NCFA: Congrats JOBS Act and to everyone who moved the needle back then and continues to move the needle now. This was the catalyst to peer to peer platform finance, emergence of 'arm chair dragons', VC as-a-service, and to the popularity and growth of AltFi and Fintech broadly
Singapore-based platform Cake DeFi has launched its corporate venture arm with $100 million in capital, the firm told Blockworks on Wednesday.
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Online Funding / Investing Portals
JOBS Act of 2012: Ten Years of Legalized Investment Crowdfunding
Crowdfund Insider | | Apr 5, 2022
NCFA: Congrats JOBS Act and to everyone who moved the needle back then and continues to move the needle now. This was the catalyst to peer to peer platform finance, emergence of 'arm chair dragons', VC as-a-service, and to the popularity and growth of AltFi and Fintech broadly
The JOBS Act of 2012 was signed into law by President Barack Obama ten years ago today, on April 5, 2012. In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Republicans and Democrats joined together to help private firms raise much-needed growth capital via online securities offerings.
Under the new rules, Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF), and Regulation D 506c were created. Regulation A (Reg A+) received a key update for a securities exemption that effectively no one used prior to the JOBS Act. Firms using these exemptions were initially able to raise up to $1.07 million using Reg CF and up to $50 million under Reg + – from both accredited and non-accredited investors. Reg D 506c, approved online capital formation from accredited investors. A new financial intermediary was created as well. Funding Portals, a new type of intermediary, are FINRA regulated platforms that are legally able to issue securities under Reg CF (along with regulated broker-dealers).
See: Crowdfunding is Now a Serious Way for Private Ventures to Raise Capital
Now, becoming law did not mean these new rules were immediately actionable. It took the Securities and Exchange Commission years to complete everything. It was only in mid-2016 that the SEC approved the final rules for Reg CF.
Last year, the SEC improved securities crowdfunding rules by raising the Reg CF funding cap from an anemic $1.07 million to $5 million – far more in line with seed rounds. Reg A+ got some attention too as issuers are now able to raise up to $75 million in a min-IPO type offering. There were other improvements too.
Today, securities crowdfunding platforms have raised over a billion dollars – creating new jobs and allowing younger firms – frequently outside established tech hubs – to raise growth capital.
Around the beginning of 2022, CI connected with Sherwood “Woodie” Neiss, Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and a key proponent in the creation of the JOBS Act who was there when the bill was signed into law, said the industry is at a tipping point as investors backed startups at a record pace during 2021. Neiss said that the online capital formation sector is “accelerating as we’ve never seen” before.
Sep 2013: Why is September 24th a Huge Day for Entrepreneurs? Title II of the US JOBS Act and Crowdfunding for Accredited Investors Begins
We reached out to Neiss earlier today for his thoughts on the ten year anniversary of the JOBS Act, he shared:
“It is hard to believe that ten years ago today, we were sitting in the Rose Garden as President Obama signed Regulation Crowdfunding and the JOBS Act into law. Tearfully, I sat there as he called the work that we did walking the halls of Congress, lobbying, testifying, and negotiating the final framework for Investment Crowdfunding a “gamechanger.” Today, like a proud parent, I look over the industry data, and I see how thousands of innovative pre-IPO startups and small businesses all across the United States have been able to turn to a new pool of investors … the American people.”
See: US Investment Crowdfunding Exemptions Explained
“I’m humbled that it has already become a billion-dollar industry; how we delivered on what we promised: a balanced way for entrepreneurs to raise necessary money from willing investors while providing investors with the disclosures the regulators wanted them to see and guardrails to mitigate losses; and how it will forever change the way companies are funded going forward,” he added. “At the same time, I realize there is still much to do, and our work is not done. We will continue to be a champion for the industry, collaborate with the regulators and help scale our nation’s entrepreneurs so anyone with a great idea and a passionate group of investors can perhaps become the next unicorn!”
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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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Coinbase Complies: Starting Apr 4 Monitor Canadian Transactions Above CA$1,000
Crypto Briefing | Mike Dalton | Mar 25, 2022
Rules Reflect Regulatory Change
Coinbase users in Canada will soon be required to report the details of recipients who receive large transactions, according to a notice sent to users.
Those regulations, which came into effect in June 2021, require money services businesses to keep records of virtual currency transactions that amount to $1,000 or more. Coinbase’s decision to announce the rule this week is likely due to the fact that the Canadian authority FINTRAC will begin assessing compliance in April.
See: Snapshot: the regulatory framework for financial services compliance in Canada
According to Coinbase, these changes are being made in response to an anti-money laundering law called the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA).
“Starting on April 4, Coinbase will introduce some changes required by Canadian regulations,” the notice reads.
A copy of the message sent to customers was obtained by Ryan Sean Adams of Bankless, who shared it on Twitter.
See: CSA and IIROC Publish Guidance and Regulatory Framework for Crypto Asset Trading Platform Compliance
Canada has become a topic of discussion within the crypto community of late. In February, the Canadian government attracted attention when it ordered exchanges to block addresses connected with the convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions.
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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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Crowdfunding is Now a Serious Way for Private Ventures to Raise Capital
Crowdfund Insider | | Mar 22, 2022
Traditionally, only accredited investors, private equity firms, or major financial institutions have been able to invest in early-stage, high-growth companies before an initial public offering. While there are many VCs and angels out there, they hear many pitches, they have many options, their funding often makes up only part of what a start-up needs and can come with some significant strings attached.
But in March 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) changed a key regulation known as Regulation A, Tier 2, now enabling U.S. based companies to raise up to $75 million every 12 months from a wider range of investors, including retail investors. This was a major, under-reported addition to the startup founders’ toolkit.
See: On-chain capital is the future of startup funding
Blockchain and digital investor onboarding technology are now making it comparatively easy for founders to turn to retail investors in funding their still-privately held businesses, with shares issued in the form of tokens securely recorded on public blockchains such as Avalanche, Algorand, Ethereum, or permissioned chains if more privacy is needed. This can be a fundamentally better way to raise capital, and privately held companies and their customers are already taking notice.
Unlocking wealth creation
Gone are the days of Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle, whose early IPOs were seen as opportunities for individual investors to share in unicorn-driven wealth. While an IPO used to be a sign that a company had “made it”, today it can just as easily be a sign of its decline. Creating a market for shares of private businesses before they go public can create both liquidity and eliminate the fall to earth that often follows an IPO.
Let’s explore why a Mini-IPO capital raise from individual investors can make sense for your business:
- A Mini-IPO allows you to raise capital directly from your existing customers and fans, creating an opportunity to deepen, cement and increase the value of those relationships.
- When your customers are also your shareholders, their interests become even more tightly aligned with yours.
- Because a Mini-IPO is an almost entirely digital process, you can perform one much faster and less expensively than a traditional IPO, since tasks previously performed by transfer agents, lawyers and other middlemen during business hours can be performed automatically by smart contracts in milliseconds.
- Issuing your shares on the blockchain also allows you to manage your shareholders digitally, with real-time investor cap tables, instantaneous reporting, and much tighter control over investor communications and rewards (more on that below).
See: US Investment Crowdfunding Exemptions Explained
- A Mini-IPO is a sector-agnostic solution. Whether you’re an established tech start-up, a consumer products company, in hospitality or real estate, you can turn to your customers for your next capital raise rather than relying on angels and VCs.
- This has other advantages, too: your customers are already invested in your business emotionally (as early adopters) and with their dollars. When they become shareholders, they are more likely to understand and stick with you through growing pains and can be involved in growing your business without the need to surrender control or board seats.
- Finally, a Mini-IPO can increase the liquidity of your shares since secondary markets now exist to trade these digital asset securities. Since businesses are remaining private longer than ever, founders and early investors traditionally need to wait approximately 10 years before finding liquidity. By creating the ability for individuals to invest and trade in your private company, no longer are you unable to sell shares to willing buyers when you need to buy a new house, put a kid through school, launch another start-up, or have unforeseen life events.
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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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Can You Make A Cash Advance Online?
Guest Post | Mar 24, 2022
Do you ever wonder what it is like to get quick cash/ advance online? Do you have questions regarding the system of giving cash advances online? If you want to know more about how this online system operates, then continue on reading to find out all there is to know.
Workings of cash online
It does not matter whether you are someone who has to pay for medical bills, recently suffered from illness, or needs to pay pending payments; there are simple and quick ways that you could easily get funds from online. Now you might be wondering how reliable they are and on what basis do these online websites/corporations lend money to borrowers.
See: Solution to Consumer-Centric Payments Innovation in America
The reason why they are so popular is that these cash advances charge high fees just for you to borrow them. Although you can get a hold of money quickly, you do have to pay it back in a week or two, and if you fail to do so, you might get late fees charged.
Difference of cash advance and other loans
Many people have their doubts regarding the workings of cash advance online as they believe it or be a scam or fraud when this is not the case at all. One of the differences between cash advances and other forms of loans is the fixed rate that is applied. The rate in cash advance is much higher than the traditional loan system.
On average, you could get a loan of around 500 dollars which is paid back in a day or two, whilst in another loan system, the loan itself is high and can be paid back in years rather than days.
Getting cash advance with bad credit
When you are getting a cash advance online, you do not have to go through the traditional process of giving credit/ bank information or any personal finance data, but rather have to provide them with the eligibility of your employment and pay stubs. Now what this essentially means is that you could still get cash online even if you have overall bad credit. If for some reason, you are looking to get a cash advance online that comes with a lower interest fee, you could get it if you have an excellent credit score. If you want to know more, click on the cash advance app.
Pros of cash advance
When it comes to talking about the advantages, there are countless such as being extremely easy to qualify for. Unlike other loan methods, in cash advance, you do not have to go through multiple steps and gather documents, etc.
Although there will be some background checks made, the overall process is relatively quicker and more efficient.
Another benefit of cash advances online is that you could use them to solve your urgent problems such as pending taxes/ payments/ bills/ and much more.
Thirdly, the overall process of applying for a cash advance is easy, meaning that all you have to do is visit the webpage and apply online. After you are done, you just have to wait for a few hours before getting a reply back.
Conclusion
So now you know how cash advance online operates and what are the core elements to it. In recent times the use of cash advance online has become quite popular due to its efficiency and high reliability.
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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Corl raises $20 Million USD to expand Revenue-Based Financing in North America
FoundersPress | Eric Rafat | Mar 14, 2022
In many scenarios, VCs are often looking for ‘home runs’ and won’t always see the potential of every company – plus the cost of equity can be expensive, not just in terms of dollars but also company dilution. This is where ‘Capital-as-a-Service (CaaS)’ comes in. In exchange for a percentage of monthly revenue, companies can get the funds they need to grow their business. CaaS companies, like Corl, have a clear understanding of needs for capital injection, whether it’s increasing inventory, expanding marketing efforts, or growing headcount, businesses need upfront investment to set themselves up for success.
See: On-chain capital is the future of startup funding
Corl believes that companies should have access to growth capital that is fair, fast, and flexible. They use a proprietary AI software to analyze their financials to give businesses an initial assessment –it takes just 10 minutes to complete and less than 24 hours to find out if they qualify for financing. With preferential rates and flexible repayment plans, CaaS companies are making growth capital a more attractive option for businesses that operate in the digital economy.
This type of growth capital is well-suited to Software-as-a-Service, e-commerce, and other technology companies that need quick non-dilutive capital to grow, such as tech-enabled HR consulting firm Bridger. After taking capital for Corl, they increased their customer base by 170% and revenue by 136%.
Just a couple years in and with over $35 million in capital deployed, Corl is continuing to grow. They just announced a raise of $20 million USD from NAOS Finance –a major and well-established DeFi investment company that has worked with top technology companies from across the globe. This capital will be used to finance more businesses seeking revenue-based financing in North America.
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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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Singapore-based Cake DeFi Launches Venture Fund with $100M Capital
Blockworks | | Mar 9, 2022
Singapore-based platform Cake DeFi has launched its corporate venture arm with $100 million in capital, the firm told Blockworks on Wednesday.
The new venture arm, Cake DeFi Ventures (CDV) will focus its investments across Web3, the metaverse, the NFT space, gaming, esports and fintech spaces that will benefit its core business, it said.
See: OECD Report: Why DeFi Matters and Policy Implications
“In order to grow and innovate, we have to leverage and engage with external technologies and startups,” Florian Preiss, Cake DeFi’s marketing manager, told Blockworks. A part of the platform’s internal funds will be attributed to the venture arm, Preiss said.
The venture arm will be led by the company’s co-founders Julian Hosp, CEO, and U-Zyn Chua, chief technology officer. While the company is based in Asia, it will invest in other opportunities globally.
Cake DeFi is a fintech platform that manages over $1 billion in customer assets. It focuses on creating DeFi (decentralized finance) services and applications like liquidity mining, staking and lending, which generates cryptocurrency returns for users.
Its user base grew ten-fold in 2021 to over 400,000 users, and $230 million in rewards were paid out to customers during that time frame, it said. The company plans to pay out about 74% more, or $400 million, in rewards to customers by the end of this year.
See: Legendary DeFi Builders, Andre Cronje and Anton Nell, are Exiting Crypto
This initiative by Cake DeFi is the latest push for growth and capital in the metaverse, gaming and NFT (non-fungible token) space. In general, investments in these subsectors have ramped up in the past few months as crypto-based companies and supporters alike pool capital into the space.
Last month, GameStop and Immutable also launched a joint $100 million fund for gaming NFTs. In January, Mechanism Capital created its own $100 million fund focused on play-to-earn gaming. In November, FTX, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Solana Ventures joined forces to create a $100 million Web3 gaming investment initiative, Blockworks previously reported.
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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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What Are Some of the Best Canadian Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms?
First National Realty Partners | Roni Davis | Jan 31, 2022
If you are looking for ways to invest in real estate, using a crowdfunding investment platform might be your best option. Luckily, there are a few Canadian crowdfunding investment platforms that act as a bridge between real-estate opportunities and eager investors. Before exploring different crowdfunding platforms available to Canadians, let's define some terms!
What is Crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding as an investment strategy has been around for a long time. An individual investor has a limited amount of capital to invest with. This puts expensive commercial real estate investments out of reach for all but the wealthiest of individual investors. However, a bunch of individual investors can pool their capital to invest together in a property. This is the crowdfunding investment strategy – it allows smaller investors to get a piece of larger investments.
What is a Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform?
Real estate crowdfunding platforms serve as the marketplace between investors and investment opportunities. Essentially, these platforms help investors find attractive opportunities to invest in.
What do Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms do?
These platforms perform many of the critical tasks that are necessary to invest successfully in commercial real estate. Individual investors often do not have the time and resources to perform the essential research, engage in the grueling recruitment of other investors, and manage the legal contracts, paperwork, and other laborious details usually involved in commercial real estate investing.
Successful commercial real estate investing requires the dedicated labor of full-time, professional investors. Crowdsourcing platforms will charge investors a fee that pays teams of professional investment strategists and account managers to handle all of the hard work that commercial real estate investing requires.
These crowdfunding platforms make investing in commercial real estate much easier for the average investor because they handle the hard work.
What Are Some Canadian Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms?
Canada generally has stricter regulatory laws than its neighbor down south. Because these regulatory laws are more stringent and can vary between province and territory, the landscape can be confusing to navigate for the average investor.
Many popular crowdfunding platforms do not operate in Canada because of these restrictions. This lack of foreign competition has led to some high-quality home-grown Real Estate Investment Platforms.
Let’s explore some of these options:
NexusCrowd
This crowdfunding investment platform is considered the most viable Canadian alternative to popular platforms like Fundrise and CrowdStreet. NexusCrowd partners with highly-vetted and successful institutional investment firms to offer their users high-quality investment opportunities.
NexusCrowd also has a significant role in professionally managing their investment opportunities. They only partner with institutional investors who meet their high standards and perform their own due diligence before an opportunity is posted on their platform.
See: $100M Crowdfunding Deal: Republic acquires the UK’s Seedrs for European expansion
The minimum investment is relatively expensive, coming in at $10,000. This puts NexusCrowd out of reach of smaller investors and acts as a paywall, ensuring investors are committed to their investments. Also, investors must be accredited, which means the average person cannot invest with NexusCrowd.
NexusCrowd only curates opportunities that have already reached 50% funding, making investing with NexusCrowd lower risk. Customers can also choose specific properties to invest in, giving them a tangible, physical quality to their investments.
However, if the $10,000 minimum puts NexusCrowd out of reach, there are other more affordable crowdfunding platforms to explore.
addy Invest
If you are more of a casual investor, then addy might be the platform for you. Investors do not need accreditation, which opens up investment opportunities for many Canadians. In fact, addy markets itself as an investment platform for everyday people who might otherwise not be able to afford to get into real estate investing.
Like NexusCrowd, users invest in specific properties, giving their investments a certain tangibility. The minimum investment amount is an astoundingly low $1. However, addy caps investments per property at $1,000 for unaccredited investors.
Addy offers an attractive deal for the average person looking to get started in real estate investing. It is a great foot-in-the-door option for new retail investors to explore the world of real estate investing.
Fundscraper
Fundscraper is a unique alternative to crowdfunding platforms like NexusCrowd and addy. The previous platforms allow investors to choose the specific properties they want to invest in, giving them more freedom but exposing them to higher risk in the process because investment portfolios are not diversified.
Fundscraper offers specific properties for users to invest in but also offers more diversified REITs and real estate ETFs. REITs and ETFs invest in real estate developers, management companies, and other investment companies. These companies are publicly traded and can be invested in like stocks.
See: 3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
The minimum investment for Fundscraper is $5,000, making it an attractive compromise between NexusCrowd and addy.
What Real Estate Crowdfunding Investment Platform is Right For You?
When deciding on a real estate investment platform, you need to consider your aversion to risk, how hands-on you’d like to be with your investments, and how much you can invest. You should never invest more than you are willing to lose, as there is always a level of risk associated with investing.
About the Author
Roni Davis is a real estate investor, blogger, and legal assistant who writes for First National Realty Partners.
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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