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Crowdfunding capital for small business
Topics: Entrepreneurship-Corporate EntrepreneurshipTechnology-Web SitesFinance-InvestmentJames ("Brad") McGee (MBA 1987) cofounded iCrowd to bring entrepreneurs together in online communities to network and to help provide the financial and commercial resources businesses need to thrive. He launched the crowdfunding website in 2013 with childhood friend and fellow HBS alumnus John Callaghan (MBA 1984).
iCrowd connects entrepreneurs, mentors, peers, and experts for advice and support, and also provides investors with social networking tools that are key to investment crowd funding. “iCrowd makes it possible for entrepreneurs to develop those partnerships,” said McGee, who had been involved in several startups and knew how difficult it was for small businesses to get funding. McGee passed away in November 2015.
A number of crowdfunding platforms had appeared, but none was really set up to serve small businesses,” he explained. “I wondered if there was an opportunity there. I like the idea of the crowd vetting ideas, and determining winners and losers by voting with their capital.”
Although the partners had been friends for four decades, they had never worked together before iCrowd. McGee, a US Navy veteran, previously served as executive vice president and chief strategy officer of Tyco International Ltd. and chief administrative officer of the CIT Group.
(Published April 2014)
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