Since May 2016 a US company may raise money from anyone, accredited or not, through an SEC-registered funding portal. The limit is now $5m in twelve months.2 Every offering files a Form C, and many later report their progress. We read all 11,089 of them.1
The headline is how small they are. Companies set a median target of just $38,000, because a raise that misses its target returns the money. They set a median maximum of $750,000. Of the offerings that reported a final amount, the median raised $122,000, and the middle half raised between $50,000 and $331,000.
Most offerings that report an outcome reach their low target: 81% of them. That number flatters the route, because the target is set low on purpose. Successful raises brought in a median 4.2 times their target and 17.5% of their maximum.
Revenue matters, as it does everywhere in private markets. Companies with no revenue, 44% of all issuers, raised a median $107,000 when they succeeded. Companies with $5m or more of revenue raised $457,000.
The cost is real. Portals take a median 7% of the money raised in cash, and in 28% of offerings they also take securities in the company.
Crowdfunding is a way to raise a little money from a lot of people. It is rarely a way to raise a lot.
For a founder, the arithmetic is plain. Crowdfunding can fund a product launch, prove demand or turn customers into owners. It will very rarely fund a growth plan measured in millions, and the cap table it creates, hundreds of small holders, must be managed in every round that follows. Every table, by year, security, state and portal, is in the Ledger.
Method. Original Form C offerings filed May 2016 to September 2026, each counted once. Outcomes come from progress updates (Form C-U) and annual reports; offerings with neither are counted as unknown. Amounts raised use offerings that reported one. Thirty-three filings with impossible values were removed; the rules are kept with the data.
“Crowdfunding is a way to raise a little money from a lot of people. It is rarely a way to raise a lot.”
Sources
- Crowdfunding offerings data sets (Form C), US Securities and Exchange Commission, 2016 to 2026
- Regulation Crowdfunding, US Securities and Exchange Commission
Cite as: “Equity crowdfunding raises a median $122,000”, Norvian Review, 12 October 2026.