How does Title III crowdfunding work?

You can find startups that are raising funds under Title III on the Offerings page of the MicroVentures website. These are companies that MicroVentures has already performed due diligence on, a process that includes evaluating the company’s product or service offering, business model, intellectual property, product roadmap, leadership team, addressable market, competitive landscape, regulatory environment, user traction, historical and projected financials, and more.

Before you can make an investment using the MicroVentures platform, you must first create a MicroVentures investor account. Once you have done that and selected a company you would like to invest in, you will make your investment online through the MicroVentures funding portal. This portal is registered with the SEC and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

You must make your investment before the deadline stated in the offering documents. If the company reaches the target offering amount prior to the deadline, it may set a new deadline and close the offering early. In those cases, the company must give five business days’ notice about the new deadline.

After making your investment, you may cancel it up to 48 hours before the offering deadline. After that point, your investment will be final. Your investment will be made via ACH transfer to a specified escrow account held by MicroVentures on the startup’s behalf.

Once you have made an investment in a startup, you will hold private equity in that company. The value of your stake in the company may increase or decrease over time depending on how the company performs. You will receive cash or stock return on your investment if and when a positive liquidity event occurs – for example, as a result of the company going public or getting acquired by another company. Please bear in mind that startup investments are long-term investments that may take years to become liquid, if they do at all.