Billed as Kickstarter for investing, Wefunder brings private equity investment to the masses. Investors can peruse startups, dig into performance, scroll an Instagram-esque news feed for updates from startup founders, and more. But unlike Kickstarter, investors have the chance to see a return on their investment, either through repaid debt, equity, dividends or other investment structures. However, as in traditional private equity, investors should plan to invest for the long-term — at least five years, possibly even 10 or more.The platform — as it exists today — dates to 2016, when the Securities and Exchange Commission passed its Regulation Crowdfunding law allowing eligible small, private companies to sell securities via crowdfunding. Since then, the platform has helped startups raise over $650 million purely through crowdfunding.Wefunder says that as of 2023, it is the market leader among Regulation Crowdfunding platforms. But Wefunder aims to be about more than just returns. In th...
