The StartEngine Index: Let’s Talk About Food (& Beverage)
May 2018
The following data covers Regulation Crowdfunding raises between May 16, 2016, and May 31, 2018. Data is sourced from all publicly disclosed Form C filings with the SEC, as well as public websites.
Standard Analysis
Index: 1147
In the month of May, businesses raised over $7.7M via Regulation Crowdfunding, bringing the total capital raised to $114.7M in just over two years since the date of the first Regulation Crowdfunding campaign.
There are currently 331 offerings accepting investment ranging across 52 industries, ranging from Biotechnology to Childcare. In the month of May alone, 70 companies filed offerings with the SEC, 28 of which were on StartEngine’s platform.
Top Campaigns in May
The Full Raise Amounts for the 10 Largest Live Reg CF Offerings in May
Same as in April, the top campaign this month was SeedInvest’s WorldViz, LLC. As noted in April’s Index, the top two offerings listed raise amounts over the legal limit of $1.07M, meaning that they accepted oversubscriptions and cannot accept the full amount they raised when the funds are disbursed. 4 of the top 10 companies are in the Food & Beverage industry, three of which are breweries, yet another indication of how successful this industry has been with Regulation Crowdfunding to date.
Industry
The top three industries in May accounted for 51.7% of funds raised this month. Food & Beverage and Technology have been the top two industries since inception, but this month Blockchain asserts itself at the start of summer with over $1.3M raised spread across 19 offerings. To date, there have been 27 offerings in the blockchain industry, 17 of which are, or were, hosted on StartEngine.
State of Operation
The top 10 states raised over 80% of capital this month, Texas leading the way with over $1.7M raised. Interestingly, to date Arizona has raised the least capital of any of the states in the graph above (with $741K raised since inception), but this month the state increased its total raised by 60%, largely due to Atlis Motors’ momentum, which is an electric pick-up truck company.
County of Operation
Denton County (outside of Dallas) raised the most capital in May with a total of $1.07M due to Coinvest, a crypto wallet and investing platform, reaching its maximum. This is the first time Denton County has appeared in the Index as the county has raised just $300K prior to this month.
The Most Successful Industry
Of all the industries that have used Regulation Crowdfunding, Food & Beverage has far and away been the most successful. To date, Food & Beverage companies have raised $22.8M, or 19% of all capital raised via Regulation Crowdfunding.
For context for just how much more this is than other industries, Technology companies have raised the second most capital, and they are at nearly half of what Food & Beverage companies have raised with $11.9M.
Not only have companies in this industry raised the most capital, but they do it the most successfully. 72% of Food & Beverage offerings achieve their minimum raise amount or more, allowing the companies to accept the funds. Oddly enough, Sports & Fitness companies are second with a 70% success rate.
59 Food & Beverage businesses have successfully raised capital via Regulation Crowdfunding, 23 have failed, and 54 are in progress.
Where are these companies raising? In many ways, Food & Beverage companies follow the breakdown of all industries: Texas, California, and New York businesses raise more than other states. What’s interesting about the data is that Texas leads the country for Food & Beverage companies ($6.8M to California’s $5.1M) whereas California has a significant lead across all industries ($41.3M to Texas’ $16.6M). It appears California is not the home of food & beverage the same way it is Regulation Crowdfunding in general.
As for security type, most food & beverage companies are raising capital through the sale of debt (61 offerings sold debt). Some funding portals, NextSeed being the largest, have built their business around debt funding for Food & Beverage companies.
Most Food & Beverage companies are registered as LLCs, but across all industries 68.2% of Regulation CF offerings are done by corporations.
Raising in Los Angeles County
~$11.9M
raised to date
~$967K
raised in May
9
offerings filed with the SEC
38
offerings in progress
