Hats off to the folks at Coastal Shows for making the Austin event – officially the CFGE Crowdfund Real Estate Summit – the best Crowdfunding event ever.
The event featured the leading players in the industry:
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Crowdfunding visionaries like Tucker Max
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Representatives from the angel and venture capital worlds like Bill Clark of MicroVentures and Steve Welch of Dreamit Ventures
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Seasoned real estate professionals like David Wieland of Centrist Capital and Joel Block of Bullseye Capital
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The world’s most articulate and reliable source of data for the Crowdfunding industry, Richard Swart, Ph.D., from Berkeley
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The advertising and public relations guru of the industry, Joy Schoffler
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A large, informed, and experienced audience of real estate entrepreneurs
Title III of the JOBS Act may be flawed, and the final rules for Regulation A+ may be long overdue, but the speakers and panelists agree that Crowdfunding is here to stay, with Title II leading the way. Two days before the conference began, Fundrise raised $31 million of capital in a Series A round of financing. That served as a very useful background, illuminating the potential of a market that promises to transform the U.S. capital formation industry.
Over coffee during the day and beer in the evening, I spoke with dozens of real estate developers and entrepreneurs. Their message came through loud and clear: We’re tired of dealing exclusively with our traditional sources of capital and are eager to raise money through Crowdfunding channels.
Developers are eager for new sources of capital, and individual investors are eager to participate in a market that, until now, has been reserved for institutions and the very wealthy. That’s Crowdfunding, in a nutshell.
What happens in Vegas might stay in Vegas, but what happened in Austin is going to spread across the country. Thanks for a great event, Coastal Shows.