Start Engine
West Hollywood, US · Founded 2014 · Delaware corporation · 182 employees on LinkedIn · 4 known investors
Find your way into Start Engine
98 people in our graph share verified history with the Start Engine team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Bob Stefanskiunlockedknows Howard Marks · together at University of Michigan, College of Engineering (overlapped)
×3knows the team · via Michigan State University
×5knows the team · via Activision
×3knows the team · via University of Michigan, College of Engineering
StartEngine is a crowdfunding platform that enables both accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in early-stage startups and collectibles through Regulation A+ and Regulation Crowdfunding offerings. The platform also provides a secondary trading marketplace for eligible securities.
Founders & leadership
Start Engine was founded in 2014 by Ron Miller and Howard Marks.
RM
Ron MillerinCo-founder · CEO, PartnerRon Miller has founded and exited five companies through various acquisition channels and serves as Chairman of StartEngine, an equity crowdfunding platform. He has taught entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, and UW Madison, and holds memberships in the California and Michigan Bar Associations.
HM
Howard MarksinCEO and co-founderHoward Marks co-founded StartEngine in 2011, a crowdfunding platform enabling investment in early-stage startups and collectibles, and has built multiple ventures in the video game and online gaming sectors, including involvement with Activision in 1991 and Acclaim's transition into online gaming.
Investors · 4
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$13.7M disclosed across 3 rounds · 2015–2026
▶$7.7MraisedSep 2026 · 10 investors · OtherRule 506(b)
▶$7.7MraisedSep 2026 · 10 investors · Other
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Howard MarksExecutive Officer, Director
- Ron MillerDirector
- Offering amount
- $14M
- Amount sold
- $7.7M
- First sale
- Mar 2026
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$500KraisedNov 2018 · 1 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(c)
▶$500KraisedNov 2018 · 1 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(c)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Ronald David MillerDirector
- Howard Edward MarksExecutive Officer
- Mary Frances KnightExecutive Officer
- Shiple Frederick JohnExecutive Officer
- Johanna Marie CroninExecutive Officer
- Amount sold
- $500K
- Minimum investment
- $10K
- First sale
- Nov 2018
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06c
▶$5.5MraisedDec 2015 · 2 investors · OtherRule 506(b)
▶$5.5MraisedDec 2015 · 2 investors · Other
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Ron MillerExecutive Officer, Director
- Howard MarksExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $6M
- Amount sold
- $5.5M
- First sale
- Dec 2015
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware, 2014
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Start Engine went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 7
by search overlap
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EquityZen1066 shared keywordsEquityZen operates an online marketplace that gives accredited individual investors access to shares in late-stage private companies through secondary market transactions. Now part of Morgan Stanley, the platform provides private market data, offering documents, and guided investment processes for buying and selling pre-IPO equity.
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Forge Global892 shared keywordsForge operates a secondary marketplace where accredited investors can buy and sell shares in private, pre-IPO companies, backed by real-time pricing data, historical valuation trends, and market signals. It provides pricing insights on private companies (including its proprietary Forge Price metric) and offers optional specialist support to facilitate transactions.
Prior Finance877 shared keywordsPrior Finance operates a digital financial services platform offering personal loans, student loans, home loans, deposit accounts, credit cards, and investment tools through an integrated mobile application, serving both individual members and enterprise partners seeking lending solutions and technology infrastructure.
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In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Start Engine do?
- StartEngine is a crowdfunding platform that enables both accredited and non-accredited investors to invest in early-stage startups and collectibles through Regulation A+ and Regulation Crowdfunding offerings. The platform also provides a secondary trading marketplace for eligible securities.
- Who founded Start Engine?
- Start Engine was founded by Ron Miller, Howard Marks in 2014.
- Who are Start Engine's investors?
- Start Engine's investors include BAM Ventures, D3VC, Ossian Capital, TechMeetsTrader.
- How much funding has Start Engine raised?
- Start Engine has disclosed $13.7M raised across 3 rounds.
- Where is Start Engine headquartered?
- Start Engine is headquartered in West Hollywood, US.