{"id":9622,"date":"2014-10-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=9622"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:59:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:59:39","slug":"looking-raise-first-round-heres-need-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/looking-raise-first-round-heres-need-know","title":{"rendered":"Looking to raise your first round of capital? Here’s what you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

What should entrepreneurs know before raising capital online?<\/b><\/p>\n

Raising startup financing \u2013 as a first time or seasoned entrepreneur \u2013 is always rollercoaster ride even during best financial times.<\/p>\n

There has been a lot of debate about the relationship between online and offline fundraising and whether one is more preferable than the other. We at SeedInvest<\/a> believe that both methods should be used in tandem to complement each other. Online fundraising can be a great way to gather initial investor interest; however, the strongest relationships are still solidified in real life. Also, if you don\u2019t live in traditional venture capital hubs (New York, San Francisco, Boston), then having an online presence will allow you to connect with the right investor regardless of where you live.<\/p>\n

What is the value of fundraising online?<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s tech ecosystem, there has been a proliferation of capital sources available to entrepreneurs from angel investment groups, accelerators and incubators, business competitions, crowdfunding platforms, and VCs. Exploring all of these funding options can be time consuming and overwhelming, so it\u2019s important to stay organized and focused.<\/p>\n

By building a centralized online profile, you can perfect your fundraising pitch and leverage social validation through press mentions, awards, advisors, and other influencers. Then you can drive interest from your targeted audience to generate dialogue either online or offline in the most cost effective and efficient way. An online fundraise should always be part of your entrepreneurship tool box.<\/p>\n

How can companies leverage general solicitation when raising capital online?<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2012, President Obama signed the \u201cJumpstart our Business Startup Act\u201d (JOBS Act) into law. This ended the ban on general solicitation, which was previously prohibited in the United States under the Securities Act of 1933.\u00a0 Thanks to the lifted ban, companies can publicly fundraise to online or offline investors as well as generate publicity for their businesses, establish their brand, and connect with potential customers.\u00a0 General solicitation means you can advertise your fundraise on your website, across social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), shout it from the rooftop, or employ any other avenues of public advertising.<\/p>\n

All in all you should leverage general solicitation as a new channel to find and engage with investors, customers, or supporters of your business.<\/p>\n

What is the biggest myth regarding online fundraising?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Online fundraising is not just a back-up plan, but rather it should be considered part of a startup\u2019s fundraising strategy from the get-go. It\u2019s true that there is no panacea \u2013 a magical platform where you can post your company\u2019s profile and expect money to flow freely from the sky. However, there are many great ways to leverage platforms such as SeedInvest to centralize all of your offering documents and build connections with investors so that you can get funded faster and easier than ever before.<\/p>\n

For example, Atlas Wearables is now raising\u00a0a $1.5 million\u00a0seed\u00a0round of which $1million has already been committed. Atlas\u00a0<\/a>produces a wearables fitness band that is designed not only to count your steps, sleep, and heart rate but also to independently detect and log every exercise you perform precisely enough to differentiate between push-ups vs. triangle push-ups, simultaneous vs. alternating dumbbell curls, etc., and to proactively suggest technique improvements.\u00a0Atlas recently conducted a\u00a0successful\u00a0Indiegogo campaign<\/a>,\u00a0with more than 4,000 units pre-ordered and $629,000 raised in 60 days, which was widely covered in the press, such as FastCompany<\/a>,\u00a0Techcrunch<\/a>,\u00a0and GigaOm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What does our company look for when choosing companies?<\/b><\/p>\n

We are looking for early stage tech companies that are solving real-world problems with an innovative edge. We want to know:<\/p>\n