Xeelion: efficient Crowdfunding
The crowdfunding industry is growing rapidly. It is no more people who invest in smaller companies that launch games and devices on Kickstarter but it’s becoming a real profitable industry. With volumes that reached $2.7 billion in 2012, and are expected to reach $5 billion in 2013, crowdfunding has emerged as a viable, scalable alternative to public and private finance across the globe, with a lot of new platforms announcing the launch every months.
Under these assumptions, a small team of international entrepreneurs is launching a platform with some new concepts, Xeelion – xeelion.com. But is there a real need of another platform in such a crowded industry? Fabio Bancalà, founder and Chief Executive at Xeelion, says: “Crowdfunding is currently booming, especially equity crowdfunding because small investors will be allowed to invest in high-growth and profitable startups after the approval of the Title III by the SEC. But equity-based platforms are mainly run by former Venture Capitalists who basically keep their attention to the investors’ needs. This means that young entrepreneurs, especially those who are at their first experience as founders, have to run their campaigns over investors-oriented platforms. Our mission is to provide an entrepreneurs-oriented platform to help young entrepreneurs during the vital phase of seeking capitals”. This is absolutely a great concept, and it is in line with the process of democratization introduced by crowdfunding, which has started as a democratic movement and is currently turning into a real worthy industry. But the question is how will Xeelion allow only young entrepreneurs to start a campaign over its platform?
Xeelion’s business model is very easy: it is a crowdfunding platform for students who attend U.S. universities. This means that you will need a student@university.edu email to start a campaign. Everyone can join Xeelion’s community, fund reward and donation-based campaigns and after the platform will meet the SEC requirements even the equity ones, but only students are allowed to start a campaign. Fabio, who is an Italian registered broker dealer with more than 15 years’ experience in startup and finance, explains how they are building an entrepreneurs-oriented platform: “The issue is that while students are close to startup space, they are often far from capitals. Students lack expertise and connection to capitals and professionals. At Xeelion we aim to offer specialized services to entrepreneurs with great ideas but few experience. For example we will provide them with a tool to draft an effective business plan, or to report periodically their performances to investors”. This is one of the key elements of this new platform, because investors are often worried not to hear from the entrepreneurs they have invested in, and Xeelion’s strategy goes to the right direction while educating startups’ managers to communicate with their investors. The lack of flows of information is one of the most relevant problems of crowdfunding, especially equity crowdfunding, and startups which will ensure periodically reports to investors will gain their trust and raise capitals more easily. But Xeelion has also a high propension to social networking. In fact, it has developed an effective, easy-to-use social tool which will enable startuppers to easily spread the word within their own communities, not only by sharing their campaigns but also by inviting friends directly to see, like and follow their projects. This social tool will also be useful for investors. They will be able to share information about companies, talk about investment opportunities with other investors, follow Venture Capitalists and angels, and create club deals. Xeelion also differentiates itself from other platforms because allows only scientific projects which meet requirements of sustainability. The concept is that investors feel happy when they invest in profitable companies with sustainable business models, because they believe they are giving their contribution to build a better world. In addition, the fields in which Xeelion allows entrepreneurs to raise money are considered the most profitable ones by VCs and professional investors in general, how a recent research performed over more than one thousand VCs from the National Venture Capital Association has shown. The platform has achieved some milestone, even before the official launch. Some promising startups and entrepreneurs have already joined Xeelion and will run a fundraising campaign soon.
Not Alone, LLC for example, founded by Alex Watler, a Harvard student, is developing a GPS-enabled smart bracelet that will revolutionize the security industry as we know it; or Vision Industries, an e-commerce platform for independent brands founded by students at Johnson & Wales; or Thao, who is launching a project to help low income people in Vietnam, her beloved Country. “We feel a lot of interest around our venture” Says Mrs Jun Gong, graduated in Economics from University of Shanghai, MBA from Hult University of San Francisco, Chief Operating Officer at Xeelion and responsible for the Community Managers Program, a program of Universities Ambassadors launched by the company to increase the platform awareness within the campuses. “Many students are applying for a position of Community Manager. I receive many requests from our website every day, from all the main U.S. universities. And we also receive requests from entrepreneurs who are looking forward to running a campaign with Xeelion”. This shows that the managers are going to the right direction and Xeelion will soon become a lead player within the crowdfunding industry. “We will go live by April” ends Fabio “and allow investors and backers to invest from July 4th, a date that all the Americans can easily remember. Additionally, entrepreneurs and investors who will join our community before that date will not pay any fee on the campaigns”. So it seems that Xeelion has all the potentiality to become a niche platform, market leader for young entrepreneurs and #1 platform among students. A lead player and part of a great revolution, made by common people, for common people.
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Contact Fabio Bancalà
Cell +39 334 6867 807
Email: fabio@xeelion.com
Website: www.xeelion.com
