Bitshares is an attempt at this. AngelList is doing this on their platform for US startups. Problem is there is no such thing as a global company. Each country has their own definition of company. Funding through BTC might be illegal in some countries. I think this makes sense if the capital is going to be used for the Bitcoin ecosystem. I understand Mastercoin has raised capital on the board.
coinrevo, thank you for the heads up about Bitshares. I checked them out and what they are doing is fantastic so I will definitely be getting involved.
No need for a global company. Companies listed on the NYSE or any large exchange get investors from all over the world. But what's the point of investing in BTC besides that it could be anonymous? How is it better than keeping your BTC in your wallet at home?
countryfree, one of the problems with investing in companies on the NYSE is that they are already publicly traded by the time most people can invest in them and the opportunities available to get in on the ground floor when they are at the stage where they are looking for seed capital are often prohibitive to all except for those that have over $1,000,000 in assets or make over $200,000 per year (note: I may be inaccurate with some of the numbers I am quoting....but this is just my general understanding of the scenario in which you already have to be wealthy to have the opportunity to take part in providing seed capital investment opportunities).
So, if there is an opportunity to take part in seed capital funding through Bitcoin without the usual restrictions, it would make this whole process more inclusive and give more people to opportunity to increase their wealth (while having less to invest to begin with). This is why I am excited to get involved with Bitshares because they allow this to happen.
