Equity Crowdfunding’s New Map: Where Startups Are Raising the Most

CHART OF THE WEEK 📈

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau | Read

Startup capital is no longer just a Silicon Valley or Wall Street story. In our latest Chart of the Week, we analyzed equity crowdfunding raises since January 2024 to see which states and cities attracted the most capital. California still leads, but Florida has surged past Texas, Las Vegas has outshined New York in dollars raised, and states like Nevada, Utah, and Illinois are emerging as strong Reg A+ hubs. The map of opportunity is expanding—see where the next wave of growth is happening.

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KINGSCROWD PODCAST

By Sam Fiske / Watch | Apple | Spotify

This week, Léa maps equity crowdfunding dollars by city & state across the US (last 18 months). Coastal hubs dominate, but Las Vegas is a shock leader; Chicago, Texas, and Colorado show steady strength. Then we break down foment bio on StartEngine — non-viral plasmids that trigger regenerative exosomes, with an animal-first commercialization plan (licensing/royalties) before human indications.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Registration is officially open for Kingscrowd’s Investment Crowdfunding Week, happening September 29 – October 2. This four-day virtual event brings together founders, investors, and platforms for the most comprehensive look at the private markets today. With 40+ startups pitching live, fireside chats with industry leaders, and exclusive knowledge sessions, you’ll get insider access to both sides of the crowdfunding equation—how founders raise and how investors evaluate.

Built around the theme “The Full Spectrum,” Investment Crowdfunding Week delivers everything from deal flow intelligence and platform differentiation to founder strategies and market trends. Whether you’re investing, fundraising, or simply exploring the future of alternative assets, this is your chance to connect with the full ecosystem. Reserve your spot today and join us for the premier virtual event in investment crowdfunding.

PITCH REVIEW 💸

By Teddy Lyons \ Deal Report

Brief: Plus.Fan is raising funds on Wefunder to expand its SaaS platform that connects sports clubs with their fans. The platform’s AI-guided playbook delivers VIP access, insider content, memberships, streaming, surveys, and more to boost engagement. Since launch, Plus.Fan has signed 20 teams across eight countries and four sports, with an 88% fan retention rate after 90 days.

Teddy’s Take: I’m a lifelong soccer player and fan. My favorite team is Chelsea FC out of London, who are one of the most successful European clubs of the 21st century. Chelsea has unlimited money to continue to attract the best players, offer world-class facilities, and most importantly, grow its fan-base. Growing a fanbase is a difficult task, particularly for clubs that have limited staff, money, and media knowledge. You may have heard of Wrexham FC, a Welsh team that was struggling in the 5th Division of English Football before being purchased by Hollywood royalty Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The club has now achieved three promotions in three years and is one season away from being promoted to the English Premier League, where they would play against my beloved Chelsea FC. Of course, Wrexham AFC is the ceiling of what a successful media and engagement strategy looks like for a minor league club in any sport. Wrexham now has a massive fan base across the world, stemming from the global publicity of the Welcome to Wrexham FX documentary that documented the acquisition and rebuilding of the club. Most clubs don’t have Hollywood ownership or the funds required to scale the way Wrexham has. That is why I initially got excited when I saw Plus.Fan for the first time, offering a platform for small clubs to grow engagement and monetize their fanbase.

At its core, Plus.Fan is an engagement platform that enables minor league and smaller sports teams to create paid memberships offering insider content, player access, and exclusive virtual/in-person events. The platform provides teams with a turnkey “Playbook,” subscription management, billing, and customer support, making it easy to launch and grow fan programs without adding staff. Teams use Plus.Fan to deepen loyalty, segment fans, and generate recurring revenue streams that complement ticketing and merchandise sales. Since launch, the company has signed 20 teams across 8 countries in multiple sports. The company is also developing an automated content creation feature that will be paramount for these clubs to attract new fans through social media campaigns. While this opportunity is very intriguing, I still have questions on whether Plus.Fan truly helps clubs grow fan bases, as opposed to just monetizing small, existing fan bases. That is the key question that would tip the scale towards an invest recommendation.

STAFF PICKS 🌶️

Prospero.ai

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau

Most retail investors can't beat the stock market on their own. For anyone stock picking, following trusted sources and using technology can increase the odds of successful investment returns on the stock market. And to find the right advisors, results must be considered above promises. Prospero.ai demonstrated that its picks are beating by far the S&P 500. That's a great start. Now the company must convince retail investors to pay for its stock picks in order to become a good startup investment itself.

The Flyover

By Teddy Lyons

This media company has quickly grown to 2.5M readers and $423k in monthly revenue with its “fact-first, no-spin news” offerings. The Flyover delivers news through email and podcast distribution-only, and is operating at a profit. However, is the $35M valuation a fair price?

Sazmining

By Teddy Lyons

Sazmining is a Bitcoin Mining as a Service provider. What does this mean? Customers purchase mining rigs that are sent to Sazmining's carbon-free data center. The company then operates the mining equipment and takes a cut of the BItcoin earnings. Sazmining is profitable and recorded $8.7M in revenue last year, so this unique offering is worth a second look.

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