Description of a Funding Portal in Canada
A funding portal is an entity that facilitates a crowdfunding capital raise through a web-based or application-based platform. It is an intermediary which connects a multitude of investors (the crowd) with an issuer trying to sell securities to such investors to raise capital. Such issues rely on National Instrument 45-110 Start-Up Crowdfunding Registration and Prospectus Exemptions in order to avoid onerous prospectus requirements.
Funding portals can be operated by registered dealers which, due to their regulatory requirements, will, among other things, assess perspective investor’s suitability to invest. There are also exempt funding portals which are not registered as dealer and which as a result do not conduct suitability assessments and have stricter investment limits apply to crowdfunding capital raises they facilitate.
addy is currently neither a registered nor an exempt funding portal and instead provides software and other services to them and the issuers whose capital raises they facilitate.