Our Innovate Capital Approach

We are committed to developing creative capital-raising strategies specifically designed for your goals and resources. We have extensive experience to build on.

We offer a variety of capital-raising and business law services using innovative tools and unique fee structures.

Our Services

 Capital Raising

We help growing businesses create dynamic capital-raising strategies by integrating Crowdfunding, and other online financings with traditional venture capital, angel, and friend and family financings.

We use new types of securities (including Revenue Share Notes, SAFES, Tokens and hybrid securities) to help entrepreneurs raise capital from new types of investors.

Our Boutique Growth Capital-Raising Services starts with our Six-Step Innovation Process designed to help us develop the right plan to achieve your goals.

Check out our Start-Up Best Practices for more insights.
 FinTech

Our FinTech services are at the intersection of Finance and Technology. Our FinTech business developed in several waves: 

  • Our Crowdfunding experience taught us how to use the Internet to help private companies raise capital.
  • We moved into the Coin/Token world, because ICOs are Crowdfunding on steroids. Applying both Crowdfunding and traditional securities laws to Coins and Tokens offerings is a challenging and interesting part of our business.  

Any type of asset can be tokenized. We have advised clients about a range of types of FinTech transactions, including:

  • Developing specialized tokenized securities
  • Financing Coin mining operations
  • Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts in business and in financing
 Impact Investments
People have always wanted to make investments that improve the world.  Investments won’t replace charity, but social impact investing often adds measure of accountability that helps ensure money is directed to the people who produce results.
 
Many Crowdfunding investors are motivated by a desire to blend their investments with their personal interests.
 
Innovate Capital’s social impact investment initiatives include:
  • Advising entrepreneurs how to communicate with social impact investors through Crowdfunding.
  • Advising non-profit organizations how to leverage their grants by helping the businesses they fund to sell securities to social impact investors.
  • Advising organizations with social impact goals and expertise how to organize and structure social impact venture capital funds.
 Exit Strategies
If you can’t sell it, why build it?

If investment doesn’t create value, its spending, not investment.
 
That’s why our exit strategy planning begins the day we first start working with clients and affects our advice at each stage of development. We assist clients with planning for and implementing a range of exit strategies, including:
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Licensing 
  • Sales to corporate buyers
  • Private equity sales
  • Spinoffs
  • Public Micro Cap Transactions
 Investment Funds
We represent investment funds and other investors and provide advice to intermediaries who put together deals. Our services include the following:

 

  • Advising investment funds about ways to use new laws to raise capital
  • Tokenized investment fund offerings
  • Investment Company and Investment Advisers Act exemptions
  • Fund organization documents and disclosure issues
  • Conflict of interest issues
  • Portfolio investments
  • Adviser fee agreements
  • Crowdfunding platform regulation and agreements
 Startups
We value startup companies. Innovate Capital is a startup company. We know what it means to take an idea and turn it into a business. 
 
Our approach to startups includes:
  • Coaching founders to avoid costly mistakes
  • Creating a triage system to address those legal issues that deserve the highest priority and addressing other issues later
  • Providing resources for founders to save money on legal fees by using our standard forms
  • We offer fixed fees to help you predict your expenses
  • We offer deferred fees for startups that meet our criteria
Startup and general corporate services include entity organization, IP protection contracts, equity compensation, university licensing and capital raising.
 
Check out our Startup Best Practices for more insights.  
 Subscription Services
Innovate Capital provides packages of subscription services in which clients pay a monthly fixed fee for a defined set of services. This allows clients to obtain the benefits of an in-house counsel or chief legal officer for a fixed price without adding permanent overhead to their team.

Our chief legal officer subscription services are primarily counseling services via telephone, in-person meetings, email and include a set amount of pre-paid legal hours of legal services which reflect a volume discount. 

We offer different types of subscription service packages that are tailored for start-ups and for mature companies.  
 Public Companies
Our public company representation focuses on Micro-Cap and Small-Cap public companies and includes:
  • Transactions that cause them to become public reporting companies (i.e., Regulation A+ offerings, Direct Public Offerings, registration of investor shares for resale and public shell mergers)
  • Listing for trading in a range of public markets
  • Filing disclosure documents with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including Form 10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks and proxy statements
  • Public shell mergers
  • PIPES transactions
  • Insider trading advice
  • Corporate governance issues (SEC and SRO compliance)
Capital Raising

Our Fee Structures

We offer a variety of fee structures to clients, including:

Deferred Fees

We may agree to accept a percentage of the capital clients raise or of the proceeds of a company sale in return for a substantial hourly rate reduction for the transaction. We impose strict criteria for accepting deferred fee projects.

Fixed Fees

Our fixed fees include:

  • Start-Up Package Project Fees: covers a package of specific documents for start up companies
  • A la carte Fees: generally covers a menu of specific types of documents that can be purchased for a flat rate
  • Customized Project Fees: fixed fee for capital raising and other mid to large size transactions
  • Subscription Service Fees: a monthly subscription package for a defined set of services

Hourly Rates

We offer two types of hourly billing:

  • Task-Based Hourly Rates: where the hourly fee is based on the type of work, we are doing rather than the seniority of the person doing the work
  • Traditional Hourly Rates: where the billable rate is fixed according to the seniority of the person doing the work

Ask us about our innovative fee options. We are committed to making fees work with clients whom we believe in.

Innovate Capital helps clients develop new and creative ways to raise the capital they need to grow and other services they need to capitalize on that growth.

 

Our Representative Transactions

CROWDFUNDING AND COIN, DIGITAL ASSET AND TOKEN OFFERINGS/PLATFORM REPRESENTATION

$20,000,000+
Regulation A
(Tier 1 Continuous Offering)
P2P Real Estate Lender		 $5,000,000
Regulation A
Film and TV Production Company		 $1,000,000
Regulation Crowdfunding Offering
Driving Safety Technology Company
First NC Business to Raise Capital Under Regulation CF		 Regulation S
Sale of Tokens for NEO
Blockchain to Chinese Investment Fund
$5,000,000
506(c) Offering
Tokenized Securities
Energy Software Company

 NC PACES Funding Portal Platform
Regulatory and Standardized Forms		 $10,000,000
Private Placement Offering
LLC Interests in Coin Mining Enterprise		 $5,000,000
506(c) Offering
Notes Convertible into Tokenized Security
Software Development Company

VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY INVESTMENTS IN PORTFOLIO COMPANIES

$40+ Million
(several offerings)
Telecommunications		 $10+ Million
(several offerings)
Software Company		 $8M Million
Mobile Power Generation Company		 $10 Million
(several offerings)
Sensor Technology Company
$10+ Million
By Fund in Biomedical Company		 $5+ Million
By Fund in Clean Energy Company		 $10+ Million
By Funds in Multiple Software Companies		 $10 Million+
By Funds in Hardware and Telecom Companies

ANGEL INVESTMENTS

$5 + Million
(several offerings)
Software and Computer Games Company		 $20 Million
(several investments)
Health Data Analytics Company		 $2 Million
Medical Technology Company		 $1+ Million
Material Science Company
$1 Million
Artificial Intelligence Company		 $1 Million
Clean Energy Company		 $1 Million
Data Analytics Company		 $2 Million
Cancer Treatment Company
$300 Thousand
Driving Safety Technology Company
Convertible Note and Equity Conversion		 $3 Million
Educational Software Technology Company
Convertible Note and Series Seed Round		 $250 Thousand
Sports Specialized Private School
Equity/Debt Hybrid Offering		 $30+ Million
(several offerings)
Protein Drug Development Company

STRATEGIC PARTNER TRANSACTIONS

$5 M+
Motorola Investment in Software Client		 $10 M +
Siemens Out-license from to Telecomm Client		 $10M+
Lucent Out-license from Telecomm Client		 $1.5 Billion+
Genzyme Out-license from Biotechnology Client
Merck
Spin-Off of Fertility Drug to Drug Development Client		 Spin-Off of Assets by Secor
Fiber Optic Client		 Spin-Off of Investment Portfolio by CRO Client Partnership License Agreements by Driving Safety Technology Client

UNIVERSITY LICENSES

Duke University
Biotechnology		 The Johns Hopkins University
Biomedical		 North Carolina State University
Materials Science		 University of Wisconsin
Software and Data
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Medical		 University of Colorado
Natural Gas Technology		 National Taiwan University
Cancer		 North Carolina State University
Materials Science

INVESTMENT FUND FORMATION

Venture Capital Fund Organization and Offering(Early Stage Pharma) Venture Capital Fund Organization and Offering
(Early Stage B2B Software Industry)		 Organization and Offerings of Several Venture Capital Funds for National Reputation VC Manager
(Software and Telecommunications)		 Organization and Offerings of Several Venture Capital Funds for Investment Banking Firm
(Software and Telecommunications)
Organization and Offerings of Several Venture Capital Funds for Investment Banking Firm
(Software and Telecommunications)		 Organization and Offerings of Several Venture Capital Funds for Investment Banking Firm
(Biomedical)		 Organization and Offerings of Several Venture Capital Funds for National Reputation VC Manager
(Advanced Science Projects)		 Venture Capital Fund Organization and Offering
(CRO and Medical Devices)

REGISTERED PUBLIC OFFERINGS

$80+ Million
Common Stock (IPO)
Telecommunications Company		 $80+Million
Common Stock (Secondary)
Telecommunications Company		 $100 Million
Debentures
Telecommunications Company		 $1.1 Billion
Common Stock (IPO)
Contract Research Organization
$100 Million
Various offerings
Hotel Chain Company		 $10 Million
Common Stock (Underwriter Counsel)
Medical Equipment Company		 $10 Million
Common Stock (Underwriter Counsel)
Laboratory Equipment Manufacturer		 $100 Million
Debentures
Computer Manufacturer
Various Shelf-Offerings
Convenience Store Chain		 Various Shelf-Offerings
Drug Development Company		 Self-Directed IPO (DPO) of SaaS Software Company Self-Directed IPO (DPO) of Distribution Services Company

PIPES OFFERINGS (Private Investments in Public Securities)

$10 + Million +
(several offerings)
Medical
Diagnostics		 $3+ Million
To Chinese investors
Clean Energy		 $2+ Million
(several offerings)
SaaS Software		 $5+ Million
(several offerings)
Contract Research Software

PUBLIC SHELL MERGERS

Going Public Merger of Contract Research Software Vendor with SPAC Going Public Merger of Clean Energy Technology Merger with Public Shell for Specialty Pharma Merger with Public Shell for Data Analytics

1934 ACT SEC REPORTING

Telecomm Equipment Manufacturer Semiconductor Manufacturer Computer Games Developer SaaS Software Developer
Computer Manufacturer Clinical Trials Software Company Medical Diagnostics Company Hotel Chain
Convenience Store Chain Drug Development Company LED Manufacturer Contract Research Organization

TENDER OFFERS, PROXY CONTESTS AND STOCKHOLDER BUYOUTS/REPURCHASE TRANSACTIONS

Real Estate Fund Shareholder Vote Railroad Lease Shareholder Vote $1.6B Contract Research Organization Going Private Transaction Tender Offer to Minority Stockholders of Mobile Energy Generation Business
$525 Million
Tender Offer of Senior Notes
Contract Research Organization		 Going Private Rail Railroad Buyout Option Repurchase Program
Computer Games Developer		 Common Stock and Option Repurchase Programs
Contract Research Organization

M & A TRANSACTIONS

$75 Million
Medical Software		 $35 Million
Contract Software Development and services		 Merger of Two Railroads $200 Million
Semiconductor Manufacturer
$40 Million
Medical Company		 $20 Million
Laboratory Testing Company		 $5 Million
Insurance Agency		 $3 Million
Environment Engineering

DEBT FINANCINGS

$525 Million
Senior Notes
BioMedical Company		 $250 Million
Senior Notes
Convenience Store Chain		 $40 Million Line of Credit and Term Note
Paper Goods Manufacturer		 $40 Million Acquisition Financing for Media Company
$11 Million Line of Credit
Medical Diagnostics Company		 $8 Million Term Notes
Mobile Energy Generation		 $10 Million
Line of Credit
Healthcare Analytics Company		 $800 Million Senior Notes
Contract Research Organization

Innovate Capital helps clients develop new and creative ways to raise the capital they need to grow and other services they need to capitalize on that growth.