What can StartEngine do to market my raise?

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.

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.
$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.
$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 within 30 days. Hero, Explore, Push, and SMS pending availability.
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.
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.
$750,000 Raised
1. Any issuer who raises $750,000 at least 14 days prior to closing will receive a stand-alone email to our community within 30 days. Hero, Explore, Push, and SMS pending availability.
$1M milestone
1. For each $1M an issuer raises, they will receive a stand-alone email to our community within 30 days. Hero, Explore, Push, and SMS pending availability.
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
Closing Soon
1. Any issuers who raises $500,000 at least 14 days prior to closing will receive a stand-alone email to our community, within 14 days of the deadline. Hero, Explore, Push, and SMS pending availability, as well as any additional placements.
2. To receive closing soon features, issuers must publicly announce their offering close date at least 30 days in advance and post it to their campaign page

Other promotions:

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
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.

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