Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
SEC Reg CF Data Falls Short, Says CCA
Reg CF Data | June 5, 2025
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
Crowdfund Capital Advisors Say U.S. Crowdfunding Data Misses More Than 50% of Campaigns
On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released new data on Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) as part of a broader update on capital formation and private funds. The Reg CF analysis studied regulation crowdfunding activity between 2016 and 2024 and reported that 8,492 offerings were launched by 7,134 issuers, excluding withdrawn campaigns.
But there's a data tracking issue with the SECs data. Of a total of 8,492 campaigns, only 3,869 of these crowdfunding offerings were reported as proceeds to the SEC, totaling about $1.3 billion. That means less than half of all campaigns included final results in the public record.
See: Blossom Sets Canadian Equity Crowdfunding Record
Even the SEC admits the numbers are incomplete in the report:
“This is likely to be a lower-bound estimate due to variance in Form C-U filing practices.”
This data gap has real consequences because it's harder for regulators, investors, and anyone interested in tracking crowdfunding capital flows, as industry evolves.
Sherwood “Woodie” Neiss, principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors (CCA) and long time advisor to NCFA Canada, says this is a structural issue.
“The SEC’s numbers are based on what companies file, not what they actually raise. Most offerings don’t report final results, so the public sees less than half the full picture.”
To solve this problem, CCA built CCLEAR, a real time database that tracks every Reg CF campaign in the U.S. Instead of relying on incomplete filings, CCA collects live data daily from every platform and tracks/records the life of each campaign from launch to close.
5 Key Insights from CCLEAR's Latest Dataset (Jun 2024 to May 2025)
1. Capital Is Moving Toward Real Economy Sectors
See: Equity Crowdfunding Breaks Records in Canada
Reg CF investors are putting more money into healthcare, energy, industrial and manufacturing. Sectors like tech, financial services, and real estate slowed down, while consumer categories like fashion and sports grew modestly.
2. Capital Flows Differ by City
Unlike the SEC who tracks capital by state, CCLEAR tracks it by postal code so it's at a more granular city level, which helps government, funders, and issuers gain deeper insights into crowdfunding capital flows and the startup ecosystem. During the reporting period, Austin, Miami, and New York City experienced growth, while San Francisco and Los Angeles saw declines.
3. Most Campaigns Raise Half Their Total Early
Instead of only reporting how much a campaign raised at the end, CCLEAR tracks activity daily.
- Campaigns on average raise about 50% of their total by Day 10
- The remaining investment trickles in, with a (small) boost near the deadline. This confirms how important it is for founders to start strong and market early.
4. Investors Prefer Simple Securities
This type of platform data is important because it helps manage expectations and lawyers can better align campaign structures with investor interest.
See: CCA Report: State of Investment Crowdfunding 2025
- Common shares and SAFEs make up most of the total raised
- Preferred shares are used more often in mature offerings
- Convertible notes and revenue shares are smaller but growing segments
5. Fewer Investors Are Writing Bigger Checks
The number of investors has gone down but the average check size is rising, signalling that a smaller group of confident investors are staying engaged:
- In 2021, over 515,000 people invested through Reg CF but in 2025, that number dropped to about 233,000
- The average investment increased from $689 in 2020 to more than $1,700 in 2024, and remained steady in 2025
Why It Matters
Regulation Crowdfunding is growing fast, but the SEC only captures less than 50% of the the funding actually raised because they rely on form filings which mostly aren't filed, as their data source. Thankfully, tools like CCA's CCLEAR exist with real time tracking daily at granular levels of a campaign, so markets can understand where the capital is going, who is funding, and how best to optimize the structure of the funding rounds.
See: CSA Expands LIFE Exemption to Boost Public Capital Raising
The implications of the SECs data reporting gap has implications that Canada can learn from as it reviews its own exempt market data practices. Platforms, regulators, and ecosystem leaders need better data infrastructure to best support early stage capital formation. Transparent, real time data is the foundation of market trust, policy design, and smarter investor participation, and is essential.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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