Non-profit collaborative network Arizona Collaboratory, Inc. and the Arizona Technology Council have formed an alliance to help Council members solicit and raise capital from investors around the U.S.
Arizona Technology Council members now have access to the Arizona Collaboratory portal, giving new opportunities to emerging entrepreneurs and businesses to gain capital.
“Our goal is to support mechanisms that make risk capital more accessible to our members, partnering with the Collaboratory helps facilitate that objective,” president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council Steven G. Zylstra said.
The portal has not been fully launched, but Arizona Technology Council members will have full access to all portal capabilities including Regulation D and Regulation A+ online investment platforms.
Each of the funding portals is operated by a licensed broker-dealer and provides a lower cost of capital framework, according to Nienhauser.
RELATED: Crowdfunding in Arizona
Any accredited investor can qualify and sign up for the portal. “Any business can register and take a very simple assessment on the portal. And any advisor can come and register as a funding preparedness expert,” Arizona Collaboratory executive director Dan Nienhauser said.
“The Arizona Collaboratory seeks to solve two persistent problems in our state – funding preparedness and the funding gap,” Zylstra said. “Companies seeking capital without adequate preparation or experience in securing capital and companies seeking $1 to 10 million in investment will now have an online portal to explore new opportunities.”
READ: Arizona Technology Council revamps site to connect businesses
Startups tend to see a funding gap between receiving family, friend, and angel investment money and looking for a larger capital raise. “Those are the people we believe we can provide a huge opportunity for,” Nienhauser said.
Interested parties can register and obtain preliminary information here.
In the past, the two organizations have also collaborated on crowdfunding initiatives within the state in response to Arizona’s crowdfunding legislation signed on April 1, 2015.
An Arizona-specific crowdfunding financial platform will be available before the end of 2015.
“We have accredited investors and a lot of portals across the country so we definitely have a lot of money on the platform from the perspective of being part of a crowdfunding movement,” Arizona Collaboratory founding board chairman Aaron Bare said.
Graphic provided by Arizona Collaboratory
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