The latest site to enter into this innovative support-sphere is CrowdfundSuite. The online portal is designed to allow existing crowdfunders and interested private capital industry stakeholders to more successfully navigate the dizzying array of alternative finance opportunities. CrowdfundSuite boasts services ranging from platform access, to expert consultation across rewards, debt and equity models. The site will not only target entrepreneurs and investors, but also broker-dealers, financial advisors, lawyers and accountants – many of which will soon begin hotly pursuing an easier method of engaging with the alternative finance phenomenon. The CrowdfundSuite team possess an in-depth knowledge of the space, having helped to raise upwards of $40m since 2012.
Founder Bret Conkin offered an insight into his motivations for launching CrowdfundSuite:
“Powerful forces are turning the capital markets on their head yet alternative funding is still in it’s infancy. The plethora of online platforms, revolutionary new North American securities regulations and social media’s growth are key factors to the disruption facing broker dealers, banks, angel groups, financial and legal advisors, and other industry players. We started CrowdfundSuite to help our clients profit by identifying alternative funding strategies and bringing new crowd capital solutions to market.”
The hub will launch with three platform partnerships already in place. Users will have access to the rewards giant FundRazr, early-stage equity crowdfunding platform SeedUps Canada, and peer-to-business lending platform InvestNextDoor. The balance of rewards, equity and debt is beneficial for both fundraisers and investors. For the former, raising a small amount of money through rewards, before attracting some seed-stage equity finance, and ultimately taking out a number of working capital loans – represents a very typical young business lifecycle. CrowdfundSuite caters for each of those stages. From an investor perspective, diversification should not only be sought after through one particular platform – but also by investing across a number of different platforms. CrowdfundSuite can streamline that process too.
Make no mistake, CrowdfundSuite enters into a competitive space – as Ryan Weeks’ recent stab at sizing up the aggregation market will tell you. We’ll watch closely to see if CrowdfundSuite’s drive for crowdfunding clarity can make it a strong contender for the heavily sought-after crown of the one-stop-shop for alternative finance.
