange Group is a holding company that through its fully owned subsidiaries GXG Technology AB and GXG Markets A/S run marketplaces and offer one stop solutions for exchange operators.

 About GXG Markets A/S

I read an article today in the leading Swedish business paper.  The key in this article was that Investors (mainly large investment institutions and pension funds) should look upon the value of the investment not purely from a financial point of view. The investment should also create value for the society. The question is whether this in a short-term perspective will help the world economy to recover and get energized. I like the trend and I think it´s here to stay.

I hope that this “value perspective” will be part of the strategy of many Investors as I am sure that it will give the society a stronger financial system and a more sustainable society. Those Investors adapting this strategy will most likely be able to attract more capital and be more profitable.

To optimize the benefit for the society in connection with investments I think that Crowd Funding is the best solution at the moment. With Crowd Funding it is possible to create a close and active link between consumers and companies. This link will create financially stronger companies and more vibrant communities. The other thing that the macro perspective hasn´t picked up is the concept of Slow Equity. Without Slow Equity I think that large investment institutions and pension funds in a few years ahead will be back in the fast track of more conventional investments strategies.

Whatever is on the macro level I think that the foundation of a new financial environment has to start with Crowd Funding. Changing the mind of the mass will change the way the institutions invest in the future. If we start demanding that our pension funds should be invested in something that will benefit the (local or national perspective) society it will create a stronger society. This will not necessarily mean that the investment is less profitable. Connecting the money, the benefit and the crowd is the core heart of energizing our economy. The government has to take a more active role in the development of Crowd Funding and give Crowd Funding a chance to exist along with all the other initiatives that are sponsored by the government.  

After five fantastic days in San Francisco attending the Crowd Funding Conference my brain is going warm about the crowd sourcing method and thinking. The crowd participating in the conference were a mix of people in their early twenties and the late sixties. The concept is young and Internet based but is for sure in line with the mentality of many. Who wants to sign up for a multinational when you can work in a community anywhere in the world with qualified assignments and great challenges! The only thing you need is an Internet connection and a computer. I am sure that the crowd-sourcing concept will change the way people will work in the future and how we are going to speed up the working process by involving thousands. Even if there are a lot of questions and unsolved issues attached to crowd sourcing today it's a movement that is going to stay.

The one thing that made us really happy attending the conference was the insight that our Swedish Crowd Funding model with Slow Equity is one of the most advanced platforms in the world (if not the most advanced).