US investment crowdfunding contracts in 2026, moving opposite to the venture boom

According to Crowdfund Capital Advisors data cited by Crowdfund Insider, US equity crowdfunding under Reg CF fell sharply in the first quarter of 2026: commitments came to $87.8 million, down 28% from $122 million a year earlier, while new issuer filings dropped 32% to 187, the lowest quarterly count in years.

Kingscrowd measures the half-year more broadly, including Reg A+: $365.2 million in total, with both exemptions down roughly 28% from H1 2025 though still above 2023 and 2024 levels. The second quarter beat the first ($120.2 million versus $105.6 million, up 13.8%), mostly on Reg A+ rather than Reg CF.

Two capital markets moving in opposite directions

Side by side the gap is stark. In H1 2026 US venture deal value reached $412.7 billion, AI took 86% of it, and rounds of $100 million or more accounted for 87.5% of the total. The entire regulated crowdfunding market in the same half-year was $365.2 million, smaller than a single mid-sized AI round.

This is not retail investors walking away from a bad market. The startup market overall is hot. The point is that the hot money flows to companies the retail channel cannot reach, while the companies the retail channel does serve are finding every channel harder.

Who actually uses this channel

Data from the SEC's Division of Economic and Risk Analysis covering May 2016, when Reg CF took effect, through the end of 2024 draws a clear portrait: about 8,500 offerings from roughly 7,000 issuers; the median issuer had about $80,000 in total assets, $10,000 of revenue and three employees; most were not profitable; about 20% of offerings came from issuers that had previously done a Reg D deal.

In other words Reg CF is a funding channel for micro-companies at pre-seed, not a miniature of the venture market. When new filings fall to 187 in a quarter, the bottom tier is the first thing cut.

Money still flows, through fewer doors

Kingscrowd's 2025 annual report shows how concentrated the platforms are: in Reg CF, Wefunder raised $109 million, StartEngine $89 million, DealMaker $66 million and Republic $20 million; in Reg A+, DealMaker alone did $292 million, more than half of all Reg A+ capital. In 2024, Reg CF issuers had raised $343.6 million, already down on the prior year.

The gap between the two exemptions matters too. Kingscrowd counts nine successful closes in H1 2026 with a median of $8.2 million and an average of $11.8 million, far above the $5 million Reg CF cap. Issuers able to attract larger sums are migrating to Reg A+, leaving Reg CF with smaller, thinner offerings.