The advertised raise fills a third as often

Until 2013 a US company raising privately could not tell the public it was raising. The JOBS Act changed that. Since September 2013, a company that files under Rule 506(c) may advertise its offering as widely as it likes, on one condition: it must take reasonable steps to verify that every investor is accredited.^2,3

For years almost nobody took the deal. In 2015, 7.6% of US operating companies' raises of $1m to $1bn were filed under 506(c). By 2025 it was 15.8%, and the share has risen every year since 2020.

The trade has an obvious appeal. A founder without a network can reach anyone who reads LinkedIn. The filings show what it buys. Of the raises of $5m to $500m that began between 2022 and 2024, those filed under 506(c) report selling in full 12.1% of the time. The rest, 37.3%. Three in four advertised raises sold less than half.

Much of the advertised market is property: commercial, residential and other real estate account for about three in five of the advertised raises in those years. That does not explain the gap. Among technology companies alone, advertised raises filled 12.7% of the time and the others 40.3%.

There are two readings, and both are probably true. Companies advertise because they have no investor list, and a company with no list has a harder raise whatever it does. And advertising itself selects the wrong audience. The verification requirement asks an investor to send bank statements or an accountant's letter to a company they met through a post. A serious investor with other options rarely bothers.

The investors who fill a raise are the ones who were asked, by name, with a reason that fits their own book. That work is slower to start and quicker to finish.

Cite as: “The advertised raise fills a third as often”, Norvian Review, 22 September 2026.