#crowd equity

Equity Crowdfunding Definitive Guide [2021]

Equity crowdfunding is a method through which small businesses and startups can raise capital from the public. Equity crowdfunding is also referred to as crowd equity/crowd investing/investment crowdfunding. In this method, startups/businesses offer their securities in exchange for financing. Many confuse one type of crowdfunding with another. So, before diving deep into equity crowdfunding, we…

If you own your home, installing solar panels on your roof is a sound financial decision in almost every state in the nation.  But what if you are a renter?  How can you benefit from solar energy?  Here are a few ways renters can make their electricity use “green” and improve their environmental footprint…typically while saving some money:

Ask your landlord to go solar. Chances are pretty great that your landlord has not considered going solar.  What landlords typically do not know is that they can improve the desirability of their property by installing solar.  Not only will solar increase the property’s overall value, it can also provide an opportunity for increased cash flow by providing solar electricity for purchase by you, the tenants.  If done properly, the tenants will receive electricity for less than they are currently paying – that is a win-win!  Here are a few tips on what you can say.

Participate in shared solar. Another opportunity for renters to “go solar” is to subscribe to a shared solar project.  This includes solar farms, solar gardens, and other solar projects owned by a municipality, utility, co-op or other organization. Participants typically pay a monthly fee for the energy provided by this off-site solar installation. In return, they get a credit on their utility bill for the energy generated by the panels. 

Purchase renewable energy credits.  Most electric utilities offer options for anyone to assure that their electricity is provided through renewable energy sources like wind or solar.  An example of this is Xcel Energy’s Windsource.  

Install portable solar panels. While most landlords won’t allow tenant-owned panels to be installed on their roofs, they may not object to portable solar panels set up below your window sill or maybe even in the backyard or driveway. Most of these are not nearly as powerful as a regular solar installation, but these solar panels for renters can help to offset at least a portion of your electricity usage.

Solar at small scale. One of the simplest and most inexpensive ways for renters to go solar is to purchase a solar charger for your laptop or phone.

Anyone can invest in startups through Republic

When the SEC announced last November that equity crowdfunding would become legal in May 2016, a lot of folks started talking about the opportunities available. If you’re 18 years or older, you can invest in early stage startups, based upon how much your net worth is. Until now there hasn’t been a platform where you go to invest quickly, have a platform for communication, and manage your…

Wellfundr lance son service Crowd Equity #hcsmeufr #esante #msante

Après une première année de croissance et le financement de nombreux projets e-santé, la plateforme de crowdfunding e-santé Wellfundr se lance en Equity. 

Le crowdfunding est devenu aujourd’hui une alternative efficace au financement classique. En effet, de nombreux projets notamment dans la e-santé ont pu se financer grâce à cette pratique. Wellfundr, première plateforme de crowdfunding e-santé…

A Swedish "delegation" of ten people from different public and private organisations attended the workshop "Financial instruments" in Brussels the 26 October 2012.

Approximately 100 people from all over Europe attended the same workshop; lots of interesting presentations on how different financial instruments have been implemented around Europe along with usability and result statistics. Some of the presenters went into details on regulatory topics and the upcoming programs. 

Crowd Equity (represented by Leo) got an opportunity to present its innovative model for rural financing (Local capital) using its Epipheo (www.epipheo.com ). The final version of our Epipheo will be presented on this site on Tuesday the 30/10. "Local Capital" is a "bottom - up" model in contrast of the many "top-down" models that are in use today. At the same time the model introduces a new financial instrument to the disposition of the regulators and the member States; Virtual Equity. 

Representatives from many countries showed interest in our model. 

We'll get the opportunity to further discuss our model and the possibilities that crowd equity funding offers to small business (especially those in rural areas) in an upcoming meeting the 16/11 in Brussels.

The Swedish Crowd Funding platform Funded by me released it´s Crowd Funding Equity format the other day. As we, Crowd Equity AB, have not yet launched our own platform it was with great expectations we reviewed their offer.

For those not familiar with the Crowd Equity market there are two main formats, brokerage and integrated ownership.  In the brokerage format the Crowd Funding initiator provides for the crowd to make direct investments.  The initiators job is over when the shares have changed hands.  In the integrated ownership format the crowd invest through an intermediary that will make the investment on behalf of the crowd.  The responsibility of the intermediary, which could be the crowd funding initiator, has just started when the crowd has made the investment. From the crowd perspective it may feel better to make a direct investment knowing that you actually are a traditional shareholder. To be honest I am not sure that the entrepreneur will feel the same having 200 shareholders even though they only own a few percentage of the company.  In an integrated ownership format the entrepreneur will only have one shareholder who will act on behalf of the crowd and take responsibility for providing the entrepreneur with competence and business advice.

There are pros and cons with both platforms and time will show which one of the two will be able to create a sustainable financial model for small companies.  I sincerely hope that the launch of the first equity based platform in Sweden will be a starting point for media and politicians to pay more attention to the crowd funding movement and the fantastic opportunities it can create for many.

Finally, after months of work, we got the sought after decision from the The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. This means that it’s a go ahead from the authorities to start the operation. We are still in the process to put the last pieces of the puzzle together so we are almost there... Keep your eyes open, as we will launch any day.  

My partner was interviewed by Euronews a couple of weeks ago regarding the former project e-factory and Crowd Equity. What a marketing opportunity for us!

  The video can be found on the following site: http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/24/business-parties-in-swedish-countryside/

In the early stage of crowd funding people donated money to funky ideas, musicians, artists or things they just liked.  We now see a new phenomenon; your “donation” makes you eligible to receive “a product” that the recipient will produce or has already has produced. It is common that these kinds of projects are “overfunded” which show that there is a market for this new crowd funding approach. It seems to us that crowd funding platforms now are turning into pre-ordering forums for new and exciting products. The only black cloud on the sky is the classification of the transaction.  Can it really be classified as a donation if you get something back?  In our opinion it´s very similar to a traditional sales transaction with its own pros and cons and legal framework. We will follow this trend with great excitement.

At the same time we also see that more advanced platforms are created to facilitate equity based crowd funding.  These platforms signify a shift from an unregulated environment (i.e. donations) to a regulated framework that will attract more attention from the authorities and legislators. It is therefore important that the platforms become more transparent, attract experts from related industries and redefine their relationship with the Crowd. It is too early to say how this industry will develop. Nevertheless, we think that this industry will have a very positive impact on creating new companies, more jobs and improve our economy.  To be continued…