Early-stage VC First Round Capital announced their investment in Fundersclub, a Y-Combinator alum (S12). Fundersclub launched last week and we're sure to hear more when they presenting at YC demo day on August 21st. From Josh Kopelman at First Round Capital: FundersClub makes it easy for companies to raise capital from individuals without hassle. Companies have just one shareholder (the FundersClub fund) – ...

VentureBeat reported that equity-based crowdfunding platform, EarlyShares,  closed its Series A of $1.15 million. Led by Maurice Lopes, EarlyShares has emerged as one of the early A players in the increasingly crowded, no pun  ; ),  crowdfunding platform market. The company is investing significantly in education and awareness for their 24/24 campaign, hosting free crowdfunding conferences in 24 cities in 2 ...