October 24, 2013
To the SEC Board,
This move by the SEC is long awaited, and will be thoroughly used to get important ideas into the market.I appreciate that the rules and reg's intended to protect the investing public will be in place, as they will also
protect the companies that use the crowdfunding portals.
Since our patent was issued in 2007, we have found that venture capital and angel investing mechanisms are failing to stimulate development in small creative organizations like ours. They are unwilling to step into the earliest stages of development.
The ability for smaller investors to participate in equity purchases will not only help them to engage in potentially lucrative bottom floor entry with subsequent increases in value, but will allow companies with specific market focus to engage the market and those who staff it. This will create a link to the market by allowing for pre-product information to be disseminated to a wider base of interested parties.
For our project, which will provide a scanner that detects Retained Surgical Instruments before closure so that they can be removed in the operating room, this means that nurses and other staff who are seriously affected by patients being harmed by items left behind will be able to contribute to the solution to the problem. And it will save immeasurable time for staff and patients, as counting procedures will be eliminated. If they have the option to purchase equity in the company that will solve this $1.9B health care problem, it will help them feel that they are doing something about it.
As things are now, their incomes are too small for them to participate, when even a few hundred dollars would help to bring the scanner to market.
I am fully in favor of the SEC decision to allow equity based crowdfunding, and applaud the vision and fortitude it will take to create and enforce the rules.
Thank you for moving forward with this important new source of start-up funding. It is my hope that many new and significant products or services will come into being as a result. We are gearing up to participate.
Wendi C. Hawley, CEO
TraceFind Technologies, Inc.
www.tracefind.com