Joining a growing list of states that have passed intrastate crowdfunding laws, the Florida Legislature passed its own bill and it is expected to be signed by Gov. Rick Scott this week.
With the Florida Senate and House passage of SB 914 and HB 275, investment in private Florida companies is no longer restricted to “accredited” high net worth investors. This new legislation allows online crowdfunding platforms to register and conduct business in Florida as long as both the investors and businesses using crowdfunding reside in the state and that certain consumer protections are in place.
A Florida intrastate crowdfunding law has been in development for over a year. In 2014, the “Florida Crowd Finance Act” was initiated by Miami-based Funding Wonder, a small business lending platform, with the support of the Florida Crowd Finance Association. While support was strong among the bill’s sponsors and many legislators, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, which reports to the governor, opposed the bill effectively postponing action on the matter until 2015.
The new law provides capital-raising opportunities for small businesses that lacked access before, but it also allows residents a chance to invest in small businesses and startups in their own communities, Funding Wonder’s executives said.
“There is tremendous momentum behind crowdfunding as a tool for business finance and it makes sense for Florida, with the country’s fourth largest economy, to be an active participant,” Funding Wonder CEO Michael Mildenberger said in a news release.
Nancy Dahlberg