Indiegogo enlists MicroVentures for a new investment platform

By Brian Heater for TechCrunch

For sites like Indiegogo, supporting a project generally means a pat on the back, a t-shirt, or, best case scenario, an early delivery of whatever it is that company is selling.

Leveraging a recently passed securities rule signed into law by Obama some six months back (part of the 2012 JOBS Act) that lowers the bar on personal investments, Indiegogo is launching Equity Crowdfunding, a platform aimed giving small scale investors a stake in the companies they back.

The platform was launched today in collaboration with investment bank MicroVentures. The investment opportunities are listed on both companies’ sites, though MicroVentures will be handling transactions through its own platform.

At launch, the service will offer investments in a quartet of startups, including ArtCraft Entertainment’s already well-crowdfunded game Crowfall, sports sensor Play Impossible, music social media platform BeatStars and the DC-based distillery Republic Restoratives.

While it’s not the first platform to offer this sort of take on the investment process, Indiegogo remains one of the best known name in the crowdfunding world, as such, this move could help mainstream this manner of small stakes equity offering, particularly with MicroVentures doing a lot of the heavy lifting.

The page is open now, featuring the aforementioned four projects. Individual investments start at $100 and are open to anyone age 18 and up. Pricing will be set by the companies, which are also required to show investors how they will use the money and offer periodic updates on the health of their business.

First appeared at TC