Sorry I couldn’t make it to this year’s Global Cleantech Meetup but am pleased to post information provided by Harold Simansky about his company, 360 Chestnut , which provides resources for consumers and service providers in the home improvement market, and about WeFunder, a crowd investing platform for startups.
Both companies are headquartered at the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, where I share space, although I have not yet met either Simansky or WeFunder cofounder and President Mike Norman.
Simansky says the two companies “stole the show,” but I’ll bet they got a run for their money (so to speak) from my friend and informal PR client, Christine Adamow, who announced that her company, EuphorbUS, which has produced pure fuel oil from tree seeds in Africa since 2007, is setting up shop in Hawaii. [Link to Euphorbus release.]
Simansky writes that WeFunder is the premier crowd investing platform for startups, while 360Chestnut is growing into one of the largest home improvement sites on the web.
Both startups were featured presenters at the two day conference: Norman gave the keynote address to the more than 500 attendees and Simanski spoke on home improvement and sustainability.
Simansky points out that 360Chestnut is using the WeFunder platform to raise its most recent round of investment, and in his keynote, Norman called 360Chestnut an “ideal company” to use crowd investing to fund its growth.
Simansky describes WeFunder as “a crowd investing platform for startups.” Using the platform, crowd investors can purchase stock for as little as $100 in promising new businesses around the country. With the passage of the US JOBS Act in April, startups will soon be allowed to solicit investment from small, “unaccredited” investors and sell small stakes in their businesses online.
He says that 360Chestnut is “a no-cost, trusted source” where homeowners learn what to do to make their homes more healthy, energy-efficient and comfortable; connect with qualified service providers, and access the more than 5000 rebate and incentives that will pay for this type of work.
For service providers, 360Chestnut is “a constant source of educated, nurtured customers; marketing & sales support; easy-to-use software and applications; online training; financing options and more. Service providers pay to join and may purchase products and service son the site.
–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and online-marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.
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