Republic is one of the leading platforms where people can invest in early stage companies. Its equity crowdfunding platform has facilitated the funding of over $100 million since 2016. Keep in mind that anyone can participate in Republic’s offerings. In fact, the deals usually have minimums of only $100.

Republic standardizes its offerings by using a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) instrument. This means that the allocation of equity is based on a trigger event, such as an acquisition, IPO (Initial Public Offering) or subsequent funding.

Consider that Republic engages in its own due diligence on its deals. Still, this does not mean the risks are minimal. The fact is that early stage investments often fail or stall out. This is why it is important to do your own analysis and make sure the positions meet your diversification needs.

OK then, so what are some of the interesting deals on Republic? Well, let’s take a look at three:

• Choose Health
• HelloWoofy.com
• CallingDr

Read on to learn more about each of these.

Equity Crowdfunding Startups: Choose Health

End of Campaign: Jan. 9, 2021

Thanks to the impact of the novel coronavirus, one category that has seen growth in 2020 is the at-home blood test market. And one way to participate in that area is with Choose Health.

Here’s how the company’s service works: A user will first take a short online survey to evaluate the relevant markers, based on lifestyle, health goals and family history. A staff doctor is available to help if you need. As for the markers, they include total cholesterol, triglycerides, hbA1c, GGT, hs-CRP, testosterone and Covid-19 antibodies. After this, the user will get a personalized test, which will include test supplies. It is simple to use and requires a single prick of your finger for the blood. After the kit is processed, the user will get the analysis.

Choose Health launched its service in October 2019, and the adoption has been encouraging. The company has signed up more than 350 subscribers and the company is on track to reach MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenues) of over $50,000 by the end of the year.

Note that the company founders have extensive experience with direct marketing. No doubt, this has been a big advantage in terms of the early success of Choose Health. The main source of leads has come from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

For the equity crowdfunding round, Choose Health has raised in excess of $104,000 from 346 investors, and the valuation cap is at $5 million. One of the perks with higher levels of investment is free test kits (this is based on the amount you commit).

HelloWoofy.com

End of Campaign: Dec, 2, 2020

There are many social media marketing platforms on the market. But what makes HelloWoofy.com interesting is that it relies on AI (Artificial Intelligence). The result is that smaller companies can leverage their social media campaigns without the manual processes or the need to hire expensive consultants.

HelloWoofy.com, which has more than 109,000 lines of code, has features like the following:

• AI-based blog writing
• The use of NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology to provide suggestions for hashtags and emoji.
• The automatic creation of brand-authentic content to be more effective.

The system is also integrated with one of the top social media platforms, Hootsuite. It has more than 18 million social media professionals.

Already HelloWoofy.com has snagged over 4,000 B2B customers and the revenues are estimated to hit $250,000 by the end of the year. The company also has two patents filed along with four trademarks.

Moreover, a partnership with AppSumo has been a nice source of leads. Note that the company has a base of 850,00 customers.

Regarding the equity crowdfunding round, the company has raised over $101,000 from 457 investors and the valuation is at $9 million. The investment also has a variety of perks, including T-shirts and free subscriptions to HelloWoofy.com.

CallingDr

End of Campaign: Sept. 5 (CLOSED)

Finally, let’s talk about a campaign that, unfortunately, is no longer open to new investors, but which showcases yet another of the fascinating opportunities you can find in equity crowdfunding.

During the past couple years, the telemedicine space has seen significant growth and interest. And now, with the pandemic, there has been an acceleration in the momentum. Just look at the performance of companies like Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC).

But through Republic, you have a chance to invest in an early stage operator: CallingDr. The platform allows for patient-doctor video consultations as well as remote monitoring. For example, CallingDr makes it possible collect vitals by using the camera on a smartphone. There are also features to help the physician, such as with prescribing medications and improving workflows.

CallingDr charges a subscription that ranges from $49.95 to $149.95 per month. The company even provides a white label option (this starts at over $20,000).

As should be no surprise, growth has been strong. For this year, the forecast is for revenues to exceed $1 million, up from $280,000 in 2019.

The company ended up raising over $343,000 from 1,127 investors with its equity crowdfunding campaign, which closed on Sept. 5.

Tom Taulli (@ttaulli) is an advisor/board member for startups and author of various books and online courses about technology, including Artificial Intelligence Basics, The Robotic Process Automation Handbook and Learn Python Super Fast. He is also the founder of WebIPO, which was one of the first platforms for public offerings during the 1990s. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Investing through equity and real estate crowdfunding or asset tokenization requires a high degree of risk tolerance. Despite what individual companies may promise, there’s always the chance of losing a portion, or the entirety, of your investment. These risks include:

1) Greater chance of failure
2) Risk of fraudulent activity
3) Lack of liquidity
4) Economic downturns
5) Dearth of investor education

Read more: Private Investing Risks