User:Kelliem16/sandbox

= Republic (Investment Platform) =

Intro
Republic is a financial technology firm headquartered in New York City focused on expanding access to the private capital markets. Republic operates several distinct business lines including a retail investment platform (republic.com), a private capital division, and a blockchain advisory practice. Republic was founded by Kendrick Nguyen in 2016, with seed funding from his former employer, AngelList, an angel investing platform he had served as General Counsel of.

History
Republic was founded in 2016 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enacted Title III of the JOBS Act of 2012, which allowed non-accredited investors to more easily participate in securities offerings of U.S.-based private companies.

In May of 2016, Republic secured an SEC license and opened up an investment platform allowing retail investors to invest in startups with minimum checks of $20-$50.

In April 2020, Republic acquired Fig, a crowdfunding platform for games, to add video game investing to their platform.

In June 2020, Republic acquired Compound, a real estate investment platform, to add real estate investing to its platform.

In November 2020, Republic acquired NextSeed, a local business debt-financing platform, to add main street investing to their platform.

On March 15th, 2021, Gumroad, a startup helping creators sell their work, took advantage of regulations made effective on that same day that allowed companies to raise up to $5M from securities crowdfunding. Gumroad became the first company in history to raise $5M via Reg. CF and sold out within 12 hours of the offering’s launch.

On March 17th, 2021, Republic announced their $36M Series A funding round led by Galaxy Interactive, a division of Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital with participation from Tribe Capital, Motley Fool Ventures, and Broadhaven Ventures.

On October 13th 2021, Republic’s private capital investment advisor launched a $60M Crypto Seed Fund.

On October 19th, 2021, Republic announced a $150M Series B round led by Valor Equity Partners with new backers like Pillar VC, Brevan Howard, GoldenTree, and Atreides.

In November 2021, Republic provided the platform for Chingari, India’s short-form video app, to launch the GARI token, and raised $40M within 24 hours of the live sale.

On December 1, 2021, Republic announced its plan to acquire UK equity crowdfunding business Seedrs in a $100 million deal to expand into Europe.