Finovate Blog

Regtech may be hot in the U.K. But the flame of regtech innovation is burning brightly in the U.S., as well. FundAmerica, builder of compliance solutions for crowdfunding platforms, rolled out a series of “new tools and upgrades” this month. “Technology (and our engineers) never sleeps,” FundAmerica CEO Scott Purcell announced in an email to subscribers. The enhancements enable users to:

• Allow potential investors to “test the waters” with plug ‘n’ play buttons and at-launch support
• Quick-launch escrows
• Issue investor statements using FundAmerica’s registered transfer agent
• Levy fees and commissions as part of the transaction
• Record partial funds received for more accurate reporting

The upgrades also include new APIs and Invest Now dashboards, as well as administrator integration “so traditional fund admins can still perform services to direct-to-crowd funds but offload the ‘crowd’ reporting and statement stuff to us,” Purcell wrote. Another major addition to the platform is the ability to customize the automated emails sent to investors during the streamlined Invest Now process. This flexibility, the result of “countless requests and man-hours in engineering,” enables issuers to add legal disclaimers, modify the language to better align with marketing copy, or simply provide additional information about a deal.

Pictured: FundAmerica founder and CEO Scott Purcell during the demonstration of his company’s platform at FinovateSpring 2015.

Founded in 2011, FundAmerica demonstrated its API for crowdfunding platform compliance at FinovateSpring 2015. The company’s backend solutions cover AML, escrow, and payment processing, enabling broker-dealers, listing services, and platforms to remain compliant to relevant laws and regulations, such as Reg A+ and rule 4(a)(6), when operating their crowdfunding business. FundAmerica’s Invest Now transaction engine keeps capital raising smooth and efficient for the investor, as well, leveraging APIs and copy ‘n’ paste functionality to make it possible for investors to complete the process in a single sitting.

Since inception, FundAmerica has processed more than $400 million in investments from more than 75,000 investors in more than 300 offerings. Having managed the back office work for the industry’s first successful Reg A+ offering, Elio Motors, last year – en route to handling the back office for more than a dozen additional Reg A offerings in 2016 – FundAmerica anticipates both more hiring and more solution-building in 2017. “2016 was a great start, as we finally have Reg’s D, A & CF, and 2017 will see an acceleration of capital rising using those new tools,” Purcell noted in a year-ending post on the company blog.

FundAmerica was featured in our “RegTech Reality Check” post last fall, and profiled in our Finovate Debuts series of new Finovate alums. The company has raised more than $2 million in funding courtesy of a seed round in 2013.