NEW STARTUPS

🏄‍♀️ Surf Lakes

Bringing surf-level waves to landlocked locations (LINK)

🏈 Light Helmets

#1 ranked football helmet by Virginia Tech, used in the NFL (LINK)

🐶 Clubhound

The LARGEST dog park bar in the country (LINK)

STARTENGINE WANTS AN IRA PAYDAY

Everyone has their eye on StartEngine Private, a pre-IPO investment access that StartEngine has popularized. But while that’s taking the spotlight now, StartEngine is slowly positioning it’s next big move.

To grow, StartEngine has 2 options:

• Increase the number of investors

• Increase the amount each investor is investing

Their latest move focuses on the latter. StartEngine is looking to crack the code on accessing the trillions of dollars sitting in American’s IRAs.

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) work a lot like 401(k)s, but they give investors far more freedom - and that’s where the real opportunity lies.

While most 401(k) plans lock you into a handful of mutual funds, IRAs put you in the driver’s seat. With a Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA), you can go beyond the public markets and back alternative assets like startups, real estate, or private equity.

That flexibility makes SDIRAs a powerful tool for equity crowdfunding investors -pairing the tax advantages of a retirement account with the growth potential of early-stage startups.

And StartEngine wants its member base to start funneling their SDIRAs into startup investments on their platform. They’ve rolled out a dedicated page to connect your existing IRA account or enroll in StartEngine’s white-labelled IRA. The white-labelled option is pretty brilliant - this is just another reason to stay within StartEngine’s eco-system.

StartEngine is building a moat around their most valued and wealthy investors by doing this.

The even larger push to accelerate IRA usage on their platform is coming from Private.

StartEngine has smartly figured out that investors will jump through hoops to participate in some of the hottest pre-IPO deals like OpenAI, SpaceX, and Groq. So now they’re issuing ‘IRA-exclusive’ tranches of the most coveted startups, as pictured below.

Miss out on getting equity in A.I. golden child Groq? If you invest via IRA now you can get allocation into this round.

WHATS THE BIG DEAL?

Why is StartEngine going through all this work to nudge people into using IRAs?

There a few reasons, starting with the sheer capital that’s available in IRAs. IRAs held $16.8 trillion in assets at the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Now, only about 3-5% of retirement accounts are self directed, but that still represents a gargantuan $504B-$840B of capital up for grabs.

Check sizes from IRA transactions also tend to be much larger - a source at StartEngine told me that the average investment is 10x the platform average.

Kingscrowd last reported that StartEngine’s average check size is $1,700, so IRA investments are likely close to $17,000 per transaction.

StartEngine wants all the big fish to be swimming in their pond, and nothing exemplifies this more than their IRA push. If I were to go through the annoying process of setting up an IRA with StartEngine, there’s little motivation for me to do the same at Wefunder, Republic, or another competitor.

StartEngine can effectively corner my investment dollars and lock me into their eco-system - a huge win for the company.

Early indications are showing that their efforts are having the desired impact. A member of StartEngine shared that there’s been an 866% increase in SDIRAs over the past 12 months vs the previous 12 months.

Disclosure: I (happily!) own equity in StartEngine.

7+ Revenue Streams from One Business

Most companies chase one or two ways to make money. Surf Lakes has at least seven.

At the heart of it all is their patented 360° wave tech that creates 2,000 surfable rides per hour for beginners and pros alike. That single breakthrough unlocks multiple revenue streams: licensing fees, royalties, memberships, day passes, media, coaching, food, retail, and direct park operations.

It’s why surfing legends Tom Curren and Mark “Occy” Occhilupo are investing in the company.

Actor Chris Hemsworth even said this after his Surf Lakes experience: “What an incredible setup! Really thankful I got to test this out…an awesome day.”

Surf tourism is a $65B global industry, yet fewer than 1% of people can access real waves. Surf Lakes makes it possible anywhere, turning cities into surf destinations.

They’ve already sold nine licenses worldwide, and the expansion is coming. Back Surf Lakes by 9/12 and get up to 15% bonus shares.

Invest in Surf Lakes

_{This is a paid advertisement for Surf Lakes’ Regulation CF offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.surflakes.com}

Related Reads from CROWDSCALE

• How I Allocate My Millions (of pennies)

• What is Phantom Stock?

• I Don’t Believe in Bagel Bonds