KnightScope, an AI and Robotics Startup completely funded by retail investors, is going public!

Like many things in life, Venture Capitalism and investing in startups was pretty much exclusive to the wealthy and well-connected. It’s safe to say that’s not the case anymore. Equity Crowdfunding is a product of the JOBS Act of 2015 that allows ANYONE (even you!) to invest in startups and early-stage companies. Companies like StartEngine, Wefunder, and others allow retail investors to browse hundreds of companies at varying stages and invest directly in Shares, Debt, or SAFE’s (don’t buy SAFE’s) and profit from these companies if they go public, get bought out, issue dividends, and so on. Like most things, some were skeptics at first, and others embraced it from Day 1, seeing the potential.

Knightscope, an autonomous robot security company, was one such company that embraced the industry from day 1, raising over $100 million dollars from retail investors, before their most recent announcement to go public. The companies first raise was a convertible note raise at a $4m valuation, and their upcoming pre-IPO raise is STARTING at $500 million valuation, and will most likely grow before their debut. This means their earliest investors are looking at a nearly 12,500% return, before dilution. As well, the executives at Knightscope didn’t let this go unnoticed, so they are allowing the previous investors to jump to the front of the line before offering Wallstreet any swing at it.

Knightscope is an interesting case study because pretty much the biggest name in Equity Crowdfunding history. They currently have 2 of the largest raises in Equity Crowdfunding history and tens of thousands of retail investors. So, if this happens to go well and their IPO ends up in Billions of dollars in the coming years, it will be a massive proof of concept for the relatively niche equity crowdfunding market. Further, if it doesn’t go well, it might prove the exact opposite. If every retail investor that made money simply sells off the first chance they get and plummets the price, and the company doesn’t gain enough momentum to keep the price up, it could prove detrimental to both the Equity Crowdfunding market and Knightscope in general.

Needless to say, it will be an incredibly interesting case study, and I will be watching closely.

You Can Invest In Their IPO

You read that right. The company is on the cusp of going on the NASDAQ with a valuation potentially in the billion-dollar range, and you can invest before that happens. It's actually extremely simple. Similar to how they have raised funds over the years in a host of instances, they are doing their pre-IPO on StartEngine, the leader in equity crowdfunding raises.

To invest, simply go on StartEngine.com and make an account, then you can go to their investment page, found here: https://www.startengine.com/knightscope

Once you do that, you can look through their deal terms, revenue, and a host of other information to decide if this investment is right for you. After that, simply hit the invest button on their page, fill in your details, and invest!

When will they hit the NASDAQ?

The current raise went live on December 1st, and they plan to keep this open for 30 to 45 days depending on how fast they raise the funds. Once the raise is complete, they will do a mass closing for all shareholders from all platforms and avenenues, and then they will be going live on the NASDAQ the next couple of days after that. While the details are unclear, and this is all subject to them meeting listing requirements, it definitely seems like this is happening, and it will be happening soon.