For Vincent Lucero, Upstart came along at the right time. His gaming company, Soaring Squirrels, was just lifting off in the spring and he was looking for money.
A friend directed the recent University of Washington graduate to Upstart, which offers a platform for multiple investors to drop relatively small investments into the accounts of budding entrepreneurs — a phenomenon called crowdfunding.
Lucero was part of a pilot project for Upstart, itself a startup only 4 months old. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company officially launched on Aug. 8 and, starting in September, plans to expand its service to students at five universities, including UW.…Read More