Your Innovation Newsletter for February 02, 2021

This is your crowdfunding newsletter [The Innovative Works]( [img]( [The innovativeworks]( Sponsored Content � � � [Plybot 3D printer: Something truly innovative.]( Simple. Quiet. Smart. 24-months of work by the leaders in 3D printing. Join us on our journey to make 3D printing awesome for everyone. [Join our next demo!]( [Read More]( Plybot is totally unique. We make 3D printing simple, quiet and fun for people of all ages. Arms that give bigger and better prints, whilst minimizing desk space [🦾] Plybot’s arms are one-of-a-kind, and aren’t just for show! Aside from looking human, the vastly simplified arm design allows it to print bigger, faster, and more reliably. See the print bed? 60% of the printer is printable! Gone are the days of gigantic machines spluttering for hours to churn out one tiny paperweight. [Plybot is super quiet]([🤫] Anyone who has experience with 3D printers knows just how loud they can be – we want to change that. By utilizing the latest advancements in motor drivers, we specifically designed Plybot to deliver the most soundless experience possible. The result? A near-silent 3D printer. [Read More]( The first ever single click print [📱] Plybot has its very own app, available on iOS and Android. Use it to control your Plybot, find objects to print, and order new filament and accessories for your machine. If you want to use your own software, we won’t restrict you, but for those of you that just want something that works out of the box – One-Click printing is finally here! [3D printing is now easy]( [🤯] Plybot will blow your mind with how simple it is to use! Plug it in. Load filament. Tap print! The intelligence we’ve packed into Plybot takes care of everything, so you don’t have to. Print with multiple filament types [🌈] Although the majority of our users are likely to use PLA, Plybot can handle a wide range of filament types. Filaments that operate within the temperature ranges of our hot end (Upto 270°) and heated bed (Upto 100°), combined with Bowden tube compatibility, should work just fine. Here is a selection of the filament types you may wish to use on your Plybot: PLA, ABS, PETG, PETT, ASA, Polypropylene, TPE, PCTPE, Soft PLA, Semi-flexible TPU, Laybrick, Wood, Carbon, Proto pasta. [Read More]( [Benchy test (Industry standard!)]( [⛵] We feel it’s important to demonstrate the quality of our prints, with the industry standard #3DBenchy. All of the potential pitfalls of a 3D printer can be exposed in this cute little print – overhangs, over extrusion, and warping alike. No matter what, you click it, Plybot will print it! Lovingly made in the USA [🇺🇸] Manufacturing your Plybot locally is important to us. By keeping manufacturing close to our home, we keep a keen eye on the quality, and ensure that there are minimal production delays. Our team has experience in building thousands of printers here before, and we’re all set to do it again! [Read More]( [Take a look inside]( [⚙] At Plybot, we are focused on producing a 3D printer that prints objects consistently well. To achieve this we use the latest components and technologies to provide the ultimate balance between cost and quality. - Mobile App: iOS, Android - Print Volume: 7″ x 6″ x 5″ (Width x Depth x Height) - Print Speeds: Draft. Normal. Fine. - Resolution Range: 0.05mm to 0.3mm - Default Resolution: 0.2mm - Hot end: Diameter 0.4mm. Temp upto 270°C - Extruder: Dual gear extruder with Bowden tube - Heated Print Bed: Temp upto 100°C. Flexible magnetic build platform - Part Cooling Fan: Z-axis mounted - Bed Leveling: Under-bed Piezo elements - Compatible Systems: Any browser - Connectivity: Wi-Fi, USB, SD Card - Onboard intelligence: 32 bit processor - Motors: 4x NEMA17″ - Dimensions: 10″ x 7″ x 10″ - Shipping size: 12″ x 12″ x 12″ - Weight: 12 lbs - Print Materials: Multiple plastics. - Voltage: 12V DC [Read More]( [Matte black Kickstarter exclusive]( [🖤] We’re giving our Kickstarter backers a limited edition, matte black Plybot: a colorway made specifically for the first-ever Plybot launch. Each printer comes with a selection of PLA filament reels, cables that allow you to connect to the printer via USB (should you not wish to use Wi-Fi), and a link to download the Plybot app. Within minutes of opening the box you’ll be making your first print! Read More The post [Plybot 3D printer: Something truly innovative.]( first appeared on [theinnovativeworks.com](. [Read Full Story]( ------------------  ------------------ [What Is Equity Crowdfunding?]( Credit: forbes.com For companies that need to raise capital, there are a lot of options they can choose from, but there is no question that raising money is hard. It doesn’t happen with the snap of a finger. Pitching to friends and family, selling a product before it exists, figuring out which of your friends or LinkedIn connections knows a VC, then eventually pitching to that VC if you can even get the meeting, determining which bank gives fair-termed loans and even what terms are fair. None of these options are easy. How many credit cards can a founder open before overextending their ability to pay on time? Eventually, entrepreneurs must turn to outside sources of capital to give themselves enough runway to create a profitable business, and where that capital comes from and on what terms are questions that must be carefully weighed before a decision is made. Lucky for entrepreneurs, there is now another door that entrepreneurs can open to access capital: equity crowdfunding. In essence, equity crowdfunding is raising capital from the crowd through the sale of securities (shares, convertible note, debt, revenue share, and more) in a private company (that is not listed on stock exchanges). Let’s unpack that idea. 1.Equity Crowdfunding Is Raising Capital From The Crowd Online. Anyone can invest in your offering under equity crowdfunding. You can think of it as similar in function to a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign, in which potential investors visit a funding portal website and can explore different equity crowdfunding investment opportunities. There are certain restrictions, in that you have to be over 18 and there are limits on how much capital an individual can invest based on their income and net worth. 2.Equity Crowdfunding Is The Sale Of Securities. The key difference between a crowdfunding site like Kickstarter and equity crowdfunding is what is being sold. With Kickstarter campaigns, entrepreneurs raise capital through the presale of their product, often at a discount, or through tiers of various perks to attract their fans and potential customers. Once the “investor” of a Kickstarter campaign receives their product or perk, the contract between the company and investor is over. [Equity Crowdfunding] With equity crowdfunding, companies sell securities, whether in the form of equity in the company, debt, revenue share, convertible note, and more. Equity crowdfunding gives investors skin in the game. Investors in equity crowdfunding don’t participate just to buy a product at a discount a year before its release; they stand to make a profit if they make a good investment and the company they invested in grows. This has benefits for the company as it can create hundreds of brand ambassadors who want to see you succeed, and that is an audience the company can depend on to spread the word about their business and share the product with their own networks. 3.The Entrepreneur Raising Capital Dictates The Terms. What makes this more appealing is that the entrepreneur raising capital has total control of the offering: what to sell, how much, and at what price are entirely up to the company raising capital. They set the terms, including their valuation and how much capital they hope to raise. Even better, companies can set a minimum funding goal alongside their desired maximum, so if they don’t reach their funding goal in total, the entrepreneur can still successfully raise capital, and those who want to invest can do so even if the market interest isn’t enough to reach $1.07M, for example, which is the limit of Regulation Crowdfunding (more on that below). Of course, the more reasonable the valuation and terms, the more likely an equity crowdfunding offering is to succeed and raise capital, but there is no VC or powers that be demanding certain terms. 4.The Companies Raising Capital Are Private Companies. Historically, the general public could only buy shares in public companies: those that had done an IPO and whose stocks traded on national exchanges, and those opportunities are growing fewer by the year. The Number of Public Companies in the US The unfortunate truth today is that IPOs are declining. Today, there are less than 4,000 publicly traded companies, less than half the number of public companies in the 90s. The reason for the decline is that becoming a fully reporting public company is a large financial burden that only very large companies can handle. IPOs are not viable for startups or even medium-sized businesses. This means two things: - it is hard for smaller companies to create liquidity for their shareholders - investors’ options to invest their savings in stock are shrinking every year However, the companies raising capital through equity crowdfunding are private and yet raising capital from the public. Traditionally, buying equity in a startup was reserved to accredited investors (those who have a net worth of more than $1M, excluding their home, or those who make over $200K annually over the past two years). In other words, only the wealthy could invest in these opportunities, the VCs, the angel investors. Through equity crowdfunding, everyone has access to these opportunities. Investing in private companies has been democratized. This solves b), but what about liquidity? Creating Liquidity The ability to invest in private companies used to carry a caveat: investors could see large returns (emphasis on the could as most startups fail), but in order to see those returns, the investors’ capital would be locked up in that startup for 5-10 years. There was little to no liquidity in the investment. Investors had to wait it out and hope the company went public via an IPO or was involved in a merger or acquisition. For wealthy investors, the lock-up is manageable as they have other liquid capital to support themselves in the meantime. However, this lockup isn’t so manageable for less wealthy individuals. The lock-up period also had another negative consequence for the entrepreneur: in order to get investors to bite, the terms are heavily discounted to account for the risks that come with the longer time frame. With equity crowdfunding, these shares can be traded on public markets. If, after a year, an investor no longer wanted to own shares in a company, they could sell them on an ATS to an interested buyer. This liquidity is possible in a way that it wasn’t before because the rules of equity crowdfunding allow companies to have more shareholders before it is required to become a publicly reporting entity. With more shareholders, there is a larger market. With a larger market, there is liquidity. The alternative structure of dozens or even hundreds of accredited investors putting in larger amounts of capital into a private business doesn’t create a large enough market to offer liquidity in the way that having thousands, or even tens of thousands, of investors does. What’s The Catch? If equity crowdfunding is so great, then why haven’t more people heard of it? Of the 6 million businesses in the US, only ~1,400 entrepreneurs have tried it. Possibly because it’s still relatively new. President Obama signed the JOBS Act, which enabled equity crowdfunding, in 2011. However, the two regulations of equity crowdfunding weren’t implemented until June 2015 and May 2016. For investors, the process of investing in equity crowdfunding is straightforward, but on the other end there are certain regulatory requirements entrepreneurs have to follow. There are two routes entrepreneurs can take: Regulation Crowdfunding – through which companies can raise up to $1.07M annually. Companies can start raising capital for free after filing a Form C with the SEC, but to raise more than $107,000, an independent CPA must review the company’s financials for the past two fiscal years, or since incorporation. Regulation A+ – the mini IPO, through which companies can raise up to $50M annually. However, before a company can start raising capital under Regulation A, the company must hire a securities attorney in order to create a Form 1-A that is then submitted to the SEC for qualification (qualification takes 3-5 months at minimum). Companies also have to conduct a financial audit for the past two fiscal years. Companies are able to “test the waters” and publicly collect investor information for the moment when their offering is qualified by the SEC, but they cannot raise capital until then. With these regulations in mind, it’s clear that equity crowdfunding is not so simple as just posting an offering and raising capital on a website. Certain disclosures must be made, certain rules followed. Equity crowdfunding is another fundraising option for entrepreneurs, but every method poses its own challenges. No one ever said it would be easy. [Credit: forbes.com]( The post [What Is Equity Crowdfunding?]( first appeared on [theinnovativeworks.com](. 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