About StartEngine
StartEngine is a Financial Services company based in Los Angeles (United States) founded in 2011 by Paul Kessler. Equity crowdfunding for startups and private companies is enabled. It operates in the Financial Services and Technology sectors. StartEngine has raised $130.49 million across 72 funding rounds from investors including SE Agoura Investment, Cacao Capital and Daniel Gutenberg. The company has 191 employees. StartEngine has completed 2 acquisitions, including Seedinvest and Vinovest. StartEngine was last valued at $780 million in September 2021. Its website startengine.com draws about 1.7 million monthly visits. Its focus areas include FinTech, Crowdfunding, Equity and Startups. Its competitors include Seedinvest, Gust and Propel(x); 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
StartEngine was founded in 2011 in Los Angeles, United States, as an equity-based crowdfunding platform. Investments in startups and private companies are facilitated through its domain, startengine.com, where shares are exchanged for user contributions. Opportunities across multiple projects are provided to both accredited and non-accredited investors, operating within the fintech sector to support private equity access.
- Headquarters Los Angeles, United States
- Employees 191
- Founders Paul Kessler
- Stage Minicorn
- SectorsFinancial ServicesTechnology
- Website category Computers Electronics and Technology
- Email••••••••
- Phone•••• ••••
- Website startengine.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook
- Annual Revenue$109.58 M (USD)as on Dec 31, 2025
- Net Profit$1.47 M (USD)as on Dec 31, 2025
- EBITDA$1.45 M (USD)as on Dec 31, 2025
- Total Equity Funding$130.49M (USD)
in 72 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$314.03K (USD), Series A
Oct 2026
- InvestorsCacao Capital
& 4 more
- Employee Count191
- Investments & AcquisitionsSeedinvest
& 1 more
Apps and channels of StartEngine
StartEngine publishes 1 mobile app with over 10K+ downloads.
Funding Insights of StartEngine
StartEngine has successfully raised a total of $130.49M across 72 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series A round of $314.03 thousand completed in October 2026. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $130.49M
- Total Rounds 72
- Last Round Series A — $314,025
- First Round $5.53M
(Dec 2015)
- Investors Count 1
Latest 10 of 72 funding rounds of StartEngine with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $314,025 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Sep 2026 | $544,050 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Aug 2026 | $860,660 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jul 2026 | $903,240 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jun 2026 | $950,339 | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jun 2026 | $3.6M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jun 2026 | $3.6M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Jun 2026 | $2.17M | Series A | – | – | – |
| May 2026 | $2.78M | Series A | – | – | – |
| May 2026 | $3.34M | Series A | – | – | – |
| Date | Valuation | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2021 | $780M | •••••••• |
Last known valuation $780M (Sep 2021). 5 investors in total: 4 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in StartEngine
StartEngine has secured backing from 5 investors, including institutional, venture fund, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include SE Agoura Investment, Cacao Capital and Daniel Gutenberg.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Venture capital is provided to seed and early-stage startups. | cacao-capital.com | Guatemala City, Guatemala | ||
Investment opportunities are pursued by Daniel Gutenberg with passion. | gutenberg.ch | Pfaffikon, Switzerland | ||
Investments in US tech companies are made by BAM Ventures. | bam.vc | Los Angeles, United States | ||
KO Kevin O’Leary | unknown_2de880f402b546ffb | Boston, United States |
Investor details for StartEngine
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of StartEngine
23 people are tracked at StartEngine (12 in leadership, 2 in board & advisors, 9 in team); the tracked headcount is 191.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Paul Kessler | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Howard Marks | CEO And Co-founder | Leadership |
Danny Rickard | Director, Creative Services | Leadership |
Tim Olesnavage | Head Of Talent Acquisition | Leadership |
Max McKee | Head Of Capital Formation - Private Markets | Leadership |
Gabe B. | Director Of Onboarding | Leadership |
Caitlin Boyle | Director Of Funding Growth | Leadership |
Hunter Strassman | Chief Financial Officer | Leadership |
Jacob Landy | Director Of Funding Growth | Leadership |
Stefania Pombo | Director Of Onboarding | Leadership |
Marissa Asercion | Director Of Investor Experience | Leadership |
Haley McMaster | Director of Funding Growth | Leadership |
Kevin O'Leary | Strategic Advisor | Board & advisors |
Ron Miller | Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board | Board & advisors |
Tyler Ruhl | Alternative Investment Associate | Team |
Isabella Marklin | Senior Onboarding Manager | Team |
Hannah Minn | Senior Marketing Designer | Team |
Jeremy Roll | Investor | Team |
Emily Glocer | Campaign Manager | Team |
Joshua Graunke | Accounting Manager | Team |
3 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for StartEngine
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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- Professional contacts
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Investments & Acquisitions by StartEngine
StartEngine has strategically engaged in corporate development activities, having acquired 2 companies. Notable acquisitions include Seedinvest and Vinovest.
| Company Name | Description | Domain | Location | Founded | Acquired | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Investment in fine wines is enabled through an online platform. | vinovest.co | Culver, United States | 2019 | Mar 2026 | •••• | |
Startups are connected to investors via equity and revenue-based crowdfunding. | seedinvest.com | New York, United States | 2012 | Oct 2022 | •••• |
Complete acquisition details for StartEngine
Acquired stakes, deal sources and the complete acquisition history require an active premium plan.
- Acquired stakes
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- Complete history
- Exports
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Timeline of StartEngine
6 dated milestones of StartEngine across 15 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded StartEngine is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $5.5M.
- Milestone Reaches Minicorn status.
- Acquisition Acquires Seedinvest.
- Acquisition Acquires Vinovest.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series A, of $314K.
Competitors of StartEngine
StartEngine has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Seedinvest, Gust and Propel(x).
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| seedinvest.com | 2012 | New York, United States | $9.28M | Startups are connected to investors via equity and revenue-based crowdfunding. | ||
| gust.com | 2004 | New York, United States | $18.37M | 3 | Startups are connected to investors via a crowdfunding platform. | |
| propelx.com | 2014 | San Francisco, United States | $7M | 4 | Deep technology startups are funded via equity crowdfunding platform. |
Detailed competitors of StartEngine
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of StartEngine
The website of StartEngine (startengine.com) receives about 1.7M visits a month and ranks #42,498 among all websites worldwide, #5,172 in Computers Electronics and Technology.
- Monthly visits1.7M
▲ 10% vs previous month
- Unique visitors571.8K
per month
- Global rank#42,498
among all websites
- Category rank#5,172
Computers Electronics and Technology
- Bounce rate58%
- Pages per visit2.3
- Average visit2 min 55 sec
- DevicesDesktop 18% · Mobile 83%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with StartEngine. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500.co | 100% | #219,030 | View details | ||
| microsoft.com | 97% | 1.2B | #33 | View details | |
| bestbuy.com | 91% | 107.4M | #220 | View details | |
| adblockplus.org | 84% | #566 | View details | ||
| tiktok.com | 80% | 3.2B | #7 | View details | |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for StartEngine
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Crowdfunding
3 companies that operate in the same segment as StartEngine (Crowdfunding) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reward-based crowdfunding is facilitated for content creators and musicians. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 412.1 M | 1,218 | ||
An investment platform offering access to private market investments | 2010 | Washington, District Of Columbia, United States | USD 53.73 M | |||
Funds are raised online for social causes via crowdfunding platform. | 2008 | San Diego, California, United States |
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Related news about Startengine
Complete news archive for StartEngine
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
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- Brand-specific news history
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Frequently Asked Questions about StartEngine
StartEngine was founded in 2011 and raised its 1st funding round 4 years after it was founded.
StartEngine is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States. It is registered at Los Angeles, California, United States.
StartEngine is a funded company, having raised a total of $130.49M across 72 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $3.34M, raised on Dec 2015.
StartEngine has 191 employees.
Annual revenue of StartEngine is $109.58M as on Dec 31, 2025.
StartEngine was founded in 2011 in Los Angeles, United States, as an equity-based crowdfunding platform. Investments in startups and private companies are facilitated through its domain, startengine.com, where shares are exchanged for user contributions. Opportunities across multiple projects are provided to both accredited and non-accredited investors, operating within the fintech sector to support private equity access.
StartEngine's top competitors include Seedinvest, Gust and Propel(x).
StartEngine has made 2 acquisitions, including Seedinvest, and Vinovest.
StartEngine has 5 investors. Key investors include SE Agoura Investment, Cacao Capital, Daniel Gutenberg, BAM Ventures, and Kevin O’Leary.
The valuation of StartEngine is $780M as of Sep 2021.
Yes. StartEngine publishes StartEngine: Startup Investing, with over 10,000 downloads.
The website of StartEngine receives about 1.7 million visits a month and ranks #42,498 among all websites worldwide.