How does a valuation affect SEC Reg CF offering?

SEC Reg CF is termed Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) allows corporations to offer and sell their shares without needing to register the offerings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier, only accredited investors were allowed to participate in private enterprise funding. Regulation crowdfunding permits private, early-stage enterprises to seek investments from any U.S. resident since May 16, 2016. Regulation Crowdfunding is also known as Title III and is a part of the JOBS Act, signed into law in 2012. In this article, we will discuss everything about Sec Reg CF offering and regulation crowdfunding. The article outlines how does Sec Reg CF offering work, the requirements of Sec Reg CF offering, and the valuation effects on Sec Reg CF offering. 

Sec Reg CF offering

Regulation Crowdfunding or SEC Reg CF offering is an online funding mechanism that enables businesses to solicit contributions from their early adopters and the audience. On the other hand, investors in startups often get assets, most commonly shares, in exchange for their financial support rather than tangible goods like t-shirts or greeting cards.

What is Sec Reg CF offering? 

SEC Reg CF offering, as outlined under Title III of the JOBS Act, enables private enterprises to fund up to $5 million from the public of America. Private enterprises only had access to the 2% richest Americans, known as “accredited investors” via previous capital raising alternatives. Or because it imposed too many rules and reporting obligations on issuers to make a crowd investing offering profitable. Title III of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act leveled the playing field so that today all kinds of investors have the same opportunities.

How does Sec Reg CF offering work?

What makes the regulation of crowdfunding for securities so distinct is that it revives the original principles of capitalism. Crowdfunding in the form of “equity” or “securities” enables investors to become “eligible angels” and participate in a private business from the very beginning, rather than waiting for it to become public.

Investors join the ranks of those involved in the startup community. This additional sense of exclusivity via openness encourages everyone to take an active role in the business’s operations and, if their investment pays off, to feel like they’re a vital part of something monumental.

• For companies – Using an SEC Reg CF offering, private companies can now convert clients into investors. Businesses now have a considerably larger chance to collect money from the public, which makes up 90% of the other non-accredited quota. Businesses can get funding for day-to-day operations from enthusiastic investors about their product or service, fostering an engaged fan base in the process. They can cease stressing about their ties with Venture capital firms, which attempt to influence board positions, valuations, and other aspects that get in the way of the founder’s plans. Companies can now measure the interests of the public via reservation campaigns rather than spending the time and money to file an offering disclosure with the SEC. This could lower failure rates and cut down on resources that are squandered. Issuers should be aware that this new statute is subject to SEC regulations and has certain limitations.
• For investors – Due to SEC Reg CF offerings, investors can make investments into the development they support, helping to meet the requirements of small enterprises and promoting employment growth. With the freedom to choose the businesses that you think have the potential to alter the game since, as an early investor, you have a chance to profit from their success. As a minimum investment is often lower compared to a regulation A crowdfunding offering, investors can invest early and with little money. As more individuals will be able to participate in offers with the increased cap on startup investment, regulation crowdfunding makes more opportunities available to investors.

How does Sec Reg CF offering approval process work for companies? 

A corporation must apply and get clearance from the Screening Committee before being considered for listing through an intermediary. Following approval, the intermediary collaborates with the business to submit a Form C to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Making a Reg CF offering accessible to investors is contingent upon the firm filing Form C with the SED, which contains fundamental details about the business and its offer. The SEC does not evaluate Form C and is not endorsing or authorizing any of the securities being sold, it is crucial to remember.

Requirements of Sec Reg CF offering

Certain conditions must be satisfied to count on the Regulation Crowdfunding exemption. Here’s what a private company needs:

• Max offering amount – An issuer that is relying on Regulation Crowdfunding is allowed to raise a total of $1,070,000 over a year. An issuer must add the total of the sum it has auctioned under Regulation Crowdfunding throughout the 12 months before the anticipated date of sale, along with any amounts traded by organizations controlled by or are under common control with the applicant. In addition to any amounts supplied by any forerunner of the business authority, and the amount it seeks to increase under Regulation Crowdfunding in this SEC Reg CF offering.
• Investors are subjected to limits – A 12-month period has a cap on the total amount that any one investor can contribute to the SEC Reg CF offering. If an investor’s yearly income or personal wealth is less than $107,000, then the investor can only invest up to $2,200 or 5% of whichever is less: annual income or net worth. If the investor’s annual income and net worth are both at least $107,000, then they are restricted to 10 percent of whichever is less: their annual income or net worth. No matter how much an investor makes or how much money they have, the total amount of securities sold to them through all SEC Reg CF offerings cannot be more than $107,000 in 12 months.
• Company Eligibility – The Regulation Crowdfunding exemption can be applied by any expect for certain businesses, including:
  • Businesses that are not based in the United States; 
  • Specific investment firms; 
  • Businesses debarred under Regulation Crowdfunding’s disqualification regulations; 
  • Businesses that have not complied with the yearly disclosure laws under Regulation Crowdfunding throughout the two years immediately before the proceedings of the offering declaration; 
  • Businesses that are currently Exchange Act reporting enterprises; 
  • Firms whose stated strategy is a merger or acquisition with an unnamed company or companies or who have no stated strategy at all.

• The transaction must be conducted through an intermediary – A single online platform must be used for all offerings falling under Regulation Crowdfunding. The platform’s operator must be an SEC- and FINRA-approved broker-dealer or funding portal. As long as the issuer is unaware that the purchaser of equities in the issuer’s offering might well cause the investor to surpass the investment limits, the issuer could rely on the intermediary’s efforts to establish that the total sum of securities purchased by the potential buyer does not cause the purchaser to exceed the investment limits.

Disclosure requirements for Sec Reg CF offering

In order to qualify for Regulation Crowdfunding, companies must provide specific disclosures. Here’s a list–

• Form C – Any issuer making a Sec Reg CF offering must electronically submit its offering declaration on Form C with the intermediary supporting the crowdfunding offering and the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. When the issuer enters data into XML-based fillable text fields on the EDGAR system, a Form C cover page will be produced. Form C must include any additional needed disclosure that wasn’t asked for in the XML text fields attached to it. The Form C attachments are not required to be presented in a particular format; however, the form does provide an optional “Question and Answer” layout that issuers can utilize to give the disclosures that are necessary but not contained in the XML component.
• Offering statement – The guidelines to specify the details an issuer must give include:
  • Providing information about the issuer’s company and how the money will be used
  • The public offering price of the securities or the methodology used to establish that price
  • Specifics about the issuer’s officials, directors, and shareholders who possess 20% or more
  • The desired amount to be raised in the Sec Reg CF offering and the timeframe for doing so
  • Whether the issuer will make investments over the minimum required to complete Sec Reg CF offering
  • Disclosures on the issuer’s financial health and statements;
  • Deals involving related parties

• Amendments to offering statement – An issuer can disclose modifications, improvements, or revisions to information in its offering statement by filing a Form C/A amendment for any offering that has not been completed or terminated. When there has been a major modification, addition, or update, the issuer must provide an amendment and reaffirm any existing investment commitments within 5 business days, or the commitment would be deemed null and void.
• Annual report – A Regulation Crowdfunding issuer must file Form C-AR 120 days after the end of its fiscal year. EDGAR and the issuer’s website must publish the report. The annual report needs identical information as the offering statement, but no audit or financial statement review is needed. 
• Progress update – After attaining 50% and 100% of its target offering amount, an issuer must send a 5-day update with Form C-U. If the issuer accepts overage funds, it must submit a final Form C-U showing the entire quantity of securities sold. If the intermediary updates its platform often on the issuer’s progress in attaining the target offering amount, the issuer will need to submit just a final Form C-U to indicate the total quantity of securities sold.

Exemption from section 12(g) for Sec Reg CF offering

Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act requires an issuer with more than $10 million in assets to register a class of securities owned by 2,000 or 500 non-accredited investors. Section 12(g) registration is necessary if an issuer has more than $25 million in total assets on the final day of its fiscal year and more than 2,000 people or 500 non-accredited investors own equity shares. An issuer is given a two-year transition period before it must register its class of securities under Section 12(g), as long as it submits all annual reports required by Regulation Crowdfunding during that time.

Securities issued under Regulation Crowdfunding are excluded from the record holder count in Section 12(g) with the following requirements met-

• The issuer’s total assets of $25 million or less as of the conclusion of its most recent fiscal year
• The issuer’s regularly continuing yearly reports are mandated by Regulation Crowdfunding.
• has retained the services of an SEC-registered transfer agency

Valuation Effects on Sec Reg CF offering

For Regulation Crowdfunding exemption, companies need to present a thorough list of disclosures to the SEC. Apart from Form C, a business valuation will determine the contents of the offering statement, which needs details of the company, its executives, the value of stocks and equity held by employees and shareholders, etc.

Additionally, the valuation allows the business a thorough annual report that is required 120 days after the end of the year in Form C-AR. While this form doesn’t require a financial statement review, it will include all the information in the offering statement.  

It is necessary to get a valuation from an independent third-party professional to present a thorough analysis. Eqvista is a team of highly professional and skilled valuation experts. Contact us today if you need help with the valuation process.  

Why do companies need a valuation for Sec Reg CF offering? 

All investment decisions must be based on an analytical examination of the appropriate equity. In any crowdfunding event, investors will want a valuation of your firm to decide whether or not keeping assets with your company would provide them with possible profits. As a consequence, it is vital to understand the value of all assets, including Sec Reg CF offerings.

A thorough valuation of the business assets is required during regulation crowdfunding since investors are often overly pedantic about start-up valuation due to the difficulties of valuing a private firm in contrast to those defined by market-driven stock prices. With a comprehensive valuation, the company can allay investor concerns about overpaying for the acquired ownership portion.

Get equity or stock valuation with Eqvista!

Eqvista offers business valuation services in addition to our cap table tool to manage your stocks. Eqvista is a competent team of valuation professionals that can help you create 409a valuation assessments for your company. Our professionals will utilize your cap table developed with our software to generate these reports. Learn more about Eqvista by getting in touch with us!