I didn’t expect to see founders raising millions on crowdfunding platforms again. I thought we’d buried crowdfunding somewhere in the mid-2010s, between Pebble watches and Coolest Coolers. Back then, crowdfunding was the story. Democratized finance. Pre-orders as validation. That warm, fuzzy sense that you were “backing innovation.” It was the golden age of Kickstarter optimism. the Then came the reckoning: a series of vaporware projects, "companies” that hit severe delays, and too many “we ran out of money but thanks for believing” emails. And since we were living through an era of zero-interest-rate policy (ZIRP) in the 2010s, it was traditional VCs and angels who stepped in. But lately, something’s shifted. Quietly. And fast: in the past year, more than $550 million was raised through Regulation CF and Regulation A offerings, the highest total since the SEC legalized equity crowdfunding in 2016. Why Crowdfunding is Back Why The short answer: because traditional funding isn’t meeting the needs of the market. As I looked through my notes from pitch events the last three years, I realized I could count the number of non-AI companies on one hand. If anyone dared pitch a direct-to-consumer brand, a consumer app, or a marketplace, all they found were some polite smiles and a “pass.” And I get it - that’s something that happens in tech all of the time. Just as everyone chased blockchain from 2016 through 2020, everyone is afraid to miss the next OpenAI moment here in 2025. AI startups captured about 2/3 of all U.S. venture-capital investment value in the first half of 2025 and that’s not going the other way any time soon. AI startups captured about 2/3 of all U.S. venture-capital investment value in the first half of 2025 But that’s left a massive gap, a vacuum for companies that make useful, human things, and has re-ignited the crowdfunding universe. massive So it’s no surprise, then, that equity crowdfunding volume in the U.S. has jumped over 30% year over year, with average raise sizes doubling. equity crowdfunding volume in the U.S. has jumped over 30% The Logic of the Crowd That gap is not only a gap in the capital markets; it’s created second-order benefits, forcing founders to rethink how they build, fund, and engage. Founders who decide to go down the crowdfunding road realize that it’s not only a tool for getting dollars in the door, but that an effective crowdfunding campaign can become a marketing flywheel, a growth engine that aligns the incentives of people building the product and the people buying it. One veteran of the crowdfunding world, Scott Hansen of Maverick Brands, shared in an interview: “When people invest in a brand they love, they become lifelong ambassadors.” shared in an interview And he’s right. Companies aren’t just raising from the crowd, they’re building with the crowd by turning customers and community into owners. The shift from “support us” to “join us” is the human-centric vibe-shift that this capital market so desperately needs. with The Mindset Zag That May Save Your Startup Crowdfunding forces community engagement that demands transparency and accountability - it replaces the performative pitch deck with a conversation. It demands builders move away from isolation (which, in my view, is one of the primary contributors to all startup failures). in my view As Hansen added, “while many are zigging toward the hype cycles, we’re zagging toward lasting community, trust, and belief.” That’s really the story. It’s not only that crowdfunding has come back, but that it has evolved. In a world obsessed with signals and hype (and one that’s increasingly artificial and full of AI slop), it’s teaching founders to build something rarer: belief. We’re entering a phase where community is capital, ownership is marketing, and authenticity compounds quickly. is is The founders who remember that won’t need to chase that next wave to try and fit the AI mold gatekeepers are looking for: they’ll build their crowd, and build a new wave together.

This story contains new, firsthand information uncovered by the writer.

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