Dreamfunded
Dreamfunded is a crowdfunding platform founded in fall 2014 by Manny Fernandez, an angel investor and serial entrepreneur. It lets both accredited and non-accredited investors back early-stage companies, with the platform taking 5% of closed rounds plus 2% of the shares offered. The interview reports over 30 closed deals and more than $35 million raised across both investor types, but no revenue figures were disclosed.
Fernandez codified what he learned from high-tech angel investing into a platform. Its goal is to let everyday investors put in as little as $100 into early companies that are not a fit for venture capital.
- •Opening the platform to non-accredited investors, which Fernandez says Dreamfunded was among the first in San Francisco to get approved for, gave it a supply of small checks that traditional angel and VC routes do not serve.
- •Fernandez's existing angel group and due diligence record gave the platform credibility when sourcing and vetting deals before listing them.
- •Taking a percentage of both the amount raised and the equity offered aligns the platform's income with successful raises.
- •Early regulatory positioning, through involvement with the JOBS Act rules and an early application as a registered funding portal, let the company move before competitors.
- 1.Build credibility in the deal-sourcing niche first by running or joining an angel group and doing rigorous due diligence before listing any opportunity.
- 2.Research the securities rules for your market early, such as the JOBS Act Title III rules, and apply for the required registration before competitors do.
- 3.Design fee structures that earn from successful raises, for example a percentage of the amount closed plus a small equity stake.
- 4.Show minimum closing thresholds and deal terms on the listing page itself so non-sophisticated investors can make informed decisions.
Similar Companies
G2
$5.0M/moG2 is a leading business software review website and marketplace founded in 2012 by Godard Abel. The company has scaled to over 500 employees and raised $257 million in capital, achieving unicorn status at a $1.1 billion valuation. G2 generates over $5 million in MRR today and targets $100 million in ARR next year through its core G2 Marketing Solutions for vendors, plus complementary products like G2 Track (SaaS spend management) and G2 Deals (marketplace procurement).
Hive Blockchain
$2.5M/moHive Blockchain is a digital currency mining company founded by Harry Pochgranti that validates cryptocurrency transactions on blockchain networks, primarily Ethereum. The company went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in September 2017, raising $17 million on day one followed by additional equity raises totaling approximately $200 million Canadian by end of 2017. As of Q1 2018, Hive operates mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden with a $30 million annualized run rate revenue.
FreshConnect
$2.5M/moFreshConnect was an online B2B marketplace for fresh agricultural produce that achieved ₹2.5M MRR (₹25M ARR) through offline sales and WhatsApp-based customer engagement, but failed to scale due to poor hiring decisions, lack of focus, insufficient capital, and inability to raise external funding. Co-founder Tarun Gupta and his team eventually accepted an acqui-hire deal after 19 months of full-time work, during which the startup burned ₹100,000-150,000 monthly while bootstrapped.
Collective
$1.0M/moCollective raised $50M in funding to compete with HR and business management platforms like Rippling and ZenBusiness. The company has achieved approximately $1M MRR, indicating strong product-market fit and growth trajectory in the HR/business operations space.
Event SaaS
$500k/moEvent SaaS is a SaaS platform that has achieved significant growth, reaching $6M in annual recurring revenue with 100% year-over-year growth. The company raised $28M in funding at a $128M valuation, demonstrating strong market traction and investor confidence.
AI-extracted from the linked source. Monthly revenue can include one-time sales or donations, and may describe a later stage than the first-customer story.