Wednesday, April 30

Top Stories

OurCrowd Closes $25M Series B Round — OurCrowd, the Israel-based equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors, announced earlier this week that it raised a $25 million Series B private funding round. The company claims this is the largest investment in an equity crowdfunding platform to date.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

DesignCrowd Opens Office in Manila, Coming to San Francisco Next

Australian crowdsourced design company DesignCrowd announced earlier last week that it’s opening an office in the capital of the Philippines, with an office in San Francisco coming next month. The company had launched localized sites in a number of countries in the past, including in the Philippines, but it’s the first time it’s opening an office outside of Sydney.

How Crowdfunding Platforms are Changing the World of Real Estate

Stefano D’Aniello, founder of GroundBreaker, discusses three ways that accredited investor crowdfunding platforms have altered the landscape for real estate investing.

Duolingo Updates App, Bolsters Presence in Asia

Duolingo, the language-learning platform from Luis von Ahn, rolled out the 4.0 version of its app earlier today, which introduces a new learning mode and adds more language combinations for its users.

Inventalator Aims to Crowdsource the Product Development Process

We profile Inventalator, a recently-launched platform that plans to crowdsource the product development process, with the ambitious goal of creating “the assembly line of the 21st century.”

Crowdfunding for Environmental Projects Done Right

Crowdfunding coach Rose Spinelli writes in with her weekly advice. In this article, she highlights an innovative Indiegogo campaign that makes use of gamification, as well as other elements, to encourage backer participation.

Kickstarter Turns 5, Hosting Block Party This Saturday

Kickstarter, one of the leading crowdfunding platforms around, celebrated its fifth birthday on Monday. No birthday should go without a celebration, so Kickstarter is hosting a block party this Saturday from noon to 6pm. The party will take place at its office in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood (of Girls fame), at 58 Kent Street.

Crowdfunding Campaigns Spring Up to Purchase Sterling’s Clippers

With the sale of the LA Clippers seemingly imminent, many billionaires have expressed interest in buying the NBA team. The crowd is showing its enthusiasm, too: almost overnight, as many as 14 campaigns popped up on Indiegogo to crowdfund the purchase of the Clippers.