- Venture
- Main Street Business
MainVest Review
Founded by tech-company veterans (including several former Uber employees), Mainvest is a stellar example of how to make online alternative investing look and feel a lot like ecommerce. Some novel investment vehicles, and a clear focus on local businesses sets MainVest apart from other Reg CF portals.
MainVest
- Investment Types: Venture and Main Street Business
- Sectors: Restaurants
- Minimum Investment: $100
- Advertised Returns: 8-10%
- Open to all investors
Pros
- Excellent website user experience, including solid investor education materials
- Very transparent investment terms
- Novel "petitions" feature allows prospective investors/customers to ask for particular businesses in their community
- No investor fees
- Open to all investors
Cons
- Minimal investment activity (several open investments have raised less than $1000)
- Short track record
Overview
This MainVest Review will help you learn more about MainVest's investment offerings, including how the alternative investments on MainVest are structured, and what your potential returns might be. You can read more about the criteria we use to review investment platforms here.
Reg CF is finding a nice niche serving the kinds of businesses that aren’t likely to attract interest from traditional venture capital, like restaurants, retail, and entertainment. MainVest follows the lead of LocalStake in squarely targeting just those kinds of businesses with their investment offerings, exclusively focusing on brick-and-mortar businesses.
Types of investments MainVest offers
MainVest offers debt investments in small, local businesses like restaurants, breweries, beauty salons, and yoga studios. All investments are currently open to anyone via Reg CF.
What do you get when investing with MainVest?
Mainvest currently offers one type of debt security called the Revenue Sharing Note, which is like an unsecured loan, but is repaid based on the revenue or actual performance of the business. Investors may be paid back faster if the business outperforms revenue expectations.
MainVest refers to these investments as “Revenue Sharing Notes” (RSNs). As an example, a business offering a 1.5x investment multiple and is sharing 5% of revenue will pay 5% of its revenue to investors quarterly until a 50% total (not annual) return is reached (1.5X the initial investment). If the principal and 50% return haven’t been paid back in 5 years, the full remaining balance is due. The revenue share percentage, length of the loan and total return vary from business to business
How does MainVest make money?
MainVest itself doesn’t charge investors any fees, but does charge issuers a percentage of the amount raised (typically 6%), which investors should understand reduces the amount of capital the business actually receives for operations.
Potential returns and cashflow
Investments made via MainVest are high-risk investments in small businesses.
With the revenue share investments, the borrower pays a predetermined percentage of their revenue each quarter until a defined multiple of the original investment is reached (either 1.25 or 1.5, depending on the security type). For example, with the Revenue Sharing Notes, investors receive 5% of sales (which may fluctuate each month) until investors receive 1.5X their original investment, but for no more than 5 years (if investors haven’t received the 1.5X by then, the full amount comes due).
The revenue share model is clever, and it’s obvious why it’s appealing to businesses facing unpredictable cash flow.
It can be a bit tricky to compare investments apples-to-apples, but as a rule of thumb to get an approximate IRR equivalent, you can take the multiple, raise it to 1 divided by the term in years, and then subtract one. For example, with a multiple is 1.5 and a term of 5 years, 1.5^(1/5) - 1 = 8.5%, which is a far cry from the advertised returns of 50% or more (which may indeed represent total returns, but investors should be sure to understand the time horizons involved). Note that if the full multiple is paid before the term is over, the effective rate of return would be higher.
Breadth of offerings on MainVest
As of this writing there are 7 investment opportunities available, all in Massachusetts.
Regulatory framework
MainVest is an SEC registered Title III Funding Portal. That means they are subject to a range of rules and obligations around investor education and due diligence. All developers offering Reg CF investments on MainVest will have been through background checks of key officers and owners, and there are clear links provided to the relevant SEC filings made by the issuer.
Prospective investors also have access to an online channel for asking questions of the issuer (and viewing answers of prior questions from others).
This review was first published on 11 December 2018, and last updated on 15 October 2020.
Our Rating
ExcellentShare this review:
Active Offerings from MainVest
Kids & Coffee is seeking investment to open a location. Let’s provide an innovative solution for modern day parents and their children to Connect, Talk and Play
Read More
Something Sweet Bake Shoppe is seeking investment to open our first storefront in Arlington, TX
Read More
Gio’s Outdoors is seeking investment to open a new, bigger location in a new development on a 4 lane highway closer to Kansas City
Read More
GAMA MORINGA BRANDS LLC is seeking investment to expand our presence into HEB, Kroger Dallas division, Market Street after we use the investment to produce more products. We’re also going to use the investment to enhance our presence on Amazon
Read More
Bay Area Brewing Company is seeking investment to open the first family friendly nano craft brewery in our coastal community where vacation time is a year-round affair
Read More
Karis Family Daycare is seeking investment to construct a brand new infant and toddler center
Read More
The Nada Cart is seeking investment to the Nada Cart is looking to open the first location rebranding in to a Empanadas and Caribbean food cafe
Read More
Hank’s - Garage and Grill is seeking investment to build a bar in grill in the heart of downtown Shawnee, KS
Read More
Millie’s is seeking investment to expand Nationally, Increase Brand Awareness, Expand into hemp
Read More
Darby Brewing Company is seeking investment to open our brewery and taproom
Read More
The Million Marathon Fund is seeking investment to build luxury home developments in the DC region. High mortgage rates have created historically tight housing market conditions. As a result, the demand for new construction is exceptionally high. Soleil at Bowie LLC, a gated 21 home luxury community under development in the DC metro region, provides investors an opportunity to participate directly in the soaring demand for new homes
Read More
Bagel Kitchen is seeking investment to open a second location
Read More
Kon Tiki Room is seeking investment to open a tiki bar and street taco restaurant in Kansas City, MO
Read More
Apex Noire Cannabis is seeking investment to fuel growth while sharing our success with the Boston community
Read More
Beloved’s Bakery and Cafe is seeking investment to open a new flagship storefront location as part of the newly developed and highly anticipated Reno Public Market
Read More
True Love Body Piercing is seeking investment to renovate a new location for our existing business. The new location is 1.5 miles from our existing location. Our new location will make it MUCH easier for our clientele. Our existing location is in Harvard square. Parking is VERY challenging in Harvard square. Our new location is surrounded by free and metered parking
Read More
The Modern Rose is seeking investment to complete buildout and open our newest location in the heart of Deerfield Beach
Read More
Joyhound Beer Co is seeking investment to open a taproom featuring our incredibly flavorful, and balanced beer. The taproom will have an onsite brewing facility for producing exclusive beers. Ultimately we plan to expand into a larger brewing system and bring all of our production in-house
Read More
Stoner’s Haven is seeking investment to revolutionize the cannabis landscape. We’re developing a state-of-the-art 12,000 sq. ft. indoor cannabis facility in Deming, NM, poised to yield 300 lbs of premium cannabis monthly. Your support will enable us to cultivate, harvest, and deliver exceptional quality. Join us in shaping the future of cannabis
Read More
Anh55 is seeking investment to open their location in Seaport
Read More
Debellation Brewing Co. is seeking investment to build out and supply main bar
Read More
The Honeybee Collective is seeking investment to expand distribution into New York
Read More
Rock N Roll Donut Bar is seeking investment to continue expansion
Read More
Snowbelt Cannabis is seeking investment to open a location for Cannabis Cultivation
Read More
Legacy Pie Co. is seeking investment to open our second location
Read More
Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery is seeking investment to expand wine production and cellaring capacity to sustain, grow and expand wine and spirits distribution
Read More
IZOLA is seeking investment to accelerate our growth and amplify our justice driven mission. Love IZOLA?…….Become an owner via our Equity Offering
Read More