I've seen enough of these to notice a pattern: a small company crowdfunding capital so they can secure additional financing. Then... nothing. Even those opportunities that turn public, or are taken over, will be no more than a breakeven proposition. If that. Save your cash for the real stock/bond markets.
Business owner with a successful 2 year old start up looking to augment its funding. After providing a highly detailed business overview and summary, which they solicited but never read, scheduled call which they were not prepared for, talked in circles reading a script the entire call. It felt like a joke as the call was so ridiculous. When he realized he had a knowledgeable business asking real questions, his scripting went to "not good fit" mode. Don't waste your time here. Next!
I've invested in 23 and growing start engine companies. I keep close tabs on progress, updates from each company. A few high potential companies on start engine were worth my time and money to invest in first, second, third round fundraising efforts.
I find it very easy to use, quite organized. Rather than issuing all my portfolio funds to wealth manager, I enjoy the hobby of reading about smaller start ups on my own.
That exclamation point in their logo should be looked at as a flashing WARNING alert. Horrible communication. Limited ability to access. Unclear process. After hearing many positives, Start Engine sadly is an example of the precarious modern "tech company" that states "we are here to help" and then does the complete opposite in their process and interactions. From multiple sources, along with my own experience, this disorganization is the current norm within the last year at Start Engine. BE WARY and ensure they have their plan, customer response, and business model in better shape before investing your time and money on this risky venture of a company. "Mr Wonderful" has some work to do whipping them into shape.
They won't give me my money back, when they took the money they say it's refund guaranteed, now they tell me that it's not their responsibility and they have no second party to buy my shares back. Why didn't you put that on your website with big letters so we all know how we get screwed.?! Don't invest and make someone sit in a yacht with your money. You won't see that money again!
You can be subjected to 3-4% in transaction fees, then another 5% once you sell anything your investing in. Naturally you'll be taxed 15-20 percent on any gains depending on your taxable income. Just go to Fidelity.com get into a medium/ medium high investment and feel more satisfaction that your not getting hosed over by these scam artists taking advantage of those trying to do good.
I invested in Mr O'Leary core hold account Start Engines to see if this was something that I would make me small return of 6 to 8% After one year I lost 67% I am. not sure I can get the remaining 34% back. I was hoping that the holding company that charges large fees would be a safer risk. Thank God I invested $1,000. According to the value of my 89 stocks it is worth $325. I do even know if there are any takers at that amount. Looks like a scam to me. My other $700 has no value. Stay away unless you have money to burn
I've been investing into StartEngine related opportunities for the last 2 years or so. I read through all of the reviews on here and I am completely astounded at how wrong the negative reviews are. I have had no problems investing, and every investment I've made in these startups has had great communication from both the startup and StartEngine itself. As long as you understand what you're getting into (high risk, high reward) by investing with them, you can adjust your expectations on a return based on that. I have a feeling most of the low ratings on here did not completely understand what StartEngine does, as this type of investing was not available until very recently.
I have seen this platform grow over the last 2 years. More opportunities for investing. Despite inherent risks with any investment, having an open dialogue with starting engine and the participating companies CEOs has been rewarding. Shared entrepreneurial knowledge is helpful when growing any company and it is available on this platform.
I have made upwards of 15 investments, some of them are obviously crazy longshots a couple of them have paid out cash dividends at regular intervals. I think it's very important to know that these investments are very long term, not a year but many years. Some of them may never pay back, but there are (in my opinion) a few opportunities on the site that have the chance to turn out incredibly.
Don't make the investment if it is with money you will miss though.
Answer: Yes, StartEngine is absolutely a legitimate business to invest in. Most recently they've hired Kevin O'Leary from the investment TV show "Shark Tank" as their new spokesman. They are currently the 10 fastest growing private company in CA.
Answer: Hi John. Refunds are processed within 10 business days. To check on the status of your refund, please reach out to our support team by emailing contact@startengine.com and we'd be happy to assist.
Answer: Hey William, Thanks for getting in touch with StartEngine, we are happy to assist with your question! To clarify, companies that raise funds on StartEngine are private companies, so unlike companies listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ, their shares do not fluctuate in value on a day-to-day basis. These investments are considered longer-term and not immediately liquidating. Typically, you will only see a change in the value of your shares if/when the company raises additional capital or goes through an exit event, such as an acquisition or IPO. And keep in mind that your StartEngine dashboard won't reflect any changes in share value – it only shows the initial terms of your investment at the time you made it. If you have any questions about the company and its progress, we recommend reaching out to them directly through the "comments" section of their campaign page or website. If you want to learn more about investing in startups and the potential outcomes, you can check out the articles at www.startengine.com/blog/investing-in-startups-101 and help.startengine.com. If you have further questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team directly at contact@startengine.com. Thanks for using StartEngine and have a great day!
Answer: Hi Bruce, Thank you for your question. StartEngine is an investment platform that allows companies to raise capital by exchanging capital for securities (equity or debt). Rather than asking friends, family, and fans to donate money to help raise funds, StartEngine enables companies to raise capital by offering investment opportunities to the general public. Now anyone is able to be an angel investor! To learn more about investing with StartEngine, please check out our handy Help Guide at: https://help.startengine.com If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us directly at contact@startengine.com. Have a great day!
Answer: Hi Antonio, Thank you for your question. StartEngine is an investment platform that allows companies to raise capital by exchanging capital for securities (equity or debt). Rather than asking friends, family, and fans to donate money to help raise funds, StartEngine enables companies to raise capital by offering investment opportunities to the general public. Now anyone is able to be an angel investor! To learn more about investing with StartEngine, please check out our handy Help Guide at: https://help.startengine.com If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us directly at contact@startengine.com. Have a great day!
Answer: Hi Daniel. To see the status of your investment, you can log in to your account and go to investment.startengine.com/dashboard. If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at contact@startengine.com. Thank you!
Answer: Hi Frank, We cannot provide financial advice or predict a return on investment. However, as a rule start-up investing is inherently extremely high risk, longer term, and illiquid and you should only invest what you can afford to entirely lose. Investing in start-ups should only be done because you are passionate about supporting the company and believe in them. As always, we recommend consulting a financial professional to discuss your own personal goals. You can follow companies on our platform and receive their updates even without investing by making an account and clicking on the "heart" icon on their campaign page.
StartEngine has a rating of 2.7 stars from 182 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with StartEngine most frequently mention customer service, phone number and email address. StartEngine ranks 2nd among Crowd Funding sites.
Hi Gary, We are sorry to hear you had this experience. We do not charge fees on investments unless the company elects to share the cost of their raise with their investors in the form of a 3.5% fee. Not all our campaigns have this fee. Additionally, the fee for selling is only if you choose to use our alternative trading system which we have set up to provide liquidity for these investments prior to a liquidity event. Taxes our out of our purview. We are sorry that this experience didn't meet your expectations, but I hope this helps to clarify.