The Company’s short History
Rise Companies Corp(Fundrise) is a financial technology company that owns and operates a leading web-based and mobile application alternative asset investment platform.
Rise Corporation was founded in 2001. The Company’s line of business includes the wholesale distribution of confectionery and related product. Fundrise has been labeled as the first company to successfully crowdfund investment into the real estate market.
Fundrise is a US-based financial technology startup company that operates an online investment platform. Fundrise has been labeled as the first company to successfully crowdfund investment into the real estate market. As of December 31, 2017, Fundrise had originated approximately $344 million in both equity and debt investments across real estate transactions representing approximately $1.9 billion of real estate property value.
Fundrise’s main products are real estate investment trusts, or REITs, which generally invest in income-producing real estate, either through buying and managing buildings or by holding mortgages. The company calls its products “eREITs.” Fundrise also offers eFunds, in which investors’ pooled money is used to buy land, develop housing and then sell it.
Fundrise also offers what it calls a Flagship Fund, which offers higher liquidity and diversification than its other funds. And it recently also launched a foray outside of real estate, the “Innovation Fund,” which is focused on shares of privately held tech companies.
Fundrise’s first project, Maketto, in the H Street NE Corridor in Washington D.C. raised $325,000 from 175 investors, where any resident of D.C. or Virginia could invest for as little as $100, making it the first crowdfunded real estate project in the United States.
On December 3, 2015, Fundrise launched the Fundrise Real Estate Investment Trust, the world’s first online real estate investment trust or “eREIT” with an initial offering of $50 million pursuant to Regulation.
The Fundrise eREIT offering provides prospective investors with the opportunity to invest in an intended portfolio of properties across the United States for a minimum of $1,000. The aim of the eREIT is to use new technology to give both accredited and unaccredited investors the option to invest in U.S. real estate. This financial offering was made possible by the expansion of Regulation.
Top Two Ways Corporations Raise Capital
Debt Capital
Debt capital is also referred to as debt financing. Funding by means of debt capital happens when a company borrows money and agrees to pay it back to the lender at a later date. The most common types of debt capital companies’ use are loans and bonds, which larger companies use to fuel their expansion plans or to fund new projects. Smaller businesses may even use credit cards to raise their own capital.
A company looking to raise capital through debt may need to approach a bank for a loan, where the bank becomes the lender and the company becomes the debtor. In exchange for the loan, the bank charges interest, which the company will note, along with the loan, on its balance sheet.
Equity Capital
Equity capital is generated through the sale of shares of company stock rather than through borrowing. If taking on more debt is not financially viable, a company can raise capital by selling additional shares. These can be either common shares or preferred shares.
Common stock gives shareholders voting rights but doesn’t really give them much else in terms of importance. They are at the bottom of the ladder, meaning their ownership isn’t prioritized as other shareholders are. If the company goes under or liquidates, other creditors and shareholders are paid first.
Preferred Shares are unique in that payment of a specified dividend is guaranteed before any such payments are made on common shares. In exchange, preferred shareholders have limited ownership rights and have no voting rights.