WeFunder—whose founders have been heavily involved in federal crowdfunding policy—has previously used its online system to raise money for early stage companies, including Woburn, MA-based flying-car manufacturer Terrafugia.
But WeFunder has not yet taken advantage of state-level equity crowdfunding to open up its website to everyday investors in any particular state. Instead, like most other sites of its type, WeFunder has been waiting for the SEC to put national rules into effect.
That will change with Massachusetts’s new equity crowdfunding rules. Norman said that, since the company is headquartered in Massachusetts, it will soon begin searching for companies that want to open up their fundraising efforts for in-state equity crowdfunding.
“We have all the systems and everything set up to be able to do this. It’s just a matter of finding the right kind of companies,” Norman said.
What’s not clear right now is how WeFunder might make money on such campaigns, Norman said. The state regulations say companies can only get paid if they are registered broker-dealers or agents in the state, which WeFunder is not.
But the company still plans to open its website and systems up to companies and investors seeking to break new ground with equity crowdfunding—keen to make sure it’s capturing the early ripples of what could become a sizable wave of financial change.
“Entrepreneurship is this thing which is just such a part and parcel of the American culture and identity, but so few of us have a chance to play a part in it,” Norman said. “This idea of being able to collectively fund the kind of businesses that you want to exist in your community is really powerful.”
