“Investment crowdfunding” is a new and inclusive form of online venture capital market open to all investors, both retail and accredited. It’s like Kickstarter, except the backer gets a share of stock, which would be an illegal public offering of unregistered securities—absent the special exemption adopted as part of the federal JOBS Act of 2012. Since then, many other jurisdictions—including Canada, Australia and the European Union—have enacted analogous legal regimes, each a bit different than the others.
Andrew Schwartz recently published the definitive guide to investment crowdfunding, based on 10 years of on-the-ground research, including as a Fulbright Scholar in New Zealand.
In an upcoming talk hosted by Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Schwartz will address the law and practice of investment crowdfunding in the United States, and compare it with other jurisdictions.
This event will be held Thursday, Nov. 2, at 4:30 p.m. in the School of Law’s Moot Courtroom (Room A59).