Campaign Marketing Guidelines

Here’s how your company gets introduced to our audience.

Unlike raising from, say, a VC – where you either get the check or you don’t – equity crowdfunding isn’t binary. That means you’ll only take out what you put in.

We’ve helped over 1,000 founders raise over $1.3 billion combined to date.† In our experience, the most successful raises come down to how much hard work and effort CEOs, like you, are willing to put into engaging with their community and marketing their offering. Of course we can give you help along the way, but remember – the amount of funding you get depends on the time and energy you commit.

FYI – StartEngine doesn’t curate and we can’t play favorites with any one offering. Read more marketing ground rules.

The Promotions:

A word to the wise: after launch, agencies and vendors may contact you promising sky-high results if you hire them to market your offering. Our advice? Ask your funding strategist. Our experts can tell you which vendors we’ve worked with successfully and…which to stay away from.

Okay, now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about how we can promote your raise:

The below criteria apply for all Reg CF and Reg A+ issuers, launched on or after December 1, 2023

Heads up: some offerings may not qualify for the promotions in the order listed below. This is simply a common sequence we see for many founders on StartEngine. To receive stand-alone email promotion, you must qualify for the relevant criteria at least 14 days prior to the close of your offering.

1. Venture Club Launch Email
   If you participate in the Venture Club (previously named Owner's Bonus), your company’s campaign will be featured in an email blast to our most active investors, the StartEngine Venture Club members, the day after your campaign both reaches $124K and (if necessary) files a material amendment. This email will be advertising 10% bonus shares in your offering. This email is sent every day and includes any company that met this criterion within the prior 24 hours and participates in the Venture Club Program. 
   
   

2. $124K Raised, New Launch Homepage & Explore Page Tombstones

   1. The three most recently launched campaigns over $124K raised will appear in the “Recently Launched” section of StartEngine’s homepage tombstone rows.

   2. The 15 most recently launched campaigns over $124K raised will appear in the “Recently launched” section of StartEngine’s explore page tombstone rows. 

   3. Issuers are only eligible for this criterion after the campaign has both reached $124,000 raised and (if necessary) filed a material amendment.
      
      

3. $300,000 raised by 20 unique investors in first 30 days***

   1. Any issuer who raises $300K from 20 unique investors in the first 30 days of their offering will receive a stand-alone email to our community and one (1) day in the Featured Spot on the StartEngine Explore Page

   2. Issuers may only qualify for this promo once per raise. If an issuer receives $300,000 in investments in the first 30 days of their offering, they will only receive the above promotion one (1) time.

   3. Issuers whose offering maximum is $124k or less may combine waitlisted investments with investments received to reach the $300,000 threshold.
      
      

4. Most Momentum, Homepage & Explore Page Tombstones

   1. The three campaigns which have raised the most in the last 72 hours will appear in the “Most Momentum” section of StartEngine’s homepage tombstone rows.

   2. The 15 campaigns which have raised the most in the last 72 hours will appear in the “Most Momentum” section of StartEngine’s explore page tombstone rows.
      
      

5. $600,000 Raised

   1. Any issuer who raises $600,000 at least 14 days prior to closing will receive a stand-alone email to our community

   2. Scheduling for this email is up to the discretion of StartEngine. This includes scheduling on Sundays that are typically reserved for the Update of the Week email. In that case, the $600K email will take precedence over the Update of the Week and will be sent in the mornings. Additionally, there will be a guaranteed minimum buffer of four hours between the $600K Raised email and any other scheduled emails to ensure no overlap.
      
      

6. $1M milestone

   1. For each $1M an issuer raises, they will receive a stand-alone email to our community, and one (1) day in the featured spot on the StartEngine homepage*

   2. Companies who oversubscribe their offering may still qualify for this promotion, provided their offering is still live, and the company intends to amend their offering to increase the offering maximum
      
      

7. 2,500 New Followers

   1. Once an issuer reaches 2,500 new followers in their offering, they will receive one (1) day in the Featured Spot on the StartEngine home page**

   2. Excludes followers from prior funding rounds on StartEngine
      
      

8. Closing Soon

   1. Any issuers who raises $1M at least 14 days prior to closing will receive a stand-alone email to our community, as well as one (1) day in the Featured Spot on the StartEngine Homepage, and one day in the Featured Spot on the StartEngine explore page*

   2. To receive the closing soon features, issuers must publicly announce their offering close date at least 30 days in advance and post it to their campaign page; once an issuer has announced their closing date, they cannot qualify for any new promotions in the 14 day prior to their offering close

Other promotions:

1. New Launch (Reg A only)
   Within 30 days of a new Reg A+ offering, the issuer will receive a stand-alone email to our community and one (1) day in the featured spot on the homepage
   
   

2. Update of the Week

   1. Each week, StartEngine will send the most engaged update published by an issuer (as measured by unique users in Google analytics) in an email to our community

   2. Issuers are only eligible for this criterion once every two weeks

   3. In addition to live Reg CF and Reg A+ offerings, TTW raises under Reg CF and Reg A+ are eligible for this criterion

   4. Automated campaign updates, reconfirmation reminders, and campaign updates that solely discuss terms of an issuer's offering are not eligible for the Update of the Week feature

   5. When there is an extensive backlog of issuer emails scheduled at least three weeks out, StartEngine may send an issuer’s Update of the Week on any day of the week. This could include days where other issuer or SE private emails are sent. Every Update of the Week email will have at least 3 hours between the time of sending and any other issuer email sent by StartEngine.
      
      

2. Additional Homepage Tombstone Rows:
   Heads up: you can only be featured under one category at a time.

   1. Most Funded – Features the three live campaigns that have raised the most money overall.

   2. Closing Soon — Features the three campaigns closest to closing with more than $100,000 raised.
      
      

3. Additional Explore Page Tombstone Rows:
   Again, you can only be featured under one category at a time.

   1. Most Funded – Features the 15 live campaigns that have raised the most money overall.

   2. Closing Soon – Features the 15 campaigns closest to closing with more than $100,000 raised.
      
      

4. Campaign Page Badges
   The top 15 issuers who qualify for “Most Momentum” and/or “Most Funded” will also display these badges on their campaign pages. Issuers may qualify for both badges at one time, and the badges will be removed once no longer qualified.
   
   

5. Campaign Updates
   Every time you post an update to your campaign page all your investors and followers will receive an automated email alert. Hint: Updates are a great way to convert followers into investors and keep people excited about your raise. 

The rules:

• All creative content for promotions is at StartEngine's discretion.
  We know the nuances of our website and the behaviors of our community best.

• Marketing Promotions are subject to change at any time.
  As more and more companies make the leap to equity crowdfunding, promotions will scale simultaneously.

• The aim is to get eyes to your campaign, not sell your product or service.
  StartEngine’s marketing emails are brief by design. We want to drive clicks to your page so users learn about your business, not close the deal immediately.

This is what we do for you. Any successful raise requires your own marketing efforts in collaboration with our efforts.

Ready to start raising capital? Our team is standing by: http://startengine.com/raise-capital

† Includes $846M in funds raised as of October 15, 2024 via Reg. CF and Reg. A+ combined through StartEngine’s funding portal and broker dealer, StartEngine Capital, LLC and StartEngine Primary, LLC respectively, as well as StartEngine’s own raises.  Also includes $470M in funds raised previously through offerings conducted on www.seedinvest.com outside of the StartEngine platform. In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors and founders seeking to raise funds.

*Amount raised refers to investment commitments received

**Followers refer to any unique users with investment accounts who have added an issuer to their watchlist, initiated or completed an investment in the issuer

***Investors include individuals who submit an investment commitment

****Unless otherwise indicated, oversubscribed offerings are not eligible for promotion