FlashFunders has launched a no-fee, online equity funding platform aimed at helping start-ups raise capital efficiently, while also opening up access to start-up investing for accredited investors.
Founded by Europlay Capital Advisors, law firm Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, and co-founders Vincent Bradley and Brian Park, FlashFunders' platform helps entrepreneurs navigate complex SEC regulations and offsets costly legal fees, while giving accredited investors unprecedented access to start-up investment opportunities.
FlashFunders provides a turnkey solution for raising capital and a marketplace where entrepreneurs can connect directly with accredited investors across the globe.
FlashFunders ensures all investors are accredited and that all offerings are SEC-compliant and executed using FDIC-insured escrows — which are created and paid for by FlashFunders.
"We worked with FINRA over the past year to expand the scope of our broker-dealer license, allowing FlashFunders to operate an online equity funding platform in a regulated environment," says Vincent Bradley, the co-founder of FlashFunders. "We felt it was critical to ensure our platform was compliant for both start-ups and investors. Online equity funding is in its infancy and seeing tremendous growth; by engaging with FINRA, we're leading the way for how it should be done — creating an industry standard."
"Ninety seven per cent of the 8.5 million accredited investors in the United States currently don't partake in start-up investing," says Mark Dyne, the chairman and founder of Europlay, a seed and early-stage investor in technology companies. "This is largely because they don't have access to early stage companies. Leveraging technology and decades of combined experience in finance, venture investing, securities law and start-up operations, FlashFunders provides entrepreneurs and investors a secure, SEC-compliant user experience, with e-Signature technology and document management capabilities backed by a team of FINRA-registered representatives to help ensure successful offerings on the platform."
FlashFunders creates a safe and intuitive process that allows investors to view start-up offerings and execute investments legally and properly in minutes using Flash Seed Preferred documents and e-Signature technology.
FlashFunders has created "Flash Seed Preferred," a set of safe, balanced and transparent investment documents that have been customised to facilitate fundraising on the platform, further streamlining a process that would otherwise take months of road shows, multiple middlemen and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to execute.
The announcement is the first phase of FlashFunders' rollout. Additional enhancements to the user experience will be added over time along with new tools and technologies to increase functionality and scale. Offerings from start-ups will be incrementally uploaded by the site's concierge service, which assigns a live team to guide entrepreneurs through the process.
