Fundrise

Fundrise operates as a financial technology company that provides a direct-to-consumer platform for private market investments. Founded in 2010 and launched in 2012 by brothers Ben and Dan Miller, the company was established to give individuals access to investments in private real estate, a market historically dominated by institutional investors. The founders leveraged their family background in real estate development, having both worked at their father's firm, Western Development Corp. The initial idea stemmed from co-founder Ben Miller's experience with the difficulty of securing traditional funding for a real estate project in an emerging Washington, D.C. neighborhood, which sparked the concept of raising capital from the community itself. The firm's first project successfully crowdfunded $325,000 from 175 local investors for a development in the H Street Corridor of Washington D.C.

The business serves a broad range of individual investors, including both accredited and non-accredited individuals, by offering low investment minimums, sometimes as low as $10. This model has attracted a diverse customer base with varied financial goals, risk tolerances, and income levels. Revenue is generated primarily through a combination of an annual asset management fee and an advisory fee. For its real estate funds, the company typically charges a 0.85% management fee plus a 0.15% advisory fee. For its venture capital fund, the management fee is 1.85%.

Fundrise's core offerings include electronic Real Estate Investment Trusts (eREITs), eFunds, and more recently, a venture capital fund. The company launched the first eREIT in 2015, a vehicle designed under Regulation A+ rules to offer diversified portfolios of private real estate to the general public. These funds invest in a mix of commercial and residential properties, focusing on strategies from supplemental income to long-term growth. In 2022, the company expanded its scope beyond real estate with the launch of the Fundrise Innovation Fund, which allows retail investors to back private, high-growth technology companies. The platform provides investors with different plans based on their objectives, such as Balanced Investing, Supplemental Income, and Long-Term Growth, which determine the allocation across various funds. Investors can also invest directly in the parent company, Rise Companies Corp., through an 'internet Public Offering' (iPO), a direct share offering distinct from a traditional IPO.

Keywords: real estate crowdfunding, private market investing, financial technology, fintech, eREIT, eFund, alternative investments, retail investors, non-accredited investors, Regulation A+, direct-to-consumer investing, private credit, venture capital, property technology, investment platform, real estate debt, real estate equity, passive income, portfolio diversification, commercial real estate, residential real estate, asset management, investment advisory, growth equity, private equity