Who we are

About StartEngine

StartEngine enables everyday people to become angel investors and venture capitalists by giving them access to startup investment opportunities.

our history

Launching the First Campaign

We’ve been in the equity crowdfunding business since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) enacted Title II of the JOBS Act in June 2015, which allowed everyday people from the US and around the world to invest in small US businesses through public crowdfunding campaigns. In fact, we launched the first equity crowdfunding campaign ever and specialize in Regulation Crowdfunding and Regulation A+.

We’re in the business of helping other businesses raise capital from the crowd—their customers, friends, and the adventurous investors that are a part of the StartEngine community—and no one’s been doing this longer than we have.

Pioneering the future

Industry Leadership

Under the leadership of our co-founder & CEO Howard Marks, a co-founder of video-game giant Activision, we have established ourselves as industry leaders and a viable alternative source of capital for businesses. In fact, StartEngine is the 10th fastest-growing private company in California, according to the 2020 Inc. 5000 Series list.

To date, we’ve raised over $200M on our platform from the 300,000+ StartEngine users. We’re good at what we do, and it’s why we use equity crowdfunding for our own business too.

A New Age of Fundraising

Why Businesses Need the Crowd

Access to Capital

There are nearly 6 million businesses in the US that employ staff, and the majority of them need capital to grow. There’s no reason that a great idea should fail just because they can’t raise the money they need to develop into a profitable business.

Finance is Outdated

Existing financing options, such as private equity and venture capital, can’t fund all of these businesses. There needs to be an alternative. That’s where we come in.

Democratizing Capital

We believe that any driven entrepreneur with a great idea should be able to raise capital, and so we’ve built a platform where they can pitch their business and the investment opportunity to the crowd.

Meet Our Team

Leadership

Howard Marks

CEO of StartEngine

Before co-founding StartEngine, Howard co-founded Activision and was the Chairman of Activision Studios from 1991 until 1997. As a former Board Member and Executive Vice-President of video-game giant Activision, he and a partner took control in 1991 and turned the ailing company into the $37 billion market cap video game industry leader, selling millions of games.

 

Howard was also the founder and CEO of Acclaim Games, a publisher of online games that was later sold to The Walt Disney Company. Howard is the 2015 “Treasure of Los Angeles” recipient, awarded for his work to transform Los Angeles into a leading technology city, and a member of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s technology council. He is bilingual and a triple national of the United States, United Kingdom, and France.

Partnership

Kevin O'Leary

Strategic Advisor

Kevin O’Leary is a renowned businessman and investor. He founded SoftKey, an educational software company, that he led to a $4B acquisition. After the acquisition, Kevin eventually found himself on television, quickly becoming a sought-after host and personality on a range of shows – including Discovery’s Project Earth, CNBC, and ABC’s Shark Tank.

 

Kevin has since launched O’Leary ETFs; O’Leary Fine Wines; and a best-selling book series on financial literacy. In 2014, Kevin founded O’Leary Financial Group – a group of brands and services that share Kevin’s guiding principles of honesty, directness, convenience, and above all, great value.

 

Kevin has joined StartEngine as a Strategic Advisor. He is a StartEngine shareholder and a paid spokesperson to help bring awareness to equity crowdfunding and StartEngine’s platform.

Meet The Team

Johanna Cronin

Chief Marketing officer

Allen Jebsen

Vice President, Sales & Business Development

Josh Amster

Vice President, Sales & Business Development

Jon Reyes

Director of Compliance & Due Diligence

Teddy Rounds

Director of Campaign Strategy

Meagan Holmes

Director of Investor Services

Ryan Deslauries

Director of Trading

Diana Ciraulo

Senior Account Manager

Chase Klyn

Business Development Representative

Max Crawford

Content Marketing Manager

Ali Jafri

Software Engineer

Gabe Beitcher

Account
Manager

Andy Chung

Director of Client Marketing

Joe Mathews

Director of Technology

Ryan Kim

Software Engineer

Doryn Fine

Account Executive

Daniella Mohazab

Account Executive

David Maliglowka

Campaign Strategist

Rob Creaser

Chief Compliance officer

Jay Chen

Counsel

Rachel Walker

Counsel

David Leonard

Investor Services
Team

Matthew Quan

Issuer Services Representative

Rose Weinmann

Business Development Representative

Amir Sedghi

Software Engineer

Becca Rogers

Issuer Services Representative

Aren Fakhourian

Senior Software Engineer

Iñaki Pedroarena-Leal

Head of partnerships

Devender Gollapally

Staff Software Engineer

Josh Chu

Sr Manager, Growth Marketing

Katie Hasman

Business Development Representative

Sophie Mekjian

Business Development Representative

Kenrick Ong

Staff Software Engineer

Audrey Small

Campaign Strategist

You?

we are hiring!

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Important Message

IN MAKING AN INVESTMENT DECISION, INVESTORS MUST RELY ON THEIR OWN EXAMINATION OF THE ISSUER AND THE TERMS OF THE OFFERING, INCLUDING THE MERITS AND RISKS INVOLVED. INVESTMENTS ON STARTENGINE ARE SPECULATIVE, ILLIQUID, AND INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK, INCLUDING THE POSSIBLE LOSS OF YOUR ENTIRE INVESTMENT.

www.StartEngine.com is a website owned and operated by StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. (“StartEngine”), which is neither a registered broker-dealer, investment advisor nor funding portal.

Unless indicated otherwise with respect to a particular issuer, all securities-related activity is conducted by regulated affiliates of StartEngine: StartEngine Capital LLC, a funding portal registered here with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and here as a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), or StartEngine Primary LLC (“SE Primary”), a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and FINRA / SPIC. You can review the background of our broker-dealer and our investment professionals on FINRA’s BrokerCheck here. StartEngine Secondary is an alternative trading system (ATS) regulated by the SEC and operated by SE Primary. SE Primary is a member of SIPC and explanatory brochures are available upon request by contacting SIPC at (202) 371-8300.

StartEngine facilitates three types of primary offerings:

1) Regulation A offerings (JOBS Act Title IV; known as Regulation A+), which are offered to non-accredited and accredited investors alike. These offerings are made through StartEngine Primary, LLC (unless otherwise indicated). 2) Regulation D offerings (Rule 506(c)), which are offered only to accredited investors. These offerings are made through StartEngine Primary, LLC. 3) Regulation Crowdfunding offerings (JOBS Act Title III), which are offered to non-accredited and accredited investors alike. These offerings are made through StartEngine Capital, LLC. Some of these offerings are open to the general public, however there are important differences and risks.

Any securities offered on this website have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. StartEngine and its affiliates do not provide any investment advice or recommendation and do not provide any legal or tax advice concerning any securities. All securities listed on this site are being offered by, and all information included on this site is the responsibility of, the applicable issuer of such securities. StartEngine does not verify the adequacy, accuracy, or completeness of any information. Neither StartEngine nor any of its officers, directors, agents, and employees makes any warranty, express or implied, of any kind whatsoever related to the adequacy, accuracy, or completeness of any information on this site or the use of information on this site.

Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors. An investment in private company securities is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. Each investment also carries its own specific risks, and you should complete your own independent due diligence regarding the investment. This includes obtaining additional information about the company, opinions, financial projections, and legal or other investment advice. Accordingly, investing in private company securities is appropriate only for those investors who can tolerate a high degree of risk and do not require a liquid investment. See additional general disclosures here.

By accessing this site and any pages on this site, you agree to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, as may be amended from time to time without notice or liability.

Canadian Investors

Investment opportunities posted and accessible through the site will not be offered to Canadian resident investors. Potential investors are strongly advised to consult their legal, tax and financial advisors before investing. The securities offered on this site are not offered in jurisdictions where public solicitation for offerings is not permitted; it is solely your responsibility to comply with the laws and regulations of your country of residence.

California Investors Only – Do Not Sell My Personal Information (800-317-2200). StartEngine does not sell personal information. For all customer inquiries, please write to contact@startengine.com.

StartEngine Marketplace

StartEngine Marketplace (“SE Marketplace”) is a website operated by StartEngine Primary, LLC (“SE Primary”), a broker-dealer that is registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and the SIPC.

StartEngine Secondary (“SE Secondary”) is our investor trading platform. SE Secondary is an SEC-registered Alternative Trading System ("ATS") operated by SE Primary that matches orders for buyers and sellers of securities. It allows investors to trade shares purchased through Regulation A+, Regulation Crowdfunding, or Regulation D for companies who have engaged StartEngine Secure LLC as their transfer agent. The term “Rapid,” when used in relation to transactions on SE Marketplace, specifically refers to transactions that are facilitated on SE Secondary, This is because, unlike with trades on the StartEngine Bulletin Board (“SE BB”), trades on SE Secondary are executed the moment that they are matched.

StartEngine Bulletin Board ("SE BB") is a bulletin board platform on which users can indicate to each other their interest to buy or sell shares of private companies that previously executed Reg CF or Reg A offerings not necessarily through SE Primary. As a bulletin board platform, SE BB provides a venue for investors to access information about such private company offerings and connect with potential sellers. All investment opportunities on SE BB are based on indicated interest from sellers and will need to be confirmed. Even if parties express mutual interest to enter into a trade on SE BB, a trade will not immediately result because execution is subject to additional contingencies, including among others, effecting of the transfer of the shares from the potential seller to the potential buyer by the issuer and/or transfer agent. SE BB is distinct and separate from SE Secondary. SE Secondary facilitates the trading of securities by matching orders between buyers and sellers and facilitating executions of trades on the platform. By contrast, under SE BB, SE Primary assists with the facilitation of a potential resulting trade off platform including, by among other things, approaching the issuer and other necessary parties in relation to the potential transaction. The term “Extended”, when used in relation to transactions on SE Marketplace denotes that these transactions are conducted via SE BB, and that these transactions may involve longer processing times compared to SE Secondary for the above-stated reasons.

Even if a security is qualified to be displayed on SE Marketplace, there is no guarantee an active trading market for the securities will ever develop, or if developed, be maintained. You should assume that you may not be able to liquidate your investment for some time or be able to pledge these shares as collateral.

The availability of company information does not indicate that the company has endorsed, supports, or otherwise participates with StartEngine. It also does not constitute an endorsement, solicitation or recommendation by StartEngine. StartEngine does not (1) make any recommendations or otherwise advise on the merits or advisability of a particular investment or transaction, (2) assist in the determination of the fair value of any security or investment, or (3) provide legal, tax, or transactional advisory services.

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