Eqcelerate is an Equity Crowdfunding platform here to enable Canadians to invest in local startups and small businesses that they're passionate about. We work with these companies by making financing for their projects more accessible - whether it be launching a new product, opening a new store, or otherwise. Think Kickstarter meets WealthSimple. Canadian companies can now raise capital faster than ever before.

Find a campaign you want to support and do so by directly investing in them. In return you'll get equity and often times some pretty exclusive perks as well!

Equity Crowdfunding is emerging across Canada as a more accessible financing alternative for startups and small businesses. This gives Canadians the opportunity to invest in private companies and growing businesses in return for a small percentage of equity.

When you invest through an equity crowdfunding campaign you're making an investment in the company and in return you are receiving a stake in the company. Often times this investment may be coupled with exclusive perks, such as products or discounts. Whereas a traditional crowdfunding campaign (such as one you might find on KickStarter) allows you to contribute funds towards a company's product or service, but not invest in the company itself.

There are many reasons companies are looking to raise capital through equity crowdfunding! This could range from a startup looking to develop and launch their product or service, to a small business looking to scale their operations or expand to a new location. The motivation behind every campaign is unique and will vary depending on the business strategy, stage of development, industry, and goals.

There are a range of reasons to invest in startups!

At Eqcelerate, we live by a simple principle - investing locally should be about more than just a financial return.

Make an Impact
If you're investing in an early stage startup, you should be an advocate and supporter of the product or service they offer. The investments you make enable the founders to take their company to the next level. This is impact investing at the grassroot level – together we’re helping build a stronger Canadian economy.

Equity, Rewards, & Other Benefits
Becoming a shareholder has its perks. As an investor you'll gain access to an exclusive connection with the brand, and often times receive other cool perks such as product discounts, invites to events, and more.

Investors should always be aware that these are risky investments.

Startups and small businesses interested in facilitating an equity crowdfunding campaign can submit a request through our Start a Campaign submission form. The Eqcelerate team will reach out to request more information and schedule a kick-off call.

Kick-off Call
We schedule an initial call to understand your business strategy, progress-to-date, campaign goals, funding target, and how the funds will be used. We walk you through the end-to-end process from Onboarding through to Funding and agree a timeline.

Onboarding Package
We provide you with an Onboarding Package containing a comprehensive list of inputs we require to prepare your campaign, including offering documents.

Due Diligence
We review your submission, financials, and supporting materials to determine if the campaign is a fit. If so, we proceed with preparing the campaign.

Investor Presentation
We work with your team to develop a presentation that provides investors with a summary of the investment opportunity and often includes a Business Summary, Historical Milestones, Go-forward Plans, and highlights the Team behind it all.

Marketing Plan
We develop a tailored marketing plan for the campaign to drive social media engagement across our channels and yours. This plan includes milestones to review performance of the campaign, identify key supporters, and refine content.

Campaign Launch
And we're live! The campaign is up and running, open to investors through our platform.

Campaign Closeout
Once we meet the funding target or total campaign days, we close the campaign. We prepare a report containing a summary of the campaign including investor and investment information.

Regulatory Filing
We prepare and work with you to submit the report to be filed with provincial securities commissions following the campaign closeout.

Funding Received
Funds, less Eqcelerate services fees, are distributed into your designated business account within ten (10) business days of fund closure.

Investors must be a Canadian citizen and 18 years of age or older to invest in an equity crowdfunding campaign. At this time, Eqcelerate only permits residents of Ontario to invest in our campaigns. Stay connected with us for updates as our provincial eligibility expands.

You can start investing in minutes! All you need to do is:

Step 1: Find a Campaign

Step 2: Click Invest

Step 3: Review and Sign

It's that simple.

No! Eqcelerate does not charge fees to investors, meaning that it's absolutely free to use our platform and invest in any equity crowdfunding campaign listed.

Minimum Investment:
The minimum investment will vary across campaigns as we work with each company to set a minimum threshold that aligns with their campaign goals. On average, the minimum investment is $100 to ensure our investment opportunities remain accessible for Canadians.

Maximum Investment:
Currently, most investors can only invest up to $1,500 per campaign. However, if you're a registered investor you can invest up to $5,000 per campaign.

When you invest, your funds are transferred into a designated trust account with a Canadian financial institution. When a campaign successfully closes, the funds are then transferred to the company to fund their project.

At this stage, equity crowdfunding investments are not liquid, meaning that there is no guarantee that shares can be sold.

Investors may sell their shares if any of the following occur:
1) Shares are purchased back by the company if they elect to do so;
2) The company issues additional equity (i.e. Series A);
3) The company is acquired; or
4) The company conducts an Initial Public Offering (IPO) where shares can be sold on a stock exchange.

As an alternative, a secondary market may become available in the future to facilitate purchases/sales.

Yes! This is a risky investment and investors may lose some or all of the money they invested. Investors may not earn any income and often times this is an illiquid investment meaning investors may never be able to sell their investment. You should not invest unless you can afford to lose all the money you have contributed in this investment.

Welcome and thanks for becoming an eqcelerator. We want to make sure that we build a Win-Win for Investors and Companies. Although we don't give advice on any investments, we're happy to share some best practices and tips for our rookie eqcelerators:

Know your risk appetite. Investing in startups is risky. So if you're risk averse, when deciding how much to invest it's best to consider that you might lose it all.

Know your investments. Invest in brands and products you believe in.

Do your research. Review the campaign and company profile.

Diversify. It's often better to make multiple small investments vs. one large investment.

Ask. If you have questions about our platform or any campaigns, just send us a message and we'll do our best to answer it.

No - Eqcelerate does not endorse or recommend any company listed on our website. Eqcelerate cannot and will not asses the suitability of any security for investment, or the merits of any investment.

All of the campaign information is provided and deemed to be true by the issuing companies, not us. Eqcelerate does conduct due diligence before preparing and launching every campaign, including researching each company and analyzing their financials, however we rely on the founders to provide accurate information as it is in the best interest of their company and their future shareholders (you).

While Eqcelerate cannot advise a purchaser about the merits of an investment or recommend an eligible security as a suitable investment for the purchaser, we conduct financial due diligence on each company before preparing and launching a campaign.

The company initiating an equity crowdfunding campaign determines their own valuation. As part of Eqcelerate's due diligence process, we work with each company to validate their valuation and ensure a reasonable and fair price for the company and its investors. Therefore, although Eqcelerate does not decide the valuation of the company, each company must pass our due diligence process prior to launching a campaign.

Eqcelerate is required by law to maintain a sufficient level of working capital for operations. Should Eqcelerate become insolvent or discontinue operations, Eqcelerate will notify each purchaser and will return assets for active campaigns the assets to purchasers (investors).

Eqcelerate knows no boundary! We work with all types of Canadian startups and small businesses coast-to-coast across all industries.

A company can raise up to $250,000 per crowdfunding campaign with an allowance of two (2) campaigns annually, up to a maximum of $500,000 per calendar year.

Although there is no minimum investment threshold, Eqcelerate works with each individual company to assess the funding target to facilitate a successful campaign.

When a company creates a funding campaign they have to set a minimum and maximum funding target. The minimum target is the bare minimum amount of funding that a company must raise to be considered a successful campaign. Whereas, the maximum funding target is an upper limit that a company is able to raise for their campagin.

The company cannot exceed their maximum funding target. Once all shares offered are purchased by investors, the company is not permitted to issue additional shares until a new funding campaign is created.

We work with each company to set an offering period that aligns with their campaign goals. While there is no minimum offering period, a campaign cannot exceed 90 days.

Funds will be available to the company within five (5) business days of the successful campaign closure.

Yes! Companies can extend the length of their equity crowdfunding campaign from the initial deadline that they had set.

Companies must do so five (5) business days prior to their campaigns original campaign deadline. The total length of the campaign cannot exceed 90 days from the original start date to the new designated campaign end date. 

Unlike our competitors, we offer dynamic pricing based on the funding target and needs of each individual company. For companies looking to launch an equity crowdfunding campaign with Eqcelerate, please contact us at inquiries@eqcelerate.ca for more information.

If the company has not raised the minimum offering amount at the end of the campaign period, then funds will be returned to investors within five (5) business days of the campaign end date.