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Ritch Ventures purchases invests in, and grows businesses.
New Marriott Resort and Spa in Palmetto
Hard hat tour of the Marriott Resort and Spa in Palmetto. They are opening in early 2024. Wow, the views from the future Oyster River rooftop restaurant are excellent. Ritch Ventures is looking forward to working with these great people.
Views from Oyster River rooftop restaurant
Luncheon with Florida Attorney General
Honored to get invited to the luncheon with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Florida Crimestoppers today supporting **TIPS; Crime Stoppers
Reg A vs Reg D vs Reg CF
The USA crowdfunding market is ranked first regionally and second globally, mainly thanks to adequate, up-to-date regulation provided by the SEC. According to the Cambridge report, over 70% of players consider the current legislative framework appropriate for their investment platform activities.
And it’s an excellent indicator compared to other countries.
The SEC keeps simplifying and harmonizing the rules to benefit every party – platforms, fundraisers, and investors.
For instance, on November 2, 2020, the body introduced rule amendments to Reg A, Reg D, and Reg FC offerings.
Source: SEC, Number of Reg D offerings
These changes are to make guidelines more rational and less complex.
Reg A and Reg D: how the SEC regulates exempt offerings
US and non-US-based companies can offer and sell securities under Reg A and Reg D. Both rules are exemptions of the “Securities Act.”
Reg D offerings have always been more popular among fundraisers.
The SEC reports a steady growth of Reg D offerings in recent years. This model accounts for a more extensive offering market share.
For example, in 2019, under Reg A, only $1 billion was raised, while Reg D offerings amounted to +$1.5 trillion.
What should you know about exempt securities offerings regulation?
Reg A (Reg A+) consists of two tiers (Tier 1 and Tier 2), allowing companies to conduct “Mini-IPOs” distinguished by the upper limit of offerings:
Reg A Tier 1 enables businesses to collect up to $20 million in 12 months;
Reg A Tier 2 – up to $75 million in 12 months.
At rest, companies may comply with standards established for this type of offering – issuer, investor, and SEC filing requirements, disclosure, resale restrictions, etc.
Due to new rules, general solicitation for Reg A will soon be replaced with “Demo Days” and similar events.
70% of all Reg A-based offerings are registered under Tier 2.
Source: Source: Capital raised under Reg A
The SEC has analyzed all issuers in qualified Regulation A offerings and concluded that most are small (based on assets and revenues) and relatively young.
93% of offerings were equity-based, and 80% were conducted continuously.
The most significant part of offerings (53%) is concentrated in the finance, insurance, and real estate sectors.
REITs, holding companies, non-depository credit institutions, and commercial banks often act as financial issuers.
As for non-financial issuers, most players provide business services, including software.
Source: Capital distribution in Reg A offerings by issuer industry
An estimated timeline for Reg A crowdfunding offerings: 2-4 months, max allowed time – 12 months.
Some examples of the Reg A portals are:
SeedInvest WeFunder Banq
Now let’s talk about Regulation D or accredited crowdfunding.
The exemptions were adopted in 1982 to simplify rules and strengthen investor protection.
Initially, Reg D included three rules: Rule 504, Rule 505, and Rule 506. In 2017 Rule 505 was abolished. The current Reg D framework consists of Rule 504, Rule 506 (b), and 506 (c).
How do the Reg D rules differ from Reg A?
Rule 504 is for securities offers and sales of up to $10 million in a 12-month period. Reporting companies, investment companies, and certain development-stage companies can’t issue securities under Rule 504. Also, issuers may not use general solicitation or advertising to market the securities.
Rule 506 (b) is a “non-exclusive safe harbor” enabling issuers to offer and sell unlimited securities.
There are some conditions for issuers to meet: offers don’t imply general solicitation or advertising. Only accredited investors take part in deals
the max number of non-accredited investors – 35
Rule 506 (c) is more loyal to issuers: no limitation on amounts offered, and general solicitation and advertising are allowed only if backers are accredited.
Reg D offerings market statistics:
in 2019, out of all the Reg D offering types, almost all the capital was raised under Rule 506 (b), nearly 40% of Reg D issuers are private funds, real estate – 25.5%, tech – 20%, most Reg D issuers are located in California or New York
9% of all issuers are non-US-based
most issuers tend to be small-scale, with revenue of less than $1 million
the majority of non-fund issuers raise funds through equity
Reg D offerings are way more popular than public equity or debt offerings.
Source: Capital raised through different models of offerings
An estimated timeline for Reg D offerings: 100 days. Some examples of the Reg D portals are:
FundersClub AngelList CircleUp
Title III of the JOBS Act and retail crowdfunding
Reg CF crowdfunding defines the requirements for offering and selling securities under Section 4(a)(6) added by Title III of the JOBS Act to the Securities Act.
Despite COVID-19, during 2019-2020, capital commitments to Reg CF issuers rose by 77.6%. The number of investors increased too.
Experts believe it happened due to several factors, including industry development, investor education, and regulatory changes.
Characteristics of the Reg CF:
The maximum aggregate amount of funds to raise – is $5 million in a 12-monthly period. All deals should take place on a registered provider – broker-dealer or Reg CF funding portal
investment limitations based on an annual income and net worth; bad actors’ disqualification
disclosure of information in filings is required
According to new rules which came into effect in March, the offering limit was increased to $5 million, and investment limits for accredited investors have been removed. Also, the SEC extended the existing temporary relief providing an exemption of up to 18 months for issuers offering $250k or less of securities and allowing the latter to use SPVs to facilitate investing.
The general solicitation will be replaced with “testing the waters.” Characteristics of crowdfunding issuers and offerings:
in 2019, most offerings (90%) were conducted through Reg CF funding portals;
a typical fundraiser is small and early-stage, with $30k of assets, $4k
holdings and no revenue;
average amount raised per offering in 2020: $342k;
equity deals prevail over debt and SAFE; their share accounts for 48%; the top industries: restaurants, diversified media, personal services, etc.
the majority of offerings are made in California, followed by New York and Texas;
an average cost of a crowdfunding campaign is 5.3% of the amount raised;
a median timeline for a crowdfunding campaign under Reg CF – 60-90 days.
Source: The average breakdown of costs (in dollars) per activity
Some examples of the Reg CF portals are:
SeedInvest InfraShares FlashFunders Republic WeFunder
Comparing Reg CF vs Reg A and Reg D crowdfunding offerings
There are many summary tables on US regulatory frameworks for securities offerings online, so we decided to keep this information distinct.
Instead, we’ll summarize how offerings differ by their characteristics. Note all the numbers are rough estimations of the available data presented in the official reports and open data banks.
Characteristics | Reg A | Reg D | Reg CF |
Typical issuer | small and relatively young | small-scale with revenue less than $1m | small and early-stage |
Mean offer size | $26m | $58m | $208k |
Top Industries | finance, manufacturing, services | private funds, real estate, tech, health care, banking | restaurants, diversified media, personal services |
Average offering timeline | 2-4 months | 3-4 months | 2-3 months |
Average offering cost | 12% of the capital raised | 10% to 12% of capital raised | 5.3% of the amount raised |
Final thoughts
Regulation is a crucial factor in the finance industry’s success. Over the past decade, regulatory requirements in the US have evolved to keep pace with a rapidly developing complex alternative financing market.
As crowdfunding providers strive to keep pace with ever-changing regulations, they’re turning to intelligent solutions to address this issue.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only, don’t consider it legal advice or recommendation. Speak with your lawyer and consult only official resources regarding any up-to-date information on the regulations and policies.
41 Social Media Posting Tips
- What’s your social media goal? Where you want to go?
- Promote your most popular blog and social media posts
- At the very least track Facebook Insights to see your progress.
- Try humor and controversy on social media. They’re compelling.
- Social media is powerful, but have a plan and be productive.
- Click FB Insights’ “Posts>When Your Fans are Online” to see your audience’s peak posting times. (Post during these times!)
- Provide the definitive answers to questions repeated over and over on your chosen social networks.
- Analyze your tweets. Which types got the retweeted, reactions and/or comments?
- Don’t be shy on social media; Go for it – but be authentic – and be social!
- Are you everyone’s “friend”? Each connection counts – and speaks loudly about who you are to your other contacts.
- If you want your social content to attract, do your best to share unique quality tips.
- Make sure you speak with an identifiable voice. Your posts should never sound “scripted.”
- Post regularly during your audience’s peak posting times on any social networks you use.
- If you use Pinterest use http://nitrogr.am/ to track analytics.
- Use http://nitrogr.am/ for monitoring hashtags monitoring.
- Highly personal negative posts are complaining and can alienate followers
- Include a mix of rich media like Video, photos, memes etc.
- Vine video clips loop. Instagram video clips don’t.
- Vine video streams on Twitter; Instagram videos stream on Facebook.
- Tapping your screen filming a Vine video starts filming. Tapping your screen filming a Instagram adjusts the focus.
- Be sure you don’t use any banned Hashtags reference http://thedatapack.com/banned-hashtags/
- Research hashtags to crowd-source user-generated content
- Remember that Instagram hashtags are not case-sensitive and don’t work with spaces or special characters.
- If your choosen social media platform doesn’t have good native analytics, look for third-party sites that provide it.
- Name your new product campaign and start talking about it on social media.
- Make new product posts on a regular schedule and don’t let content gaps.
- Don’t tell too much at once. Mystery creates interest! Use hints and teasers
- Use surveymonkey.com to create free surveys.
- If you’re advertising on Facebook, remember your ad images, including the thumbnail, cannot include more than 20% text.
- Use text, arrows, and calls to action on your Facebook Covers.
- Facebook Profile photos are need to 180 x 180.
- Use a clear, easy-to-read call to action.
- Facebook allows you to display three custom app tabs in your header section. Make the most of this!
- Only your short description displays in your Facebook header section, but fill out your Profile 100% for max searchability.
- Select “Replies On” in your Page Admin panel “Manage Permissions” section to increase the conversation on your page.
- If you consistently get endorsements that are not relevant on LinkedIn, be aware you can remove endorsements altogether.
- Check “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” on LinkedIn to see who is finding you and the keywords they used.
- In your LinkedIn Privacy and Settings page, “Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile” to keep it private.
- In Google+ posts, encase text in asterisks for bold and underscore it to create italics. (Share this tip!)
- Did you know Google+ makes animated?GIFs from your photos? Just type the keyword “motion” in your Photos section to find them.
- Use the Google+ Ripples feature to track your posts by clicking the top-right arrow in your post.
Stand 4 Children Day at the ELC-Manatee luncheon.
Ritch Ventures and the Ritch Foundation were proud to support and attend the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County’s annual luncheon.
The Early Learning Coalition is doing great things by providing much-needed support and services to prepare children for school and life skills.
This is the newest bus. Its mission is to bring books to children. What makes this bus special is its ramp so special needs children can enter the bus and enjoy the entire experience. This bus was made possible by donations to the Early Learning Coalition which is a nonprofit organization.
Lock Equity Established
Robert Ritch, Chairman and CEO of Ritch Ventures, announced that Ritch Ventures is partnering with Robert Ochoa to form Lock Equity. Lock Equity will provide consulting and capital to the energy sector.
Duck Race for Pace Center for Girls a Huge Success
On Saturday, May 13th, Pace Center for Girls raced 30,000 rubber ducks down the Manatee River at Caddy’s Bradenton! As Pace’s Signature Fundraiser, the Lucky Ducky Race for Pace provides much needed funding for girls to have access to a quality education and the counseling they need to thrive.
The entire community came together to adopt ALL 30,000 rubber ducks, which raced for the chance at prizes. The 1st Place winner, Jeff Houser, won the opportunity to take home a Jeep Wrangler (2-year lease or $5,000) provided by Firkins Automotive; The 2nd Place winner, Katie Dean, won Weekly Dinner for Two for a YEAR at Anna Maria Oyster Bar (some restrictions apply); And the 3rd Place Duck, adopted by Cross Creek Environmental, scored an outfit a month for a Year at the Teal Turtle Boutique! Over 20 other prizes were won!
How did we get all those ducklings adopted? Over 70 teams led by community volunteers and local businesses competed in the weeks prior to see who could adopt the most ducks. The top Board-Led team, Team “Quackerjacks,” adopted 2,587 ducks (led by Dottie Turner, Amanda Horne, Darcie Duncan, Alanna Massey, and Katie Carter Benoit). The top Community-Led “Team Oelker” adopted 2,152 (led by Chelsea Oelker). We also had the help of partnering establishments including Anna Maria Oyster Bar, Sonny’s BBQ, Caddy’s Bradenton, Swordfish Grill, Duffy’s Tavern and DOGPerfect locations, spreading the mission of Pace to their customers and sharing the opportunity to adopt ducks in the race.
Sponsors covered expenses of the event so that all funds from the community adopting ducks will directly benefit Pace girls. Diamond Duck sponsors include Neal Communities, Mosaic, FPL, Pittsburgh Pirates/Bradenton Marauders, Publix Super Markets Charities, and Planet Stone. Pace expects to raise over $180,000 from this event. Ritch Ventures sponsored this year’s race for the first time and looks forward to supporting this worthy cause in the future.
All our race partners and sponsors can be found on the race website: www.LuckyDuckyRaceforPace.com.
Visit our Facebook page to follow along and be inspired by our girls and their stories: https://www.facebook.com/PACEManatee.
About Pace Center for Girls: Pace Center for Girls envisions a world where all girls and young women have power, in a just and equitable society. Founded in 1985, Pace provides free year-round middle and high school academics, case management, counseling, and life skills development in a safe and supportive environment that recognizes and deals with past trauma and builds upon girls’ individual strengths. Dedicated to meeting the social, emotional, and education needs of girls, Pace has a successful and proven program model that has changed the life trajectory of more than 40,000 girls and is recognized as one of the nation’s leading advocates for girls in need. For more information on Pace Center for Girls, visit www.pacecenter.org