Sacra estimates that StartEngine generated $106M in revenue in the twelve months ending September 2025, with growth driven primarily by the rapid expansion of its StartEngine Private product line.

Over the past year, revenue has inflected sharply—from quarterly levels in the mid–single-digit millions in early 2024 to $34M in Q2 2025, reflecting rising investor demand for late-stage, pre-IPO exposure and a surge in fund-formation activity on the platform.

StartEngine Private contributed $75.9M of the company’s $92.8M in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, solidifying the product as StartEngine’s dominant economic engine. The remaining revenue is derived from issuer fees across Regulation A+, Regulation CF, and Regulation D offerings; transfer-agent and secondary-trading services; and equity fees typically equal to ~1% of issuer raises.

Platform-level operating metrics also support the company’s expansion, including a 2.1M+ investor community following the SeedInvest asset acquisition and rising adoption of IRA-based investing. Management is preparing to introduce a new revenue line tied to tokenization, with more than 400 assets (~$3B) in the process of being minted as digital securities—positioning StartEngine to monetize issuance, custody, and secondary-market activity as the infrastructure comes online.

StartEngine's most recent valuation stands at approximately $1.38 billion based on a $15.8 million Regulation A+ common stock offering that closed in June 2025.

The company has raised capital through multiple equity crowdfunding rounds on its own platform using the same regulatory frameworks it offers to other companies. Key investors include SE Agoura Investment LLC, led by Aubrey Chernick, and strategic advisor Kevin O'Leary.

StartEngine has raised approximately $101 million in total funding across various Regulation A+, Regulation Crowdfunding, and private placement offerings. Capital has been raised from thousands of individual investors through these equity crowdfunding mechanisms.

StartEngine operates a vertically-integrated marketplace that allows almost anyone in the U.S. and many non-U.S. residents to buy shares in private companies online or through mobile apps. The platform gives founders an end-to-end toolkit for raising and managing capital.

For investors, the experience starts with account creation and KYC/AML verification, followed by browsing over 30 industry categories of investment opportunities. Each offering page displays SEC filings, cap table terms, funding progress, investor Q&A sections, and perk tiers. Investments are executed entirely digitally with e-signature and checkout screens supporting ACH, credit/debit cards, wire transfers, self-directed IRAs, and soon USD stablecoins for real-time settlement.

The platform offers a paid loyalty program called Venture Club for $275 annually, giving members 10% bonus shares on participating deals, priority waitlist access, and discounted trading fees. A new Premier tier provides early access to pre-IPO deals and in-person events.

For companies raising capital, StartEngine provides a self-service onboarding wizard that collects financials, videos, and investor perks. The compliance infrastructure is built-in, with StartEngine Capital handling funding portal requirements and StartEngine Primary operating as a FINRA-registered broker-dealer for different regulatory frameworks including Regulation Crowdfunding, Regulation A+, and Rule 506(c) offerings.

The platform includes its own transfer agent, StartEngine Secure, which maintains cap tables and handles ongoing compliance filings. Companies can also access StartEngine's secondary marketplace, allowing early investors to trade shares before traditional liquidity events.

StartEngine operates a B2C marketplace model that monetizes through transaction fees from both sides of its platform. The company charges success fees to companies raising capital while also collecting processing fees from investors making investments.

The go-to-market approach combines self-service onboarding for smaller campaigns with premium service packages for larger raises. Companies can choose from tiered Premium packages ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 for campaign design and marketing support, followed by success fees that vary by regulatory framework.

StartEngine has expanded beyond its core equity crowdfunding business into higher-margin segments. StartEngine Private, launched in late 2023, provides accredited investors access to late-stage private companies and funds through pooled investment vehicles. This business line generated 57% of 2024 revenue despite being less than a year old.

The platform's vertical integration creates multiple revenue streams from the same customer relationships. Beyond initial fundraising fees, StartEngine Secure charges ongoing cap table management fees of $250-350 monthly, replacing the previous per-investor pricing model. The secondary marketplace generates trading fees when investors buy and sell shares.

Post-raise services include investor relations tools, compliance support, and access to follow-on funding rounds. This creates recurring revenue opportunities and deeper customer relationships that extend well beyond the initial capital raise.

Wefunder leads the Regulation Crowdfunding market with approximately 33% of total dollars raised, compared to StartEngine's 24% market share. Wefunder focuses on high campaign volume with 367 deals year-to-date and maintains a lean cost structure that enabled $2M in net profit on $16.8M revenue in 2024.

Republic competes across multiple regulatory frameworks and has built a significant investor community. The platform emphasizes curation and due diligence as key differentiators, similar to traditional venture capital processes.

DealMaker Securities operates as white-label infrastructure powering large Regulation A+ raises, including a $75M NewsMax offering. The platform processed over $300M in the first half of 2025, significantly outpacing StartEngine's $26M in traditional crowdfunding revenue for the same period.

DealMaker recently moved its headquarters to New York and began accepting USDC payments, signaling deeper capital markets ambitions. The white-label approach allows DealMaker to power raises for other platforms while maintaining technology focus.

Multiple platforms are racing to solve the liquidity challenge in private markets through blockchain technology and alternative trading systems. StartEngine operates one of the few live retail secondary marketplaces, giving it an advantage in providing liquidity to early investors.

Republic operates Republic Secondary Market, while tZERO and Securitize focus on tokenized securities and blockchain-based trading infrastructure. These platforms promise faster settlement and broader accessibility through digital assets.

StartEngine is migrating over 400 portfolio companies representing approximately $3B in equity value to tokenized securities using ERC-1450 smart contracts. This positions the platform to participate in the real-world asset tokenization market, which Bloomberg estimates could exceed $16 trillion by 2030.

The platform has launched StartEngine Assets to fractionalize alternative investments including art, wine, and memorabilia under Regulation A+ frameworks. These non-correlated asset classes expand the platform's addressable market beyond traditional startup equity.

Stablecoin payment integration beginning in Q3 2025 will accept USD-pegged cryptocurrencies for all investments, removing traditional banking friction and enabling cross-border retail participation.

The May 2023 acquisition of SeedInvest added up to 700,000 prospective investors and boosted daily platform traffic by 70%. The combined investor community now exceeds 1.54 million registered users, with 391,000 having deployed capital.

StartEngine Private targets accredited investors who control approximately 75% of investable assets despite representing only 13% of U.S. households. This higher-ticket customer segment offers significantly larger average investment amounts and access to late-stage private companies.

Mobile applications for iOS and Android capture younger, app-native investors who prefer mobile-first investment experiences similar to Robinhood's approach in public markets.

Dollar-denominated stablecoins and blockchain-recorded cap tables reduce foreign exchange and custody costs, enabling the platform to target 13 million U.S. expatriates and compliant foreign investors without significant regulatory overhead.

The tokenization infrastructure being deployed could facilitate cross-border investment flows while maintaining compliance with U.S. securities regulations. This approach leverages blockchain technology to expand market access without requiring separate regulatory approvals in foreign jurisdictions.

Platform concentration: StartEngine's success depends heavily on maintaining its position in a market where a few large platforms are capturing increasing market share. If Wefunder or other competitors significantly expand their market share or if new well-funded entrants emerge, StartEngine could lose deal flow and investor attention, undermining its network effects and revenue growth.

Regulatory changes: The equity crowdfunding industry operates under specific regulatory frameworks including the JOBS Act, Regulation Crowdfunding, and Regulation A+ rules that enable non-accredited investor participation. Changes to investment limits, disclosure requirements, or eligibility criteria could significantly impact the platform's addressable market and operational costs.

Economic sensitivity: Equity crowdfunding activity correlates strongly with broader economic conditions and investor risk appetite, as demonstrated during economic downturns when both startup fundraising and retail investor participation typically decline. A prolonged economic downturn could reduce both supply of companies seeking capital and demand from investors, particularly impacting StartEngine's higher-margin Private business serving accredited investors.