Investing in Shapeshift

[oblomov]

Shapeshift is currently conducting a bridge funding round (convertible note) through Funders Club.

It's an attractive investment.  Already there have been two rounds of seed funding.

As of February of this year, the company is profitable.

Investors participating in this round include BitFinex, Digital Currency Group, and founder Erik Voorhees.

Kurt Dalton, Max Keiser, Michael Gucci, and Roger Ver participated in the seed rounds.

I suggest doing DD as a potential investment if you qualify as an accredited investor or as a representative of an appropriate institution.

https://fundersclub.com/shapeshift/

(No, I don't work for Shapeshift or Funders Club.  I'm just a run-of-the-mill angel investor.)

[oblomov]

The bridge funding round is nearly complete- only 2 more days to go.

This funding round is oversubscribed, even after the allocation was increased by $200K. 

It's funded at nearly 600% of the minimum allocation, so both Shapeshift leadership and investors should be pleased.

At this point, it will only be possible to be on the waiting list for this round, so it's unlikely that a new investor could still get in.

The convertible note matures in a year, which implies Series A funding at that point...

[expert4knowledge]

Shapeshift is currently conducting a bridge funding round (convertible note) through Funders Club.

It's an attractive investment.  Already there have been two rounds of seed funding.

As of February of this year, the company is profitable.

Investors participating in this round include BitFinex, Digital Currency Group, and founder Erik Voorhees.

Kurt Dalton, Max Keiser, Michael Gucci, and Roger Ver participated in the seed rounds.

I suggest doing DD as a potential investment if you qualify as an accredited investor or as a representative of an appropriate institution.

https://fundersclub.com/shapeshift/

(No, I don't work for Shapeshift or Funders Club.  I'm just a run-of-the-mill angel investor.)

Can you tell what is bridge funding. I created an account there. It seems to have informative posts about VC and such type of investment. Also its affiliation which pays 100$ is interesting and confusing! 100$ for investment:
"Gift your friends $100 to get started on FundersClub.
When you invite a friend to join FundersClub, we'll give them $100 to start investing with FundersClub. And when they make an investment, you'll get $100 to invest too. Learn More."
Can you explain these a bit?

[oblomov]

Bridge funding is a round of investment that is a "bridge" between very early seed funding (angel investing) and Series A funding, which is the first round of venture capital (VC) financing.

In the late 90s, technology startups could build an interesting proof of concept, often on a shoestring (loans from family and friends), and get Series A funding.

Since the tech bubble popped in 2000-2001, VCs have been smarter, demanding that the company have a working product, a feasible operating model, and serious, credible backers.

So an entire industry of angel investing has sprung up since then, facilitated by US legislation passed in 2012-2015, which enabled companies to get angel investors through online investing platforms such as FundersClub, Angelist, Crowdfunder, Microventures, etc.  

Each of these sites/platforms has its own community and investing styles and it may be worth registering at all of them if you are interested in dipping your toe into this type of high-risk/high-reward investing.  The failure rate of early stage companies is >75%.  But when they succeed....

A widely touted success story of FundersClub is Coinbase, which started in the Y Combinator.  In 2012, Coinbase got $600k in seed funding at FundersClub.  One year ago, it was valued at $400M:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-20/coinbase-said-to-be-valued-at-more-than-400-million-in-funding

Of course, this is after three rounds of VC funding, but that initial seed investment has probably returned several thousand per cent since 2012.

--------------------------------

The "get $100 to invest offer" is real.  Note:  Typically, the minimum investment in a company at FundersClub is $3-5K.

If you claim me as a referrer, then I get $100 to invest, and so do you.

Since you already registered at the site, it may be too late to use me as a referrer.  But you can extend the offer to your friends.

[expert4knowledge]

Bridge funding is a round of investment that is a "bridge" between very early seed funding (angel investing) and Series A funding, which is the first round of venture capital (VC) financing.

In the late 90s, technology startups could build an interesting proof of concept, often on a shoestring (loans from family and friends), and get Series A funding.

Since the tech bubble popped in 2000-2001, VCs have been smarter, demanding that the company have a working product, a feasible operating model, and serious, credible backers.

So an entire industry of angel investing has sprung up since then, facilitated by US legislation passed in 2012-2015, which enabled companies to get angel investors through online investing platforms such as FundersClub, Angelist, Crowdfunder, Microventures, etc.  

Each of these sites/platforms has its own community and investing styles and it may be worth registering at all of them if you are interested in dipping your toe into this type of high-risk/high-reward investing.  The failure rate of early stage companies is >75%.  But when they succeed....

A widely touted success story of FundersClub is Coinbase, which started in the Y Combinator.  In 2012, Coinbase got $600k in seed funding at FundersClub.  One year ago, it was valued at $400M:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-20/coinbase-said-to-be-valued-at-more-than-400-million-in-funding

Of course, this is after three rounds of VC funding, but that initial seed investment has probably returned several thousand per cent since 2012.

--------------------------------

The "get $100 to invest offer" is real.  Note:  Typically, the minimum investment in a company at FundersClub is $3-5K.

If you claim me as a referrer, then I get $100 to invest, and so do you.

Since you already registered at the site, it may be too late to use me as a referrer.  But you can extend the offer to your friends.

Thanks for explanations. To be honest currently 3-5k is a high value for me for investing, however I want to know:
1. How can one invest using the website? At least I did not see anything.
2. If 30 people register on the site using my referral can I get 3k then?

[oblomov]

The "get $100 to invest offer" is real.  Note:  Typically, the minimum investment in a company at FundersClub is $3-5K.

If you claim me as a referrer, then I get $100 to invest, and so do you.

Since you already registered at the site, it may be too late to use me as a referrer.  But you can extend the offer to your friends.

Thanks for explanations. To be honest currently 3-5k is a high value for me for investing, however I want to know:
1. How can one invest using the website? At least I did not see anything.
2. If 30 people register on the site using my referral can I get 3k then?

1.  You need to register.  You will then see the "Invest" button for each open fund.  In order to invest, you will need to confirm your identity and provide bank information when you actually commit to an investment.

2.  Yes.  You do not need to make an investment in order to start collecting referral money.
    
Also, although the usual minimum is $3-5K, you can request to invest a lesser amount such as $1K.  

When you register, please use my referral link.  You'll get $100 to start with, and if you invest, I'll get $100 too.

https://fndrs.cl/KOIYe

[expert4knowledge]

The "get $100 to invest offer" is real.  Note:  Typically, the minimum investment in a company at FundersClub is $3-5K.

If you claim me as a referrer, then I get $100 to invest, and so do you.

Since you already registered at the site, it may be too late to use me as a referrer.  But you can extend the offer to your friends.

Thanks for explanations. To be honest currently 3-5k is a high value for me for investing, however I want to know:
1. How can one invest using the website? At least I did not see anything.
2. If 30 people register on the site using my referral can I get 3k then?

1.  You need to register.  You will then see the "Invest" button for each open fund.  In order to invest, you will need to confirm your identity and provide bank information when you actually commit to an investment.

2.  Yes.  You do not need to make an investment in order to start collecting referral money.
    
Also, although the usual minimum is $3-5K, you can request to invest a lesser amount such as $1K.  

When you register, please use my referral link.  You'll get $100 to start with, and if you invest, I'll get $100 too.

https://fndrs.cl/KOIYe

Thanks from your valuable information and for sure if I want to register and invest I use your referral link although I may not register in the coming days.