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START.ac Crowd Funding Platform Update – 5/15/2012
The innovation from the START.ac crowdfunding platform continues to roll. We just received an early copy of the latest press release from START.ac and as you will read they are taking the lead in driving the Crowdfunding revolution. Be sure to visit START.ac today for a test drive.
San Diego, California – May 15, 2012
For IMMEDIATE Release:
TITLE: CrowdFunding Platform START.ac Launches to Upgrade Current Model and Democratize Venture Capital.
Summary: START.ac Expands the CrowdFunding Market to Include Startup Businesses, Technology; Expands Geographical Participation
San Diego, CA – START.ac has launched today with a new formula for CrowdFunding and the VC Industry. START.ac’s goal is to evolve the current CrowdFunding model by extending it to fund new businesses and technology products, adding global scope, and making the process more enjoyable and engaging for Supporters.
The brainchild of Rod Turner [Ashton Tate, Symantec, ArtSlant], START.ac has been developed over the past year, to be a comprehensive CrowdFunding platform that evolves the current CrowdFunding model as well as the VC industry as a whole.
Turner is expected to announce START.ac’s official launch via a 9:00 am [PST] webcast. Click here for the link to the webcast.
“The current VC model is outdated,” said Rod Turner. “Investments are highly concentrated in Silicon Valley and similar VC hubs at the expense of 90% of the start-up opportunity across the US and around the world. In addition, current CrowdFunding platforms are too narrowly focused in scope or geography. START.ac will democratize the VC industry in a way that is not yet being addressed.”
START.ac is not just a place to upload a project; Turner’s objective from the beginning, was to build his business in such a way that world class executives and entrepreneurs play meaningful roles by leading, educating and advising START.ac’s Project Drivers every step of the way. In addition to expanding the categories and geography of projects supported in the CrowdFunding space, START.ac counts the following amongst its innovations at launch:
• The InsideTrack™ – Which allows Supporters to engage with the projects they fund.
• CrowdAudition™ – Which inverts the existing model, by involving the START.ac community in giving constructive feedback, and the selection of projects to put up for fundraising.
• Mentor Program – START.ac offers support and advice for Project Drivers, by assembling and involving experienced executives and entrepreneurs.
• CrowdAccelerator™ Program – Which provides for dedicated involvement from Mentors for funded businesses.
• STARTBusinessRewards™ – Which rewards Supporters of funded projects on major company milestones, offering ongoing emotional payback to the Supporters who funded the Business.
• NOWReward™ Program – New type of CrowdFunding reward that expires based on time and date. It motivates Supporters by creating a genuine sense of urgency and rarity, long before a project reaches its funding end date.
• NOWAlert™ – Which alerts the START.ac community of upcoming events so they are able to act before they miss out on an interesting opportunity.
•PromptPayProgram™ – Which pays a Project Driver as soon it reaches its funding goal.
•CrowdAltruism™ – Which offers the option to contribute tothe PayItForward Fund™, which will go toward community selected altruistic causes.
START.ac will help those new to the category understand CrowdFunding and invites those with a great idea for a business or a project to have it funded on START.ac.
For more information about START.ac visit www.START.ac or contact:
Jayni Butta
[email protected]
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In the next few months we will see an exciting new player enter the crowdfunding space. Currently START.AC has a very basic webpage in place, some basic information on crowdfunding and a nicely put together video on the topic. What caught our eye was the fact that over 8,000 people have already “liked” START.ac on Facebook. With that type of following prior to much information being available, we new we had to contact the company and try to find out more. We found them to be incredibly responsive to our request, which bodes well for the customer service we can come to expect from START.ac.
Here is a piece of the email we received, have to admit, it got us pretty excited about Start.ac entering the Crowd Funding space:
“At the summary level – START.ac expands the CrowdFunding market to make a home for startup businesses and technology products. We are also an international CrowdFunding site. In other words, START.ac is the professional, international CrowdFunding site for startups and tech products.
We have made nine innovations that improve upon the status quo in CrowdFunding. One is that we have inverted the product selection process. Potential projects go into CrowdAudition, where our members give feedback and advice to improve the projects where relevant. The members’ input plays a key role in selection of which projects go to funding. Taking this approach also means that rejected project’ drivers know why they were rejected, and can better decide if and how to improve their current project, or start from scratch.
We are assembling a bench of Mentors – experienced entrepreneurs and executives who want to help the new guys avoid the mistakes they made.”…..WOW
This is the type of innovation and excitement that will drive equity crowdfunding. I for one am very excited to see what comes out of this crowdfunding start-up.
I would encourage you to sign-up at START.ac and keep them in-mind for your upcoming crowdfunding offering or investment.
Certainly more information to come as we receive it from Start.ac and they enter the marketplace.
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This review was only posted last night. The review made mention of START.AC having 8,000 fans on Facebook. The facebook page for START.AC is now up over 9,000. Talk about creating excitement in the crowdfunding space… WOW
Already over 10,000 people have liked the Start.ac Facebook page as of this writing. That’s incredible for a new crowdfunding website, especially since there are other crowdfunding websites out there. It looks like Start.ac has an excellent future ahead of it and will offer participants a good platform for their fund raising goals. It’s great that they are entering people into a drawing for a free Apple iPad. Nice incentive!
With START.ac being the professional, international CrowdFunding site for startups and tech products, could we be seeing the start of a new “tech bubble” like we saw in the 1990s?
START .ac is a completely different model from the usual crowdfunding websites out there, but this is a good thing. I just read up on all the information on how it works and some of the things that stand out are Inside Track, CrowdAudition, and Mentor Program. Basically what they do is they allow you to get the investors involved in the project and they’ll help you with critique, brainstorming, or even boost of moral support. It’s like hiring a quality assurance team for free! Actually, they pay you to help make your dream come true. My initial impression of start .ac is simply amazing.