Manhattan Street Capital

Manhattan Street Capital (MSC) is an online fundraising and equity crowdfunding platform founded in 2015 and based in San Diego, California. It was launched as the first investment marketplace under the new Regulation A+ rules of the U.S. Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, initially under the name FundAthena, initially with a special focus on women-led and gender-diverse companies. The platform enables mid-stage companies and startups to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors through Regulation A+ “mini-IPO” offerings, as well as other exemptions like Regulation D, in a streamlined online process. Rod Turner, an entrepreneur and former Symantec executive, is the founder and CEO of Manhattan Street Capital.

History and Background

Manhattan Street Capital was founded by Rod Turner in May 2015. The company debuted as FundAthena, launching in San Diego as the first online platform operating under the SEC’s Regulation A+ equity crowdfunding framework. The FundAthena initiative specifically aimed to address the funding gap for businesses led by women and gender-diverse management teams, an underserved segment in venture financing. At launch the platform allowed companies to “test the waters” by gauging investor interest before formally raising funds – a new capability introduced by the SEC in Reg A+ and suggested by Turner to the SEC in an open SEC hosted forum in the summer of 2012. One of the first companies to use FundAthena’s testing-the-waters feature was Histogen, a San Diego biotech firm, whose CEO noted the value of evaluating investor interest early in the process. As the company broadened its scope beyond female-led offerings, it rebranded from FundAthena to Manhattan Street Capital (MSC). The FundAthena name was retained as an internal program that provided specialized support to women-led businesses, while Manhattan Street Capital became the primary brand for all Reg A+ services. By 2016, Manhattan Street Capital had several companies preparing to raise capital on its marketplace under the new rules. The company’s headquarters and operations have remained in the San Diego area, and it continues to be led by Rod Turner as Chairman and CEO in subsequent years.

Services and Business Model

Manhattan Street Capital’s platform is designed to help mid-sized companies and late-stage startups raise growth capital online through regulated offerings. Its primary focus is on Regulation A+ offerings, which allow private companies to raise up to $75 million from the general public (including non-accredited “Main Street” investors) in what are often called mini-IPOs. The platform typically caters to companies with established operations – often those with annual revenues in the range of a few million up to $100+ million – that are seeking funding to scale up. Manhattan Street Capital’s website integrates crowdfunding-style features, enabling potential investors to engage with offering companies, provide feedback, and reserve investment commitments during the SEC qualification process. This community-driven approach builds on the user experience principles of early crowdfunding, while guiding companies through the more formal securities offering process. While Regulation A+ offerings (under SEC Regulation A Tier 2) are the core of MSC’s business, the platform also supports other capital-raising pathways. It has hosted a select number of Regulation D private placements (available only to accredited investors) and Regulation S offerings for international investors, in cases where companies seek those routes in addition to or instead of Reg A+. The company provides advisory and project management services to help clients navigate the legal and compliance requirements of these fundraising methods. In practice, Manhattan Street Capital positions itself as a one-stop online marketplace that can assist companies from the planning stages of an offering through investor marketing, SEC filing, and even steps toward a public listing. For example, the platform has advertised support for companies pursuing direct listings or IPOs on stock exchanges after raising capital via Regulation A+. Investors using the platform are not charged investment fees by MSC; instead, the company earns revenue through fees paid by the issuing companies, such as fixed per-investment fees or equity warrants, as disclosed in offering agreements. The platform accepts various payment methods from investors – including credit cards, ACH, and even cryptocurrencies – to lower friction for global participants (though all offerings comply with U.S. securities laws).

Notable Offerings and Milestones

Since its inception, Manhattan Street Capital has facilitated offerings across a range of industries, including technology, real estate, biotechnology, consumer products, and even aviation. The company’s early entry into the Regulation A+ arena made it a notable player in the crowdfunding industry’s adaptation to the JOBS Act. In 2020, Colonial Stock Transfer’s industry publication listed Manhattan Street Capital among the top ten crowdfunding platforms for Reg A+ offerings, citing its focus on mid-stage companies and its origins as FundAthena serving women-led firms. One significant campaign on the platform was the CubCrafters offering in 2022. CubCrafters, a manufacturer of small aircraft, used Manhattan Street Capital as the advisor and online portal for its Regulation A+ financing. The company sought to raise up to $50 million to fuel its expansion, marking the first time it had ever taken outside investment in its 40-year history. Within the first 90 days of launching this offering, CubCrafters received over $25 million in indications of interest from investors on the platform. The offering was qualified by the SEC in November 2022, allowing CubCrafters to formally accept investments from the public. Rod Turner noted that the strong response demonstrated the power of Regulation A+ in engaging a company’s enthusiast customer base (in this case, aviation enthusiasts and pilots) as investors. Other notable companies that have raised capital through Manhattan Street Capital include GolfSuites, a golf entertainment venue operator, which launched a multi-phase Reg A+ campaign on the platform with a goal of over $30 million, and various real estate investment trusts (eREITs) and biotech firms that leveraged Reg A+ for growth funding. By leveraging the Reg A+ framework, MSC’s client companies have collectively tapped into the expanding pool of retail investors interested in startup and SME investments. As of the mid-2020s, the platform continues to operate as one of the established venues for Regulation A+ equity crowdfunding in the United States, alongside other portals like SeedInvest and StartEngine.

Media Coverage and Reception

Manhattan Street Capital and its founder have been featured in industry and financial media discussing the evolution of crowdfunding and the impact of Regulation A+. Forbes, in covering the launch of FundAthena in 2015, highlighted the company’s mission to support “the severely underserved market of woman-owned and gender-diverse companies” through the new Reg A+ funding model. PC Magazine profiled Manhattan Street Capital as part of a “business crowdfunding revolution,” describing how Turner created the platform to fill a funding gap for companies too large for Kickstarter-style crowdfunding but too small for traditional IPOs or venture capital. In that piece, Turner is quoted explaining that Reg A+ opens a “giant funding deficit” for midsize businesses that had been effectively shut out of public capital markets for decades. The platform’s reception has generally centered on its innovative approach to online capital raising. Observers note that Manhattan Street Capital’s emphasis on compliance and curation (it accepts a subset of applicant companies that meet its criteria) aligns with the need to build investor trust in the equity crowdfunding space. At the same time, industry analysts have pointed out the challenges for Reg A+ platforms in attracting enough investors and sustaining momentum for offerings. A 2016 commentary in the San Diego Business Journal noted that the new rules had yet to “draw a crowd” of investors in their early days, even as platforms like Manhattan Street Capital had several deals in the pipeline. In response, Rod Turner and others in the sector have emphasized education and gradual adoption, predicting that Reg A+ funding activity would scale up as success stories materialized and regulatory familiarity grew.

References

Forbes – “New Reg A+ Investment Marketplace FundAthena To Address Female Funding Disparity” – Forbes, May 19, 2015.

San Diego Business Journal – “New Investment Rules May Not Draw Crowd” – San Diego Business Journal, March 17, 2016.

Colonial Stock Transfer – “Top 10 Best Crowdfunding Platforms for Reg A+” – Colonial Stock Transfer Blog, August 31, 2020.

Business Wire – “Investors Respond with Enthusiasm to CubCrafters’ Anticipated Public Offering” – Business Wire, July 29, 2022.