The unlikely media hit of the past fall was Serial, a podcast that tells the story behind the 1999 murder of a Maryland teenager. With Serial averaging some 1.5 million listeners a week, another podcast series has emerged with an important message for the markets. In Startup, Alex Blumberg, an ex-producer for NPR's This American Life, chronicles his efforts to build and finance a start-up devoted to innovative podcast programming. Having secured just over $ 1 million through angel investors, Blumberg turned to Alphaworks, a New York-based crowdfunding platform, in Novemberto help se.ek financing from the podcast's rapidly growing follower base. The firm helped Blumberg raise $275,000 in three hours from 36 investors, Alphaworks is part of a thriving network of capital-raising outfits designed to take advantage of relaxations to private company funding mandated by the 2012 JOBS Act, Although the SEC has yet to finalize crowdfunding rules, offerings such as the Startup deal show that "the ordinary investor should have the opportunity to create value," says Alphaworks CEO Erin Glenn. "We are just at the beginning of unlocking the promise of the Act."
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