At the same, some big cracks are forming in the glass ceiling of raising business capital thanks to the launch of an innovative crowdfunding platform called CuttingEdgeX (CEX) pioneered by two lawyers dedicated to strengthening communities through empowering businesses.
CuttingEdgeX is a relatively new concept called “investment crowdfunding.” The founders of CEX, John Katovich and Jenny Kassan, are attorneys who specialize in helping small to medium sized businesses. They have taken that expertise online with www.CuttingEdgeX.com, which is not donation-based like other crowdfunding websites. And CEX is open to ALL investors, both wealthy and non-wealthy. CuttingEdgeX “offers actual investments with the expectation of a financial return rather than a T-shirt or discounted item,” says Katovich.
Listing on CEX is currently free of charge, though in the future, a nominal monthly fee may be charged. CEX also provides a fee-based white label platform that allows automated online investing on the issuer’s own website. Also, to be eligible to list on CuttingEdgeX, each business needs to have completed securities filings for a Direct Public Offering in the states where they want to be able to accept investors. The attorneys behind CEX can guide entrepreneurs through that process, if needed. The legal fees to complete the requirements for raising money from the public through a DPO usually add up to approximately $25k. That is a fairly modest investment when statistically the median net worth of business owners is almost 2.5 times higher than non-business owners. And that increases even more dramatically for minority owned companies. For a black woman, the difference is more than 10 times; and for a Latino man, the difference is 5 times.
