Overview:
EquityNet is an equity crowdfunding platform connecting businesses to investors. The company was founded in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 2005, years before the term “crowdfunding” became a buzzword. In fact, before the provisions of the JOBS Act were enacted in 2013 (thereby allowing companies to publicly solicit investors), EquityNet could only share companies’ pitches to investors privately. Upon the JOBS Act taking effect, EquityNet began allowing companies to publicly solicit funding on its platform.
Along with its crowdfunding platform, EquityNet also offers cloud software that allows you to build a business plan that will be viewable to investors and help them decide if your business is worth investing in. In fact, you don’t have to use EquityNet for fundraising at all — if you wish, you can just use the software to analyze and optimize your business planning. It’s the crowdfunding aspect of EquityNet I’m here to focus on, however.
Services Offered:
The thing to remember about EquityNet is that it is a subscription service, not a broker-dealer. This means that EquityNet does not directly facilitate the exchange of funds — rather, it provides a platform for businesses and investors to find each other. Investments are made offline by the parties themselves. This means that while the name of the site is EquityNet, you can seek loans from investors as well as equity investments. You could even seek a grant if you think that’s a possibility.
EquityNet provides a number of paid features to subscribers as well as some free features to non-paying subscribers. Sign up with the site as a business, and for free, you’ll be able to set up and publish a business and funding profile as well as view “summarized” EquityNet investor profiles. You’ll also be able to “crowdcast” your business profile for free — “crowdcast” being a needlessly fancy term for emailing your business profile to your social media and email contacts.
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