Indiegogo is excited to share that we’re teaming up with StartEngine, an equity crowdfunding platform to ensure that our entrepreneurs have access to the capital they need to continue to grow their business after their Indiegogo campaign. The collaboration between us could not have come at a better time. After an initial post-pandemic boom in investment and soaring tech valuations, funding for startups worldwide fell 23% between the first and second quarter of 2022. Economic uncertainty and dwindling stock market returns severely impacted venture capital portfolios and deal-making activity. As a result, savvy founders are now seeking alternative funding sources to help keep their startup dreams alive.
“At a pivotal moment for founders when many VC firms have slowed their pace of investments, we’ve joined forces with a fellow leader in crowdfunding to ensure startups consistently raise the capital they need. What we have created is a funding ecosystem from an idea stage through Series C,”
– Howard Marks, the founder and CEO of StartEngine, explains the unique advantages of joining Indiegogo and StartEngine’s platforms.
The Indiegogo/StartEngine startup ecosystem flow:
- Launch a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform to introduce or solidify a new concept and acquire customers.
- Raise funds for proof of concept and minimum viable product or prototype and build an enthusiastic community of backers.
- Migrate the community as the company transitions to StartEngine to launch a regulation crowdfunding campaign.
- Raise capital to scale the business while simultaneously acquiring new shareholders who serve as champions of the brand, motivated to see it succeed.
Becky Center, the CEO of Indiegogo, believes that joining forces with StartEngine will prove immensely beneficial for companies crowdfunding on the Indiegogo platform. Calling the collaboration “a perfect segue,” Center shares, “A startup can begin raising capital with us to fortify a concept, acquire customers and scale, and when the time comes, we can pass the baton to StartEngine to help them attract shareholders and raise the rest of the way.”
Marks, who also co-founded the video game giant Activision, firmly believes a founder should always be raising. “As we’re seeing in our current economy, you never know what’s coming around the corner…you protect your company by continually raising and maintaining sufficient capital.”
While many founders assume venture capital funding is a necessity, Marks thinks otherwise, especially now the two crowdfunding platforms have teamed up: “The truth is some businesses may never have to take venture capital.” Case in point, funds raised on Indiegogo, combined with equity crowdfunding on StartEngine – which can reach sums as high as $75 million in one round – are often sufficient for companies to reinvest and grow.
