Victoria Bennett, FCIM, BSc(Hons)
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Equity Crowdfunding, Alternative Funding
How Crowdfunding Can Support a Post-Covid World
Bennett Milner Williams Consulting Ltd. | Victoria Bennett | Jan 27, 2022
We are all in the COVID sea, but each of us is on different ships. Companies that rely on face-to-face contact, such as accommodation and food services, have been negatively impacted, whereas online delivery has seen significant growth. The CFIB Small business recovery dashboard shows that as of 19th August 2021, 76% of small businesses are fully open, with 47% fully staffed and 39% at normal sales. The data doesn't show the massive variation within respondents, but it is fair to say, sales for small businesses are, overall, way down.
Women have been disproportionately affected by COVID
McKinsey has been sharing their weekly view on the impact of COVID. Their analysis has shown that although women make up 39% of global employment, they have experienced 54% of overall job losses. Women have been disproportionately represented in industries that have declined due to COVID. Much of the job creation focus has been in male-dominated industries such as communication and construction.
The National Angel Capital Organisation’s (NACO) 2021 report on Angel Investing highlighted the research in Crunchbase's 2020 report. It found that 20% of global startups were woman-founded, but women were less likely to seek and receive financing than men (32.6% vs. 38%). Businesses owned by men are more likely to receive venture capital, angel funding and other forms of leverage such as trade credit and capital leasing. Concerningly, Crunchbase 2020 data shows that the proportion of dollars to women-only founding teams declined, to 2.3%, compared to 2.8% in 2019. Underrepresented organizations, including Black and Indigenous founders, also receive less capital.
See:
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3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
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How Covid has kickstarted Canadian fintech
The reduction in investment in women-only businesses is worrying since women have been disproportionately affected by COVID. The negative impact for women in business during this time has been exponential in nature. It is a double whammy.
I recall speaking at the Global Crowdfunding Conference in 2016 on the increased success for women and underrepresented organisations through crowdfunding. The PWC data supported these findings a year later, with 17% of male-led campaigns reaching their finance target, compared with 22% of female-led campaigns. Overall, campaigns led by women were 32% more successful at reaching their funding target than those led by men, data seen across multiple sectors, geographies and cultures. ESMT's data in 2019, again, backed this up.
If you are curious, the drivers for success include the ability to tell stories that engage potential investors and the ability to multi-task, as it is not one tool that leads to an investment. These skills are often seen well expressed in women.
COVID has changed business permanently
COVID has accelerated change. We've had a lifetime of social change in less than two years. COVID-driven change has opened up opportunities, and if I can say the overused phrase, the opportunity to pivot and create businesses that meet people's new needs. 92% of small businesses have pivoted in at least one way, but many have pivoted in multiple ways. Only 8% did not pivot their business at all to adapt to the current environment.
The biggest challenge for small businesses has been the lack of skills for the new approach. Followed by a scarcity of funds to make the changes needed to survive, thrive or grow.
Crowdfunding’s role in raising capital in a post COVID world
Crowdfunding can play a crucial role to address the capital gap for businesses. We need to raise awareness of crowdfunding in companies looking to pivot and capitalise on the new opportunities—investment in new businesses and investment in women-led, black, and indigenous founders.
Just as we discussed the different journeys each of us has had in the COVID sea, we've also seen different financial impacts. Households in Canada have increased their net savings due to government support and reduced spending. At the same time, the comfort in online financial transactions has increased. Crowdfunding breaks the barriers so that all Canadians, not just the wealthiest, can invest in companies. This releases capital to invest in businesses to help them pivot and capitalise on the new opportunities.
See: Fintech Fridays EP56: How We Raised $426 million Using Rewards Crowdfunding
The capital available for crowdfunding was already pretty buoyant. The transaction value in the Canadian Crowdfunding segment is projected to reach US$23.1m in 2021.
- Transaction value is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2025) of 1.61% resulting in a projected total amount of US$24.6m in Canada by 2025.
- Even though Canada is a relatively large player in the alternative finance space, our Southern neighbour, the US, still leads with a projected $1.2b in total transaction value in 2020. Even with our new harmonised regulations, due in September, Canada's regulations lag behind the US, but that is a separate article.
Our two most recent contracts are with visible minorities, one is a women led and indigenous business. Both are excellent businesses that meet a need in the marketplace. Through crowdfunding they will benefit from growing their awareness and customer base. Crowdfunding has also opened up access to capital for both companies.
Governments have spent a significant amount of money to sustain people and businesses through the COVID crises. But it hasn't been enough to build new businesses and create jobs to replace those lost. The taps will start to be turned off soon. The capital available through crowdfunding can be used to build business and employ the most impacted. I hope the provincial securities commissions and the government will leverage the new harmonised regulations to encourage new companies and new investors.
About the Author
Victoria Bennett, FCIM, BSc(Hons)
Victoria is an NCFA ambassador and Principal of the crowdfunding agency, Bennett Milner Williams Consulting Ltd. She founded The Crowdfunding Hub to provide broader access and support to organisations raising capital through crowdfunding and is a passionate believer in the democratisation of capital through crowdfunding.
This article is featured in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4) --> here
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, 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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UK Equity Crowdfunding Platform Seedrs Achieved Record Funding Levels in 2021
Crowdfund Insider | | Jan 12, 2022
Seedrs, a leading UK-based securities crowdfunding platform that is merging with Republic, has provided a retrospective of 2021 performance.
According to Seedrs, 2021 was a year that delivered record-level funding. The top-line numbers are as follows:
- £696 million invested into securities offerings
- 310 funded deals
- 102 securities offerings of over £1 million
- A 90% funding success rate
- 12 portfolio companies delivered profitable company-level exits in 2021.
See: $100M Crowdfunding Deal: Republic acquires the UK’s Seedrs for European expansion
The largest private offerings listed on Seedrs include:
- Lick – £15 million – most funded
- Ziglu – £7.326 million or 724% as the highest percentage funded
- Chapel Down – £6.95 million involving 4172 investors – the most investors of any securities offering
Seedrs not only facilitates capital formation in the UK but is active in continental Europe having funded 33 EU businesses during 2021. Investors harken from 74 different countries.
A key feature of the Seedrs platform is its successful secondary market – a service that has been years in the making as private securities trading is a challenging task. Seedrs reports that during 2021 trading increased by 60% versus 2020 with £8 million in securities traded.
Continue to the full article --> here
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, 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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A Brief History of Security Tokens And Why This Time It’s for Real
Republic | Janine Yorio | Dec 14, 2021
A multi trillion dollar universe of illiquid, privately held assets stands ready to be securitized on the blockchain. Millions in venture capital is riding on the premise. So why haven’t security tokens caught on yet?
The difference between Utility & Security Tokens
Utility tokens are like chips in a casino. They can be used as currency within the casino for playing games, tipping dealers and sometimes buying drinks or hotel rooms. Holders of a casino’s chips do not own a stake in the casino, nor does it entitle the holder to any of the house’s winnings or profits. Security tokens, on the other hand, are like owning stock in the casino, shares in the company itself. When the house wins, you win. Security token holders own something that might pay off through profits or distributions. Utility tokens are used in an ecosystem. Security tokens give you ownership in that ecosystem.
In 2018, when many notable utility tokens nosedived in value, the crypto community rallied around security tokens and declared that their simplicity would be the salvation of the crypto economy. Some were even saying that security tokens would become crypto’s “killer app.” Venture capital poured into security token projects, lured by the prospect of bringing liquidity to private markets, especially real estate, which is the world’s largest asset class--and one where brilliant minds have struggled to bring true liquidity for decades.
See: More regulation coming: SEC Chairman signals stablecoins and other tokens could fall under its rules on security-based swaps
That year, Founders Fund and Andreesen Horowitz led an unusually large ($28MM!) seed round into Harbor, a crypto startup promising to put ownership of real-world assets on the blockchain. The company’s founder declared that Harbor would do to the real estate market what email did to snail mail. Three years later, the real estate market has escaped any noticeable change. Harbor’s slow attempt to mainstream security tokens is indicative of what has happened across the entire security token industry: big promises, disappointing results. It’s easy to see why people might (wrongfully) conclude that security tokens are a bust.
Why have security tokens been so slow to catch on?
In order for security tokens to achieve their full potential, they must fulfill their promise of liquidity. Liquidity requires two things: a regulated exchange and sufficient trading volume. So far, neither of these requirements has materialized.
Most attempted security token exchanges have floundered. In 2018, well-funded companies like Templum, tZero, Coinbase, Openfinance and Sharespost announced that they would list security tokens on their exchanges. Sharespost was particularly well positioned to do so because they were an existing broker dealer with ATS registration. Three years later, the only exchange which has succeeded even modestly is tZero. However, even tZero, a passion project of publicly-traded firm Overstock.com, only offers two security tokens for public trading, one of which is an affiliate of its parent company. Openfinance, although still in existence, offers securities with a combined market cap of only around $50 million–a mere drop in the bucket.
See: WEF Insight Report: Digital Assets, Distributed Ledger Technology, and the Future of Capital Markets
At the moment, no dominant platform for trading security tokens exists. Furthermore, the complex compliance issues have largely discouraged new entrants. But there is hope. Since security tokens are programmable, compliance can be baked right into the token which should reduce compliance hassles. Compliant protocols like Polymath and Harbor have figured out how to collaborate with exchanges to address these issues.
Trading volume has also been thin, but the expectation that digital securities would trade with the volume and frequency of public equities or cryptocurrencies was flawed from the start. Digital securities represent private investments, an asset class that has always traded infrequently. Adding blockchain does not necessarily incentivize owners to trade them any more frequently.
Exchanges don’t exist and trading volume is thin. Where is the silver lining in all of this?
Security tokens are subject to greater regulatory scrutiny than utility tokens (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) from the US Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Security tokens require full SEC approval to be sold in public offerings to non-accredited investors or traded on secondary exchanges. This is one of the many reasons their growth and adoption has been more modest.
The SEC (once considered an insurmountable obstacle to compliant token offerings) is finally starting to qualify offerings. Nothing pours fuel on a financial product’s fire quite like transparency and regulatory clarity, and it’s happening now.
See: IMF asks Financial Stability Board to develop a global framework for standards for regulation of crypto assets
In July 2019, the SEC qualified the first Regulation A token offering (a $23MM offering for Blockstack) setting precedent for the sale of tokens that are immediately tradable to both accredited and non-accredited investors. They also provided clarity around secondary sales.
In July 2020, Arca Labs began trading its digital security token, the ArCoin, which is registered with the SEC and represents shares in Arca’s U.S. Treasury Fund.
In September 2020, the SEC finally registered an $85 million security token offering from INX, a foreign crypto trading company. This became the first ever security token IPO qualified by the SEC, marking a major milestone.
In April 2021, the SEC qualified a Reg A+ token offering for Exodus, marking the first digital asset security which conferred equity in a US-based issuing company. Exodus subsequently raised $75 million from 6,800 individual investors.
Security tokens aren’t strictly a US phenomenon. In May 2021, a Singapore-based bank issued its first security token offering, a $11.3MM digital bond that pays a 0.6% annual coupon.
These movements may appear relatively small, but they mark an important transition for the crypto industry, as it evolves from the Wild West of the dark web to navigating the daunting obstacle course of regulatory scrutiny. All of these changes pave the way for massive mainstream adoption.
See: Your Complete Guide to Security Token Exchanges
Given all of these positive developments, I have become very bullish on security tokens, but let me be very clear: my enthusiasm has absolutely nothing to do with fractionalization or liquidity. Both of those things are already widely available in the stock market. Tokenization adds very little on either of these fronts.
Instead, let’s be brutally honest about what people love about crypto. (Hint: it’s not their stability or their SEC compliance.) Crypto’s popularity is entirely attributable to its insane volatility--so volatile that 20%+ intraday swings are not atypical. Previous attempts to tokenize stable, income-generating assets have failed to acknowledge this fundamental truth. If the carrot of fractionalization alone were seductive enough to encourage people to invest, then REITs would be as popular as Shiba Inu coin. But they’re not.
The problem with early security tokens like Aspen Coin or the RealT coins is that they seem like they make sense but they offer absolutely zero potential for the kinds of meteoric returns that Dogecoin fans love. Security token advocates point to the stability of underlying assets as an important attribute and one that should breed a strong affinity. But stability contradicts the very ethos of crypto. If security tokens are ever going to induce full-fledged crypto mania, it will be because their issuers finally embrace their volatility rather than try to avoid it.
The perfect security token is one that is secured by real assets--but where the underlying assets themselves offer the potential payout for a moonshot return.
I believe that security token alchemy will occur when an insightful issuer finally creates a SEC-qualified digital security token that has potential moonshot returns. Why?
See: The era of security tokens has begun
Combining the legitimacy of SEC qualification with the rocket fuel of crypto-style returns would be like the gateway drug for all the crypto-curious conservative investors who have dabbled in Bitcoin but are too timid to invest in the types of highly speculative utility tokens which might turn out to be completely worthless. A truly compliant crypto asset backed by actual, quantifiable and verifiable assets with the potential for exceedingly high returns would break the internet--and maybe Coinbase, too.
For investors attracted to the high returns but deterred by an investment backed by nothing more than a white paper and a promise of future utility, the allure of such a security token would be irresistible.
Authored by: Janine Yorio, Managing Director, Republic.co
Republic Realm is a metaverse innovation and investment platform and among the largest owners of digital real estate NFTs in Decentraland, Sandbox and Axie Infinity and among the most active developers of in-metaverse content in Sandbox and Decentraland. Republic Realm is the creator of the Fantasy Islands master-planned community NFT project. Republic Realm is backed by strategic financial and crypto investors and Galaxy Interactive. Republic Realm is based in New York City, and is an affiliate of Republic.co, the alternative investment platform. For more information, visit www.republicrealm.com.
This article is featured in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4 Oct 2021). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4) --> here
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, 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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Kickstarter plans to move its crowdfunding platform to the blockchain
TechCrunch via Yahoo Finance | | Dec 8, 2021
Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter is making a big bet on the blockchain, announcing plans to create an open source protocol "that will essentially create a decentralized version of Kickstarter’s core functionality." The company says the goal is for multiple platforms to embrace the protocol, including, eventually, Kickstarter.com.
Kickstarter is launching a new organization called Kickstarter PBC, which will begin development of the protocol. Kickstarter is funding the project, appointing an initial board for the organization and committing to be one of the first platforms on the protocol, though no specific timelines were offered for when such a transition might take place.
See: FreeRossDAO: Another blueprint for peer to peer Crypto Crowdfunding
The company also announced that they're establishing an "independent governance lab," which will publish research and engage with the community on the topic of protocol governance.
It's an interesting path for Kickstarter, which already shares some philosophical DNA with blockchain products allowing consumers to support projects and build up a community around them while taking a stake in the success of those products. While the "stake" in Kickstarter's model has been a completed physical or digital product, newer blockchain crowdfunding platforms are upending that model by giving users tokens tied to the projects which can accrue in value as the product matures. Some of these efforts are questionably legal, but there are endless ways to obfuscate what exactly is being bought and sold by users.
See: 3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
For the time being it seems Kickstarter is aiming to proceed slowly in terms of how the protocol will impact the user experience.
"As a user, the Kickstarter experience you’re familiar with will stay the same. You won’t 'see' the protocol, but you will benefit from its improvements," a blog post from the company reads.
Continue to the full article --> here
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, 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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FreeRossDAO: Another blueprint for peer to peer Crypto Crowdfunding
PYMTS | Dec 3, 2021
Last month, a hastily formed group calling itself ConstitutionDAO threw together a fundraising scheme to buy a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution at auction, raising $48 million in just a few days.
Now another group is following its playbook in an effort to free dark web marketplace Silk Road’s imprisoned founder. So far, the day-old FreeRossDAO has raised more than 840 ether, worth $3.8 million. In doing so, it is laying the groundwork for a new way of crowdsourcing fundraising.
While FreeRossDAO’s ultimate goal is to get Ulbricht out of his two-life-sentence-plus-40-years jail term, its short-term goal is to win an NFT auction of 10 Ulbricht drawings being sold to raise funds for both the Free Ross campaign and more general prisoner support. The auction is being held on the SuperRare NFT marketplace during Art Basel Miami, which runs from Dec. 2 through Dec. 4.
See: 9 digital assets powering the DeFi revolution?
If its bid is successful, FreeRossDAO is planning to tokenize the 10 Ulbricht NFTs and distribute the $ROSS cryptocurrency to donors, who will own a fraction of the artwork, along with voting rights over what to do with it.
FreeRossDAO plans to put excess funds into a war chest for future projects, also controlled by $ROSS holders.
A Patreon/Kickstarter Hybrid
The high-profile ConstitutionDAO effort ultimately failed to win the historic document, despite having raised more than twice the amount of the auction house Sotheby’s estimate. However, that was because it ran headfirst into the billionaire hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin, who was apparently determined to get the Constitution at any price.
A proof-of-concept test had proven that the structure worked.
See: Monetizing the Creator Economy Through Social Tokens
If FreeRossDAO is successful — and it seems unlikely that any billionaires want Ulbricht’s 10 pencil drawings — it will have created a blueprint for future fundraising efforts.
Combine the increasingly mainstream NFT artwork craze, self-governing decentralized autonomous organizations at the heart of DeFi, and social media — the Discord social chat app and Twitter, in this case — and you’ve got a mashup of Patreon and Kickstarter for the crypto age. Projects tapping into this type of funding opportunity will want to work with a cryptocurrency marketing agency.
What’s a DAO?
In a DAO, cryptocurrency tokens are sold that entitle the holder to vote on control of the project. Once created, the founders cede all management functions to the leaderless organization, creating an organization with no third-party control.
See: 3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
All financial decisions and rule changes are controlled by an automated voting process: X number of votes bring a rule-change proposal before the entire organization, and token holders have a set time period — often a week or two — to vote on it. If enough voters support the proposal, the self-executing smart contract that runs the project automatically implements it.
Continue to the full article --> here
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, 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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$100M Crowdfunding Deal: Republic acquires the UK’s Seedrs for European expansion
Yahoo | | Dec 1, 2021
UK equity crowdfunding business Seedrs - who’s merger with rival Crowdcube was earlier blocked by competition regulators - has been acquired by start-up investing platform Republic in a $100m deal.The move comes after Seedrs criticised the the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year as stifling the UK’s potential to boost startups.
Seedrs was the first ever regulated equity crowdfunding business in the world and has pushed £1.5bn of investment through the platform during its history, even acting as retail investment platform for digital bank Revolut, now a unicorn. The platform was also the first to introduce a secondary marketplace.
Republic is a leading US fintech company that allows people to invest in private market equity, debt or crypto offerings and has almost one ($1) billion dollars under management through its private asset management practice.
See:
Republic Announces $36M Series A to Democratize Access to Investing for Everyone
UK Competition and Markets Authority Not Inclined to Approve Seedrs-Crowdcube Merger
Prior to this deal, Republic and Seedrs had a longstanding partnership where Seedrs advised Republic’s leadership team.
The acquisition of Seedrs follows Republic's recent $150M Series B financing announcement, led by Valor Equity Partners.
Seedrs Cofounder and now chairman Jeff Lynn will continue in his role at Seedrs, and will shepherd Republic’s European expansion, which will now be in a position to take advantage of new EU legislation that has harmonised crowdfunding rules in the bloc.
Speaking to the FT, Lynn said
the new rules “created a true European harmonised regulatory regime, where none existed before,” adding that “the regulatory fragmentation has made it nearly impossible to build platforms of scale — this [reform] gives platforms access to 27 different countries, all under a single regulatory regime.”
US investment firm Davidson Kempner will buy now take the stakes previously owned Seedrs shareholders, mostly for cash. Seedrs also has almost 5,000 smaller investors, including tennis player Andy Murray.
See: FFCON21: Digitally Connected Retail Investors, Stakeholder Capitalism and IPO Innovations
Republic said it will commit additional capital toward expanding Seedrs in Europe “to help deliver new innovations and products for European investors and private businesses.”
Kendrick Nguyen, Republic’s founder, said:
“We knew international expansion was necessary to achieve cross-bordered participation. In working with Seedrs, we have admired their technological capabilities, the strength of their team and their strong presence in the UK and soon Europe. We anticipate further developing the strengths of both companies from retail, secondaries, crypto, and communities to create a clear industry leader.”
Continue to the full article --> here
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, 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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The bright new age of VC is booming—and is itself being disrupted
The Economist | Nov 22, 2021
The market capitalisation of venture-capital-backed firms that went public last year amounted to a record $200bn; it is on course to reach $500bn in 2021. With their pockets full, investors are now looking to bet on a new generation of firms. Global venture investment—which ranges from early “seed” funding for target firms that have not yet developed a product to funding for more established startups—is on track to hit an all-time high of $580bn this year, according to PitchBook, a data provider. That is nearly 50% more than was invested in 2020, and about 20 times that in 2002 (see chart).
The type of investor piling into venture activity has changed just as dramatically. It was once the preserve of niche venture-capital firms run in Silicon Valley. These raised funds from and invested on behalf of pension funds and other end-investors, often relying on vast networks of connections with founders. So far this year, however, only three of the ten biggest venture investors by assets under management have been traditional VC firms.
See: How to Revolutionize the Private Capital Markets
Instead, deals led or solely struck by private-equity shops, hedge funds and others that used to conduct little venture activity are on track to nearly double from $144bn in 2020 to $260bn this year. That accounts for a staggering 44% of global VC activity, up from 20% in 2002. “Crossover” funds like Tiger Global Management, which straddle public and private markets, are deploying capital at a breakneck pace. Behemoth pension funds are increasingly directly investing in startups.
The flood of money from deep-pocketed investors has helped swell valuations. But it is also flowing to once-neglected corners and new opportunities. Venture activity now extends well beyond Silicon Valley and America more broadly, and is financing enterprises working on everything from blockchains to biotech.
The wave of capital is also transforming how VC works. VC firms are adopting new strategies as they seek to differentiate themselves in some respects, and to mimic their Wall Street competitors in others. That comes with both benefits and drawbacks for the business of innovation.
See: Why is venture capital still ignoring women? The case for investing is clear.
End-investors who previously avoided VC are now getting involved. In addition to alluring returns, picking out the best-performing funds may be easier for VC than for other types of investment: good venture performance tends to be more persistent, according to a paper in the Journal of Financial Economics published last year.
The rush of capital has pushed up company valuations. Seed-stage valuations today are close to where series A valuations (of companies that are typically already generating revenue) were a decade ago. The average seed valuation for an American startup in 2021 is $3.3m, more than five times the level in 2010.
The line between VC and other investors is also blurring further, and not just because Wall Street is encroaching onto Sand Hill Road. Big VC firms are becoming more like other asset managers. Sequoia is expanding its presence in public markets. In October it said that its American and European venture funds will sit within a larger, timeless fund. When portfolio firms go public, their shares will flow to the superfund instead of to end-investors.
See: Tiger vs. SoftBank: Inside the investing playbooks that upended Silicon Valley
The time taken to strike a deal has shrunk from several weeks to days, if not hours. Zoom has changed the nature of fundraising.
Continue to the full article --> here
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, 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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