LOS ANGELES, CA / April 7, 2016 / Leading equity crowdfunding platform, Crowdfunder, today announced the launch of the industry's first quantitative venture capital fund -- the Crowdfunder VC Index Fund ('the Fund'). The Fund provides investors with access to a diversified portfolio of hundreds of early-stage investments, backed by many of the world's leading venture capital firms.
View photo . The Fund will transform the Venture Capital industry with its unparalleled scale and broad diversification into early-stage venture opportunities, targeting 300 early-stage deals. By contrast, traditional VC firms typically invest in 20 to 40 deals per fund.
A quantitative analysis of thirty years of early-stage venture data by Crowdfunder and its partners revealed that even leading venture firms can't pick home run investments -- known as "unicorns" -- at the seed stage. The VC Index Fund will be at least ten times more diverse than traditional VC funds, better enabling it to capture unicorns, which account for just 1% of VC-backed deals at the seed stage. However, the Fund actively leverages the expert sourcing, vetting, and diligence of the top VCs by co-investing with them at the same terms.
Crowdfunder has made this level of diversification and access possible by combining the power of a venture fund with the scalability and reach of Crowdfunder's online investment platform.
"The VC Index Fund was extremely responsive and invested $100K immediately after confirming an investment from Andreessen Horowitz, one of the firms in the VC Index. In addition to the direct investment, Crowdfunder provided us with access to their network of over 12,000 institutional and accredited investors for additional follow on," said Peter Woo, Co-Founder at Wholeshare, an online marketplace for natural and organic food.
"We have created the next generation of the early-stage venture firm - one that is scalable and online. By combining the Fund and our online platform, we're allowing investors to access both direct online investments into single ventures, as well as broader diversification into a portfolio of hundreds of VC-backed startups," said Chance Barnett, CEO of Crowdfunder.
In the past 14 months, Crowdfunder has amassed a portfolio of 74 angel and VC-backed startups -- a portfolio that is already two times larger and more diverse than most traditional firms. Crowdfunder's portfolio already includes deals backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercase Capital, Greylock, Y Combinator, 500 Startups, SV Angel, Structure Capital, Arena Ventures, CrunchFund, Kapor Capital, Rothenberg Ventures, Better.VC, Right Side Capital and many more.
Tim Draper, founding partner at two leading venture capital firms (Draper Associates and DFJ), will also serve as Advisor to the Fund, in addition to his previous investment into Crowdfunder. Draper stated, "After being in venture capital for over 30 years, I'm excited to be Advisor to the first truly diversified early-stage fund. The VC Index Fund is unique in that it has the ability to scale past any other traditional VC fund, which will allow it to potentially yield higher returns with lower portfolio risk."
Since the passing of Title II of JOBS Act legislation, Crowdfunder has rapidly grown its network to over 133,000 entrepreneurs and investors. After helping to fund hundreds of VC-backed startups, the company is now poised to further accelerate its growth with the introduction of the VC Index Fund. To get access to the Fund, visit www.crowdfunder.com/vc-index-fund.
About Crowdfunder
Crowdfunder is the equity crowdfunding leader for sourcing and funding high growth ventures with a network of over 130,000 entrepreneurs and investors. Crowdfunder and its VC Index Fund provide the opportunity for direct online investment into single ventures, as well as diversification into a broad VC-led portfolio (Index Fund) of early-stage startups - backed by many of the world's leading Venture Capital firms and private investors. Get free access to private early-stage VC-backed startups on Crowdfunder.
Contact:
Grace Keith, Caliber Corporate Advisers This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 888.550.6385, ext. 3
SOURCE: Crowdfunder, Inc.
