Subscribe
Sign in
Republic
p/republicBecome an early investor in the future
Start new thread
Erik Torenberg

Republic - Where everyone can invest in startups & tokens

by•

Republic is an investment platform, where anyone can be an angel investor with as little as $10. For startups, it's a place to get exposure and funding at the same time, while acquiring an army of loyal fans. 95% of Republic fundraises have been successful.

Add a comment

Replies

Best
Shaherose Charania
Congrats to the Republic team on launching this important platform that will open up opportunities for founders and a new set of investors. More from Republic's Founder, Kendrick: https://medium.com/@KendrickEsq/...
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
And here's the launch announcement from my co-founder Paul: https://medium.com/equitycrowdfu...
Niv Dror
Congrats on the launch! For years I've been wanting to invest in starts and wondered why people can go lose all their money in Vegas, but can't put money behind things they believe in. Glad the laws change and that an equity platform like this exists. 🚀🚀
Kirill Soloviev
Is this somehow similar to Estonia's FundWise.me?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@double_u_d Yes, Republic is an equity crowdfunding platform for everyone, regardless of net worth. More on why we do what do: https://medium.com/@KendrickEsq/...
Murice Damion Miller
@kendrickesq Greetings Kendrick. Would there ever be a chance of having something like republic for a specific state, city, organization, or school. Basically, I would like to utilize something like republic for startups in my small town.
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
Hi @m4murice - Startups every where, from small towns to big cities, can fundraise on Republic. Please do check out info on our site for companies (aka issuers) considering the possibility of crowdfunding. Let us know if you have any questions.
Paul Menchov
Maker
@kendrickesq @double_u_d Hi @m00dymatt . You're right, though these are limits put in place by the SEC with the intent of protecting investors. We don't impose our own limits beyond that.
Francesco Strazzante
@kendrickesq Hi Kendrick! Nice idea, we need it! 🙌🏻 why is Republic limited to the only USA? Do you think to release in EU too?
Erik Torenberg
Hunter
Congrats on the launch @KendrickESQ! Can you talk about the moment when you knew you wanted to start Republic?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@eriktorenberg When the SEC announced last November that retail investment crowdfunding would be legal in May 2016, I kinda knew then that it would be a calling. AngelList decided not to operate in the retail space, but Naval and the entire AngelList team have been incredibly supportive of Paul’s and my effort to build Republic. After all, Republic does share AngelList’s mission of democratizing investing. We're just taking it to the general public, whereas AngelList’s fundraising products focus on high net worth angels and investment funds only.
Ivan Lucansky
What's the difference between Republic featured 8 days ago and now?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@ivanlucansky No difference right at this moment, but it will be very different in a couple days. :) Please tune back in soon.
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
@ivanlucansky indeed! Dupe!
Ben Tossell
@chrismessina @ivanlucansky @kendrickesq sorry but previous one should not have been featured because it was not available pre-launch
Thomas Stöcklein
This looks great. Can't wait for the launch.
Katherine Krug
So excited for Republic! Letting customers instead of investors own a piece of your biz while raising capital is powerful. Thanks for bringing this into the world!
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@katherinekrug Thank you for lending your expertise to help us and other entrepreneurs. To have a successful crowdfunding campaign, founders gotta execute a tight strategy post going live.
Karim Daghari
Hey @kendrickesq will it be available for int'l ? If so, when ?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@karimdaghari Thanks for joining Republic. Non-US residents can still invest if they have a US bank account, but US laws don't allow us to work with non-US companies for now.
Annette
Is this also similar to company, @seedinvest?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@annettewon @seedinvest Yes, though we only focus on Title III deals, and not Reg A deals (a different, more late-stage type of public fundraising) or Title II deals (for wealthy individuals only).
Ryan Marr
This is likely a massive question. But what are the geo restrictions on investment / funding? I'm in Canada but can I register a business in the states and get funding?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@ryanmarr That's correct. As long as the company is an operating company and is formed under US laws, then generally it's eligible to run a campaign with us. Please check out https://republic.co/learn/issuer... for more info.
Omar D. Samuels
@kendrickesq @ryanmarr How about on the investor side? Can the investor be from outside the USA?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@odsamuels Yes, anyone with a US bank account can invest on Republic. In the future, we'll accommodate non-US bank accounts as well.
Sasha Kozak
What's your point of gravity for "the best" startups vs. kickstarter? Good startups are equity-greedy :) congrats, really hope you do well!
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@sshkzk Thanks for the support! Psychologically, investors are more committed to helping a company they invested in, compared to someone who made a one-time donation or bought a product. So for us, it's less about competing with kickstarter or other platform, and more about making sure that startups understand the benefits of equity crowdfunding and of Republic's strengths and vision.
Sasha Kozak
@kendrickesq good point! I didn't think of this. Can we expect some kind of slack general channel for the investors then? ;)
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@sshkzk Yes down the road we plan to productize investor engagement for companies fundraised on our site.
Sasha Kozak
@kendrickesq 👍🏼indeed could become that key value attracting better ventures vs. substitutes. good luck guys
Digital Psychology Owl
Woohoo 👍🏼 Awesome platform @kendrickesq and team Republic. I'm sure Republic will open many doors for a whole range of people with great success. Thanks for developing a great, needed and useful exciting new platform. I wish team Republic every success 👋🏽
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@saircourage Thank you for the encouragement. We so appreciate everyone's support. See you on Republic.
Melanie Amini
Love the idea! Looking forward to the launch!
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@themelamini Thank you Melanie. See you on Republic.
Kaustuva Mukherjee
Congrats Republic team! How different is this from flashfunders? Are there any specific structure e.g C-Corp for startups to be able to raise funds?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@kausmukherjee Thank you! As long as you're an operating company (LLC or corporation) formed under US laws, then generally you're eligible to run a campaign with us. Please check out https://republic.co/learn/issuer... for more info.
Kaustuva Mukherjee
@kendrickesq thank you! That's awesome. Is there an email i can shoot to get some more info?
Paul Menchov
Maker
@kausmukherjee @kendrickesq Absolutely, drop us a note at issuers@
Privahini Bradoo
I love the idea, and have been looking forward to someone to execute on this well. Just as a thought, it may be helpful to include feedback from individuals / entities who have chosen to invest in a specific company - essentially, as a way of mimic'ing the "lead investor" effect in start ups - i.e. someone reputable that has vetted a company and is able to articulate the reasons they have invested for others who want to "follow". Ultimately, the risk is still fully borne by each individual investor, but just adds more dimensions to risk evaluation. Anyway, just a thought! Looking forward to using this!!
Brianne Kimmel
Congrats team!
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@briannekimmel Thank you. See you on Republic. <3
Bruno
When companies will be only part of their customers and their workers, maybe the world will run in a better way 🙏
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@bibapeluwap We, too, believe so. :)
Roy Hui
Equity crowdfunding seems like a good idea, looking forward to it. But wouldn't be nice that the "investor" can also offer sth back to the startup? Like connections, consultancy, cooperation, etc. I think many ppl thinks that investment is always only about money, but what makes a Gd investor distinct from the rest is, not only he/she has money, but also has other things that can help the startup company grow.
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@roy_hui Sure, but that's more like equity-compensation for services. That adds a bunch of variables making it difficult to build a model that works for all.
Omar D. Samuels
This looks like a great idea so far. I couldn't figure out if there are international restrictions on who can invest of if it is USA-only.
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@odsamuels for now, foreign investors with US bank accounts can invest on our site. We'll work on accommodating non-US bank accounts soon.
Harold Hughes
What does this do to the cap table of an entrepreneur? If folks are able to get in with a minimum of $10 and I see that some of the campaigns on the home page are raising $100k, how does the final cap table look?
Kendrick Nguyen
Maker
@onebandwagonfan a little complicated to discuss here, but please check out republic.co/crowdsafe and let us know if you have any questions.