A little over a year ago I sat through the SEC Capital Markets Subcommittee hearing on Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) and Regulation A+. I walked away with mixed feelings. The advocates pushing to expand these pathways for capital formation got me fired up, especially for what it means for small businesses and everyday investors. But I was also frustrated that comprehensive risk mitigation and investor protection barely came up.
Twelve months later, not much has changed on that front. The advocacy for expanding Reg CF and Reg A+ has only gotten louder, and rightly so. But the conversation around protecting the unaccredited investors these frameworks are designed to welcome still hasn't caught up. So I want to take another swing at why that matters, and why TigerMark D&O exists to fill exactly that gap.
A quick note on what's changed on my end. TigerMark now sits under Equal Parts Insurance, the AI-native brokerage and MGA I joined when Assurely was acquired in 2025. The product is the same. The carrier paper is the same (Great American and Relm Insurance Ltd.). The mission is the same. What's different is that we've spent the last year sharpening the program, expanding distribution through partners like DealMaker and Silicon Prairie, and binding more issuers than ever.
Why TigerMark D&O is Different
- Investor Protection for Private Offerings: Traditional D&O policies rarely (if ever) extend robust coverage to unaccredited investors in private offerings. Publicly traded companies have their own complexities, but accredited VC and hedge fund spaces don't provide the kind of protections our policy offers either.
- Symbol of Trust: Our underwriting is tied directly to the information and financials filed with the SEC for Reg CF and Reg A+ offerings. We conduct annual renewal checks, verifying that offering documents, risk factors, and director/officer backgrounds are still compliant. If a company fails to renew or if coverage lapses, that's a clear red flag for investors.
- Protection Against Fraud: Lawyers, broker-dealers, and compliance firms can vet documents and marketing materials, but they can't promise restitution if an issuer lies, cheats, or steals. Under TigerMark, an investor has a clear path to recoup principal funds if the issuer has committed fraudulent acts or materially misled them.
Why This Matters
We heard it during the hearing, and we keep hearing it at every CfPA event, every funding portal roundtable, and every conversation with a founder trying to raise outside the VC machine. Small businesses struggle to raise capital because they're limited to accredited investors or forced to jump through complex hoops. Reg CF and Reg A+ open the door for local shops, the neighborhood bakery, the auto mechanic, the family-run brewery, to invite their communities, friends, and customers to invest. The result is real economic empowerment at the grassroots level, not just in Silicon Valley or on Wall Street.
But with that opportunity comes risk. There's a 90% failure rate for startups for a host of reasons, and often it's because they simply can't secure enough capital. By offering a credible D&O policy designed specifically for Reg CF and Reg A+ issuers, we strengthen investor confidence. That confidence leads to more successful raises, more robust local businesses, and a healthier overall market.
My Takeaway, One Year Later
I still wish there had been more emphasis on solutions like TigerMark during that Subcommittee hearing, and at every regulatory conversation since. We can't solve every issue in early-stage investing, and TigerMark is not a silver bullet. But a credible investor-protection mechanism is an essential piece of the puzzle. We owe it to the entrepreneurs risking everything on their new ideas, and to the everyday investors who want to back them, to make sure risk mitigation is front and center in these regulatory discussions.
If anything, the case is more urgent now than it was a year ago. Reg A+ issuers are increasingly using these frameworks as on-ramps to direct listings on NASDAQ and the NYSE, and the stakes for investor trust are only getting higher.
Call to Action
- Regulators and Lawmakers: Keep exploring how better investor-protection tools can fit into Reg CF and Reg A+ frameworks.
- Broker-Dealers, Attorneys, and Funding Platforms: Have deeper conversations about how specialized D&O coverage can elevate trust and transparency in your offerings.
- Entrepreneurs: If you're raising capital, consider whether a product like TigerMark D&O Insurance can give your investors (and you) the peace of mind that sets you apart.
If you're an industry colleague, a small business owner, or just a curious onlooker, reach out. I'd love to talk about how we can collectively improve investor protection in crowdfunding. Thanks for reading, and let's keep pushing for a more inclusive and responsible capital-raising ecosystem.
Register for FREE to comment or continue reading this article. Already registered? Login here.
1
