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Our most popular questions about Getting Started

On StartEngine, you support startups and early-growth companies that you are passionate about. This is different from helping a company raise money on Kickstarter. You aren’t buying products or merch. You are buying a piece of a company and helping it grow. In time, you may make a profit on your investment if the company grows and becomes more successful, and your investment holdings become worth more.
The majority of offerings on StartEngine are common stock, but some companies raise capital through convertible note, debt, and revenue share. You can invest in companies from all kinds of industries, from green tech to professional ultimate frisbee leagues.
With Regulation A+, a non-accredited investor can invest a maximum of 10% of their annual income or 10% of their net worth per year, whichever is greater.

With Regulation Crowdfunding, non-accredited investors with an annual income or net worth less than $124,000, are limited to invest a maximum of 5% of the greater of those two amounts. For those with an annual income and net worth greater than $124,000, the investor is limited to investing 10% of the greater of the two amounts.

There are no restrictions for accredited investors.
An accredited investor is a person who has a networth of at least $1 million (excluding their primary residence) or earns at least $200,000 in income consecutively for the two most recent years – $300,000 if combined with a spouse. A non-accredited investor is everyone else!
Calculating net worth involves adding up all your assets and subtracting all your liabilities. The resulting sum is your net worth. For examples, and more information about how to calculate your net worth, feel free to reference this SEC investor bulletin
Anyone over 18 years of age can invest on StartEngine. However, if you are younger, a parent could invest in your name by setting up a UTMA or trust. To learn more about how much you can invest, please review the SEC Investor Bulletin.

Secondly, while we do not market in UK or Canada, or solicit investments from UK or Canada, we are aware that regulators from certain UK countries or Canadian provinces have raised questions with respect to sales to UK or Canadian investors, and are taking the view that merely accepting money from UK or Canadian investors is a transaction that they have jurisdiction over, and that such offerings have to comply with the UK or Canadian equivalent of registration of the offering, or find an available exemption. In light of this position, and in order to protect the companies who post their offering with us, we are not currently accepting investments from UK or Canadian investors. However, we can now accept accredited UK investors. Please reach out to contact@startengine.com if you have any other questions on whether or not you are able to invest.

Both Title III (Regulation Crowdfunding) and Title IV (Reg A+) help entrepreneurs crowdfund capital investments from unaccredited and accredited investors. The differences between these regulations are related to the investor limitations, the differing amounts of money companies are permitted to raise, and differing disclosure and filing requirements. To learn more about Regulation Crowdfunding, click here, and for Regulation A+, click here
All available financial information can be found on the campaign pages for both Regulation Crowdfunding and Regulation A+ offerings. You can find that information under the “Terms” tab.

Campaigns that are currently Testing the Waters are not required to display their finances until they go into live offering mode. If you have questions for a company, feel free to submit a comment in the “Comment” tab of their campaign page, and they will respond to you directly.
If a company does not reach their minimum funding goal, all funds will be returned to the investors within 10 business days after the closing of their offering.
If a company has reached their maximum funding goal, you can submit an “indication of interest.” An indication of interest is similar to a reservation. It’s a non-binding commitment that allows you to be placed on a waitlist for any offerings that are oversubscribed, meaning they have raised more than their maximum funding goal. This is not an investment and does not guarantee a place in the offering.

If your indication of interest is accepted, you will be notified to sign your binding agreement. You will have only 72 hours to sign the approved indication of interest. If you do not sign the agreement within 72 hours of being notified, you will be bumped to the bottom of the waitlist. If your binding agreement is pre-signed, the investment will automatically get pushed through once off the waitlist.

Can I cancel my indication of interest?
You can cancel your indication of interest at any time up until 48 hours before the target deadline. If you cancel your indication of interest, you will lose your place on the waitlist.

When will I become an investor in this offering?
You will not become an investor in this offering unless your indication of interest is accepted and pushed off the waitlist, and you sign your binding subscription agreement via email, within 72 hours of notification. There is not a defined timeframe, as to when/if your indication of interest will be accepted. StartEngine will only push investors through to the next phase if space becomes available in the round.
To contact the company directly, please leave a comment for them on their campaign via the comments section and a member of their team will respond to you shortly. You can also reach out to them via their website.
You can reset your password by clicking “Forgot Password”, which is located on the Login page below “Password.” Once you click “Forgot Password,” you will be asked to enter your email. After you enter your email and click “Submit,” we will send you further instructions.

Once the email arrives, please open it and click on the “Reset your password” link provided. You will then be prompted to enter a new password and confirm that password. After you do so, you will be logged in and redirected to the main StartEngine page. Once logged in, you will be able to reserve shares, follow companies, and/or invest.
The StartEngine Venture Club is a bonus granted to certain StartEngine shareholders that allows them to earn a 10% bonus when investing in companies on StartEngine. Learn more about the Venture Club here.
All StartEngine users are automatically subscribed to our newsletter. If you would like to sign up to be a part of the StartEngine community, please go to https://user.startengine.com to receive our newsletters, reserve shares and invest!

It is very easy to unsubscribe from any emails or company updates that you no longer want to receive. Every email that we send out has an unsubscribe link under the signature of the email. Simply click the link, and you will automatically be unsubscribed from these sorts of emails. You can also go into your settings and uncheck the boxes for notifications you no longer wish to receive.

Please also make sure to check your Watchlist that is located in your Portfolio. This means you are following the company, and will be emailed updates about them.

To manage your watchlist from a desktop you can follow these steps:
  • Log in to your StartEngine account at: www.startengine.com
  • Click on the person icon in the top right-hand corner
  • Select "Portfolio"
  • Click on "Watchlist" on the upper right hand corner of your portfolio
To deactivate your account, please contact the Investor Experience team here or reach out via contact@startengine.com. We are sad to see you go!
If you have questions that have not been answered in the FAQ, please reach out to us here. We will do our best to answer your questions as quickly as possible.
Investor FAQ - StartEngine