Startup Talk: SEC Adopts Final Rules On Crowdfunding, Arkansas To Act Soon
by March 26, 2015 12:31 am 165 views
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SEC ADOPTS FINAL RULES ON CROWDFUNDING, ARKANSAS TO ACT SOON
After nearly a three year wait, the Securities and Exchange Commission finally adopted final rules on crowdfunding that would allow smaller companies to offer and sell up to $50 million in securities over a 12-month period to fund startup activities.
Essentially, the unanimous vote by the SEC commissioners opens the door for equity crowdfunding ventures to offer investment opportunities to anyone willing to put up to 10% of their net worth in a startup, without being an accredited investor.
“These new rules provide an effective, workable path to raising capital that also provides strong investor protections,” said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. “It is important for the Commission to continue to look for ways that our rules can facilitate capital-raising by smaller companies.”
The 5-0 by the SEC comes almost exactly three years after President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act into law in April 2012. By law, the new rules were due by December 2012, but securities regulators kept delaying what some say will be a game-changer in the way entrepreneurs raise capital to birth their business ideas.
Arkansas Securities Department Staff Attorney Kaycee Wolf tells Talk Business & Politics that state securities regulators are currently having internal discussions about adopting new crowdfunding rules for Arkansas’ fast-growing startup community. Securities officials in Arkansas, like many other states, were waiting to see what the SEC would do.
“We definitely want to make the right decision and protect the Arkansas investors,” Wolf said. “But we realize the climate is rapidly changing.”
Click here to see the news release on the SEC decision.
ARKANSAS STEM COALITION TO HOST CONFERENCES FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS
A series of one-day conferences over the next two months will seek to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers for young girls. The Arkansas STEM Coalition, working with the Arkansas Department of Higher Education and the Arkansas Department of Career Education, recently received a $76,000 award from the Carl D. Perkins Technical Education Act of 2006 to support the conferences. Read more about them here.
JACKSONVILLE STARTUP HOPES TO EDUCATE ARKANSANS ON VEGAN LIFESTYLE
A Jacksonville startup that hopes to educate Arkansans about the benefits of the vegan lifestyle was the key presenter at Wednesday’s edition of 1 Millions Cups at the Arkansas Venture Center in downtown Little Rock.
Kendalyn Mckisick and Natashia Burch told an audience of nearly 40 people that they decided to start That’s So Raw in a Jacksonville storefront nearly nine months ago out of the necessity to find food choices that help cure illness and disease, along with sharing their knowledge about vegan wellness – or the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products in food.
GRAINSTER FORMS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH CANADIAN SOFTWARE FIRM
Cotton Rohrscheib, COO of Grainster, announced that his firm has been in talks with Farm at Hand Software of Vancouver, British Columbia and the two companies have formed a “mutually beneficial strategic partnership,” according to the Grainster blog. The partnership will explore the integration of their two platforms to form a comprehensive farm management-grain marketing platform.