Investing in Main Street
So many people out there are looking for investment opportunities but may not feel like real estate or buying a business are the right fit. Other investors may simply want to diversify their investments and support other business owners. I recently spoke with a legal expert about crowdfunding platforms that work in industries outside of real estate, and he connected me with this week’s guest and his platform: Honeycomb Credit.
George Cook is the Co-Founder and CEO of Honeycomb Credit, a Pittsburgh-based investment crowdfunding company that allows anyone to lend money at competitive rates to locally-owned small businesses. George is a sixth-generation community banker and his family has been running a community bank in rural Appalachia for more than 130 years.
In this episode George tells us about the loss of community banks in the US and how platforms like Honeycomb Credit can fill the gap in supporting small businesses. We discuss regulation crowdfunding, some of the businesses Honeycomb has helped support, and how the platform is helping investors and small businesses during COVID-19 and beyond.
In this episode, we’re discussing…
How Honeycomb Credit helps connect small businesses with investors through regulation crowdfunding.
Common barriers for small businesses that want to get funding.
What kind of businesses Honeycomb Credit works with.
How regulation crowdfunding works and how it opens up investment opportunities to more people.
What the Honeycomb Credit platform does for businesses and investors.
Some of the shifts small businesses have had to make in light of COVID-19.
George’s Top Tips:
Many small businesses will struggle to get funding from banks – with community banking, qualitative aspects of a business can be incorporated into the underwriting process. But as community banks are absorbed by bigger corporations, small businesses get shut out by the regulatory and underwriting requirements of big banks.
Crowdfunding can really benefit businesses and investors - for businesses that want to be more closely connected with their communities, platforms like Honeycomb Credit can connect them with local investors that want to directly support them - not big banks.
Small businesses are going to need support throughout and after COVID-19 – Honeycomb was able to ask investors for approval so it could offer its small businesses payment relief. 98% of investors said yes, enabling them to support business owners through this challenging time.
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George Cook | Honeycomb Credit
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ABOUT GEORGE COOK
George Cook is the Co-Founder and CEO of Honeycomb Credit, a Pittsburgh-based investment crowdfunding company that allows anyone to lend money at competitive rates to locally-owned small businesses. George is a sixth-generation community banker and his family has been running a community bank in rural Appalachia for more than 130 years.
Prior to founding Honeycomb Credit and in addition to his community banking experience, George worked for TransUnion and Zest AI to develop state-of-the-art tools to help lenders use data analytics to more quickly and fairly extend credit. George holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics from George Washington University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
