Currently, management teams that include one woman, receive only 17 percent of venture capital, compared to 80 percent of venture capital going to businesses run exclusively by men. Worse still, women led businesses receive less than three percent of venture capital.
So what makes Regulation A+ remarkable? For one thing, it opens the doors to millions of potential investors. Companies, who were previously denied access to funding from accredited investors, now have a new means of raising capital--from anyone.
Under the “traditional funding [rules] (Regulation D, Rule 506 (b) / (c) offerings) companies are either limited to having up to 35 non-accredited investors in their round or completely banned from onboarding non-accredited investors altogether.” Tanya Prive, "Regulation A+: Now Everyone Can Invest In Your Startup," Forbes.
Accredited investors are defined as, “an individual must have had earned income that exceeded $200,000 (or $300,000 together with a spouse) in each of the prior two years and "reasonably expects the same for the current year," according to the SEC. Eric Rosenbaum, "Who qualifies As An Accredited Investor," CNBC.
Thus, under the new Regulation A+ rules, companies can raise up to $75million from accredited and non-accredited investors. This is great news for women led companies who are in desperate need of funding, but have historically been marginalized or underfunded by VC’s.
Thanks to the revamped securities rules, RegA+ platforms, like FundAthena, have the ability to end funding disparity by providing women led companies with an investing platform to raise growth capital.
To learn more check out the FAQ on Manhattan Street Capital and look up our Fund Athena program while you are there.
Rod Turner
Rod Turner is the founder and CEO of Manhattan Street Capital, the #1 Growth Capital service for mature startups and mid sized companies raising capital using Regulation A+. Turner has played a key role in building successful companies including Symantec/Norton (SYMC), Ashton Tate, MicroPort, Knowledge Adventure and more. He is an experienced investor who has built a Venture Capital business (Irvine Ventures) and has made angel and mezzanine investments in companies such as Bloom, Amyris (AMRS), Ask Jeeves and eASIC.
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