The new way of raising money has arrived. Crowdfunding connects startups and nonprofits who need funds for their ideas with individuals who have money and believe in them and the industry is projected to grow to over $300 billion by 2025. But crowdsourcing means much more than raising funds from the public. If done right, it can be very rewarding but how to go get in on the action can appear convoluted and risky. We’ll flip confusion into clarity and break crowdfunding into basics; equity, debt, donation and reward.

For many competitive athletes, their dreams fall short because they lack the necessary funding to stay in the game. From another standpoint, when retiring from sports, the power of a name can only take a former athlete so far; so many apply their leadership skills to transition to meaningful career in business. As more athletes venture into the tech and business world, by either investing in companies or becoming business leaders, we’ll examine how lessons learned in the game can be applied off the court.

Crowdfunding has had a democratizing effect on a number of industries and that includes retail. Not so long ago, the goal of any small fashion label was to sell wholesale to Macy’s or Nordstrom. It was a top-down approach that kept power in the hands of corporates. But crowdfunding is flipping that model, empowering boutique, specialty brands and giving consumers only what they really want — highly personalized fashionwear — whether it’s a machine-washable suit or the petite version of their favorite brand.

The #MeToo and Time’s Up movement has paved the way for a new generation of entrepreneurial women. The business case for diversity shows companies with diverse teams are more creative, innovative, and profitable.
Yet out of the $85 billion in venture capital invested in 2017, only 2% went to women founders, and even less went to minority female entrepreneurs. In this panel we’ll feature startups with diverse founders who beat the odds and investors committed to tackling issues of diversity in the startup and VC community.

The rapidly evolving landscape of real estate crowdfunding platforms has opened up new doors for developers and investors; whether it’s the ability to raise money to fix and flip a home, raise money for large scale developments, and even buy distressed mortgages. While these advancements have unleashed windows of opportunity to invest in new asset classes, avoiding risky and insufficiently-vetted securities can be overwhelming and confusing. In this panel we’ll speak to the risk-takers with real skin in the game and
examine the continued growth of real estate crowdfunding, how the quality of legal structures and investment offerings have improved and break down the do’s and don’ts of real estate crowdfunding.

Over the next decade crowdfunding is expected to to grow to over $300 Billion. With an estimated 70% of that cash flow going to those in need, nowhere are the benefits more visible than use cases for public good. Whether you are a teacher using crowdfunding to pay for classroom supplies or an individual donating directly to disaster relief, conscious crowdfunding is shifting the way charitable work gets done. In this panel we’ll explore the risks and rewards of crowdfunding for non-profits, challenges around tax deductions and how the crowd is transforming philanthropy.

Since the JOBS Act was passed in 2012 allowing non-accredited investors to participate in equity crowdfunding, the number of crowdfunding platforms across, real estate, ecommerce, sports, philanthropy and more has skyrocketed.
Regulators have loosened the rules to in an effort to lower the barrier to innovation, but now regulators are a little more than nervous about how to not only protect investors from dishonest companies but how to protect unsophisticated shareholders from themselves.

To stay innovative, corporations are turning to the crowd as their partner of choice. From big tech firms like Apple to consumer goods companies like P&G, corporates recognize the importance of outside collaboration as they seek to stay fresh and develop new products. Leigh Radford, VP & GM of P&G Ventures, says her team runs like a startup studio — in some cases, acting like an incubator or accelerator. In this session, P&G will be making a major announcement on their role with crowdfunding.

The emerging crypto market is creating a new economic system, making traditional Wall Street titans like JPMorgan and Bank of America with no other choice but to explore blockchain technology. A World Economic Forum report estimates that by 2025, 10 percent of GDP will be stored in blockchains. So if blockchain technology is revolutionizing finance, what impact will it have on startups and venture investing? Already a number of blockchain startups have launched their own cryptocurrency presales to fund ventures, underscoring that disruption is already underway.

It’s no secret that raising money has historically been one of the most challenging things that prevents Entrepreneurs from turning great ideas into profitable businesses.
80 percent of businesses fail due to cash flow problems. While crowdfunding is not the cure to founders funding problems, social entrepreneurship has stimulated innovation in some regard. Just like YouTube gave musicians a platform to become stars without a signed deal from a major record label, crowdfunding has become the go to platform for startups to raise funds without the blessing from a VC. We’ll speak to successful Entrepreneurs about how they overcame funding challenges, built and scaled their business.

Get rich-quick schemes have taken on a new form with the rise of crowdfunding and students have jumped on the bandwagon. Whether it’s ambitious college students betting their money on a new startup in hopes of becoming the next tech billionaire, or navigating the crowdsourced sites to raise funds to repay their own student loans, education is key to getting it right. This panel (keynote) examines the ins and outs of social entrepreneurship and what students need to know to stay ahead.

Some of the best ideas in business fail because entrepreneurs lack the knowledge and the stamina to navigate the complicated world of raising capital. For our closing session, we’ll examine how members of the crowd can become trailblazers, reshaping industries and our world.

We’ll hear from Shazi Visram – founder of Happy Family Brands about building big ideas and democratizing access to capital.

She’ll share her journey of how she took an idea that started in her kitchen and turned it into one of the fastest growing companies in America.

For her efforts, she was recognized by President Barack Obama