I recently spent time with some of my friends at dinner. We went around the table discussing weekend plans and work schedules. Many of my friends work in medicine, and I like to pester them with questions about bumps, scratches, and rashes on the regular. That evening, they returned the favor. Since I work with startups, I regularly get into conversations that begin with “I have an idea for a company.” But after some time (and explaining), the discussion tends to veer to queries and suggestions about KingsCrowd’s process of evaluating companies. KingsCrowd customers and founders, like my frien ..read more

What Is Debt Crowdfunding? Debt crowdfunding is when a company — usually a small business — agrees to accept a loan funded by multiple investors online. The company must repay the loan (plus interest) to investors over a set period of time. The minimum investment in these loans are typically small, so a company needs several investors to raise the money it needs (that’s the crowdfunding part).  Debt crowdfunding can also be referred to as debt financing or a debt round. We’ll just call them debt deals to keep things easy. You might have also heard of revenue share agreements referred to a ..read more

Note: This is the fourth installment from Rick Bentley, founder & CEO of Cloudastructure. This series is particularly focused on providing advice and insights to founders. You can start at Part 1 here. In this post, he breaks down his experience with running a Regulation A round. $35 million. We’ve raised about $35 million in our Regulation A (Reg A) round so far, and it’s still coming in. In my last update we were $200,000 into our second Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) round on Wefunder. We were on track for something likely around $500,000 when the lockdowns hit in March 2020. We ended ..read more

What Is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)? An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the first sale of stock issued by a private company to the general public. IPOs grant the general public the ability to buy shares and own a portion of a company — often for the first time. Colloquially, when a company has an IPO, it’s said the company is “going public.”  IPOs have numerous pros and cons for companies and investors alike. In this overview, we will introduce the basics of IPOs.  How Do Companies Begin the IPO Process? When a private company goes public, it undergoes the IPO process. A ..read more

Note: At KingsCrowd, we’ve seen all different kinds of investors. Some investors have been studying companies and grilling founders for years. Some have their own experience building companies. Some are familiar with the stock market but have no idea how to approach startups. And others are new to it all. But no matter your investment experience, there are always cautionary tales and lessons to be learned.  That’s why we’re sharing this piece from our friends at Early Investing. Senior Editor Allison Brickell recently took the plunge to make her first-ever investment. We think her reflect ..read more

KingsCrowd is the financial data platform for the online private market. To help investors to make informed startup investing decisions, KingsCrowd provides both quantitative and qualitative ratings for companies’ crowdfunding rounds. The quantitative ratings are powered by KingsCrowd’s patent-pending, AI-driven algorithm supported by a robust online private market database. The qualitative ratings are made by KingsCrowd’s investment team. Selected companies will receive Analyst Reports with a specific rating — Top Deal, Deal to Watch, Neutral Deal, or Underweight Deal.     ..read more

There’s never been a better time to diversify your finances by entering the world of startup investing. As of September 30, 2021, startups have already raised $240 billion this year, even amidst economic volatility thanks to the pandemic. Startup investing is an exciting endeavor — though it can be highly risky with 90% of startups not making it to an initial public offering (IPO). Nonetheless, it can also be incredibly lucrative, particularly when an investor bets on the right business. A great example of incredible returns from startup investing is  Google. In 1997, it raised $1 million ..read more

Using online investing platforms — such as StartEngine, Wefunder, Republic, or Netcapital — is an excellent means of finding a promising startup to invest in. Considering that 90% of startups fail, it’s critical to understand the metrics and characteristics that you should examine when researching these investment opportunities. This valuable knowledge will help you strengthen your investment portfolio by increasing the odds that you will invest in the winning 10%.  In this guide, you’ll get critical and in-depth insights into startup vetting best practices. Towards the end, we’ll offer s ..read more

The popularity of small business debt crowdfunding has been on the rise. Debt or nonequity crowdfunding provides an alternative to equity crowdfunding. With equity crowdfunding, you receive an ownership stake in early-stage companies that have growth potential, and your gains depend on the ups and downs that accompany that startup’s fate. Debt crowdfunding, however, offers an expected fixed return on investments. With debt crowdfunding, you invest money in small businesses with the expectation of being paid back with interest. Debt crowdfunding allows you to spread your money over multipl ..read more

On April 12th, KingsCrowd released an updated navigation experience. So we thought we’d walk you through the strategy and thinking behind the changes.  How We Got Here Over the last three years, KingsCrowd has continuously increased its coverage of the online private markets. As more funding platforms and campaigns launched, KingsCrowd added more companies and more detailed information to the site. KingsCrowd doesn’t just collect third party data though. We produce original content and leverage the data we collect to provide analytical tools and insights. And we wanted to make sure KingsC ..read more