Here is the first formal announcement by a major investment crowdfunding platform pledging their support for the NC JOBS Act of 2013. Jeremy Andrews is the CEO of Smart Money Entrepreneurs (http://sme.vc), based in New York City, which specializes in equity and debt crowdfunding campaigns. Jeremy has pledged to create a fully compliant NC JOBS website which will allow North Carolina startups and existing businesses to use investment crowdfunding to finance their business with the help of North Carolina investors. In addition, Jeremy has some exciting news regarding a new crowdfunding oriented incubator he plans to open soon in the Raleigh/Durham area called Match Capital. Thanks to Jeremy and his team for partnering with North Carolina.
June 1st, 2013
To: Representative Tom Murry
NC House of Representatives
16 W. Jones Street, Room 2121
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
NC House of Representatives
16 W. Jones Street, Room 2121
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
Why We Support the NC JOBS Act of 2013
and Why NYC Entrepreneurs Are Calling North Carolina
Dear Representative Murry:
I am contacting you to express my support for the NC JOBS Act of 2013 which enables a new form of financing for small business called investment crowdfunding. I am pleased to announce that my investment crowdfunding company, Smart Money Entrepreneurs, is ready to move forward with our plans to provide both equity and debt crowdfunding services to North Carolina as defined by NC JOBS.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of traveling to North Carolina to meet with members of the NC JOBS team as well as several prominent entrepreneurs in the Raleigh/Durham area. While the area is well known for its sustained entrepreneurial growth over the years, I traveled to the state not knowing what to expect. I must admit, it can feel as if New Yorkers are surrounded by a bubble, unaware of any events or activities that happen to take place outside the city. It is no surprise that many entrepreneurs I have spoken with over the past few months were excited about coming down to Raleigh/Durham, but knew little about the entrepreneurial activity beforehand.
The Raleigh/Durham entrepreneurship ecosystem is alive and well, and has been for quite some time. According to Forbes, Raleigh/Durham is #2 of the top 25 places to “Launch A Career” and the best place for female entrepreneurs. While I read about what Raleigh/Durham had to offer, seeing it first hand was absolutely incredible. Granted Raleigh/Durham has a history of hosting great companies like IBM, Cisco, SAS and RedHat in their state, and now many startup communities are sprouting up and startups are thriving here.
Besides enjoying the beauty and majesty of the state, the goal of my trip was to better understand how SME and Match Capital could work with North Carolina as you prepare to pass the NC JOBS ACT. To recap, the federal JOBS Act was passed on April 5, 2012 by President Obama with the intention of bringing much needed capital to startups and small business. While sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo were able to operate legally before the JOBS ACT was signed into law, sites like SME and Match Capital that allow unaccredited investors to put capital in a business for an equity or debt have been denied this privilege since the 1930’s.
At SME and Match Capital, we always believe that the implementation of the JOBS Act could and should ultimately be offered on a state by state basis. Currently four states, Kansas , Washington , Georgia , and North Carolina have either passed or are in the process of passing legislation and exemptions allowing unaccredited investors to invest.
I am also pleased to announce that we will soon be opening a facility in the Raleigh/Durham area for Match Capital, our new crowdfunding incubator. When we started Match Capital early this year, our goal was to help great entrepreneurs get the funding they needed to create jobs and foster innovation and economic growth. We believe it is up to the entrepreneurs in the state of North Carolina to show the rest of the country that great startups are employing people, creating economic wealth for the local NC community, and fostering real innovation in a variety of high growth industries. Creating a safe environment in which the NC community can fund startups to foster this growth is the main focus of Match Capital and SME. As we look to break ground this summer in NC, we wanted the crowd to become heavily involved with Match Capital, and have set up a crowdfunding campaign here. With the help of the crowd, North Carolina will become the premier state in the nation allowing unaccredited investors to place capital into startups via equity and debt.
We are currently recruiting some of the best entrepreneurs from NYC and California to come to North Carolina to be part of this crowdfunding process with us. At SME and Match Capital, we are excited about bringing the first successful investment crowdfunding deals in the US to North Carolina and appreciate your support of this innovative movement.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Andrews
Jeremy Andrews is the Founder of Smart Money Entrepreneurs (SME), an equity/debt crowdfunding platform and is also the founder of Match Capital Ventures, a crowdfunding incubator in Raleigh/Durham, NC.
Jeremy also created a blog post about NC JOBS.
Trenia Today is the owner and founder of Trenia Today International Inc., a consulting and coaching firm specializing in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs benefit from digital marketing practices.
Support the North Carolina
- Find and contact your North Carolina State Legislators and express your support.
- Tweet, email, or post a link to www.jobsnc.blogspot.com using #jobsnc #crowdfunding
- Sign up for email updates on the blog
- Follow on twitter @jobsnc2013
If you have any questions or comments, please email the JOBS NC Crowdfunding Team at jobsnc@nc.rr.com or contact Representative Murry’s office at murryla@ncleg.net.