The man who helped write US crowdfunding law and built its definitive dataset joins GECA as the alliance passes 100 members and launches its global research
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, July 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Global Equity Crowdfunding Alliance (GECA), the trusted convener for the worldwide regulated crowdfunding community, today announced the appointment of Sherwood “Woodie” Neiss to its Steering Committee.
Neiss is one of the most consequential figures in the history of investment crowdfunding. As co-author of the crowdfunding exemption framework that became Title III of the US JOBS Act, signed into law by President Obama in 2012, he helped legalise Regulation Crowdfunding and open startup investing to everyday Americans. The regulated market he helped create has since channelled more than $3 billion into US companies.
As Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors, Neiss founded CCLEAR, the verified data record of US investment crowdfunding since 2016, tracking more than 11,000 offerings and cited by the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation in its Annual Report to Congress every year since 2020. He is General Partner at data-driven venture firm D3VC, co-founder of private market disclosure platform GUARDD, author of the Investomers book series and Crowdfund Investing for Dummies, and lead author of the World Bank’s report on crowdfunding’s potential in the developing world. He has advised policymakers and regulators in 43 countries and has been named among the most influential voices in crowdfunding by Forbes.
His appointment comes as GECA passes 100 member organisations, The First 100, and launches the Future of Crowdfunding Initiative 2026-2027: a global roundtable series, the industry’s largest supporter survey, and a flagship Future of Crowdfunding Report publishing in early 2027.
“Woodie doesn’t just know this industry’s history. He wrote part of it,” said Andy Field, GECA Steering Committee Lead. “He brings something no one else in the world can: the perspective of the person who helped create the regulated market, and the most complete dataset on how it has actually performed. As we launch the Future of Crowdfunding Initiative, there is no better voice to have at the table.”
“Crowdfunding was always meant to be borderless, but for a decade the industry has been solving the same problems in separate rooms,” said Neiss. “GECA is genuinely convening the global conversation, and the timing is right. The data tells us where the opportunities are. Coordination is how we seize them.”
Neiss joins a Steering Committee drawing together respected leaders from across the global regulated crowdfunding ecosystem, guiding an alliance whose membership spans crowdfunding platforms, regulators, technology providers, associations, researchers and academics on every continent.
About Sherwood (Woodie) Neiss
Sherwood (Woodie) Neiss is Principal at Crowdfund Capital Advisors and co-architect of the JOBS Act Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) framework. He founded CCLEAR, the comprehensive Reg CF data platform tracking 11,000 offerings and $3B+ in capital formation since 2016, and developed the CCA Crowdfinance Indices. Woodie co-authored the World Bank’s Crowdfunding’s Potential for the Developing World and multiple Inter-American Development Bank reports on crowdfunding policy. He has worked with policymakers and regulators in 43 countries on crowdfunding law and infrastructure, and is author of the Investomers book series. He is instrumental in advancing policy discussions around Reg CF access, caps reform, and secondary market infrastructure. He is also General Partner at D3VC, a data-driven venture firm investing in top-performing Reg CF issuers, and co-founder of GUARDD, a disclosure and compliance platform for private markets.
About GECA
The Global Equity Crowdfunding Alliance is the trusted convener for the worldwide regulated crowdfunding community, where platforms, regulators, technology providers, associations, and academia exchange ideas, share best practice, and advance the industry together through year-round collaboration and coordinated action. Learn more at https://thegeca.org.
Media contact: Andy Field · andrew@thegeca.org · https://thegeca.org
ENDS
Andrew Field
Global Equity Crowdfunding Alliance
+64 21 354 213
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