Local startup Common Owner hit a major milestone this month with the successful completion of a raise in New York City this week, passing the $1 million mark for capital raised on their funding platform. Common Owner, a FINRA and SEC registered portal capable of hosting Title III (Regulation Crowdfunding) hit the mark from just three successful raises, the most recent of which, $652,000 raised for a senior living project in Brooklyn, was also their largest.
“We’re very excited about hitting this milestone,” Jacob Walsh, Director of Operations at Common Owner. “After months of grinding out our [FINRA and SEC] approvals, it’s great to demonstrate how Reg CF can be a game changer for real estate development.”
The company, founded in Buffalo in 2020, is the brainchild of real estate attorney Richard Rogers, who along with colleagues from the real estate world, partnered with Julian Anjorin, Jacob Walsh, and Mitch Skomra to build out the website and protocols. The portal is capable of hosting 506c (open only to accredited investors) and Reg CF raises (open to almost every investor).
“Equity crowdfunding takes the user experience of donation-based portals like Kickstarter and GoFundMe, but combines it with the financial upside of being an actual owner of what you’re contributing to.” Julian Anjorin, Co-Founder of Common Owner.
“Our project would not have been possible without the capital we raised through Common Owner,” Jason Yots, one of the developers leading the rehabilitation of the former Record Theatre building on Main Street near Canisius. “The Monroe Building,” as the project is called, raised $440,000 on Common Owner in 2022. “After the pandemic stalled out our project, being able to market our investment to accredited investors all over the country through a 506c raise was essential to getting under construction.”
The most recent raise by India Home, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of the Indian and larger South Asian senior immigrant community in New York City, was for development costs towards a first-of-its-kind adult assisted living facility with enriched housing located at in Jamaica, New York.
“It’s been a great year, and we’re really proud of what we accomplished as a completely boot-strapped startup here in Buffalo,” Walsh said, “That said, we’re looking forward to 2023 and the next million raised in half the time.”