Investment Crowdfunding Finishes Q1 With a $40M Push

CHART OF THE WEEK 📈

By Chris Martin | Read

2025 proved once again that April is a reliably strong month for Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). Driven in part by the looming April 30th SEC reporting deadline, investment crowdfunding platforms raised significant capital, demonstrating sustained investor engagement and renewed strength for the second month in a row. This month’s report explores which platforms led the charge, which campaigns stood out, and which ones fell short.

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KINGSCROWD PODCAST

By Sam Fiske / Watch | Apple | Spotify

On this week’s Kingscrowd Podcast, Gerry Hays, CEO of Doriot, unveils "Venture Staking," an innovative way to back startups with less upfront risk. Plus, we analyze fresh data showing unexpected growth in healthcare and pharma crowdfunding deals.

DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO WITH PRIVATE CREDIT

Want to tap into real estate-backed private credit with attractive income potential? Join Kingscrowd for a live webinar with EquityMultiple’s Senior Director Daniel Brereton to learn how accredited investors are accessing high-yield bridge loans with downside protection. Daniel will break down the Ascent Income Fund and explain how EquityMultiple sources and manages middle-market CRE lending opportunities.

📅 May 13th at 12pm ET / 9am PT

PITCH REVIEW 💸

By Teddy Lyons \ Deal Report

Brief: Vegetable + Butcher Vegetable + Butcher offers a tech-powered platform delivering plant-forward prepared meals that focus on health, taste, and sustainability. With over 2.5 million meals served and $40 million in sales to date, it operates at a 40% gross profit margin.

Teddy’s Take: I rarely invest in food companies. Margins are too thin, the space is crowded and commoditized, and unit economics are rarely strong enough to warrant an investment. I would say that probably one in a hundred food startups have a shot at generating substantial, 10X+ returns for investors. The metrics that a food/beverage company needs to clear before I even consider investing are very high: millions of dollars in revenue, incredibly strong brand awareness, and an exceptionally high LTV/CAC ratio. I’m cautiously optimistic when I say that I may have found one: Vegetable + Butcher. V+B is a meal delivery company that sources directly from regional farmers, cooks everything from scratch, and delivers with its in-house fleet. Unlike other meal delivery companies that outsource operations (in turn leading to poor quality), V+B is fully vertically integrated and handles all parts of the sourcing/cooking/distribution process.

The company is at $7M in revenue (4x valuation-to-revenue multiple), $9M revenue run rate, 41% margins (strong for CPG), and 10:1 LTV: CAC ratio. I’ve tested out several prepared meal services and see them generally falling into two categories: national brands like Factor and Tempo that use preservatives and chemicals to extend shelf life during long-distance shipping (yuck), and local companies in major cities (like Boston, SF, NYC) that offer fresh, preservative-free meals due to shorter delivery distances (yum). Vegetable + Butcher falls squarely into the second category, serving the DC/Maryland/Virginia areas with a state-of-the-art manufacturing and distribution facility that can deliver to customers up to eight hours away. Obviously, to make this a 10X opportunity for investors, V+B will need to expand to new cities…which will be a capital-intensive endeavor (new kitchens, new workforce, etc). However, I’ve been really impressed with V+B’s ability to execute and scale to millions in revenue with just three cities.

STAFF PICKS 🌶️

Siren Biotechnology

By Teddy Lyons

Backed by top VCs Founder’s Fund (Peter Thiel’s fund) + Lux Capital, Siren Biotech is developing cancer therapies using a well-established, FDA-approved delivery mechanism: adeno-associated virus (AAV) immuno-gene therapy. With a high-level team from Stanford, Duke + Mt. Sinai, this is an early-stage pharma company I’ll be following closely.

Grownby

By Teddy Lyons

GrownBy is a farmer-owned marketplace for local food, connecting farmers with shoppers. They have built a nice ~$1M business with this model. Interestingly, the offering is structured as preferred equity but with a 5-year required hold period and 5% annual dividend. Never seen that before, so I’m interested in learning more. Is this structure better for investors or founders?

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