raise

jiwonmoon·Mar 16, 2021

Hi Elphas! :) Today's a really special day for founders because startups can now raise up to $5M from their closest friends, family and first hundred users who loved them. I've read a lot of founders on Elpha talk about how hard it was to start or continue building their startups because of capital. Starting today (March 15, 2021), founders can use platforms like Wefunder to raise $50k - $5M from their network of friends, family, old coworkers, first 100 users. This is super cool because you can start raising within 10 minutes - with just a deck and a one minute pitch video, and all investors are put under one line on the cap table via SPV (just like how Angelist Syndicate does it!). If you're a founder, this is such a great way to engage your community and use a public raise as the biggest marketing campaign :) Let me know what you think + I'm happy to chat with any founders about raising on Wefunder! Jiwon

Beverlee22·Mar 17, 2021

This looks great from a logistics perspective. Also, though, still relies on people having large personal networks which contain people with money and locks out large swathes of founders who were probably the ones struggling in the first place. If I had people with money in my network I’d go to them directly. Why did you choose to not open it up to the public as a general crowdfunding platform?

jiwonmoon·Mar 25, 2021

Hey there! Yes, people with a larger network may benefit but in most Wefunder campaigns, about half the investors come from your network and the other investors come from the Wefunder network. I had a friend raise on Wefunder and he said 90% of his investments came from Wefunder (rare but still happens!). Wefunder raises work really well for companies with a social impact mission, a crazy moonshot idea or companies with large followings. It's definitely not for everyone but imagine your customers who invest in your restaurant coming back with friends because they want you to be successful. Investors are often invested in your success and it makes them feel good and proud to support businesses they believe in. Could you clarify your second question please? All campaigns on Wefunder are public and open for anyone to invest in. :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!