ImpactAlpha, March 18 – The New York-based crowdfunding portal was ready for the new crowdfunding rules that now allow companies to raise up to $5 million. Republic hosted the campaign for online creator marketplace Gumroad, which became the first company to hit the new cap – in a single day.
Then Republic announced a blockbuster round of Series A financing for itself.
“We are at the early stages of a multi-decade super-cycle of retail empowerment,” said Richard Kim of Galaxy Interactive, which led the round along with Tribe Capital, Motley Fool Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures. Prosus Ventures made a strategic investment through a purchase of Republic Notes, a profit-sharing digital security.
Republic, founded in 2018 by former AngelList executives, facilitated 48 “regulation crowdfunding” and accredited investor deals that raised $17.45 million in January and February, more than double the number of deals for the same period last year, and more volume than it saw in all of 2019. Republic has also acquired crowdfunding sites focused on real estate (Compound), small business (NextSeed), and video games (Fig).
Funding the crowdfunders
Republic isn’t the only crowdfunding portal making hay. Wefunder launched a fundraise on Honeycomb Credit, a Pittsburgh-based portal that that raised a $1.7 seed round this week to fuel its national expansion.
