The finance world is undergoing a profound transformation, with legacy institutions giving way to innovative fintech companies that prioritise accessibility and transparency in early-stage investing through equity crowdfunding. As the sector’s rapid growth continues, investor communication and treatment are lagging behind.
Lustro's investor-centric mission aims to ensure investors are adequately treated and provide tools for founders to handle investor communication efficiently and cost-effectively.
Mike Knox, a visionary CEO with a clear mission and over 30 years of experience as an investor and entrepreneur, is steering this path and organisation. Having spent over 20 years as an institutional portfolio manager in New York and then building and exiting a startup to a public company, Knox understands the challenges of Founders and the needs of investors.
Mike Knox is a panellist at our latest webinar, register here.
Established in 2018 initially as an aggregator, CrowdLustro arose from investors' need to sift through offerings on many different platforms. In 2023, the business transitioned into primarily providing investor relations solutions to founders and investors and now goes by the name Lustro. The name Lustro (pronounced Loostro) is Italian for shine, with the concept that we need to shine more light on crowdfunding deals before and after the company raises money.
Lustro offers two things for investors, both of which are free. Its historical aggregation of deals allows investors to be alerted to and research new offerings and secondly, investor relations pages for every issuer who has raised money through equity crowdfunding(over 2,000 deals).
Investors can register and access a dedicated page which contains the video used in the raise, links to all social media, management bios and LinkedIn profiles, links to all SEC filings, including the annual report, a listing of raises, updates by founders, upcoming meetings or presentations and a list of FAQs.
This standardised and straightforward interface allows investors to keep up to date with all the companies they have invested in without the need to move across multiple platforms and with one unified system that also provides alerts to updates on any company they are following.
For Founders, the platform allows issuers to claim and manage their page for a low monthly cost. If a founder signs up within 90 days of closing funding, the price is cut in half. The system allows founders to update their investors (updates can be private to only investors in the deal or public), add new videos, answer questions in a discussion forum and generally keep investors up to date.
The system will send notifications and alerts to the founder to notify them of questions and to remind them about providing regular updates or regulatory requirements like filing the annual report. The pages exist even if a founder has not claimed the page, but the ability to interact effectively with investors is limited.
Lustro is building a community of investors and pushing for investors to be treated fairly. Founders must understand the importance of investors and that, over time, investors must make successful investments and be happy with founder communication for this market to continue growing. Investor communication is critical for founders because these are the people you want to return to for your next raise or venture. How a founder treats investors now will dictate their success in future capital raises.
Lustro’s next project is a Founder Investor Relations Rating, where registered investors can rate a founder based on the quality and regularity of keeping investors up to date with company developments. Even if things aren’t going well, investors want to be informed.bLustro hopes the Founder Rating will follow founders around for their careers and help them understand the importance of serving the investors who allowed them to chase their dreams.
With a proven track record in the financial sector, Knox passionately advocates for investors and helps the market strike a balance between founder needs and investor needs.
While the equity crowdfunding space is still evolving, Lustro's innovative platform, commitment to education, and visionary leadership position it as a significant player in this market.
Under Mike Knox's guidance, Lustro is poised to make a substantial impact, empowering founders and investors. As the equity crowdfunding landscape matures, Lustro is primed to play a pivotal role in shaping its future.
With a focus on innovation, education, and inclusivity, they are paving the way for a more democratic investment landscape, where everyone can participate in ground-breaking ventures' success and be informed by founders.
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