EquityNet Introduces Free Crowdfunding Tool

Fayetteville’s EquityNet LLC, a co-mpany that serves as an online matchmaking marketplace for entrepreneurs and investors, has announced it will release free crowdfunding tools on its website.

Crowdfunding essentially is the raising of small amounts of capital from a large pool of investors, primarily by using the Internet and social media. It has gained steam since President Obama’s signing of the Jump-start Our Business Start-ups Act in April legalized crowdfunding for private businesses in exchange for equity stakes.

The first of EquityNet’s free tools to be released is its “Startup Risk Calculator,” which is designed to reveal risks, provide probability of success and offer strategies to increase the likelihood of success. It does so by asking a series of questions chosen from EquityNet’s patented “Enterprise Analyzer.”

The questions deal with factors such as the amount of capital invested, difficulty in obtaining funds, degree of business planning and annual industry growth rate. The calculator then generates a company’s odds for success based on real-world data gathered by EquityNet from more than 500,000 businesses across North America.

The tool is available at www.equitynet.com, and soon will be followed by a “Business Valuation Calculator,” according to an EquityNet news release.