Plaza Ventures and Extreme Venture Partners are raising their next funds on equity crowdfunding platform Crowdmatrix.
“Institutional investors have long used private equity as a means to diversify their portfolios and to generate additional returns uncorrelated to the public markets,” Crowdmatrix said in a statement. “Individuals seeking the same opportunities, however, have been prevented by a lack of access or by six-figure minimum buy-ins: until now.”
Plaza Ventures is raising for its growth stage micro-fund Fund IV; the firm plans to raise $7 million to be invested in its B2B companies with at least $3 million in recurring ARR. A portion will be used towards follow-on rounds; its current portfolio companies include Q4, Miovision, FanXchange, Mobify, and PostBeyond.
EVP is raising its $10 million in its third micro-fund, and plants to invest in early stage technology companies in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. It notes that through Crowdmatrix, individuals can invest in its allocation of up to $500,000 of EVP Fund III, with a minimum investment of $2,500.
Speaking with BetaKit, Crowdmatrix founder Rubsun Ho said that equity crowdfunding platforms are helpful for VC firms in the same way they help startups — getting more people to invest in an idea. He points to Brightspark as an example of changing trends in the VC world; Brightspark raises funds on a deal by deal basis from its pool of investors, rather than operating like a traditional VC fund.
“While a startup might be able to complete a funding round with only a handful of investors, venture capital funds – especially ones that aren’t funded primarily by institutions – will often have dozens of limited partners investing various amounts,” Ho said.
