CrowdfundNC acquires online startup community, The FĒNX

RALEIGH – CrowdfundNC is making its second acquisition in as many months.

On Thursday, the Raleigh-based firm announced it’s acquiring the online startup community, The FĒNX.

The Charlotte-based company, founded by serial entrepreneur Mac Lackey, offers educational events, specialized training courses and an open forum for entrepreneurs to ask questions and discuss business strategies.

“It was a no-brainer for our team to partner with Mac,” said Will McGuire, CEO of CrowdfundNC, in a statement. “The [platform] is quintessentially aligned with our company’s vision and mission.”

Last week, the company disclosed it issued securities in U.S. Security and Exchange Commission filings under its corporate name of LiveVested.

It acquired Durham-based Boon, a “gig work’ app for healthcare workers, in December.

Terms of the latest deal were not disclosed.

As part of arrangement, Lackey will join CrowdfundNC as an investor and strategic advisor to help drive the expansion of The FĒNX.

It marks Lackey’s seventh exit. Other companies that he has built and sold include: KYCK (acquired by NBC Sports), Mountain Khakis (acquired by Remington), InternetSoccer Network (acquired by News Corp SKY), and various other ventures, according to his LinkedIn account.

“As I look back over my 25 years as an entrepreneur, [it’s] an absolute fact that a lot of my success was because I surrounded myself with people who could help me get to where I was trying to go in life,” he said in a statement.

“Never before, to my knowledge, has a community of entrepreneurs, founders and experts combined with a group of experts as it relates to funding, exiting; all of those things are coming together as a community you can be a part of. “

A mission-oriented company

Back in 2019, local entrepreneur William McGuire started CrowdfundNC. Its mission: to grow North Carolina’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by democratizing access to capital for all businesses.

Qualified businesses work with CrowdfundNC, and its partner Localstake, a licensed broker-dealer, to use equity crowdfunding as investment from their fans.

William McGuire, CEO, CrowdfundingNC. McGuire photo.

McGuire gives this as an example: a business might choose to offer a 1.5 times return in addition to some perk. A fan that invests $100 could anticipate to receive $150 in return over a period of time, while also getting a product or service from the business.

McGuire notes that CrowdfundNC is not a platform used to obtain crowdfunding, but rather helps startups through the process of becoming investable. One surprise, McGuire said, is that some startups go through the process and realize they don’t really need to raise capital.

Crowdfunding regulations are changing to permit companies to raise $5 million and allow companies to “test the waters,” both major changes, he said.

“It’s a new world.”