Equity Crowdfunding Platform RedCrow Launches with Healthcare as First Vertical

RedCrow, an equity crowdfunding platform with a unique focus on well-curated investment opportunities, has launched to the investing public three extraordinary companies focused on health care, RedCrow’s first vertical. The platform aims to provide exclusive, professionally vetted investment opportunities to accredited and eventually non-accredited investors, with industry professionals leading the way. RedCrow is marketing its first set of opportunities to “Doctorpreneurs,” who can “invest in what they know” alongside strategic investment advisors with credentialed backgrounds in the field. Founded by a former Morgan Stanley financial advisor, CEO Brian Smith, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and serial entrepreneur, Chairman Jerry Harrison, RedCrow’s initial mission is to help investors discover privately held, early stage startups in the booming healthcare and medtech sectors, connecting backers to innovative companies trying to grow their business.
 
CEO Brian Smith explained that the origins of RedCrow come from deeply personal experience. “For years, I have seen many potentially life-changing early stage companies fail from a lack of traditional investment opportunities. In 2003, my wife and I were expecting our first child. Late in the pregnancy my wife went into labor and a little girl was born, unfortunately only living for a couple of hours. During the time, I was working at Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor, one of my clients brought a unique opportunity to me: a next-generation fetal monitor that had the potential to save lives like my daughter’s. I realized that for this company to progress it needed financial backing, and yet none of the VCs were ready to make that investment, as the company was ‘too early stage.’ For bureaucratic reasons, I couldn’t help while employed by Morgan Stanley, so I left and joined the startup as a consultant. I helped them find investors so they could progress, build the product, and get FDA approval,” said Smith. “My success raising funds for the fetal monitor company, made me realize that there had to be a better solution for early stage healthcare companies.”
 
In 2012, the passing of the JOBS Act made it possible for startups to raise funds with equity crowdfunding through platforms like RedCrow. As of this year, the JOBS Act expanded its mandate, allowing companies the ability to raise funds and market themselves to everyone, including accredited and non-accredited investors, forever transforming the way businesses are established and scale.
 
“The passing of the Title II and Title III of the JOBS Act has the power to revolutionize funding for early stage startups that, without equity crowdfunding, would not receive the investments they need to successfully impact society. I believe that equity crowdfunding can exist with Wall Street, venture capital firms, and investment banks, but RedCrow was developed to fill an important void in investment portfolios,” added Smith.
 
As of today, RedCrow investments are accessible to accredited investors, with plans to extend the investment opportunities to non-accredited investors in early 2017. 
 
Unlike other crowdfunding platforms, RedCrow allows the public to invest alongside prominent industry experts who serve as RedCrow advisors and strategic investment partners, who perform a higher level of due diligence than competitors. Each advisor vets potential companies for inclusion on the platform, sharing insight and industry-specific knowledge on featured deals and their potential for success. 
 
Stephen Shaya, MD, managing director of J & B Medical, a renowned, global medical solutions company, has joined RedCrow’s Board of Directors and will act as the strategic advisor for RedCrow’s healthcare vertical. Dr. Shaya said that the RedCrow mission called to him as a professional investor and as a physician, explaining, “RedCrow is going to help to redefine innovation by broadening the number of people who can support transformational products and solutions.”
 
Jerry Harrison, chairman of RedCrow, stated, “RedCrow was designed to help businesses with the promise of improving our society. That’s why RedCrow carefully onboards companies that offer much more than a chance for financial success—we hold them to a higher standard. RedCrow companies are those that can affect and improve communities locally and throughout the world. We provide these exciting and innovative opportunities to our investors, inviting those who wish to ‘invest in what they know,’ which for healthcare includes doctors, scientists, researchers, other medical professionals or families who have experienced the need for such innovations.”
 
A Rock and Roll icon, Jerry Harrison is most widely known for his work with the Talking Heads and as an original member of The Modern Lovers. In addition, Harrison has an extraordinary background as an entrepreneur as the co-founder of companies like Garageband.com, an Internet music resource and early pioneer in crowdsourcing. For decades, Harrison has been an instrumental advisor to companies within the technology, music, and environmental industries.  
 
An integral part of RedCrow’s crowdfunding platform is the Discovery section, where RedCrow allows companies to engage with its advisory team and “the crowd” of investors who have joined the community. RedCrow gathers valuable data on each featured company, information that is shared with startups who seek to rapidly determine consumer and investor interest. “Feedback is vital to the success of any young startup. An effective RedCrow Discovery campaign could lead to the securing of funds from outside investors or an invitation to join RedCrow’s flagship Invest section,” added Smith.
 
Today, three exclusive deals are featured as “Invest” companies on the RedCrow platform: Ixcela, a Boston-based hard science company aiding individuals in measuring and improving their internal fitness; MiRTLE Medical, a medical device company enabling innovative MRI-based procedures that will deliver significantly improved patient outcomes while ensuring patient safety; and Stretch, an Austin-based, mobile sharing platform for critical medical and family data.
 
Accredited investors can register on the RedCrow platform to learn more about each of the featured deals. Prospective investors can view an array of information and investor collateral on the RedCrow website, including introductory videos that help define each company and their leadership teams.
 
“RedCrow is today focused on healthcare, but it is our aim to add more verticals to the platform in the future. One day, our companies might be innovators in cybersecurity, fintech, and virtual reality,” said Harrison. “We’ll let the crowd decide. But no matter the vertical, every RedCrow company promises to make a meaningful social impact.”