Redwood Materials Discussion - They are raising a D round.

[SpaceXaddict]

With JB Straubel being recommended to join the board I started doing some due diligence on him, and was reminded again of his company Redwood Materials.
I came across this video below. He mentioned that they are raising a Venture Capital round Series D. I'd like to invest (I'm accredited) and am hoping someone knows a syndicate that's getting an allocation. (I'm still too small time to get in on a round this big-- their last round was $775M so this one is likely to be $1.5B or more.)

Also, of course, maybe this is a good place to talk about the company.

Here's the talk he gave at Stanford, video is a couple weeks old:

Also, if there are any Accredited investors here, be interested in networking. I've been participating on Angel List. I suspect there are a lot of holders of TSLA who could be buying SpaceX, and would, if they realized they counted as accredited already.

 

[Cattledog]

SpaceXAddict - You can get in on the round with Forge, they contacted me a few days ago. It's a $250K minimum. I emailed them late yesterday with the hopes of a conversation and a peek at documents next week.

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I have also invested in SpaceX through Forge (originally my investment was through SharesPost, which merged with Forge).

I'd be happy to chat in an Accredited Investor thread, though with my professional background (architect) I probably don't offer much. I have 5 private equity investments, of which I expect SpaceX will be the best candidate for going public and creating a multi-bagger return. A couple have a good shot, a couple, well, it was fun (and expensive) to dream a little. We are building a house in Colorado right now, so between that and TSLA's precipitous drop through 2022, I am cutting lawns and raking leaves to generate extra $ for stuff like this.

Here's the house for grins (it's my avatar).

 

[MikeC]

SpaceXAddict - You can get in on the round with Forge, they contacted me a few days ago. It's a $250K minimum. I emailed them late yesterday with the hopes of a conversation and a peek at documents next week.

Welcome to Forge - A More Accessible Private Market

Accelerate your future with Forge's private market solutions. Get access to pre-IPO investment opportunities and liquidity for your private company shares.

forgeglobal.com

I have also invested in SpaceX through Forge (originally my investment was through SharesPost, which merged with Forge).

I'd be happy to chat in an Accredited Investor thread, though with my professional background (architect) I probably don't offer much. I have 5 private equity investments, of which I expect SpaceX will be the best candidate for going public and creating a multi-bagger return. A couple have a good shot, a couple, well, it was fun (and expensive) to dream a little. We are building a house in Colorado right now, so between that and TSLA's precipitous drop through 2022, I am cutting lawns and raking leaves to generate extra $ for stuff like this.

Here's the house for grins (it's my avatar).

Just signed up for Forge. Tried to buy Redwood and they asked some questions and sent them to a specialist who will get back to me.

Has anyone used Forge? Can it be done within a retirement account, like a SEP-IRA?

 

[Cattledog]

Just signed up for Forge. Tried to buy Redwood and they asked some questions and sent them to a specialist who will get back to me.

Has anyone used Forge? Can it be done within a retirement account, like a SEP-IRA?

I have used Forge, but not within a retirement account. I have other private equity within a retirement account, it was a pretty big hassle.

 

[kcveins]

Just signed up for Forge. Tried to buy Redwood and they asked some questions and sent them to a specialist who will get back to me.

Has anyone used Forge? Can it be done within a retirement account, like a SEP-IRA?

Let us know if they say that they can do it within the confines of a retirement account. Thanks

 

[MikeC]

Let us know if they say that they can do it within the confines of a retirement account. Thanks

Just spoke with a rep and he said it is possible to do it through an IRA although the exact mechanics were not entirely clear to me.

He said they are new to working with Redwood and have been trying to get opportunities with them. The costs for this offering would be 5% to Forge, 1% of the cost basis annually to the venture fund offering the shares, plus 10% of any profit when sold also goes to the venture fund. Those fees make it not so appealing to me but I guess that's the price to get in early when the valuation is still under $5B.

He said SpaceX shares used to have similar fees but, now that the opportunity has matured, Forge has their own SpaceX fund with no costs except an initial 1% for administrative costs. He said the shares are worth $77 and the current ask is $82/share with a minimum investment of $250k.

I'm going to start the on-boarding process and will update this with any new info. @Cattledog is all this consistent with your experience using Forge?

 

[Cattledog]

When I bought SpaceX it was through SharesPost, which was subsequently acquired by Forge, so I don't have a firsthand Forge buying experience yet. I recall the SpaceX take being heavier still than what you describe for Redwood, maybe 5/1/20, but I'd have to go back and look. I bought at the equivalent of $22/share so I get that while you'll pay far less in fees. I think the minimum was also $250K.

I did hear back from Forge this morning on Redwood, as you describe above, $250K minimum, but needs to close by Friday. I don't carry that type of checking account balance, and I'm building a $ house in Colorado right now (avatar), so I may have to reluctantly pass unless TSLA doubles after hours Wednesday...

 

[EinSV]

Just signed up for Forge. Tried to buy Redwood and they asked some questions and sent them to a specialist who will get back to me.

Has anyone used Forge? Can it be done within a retirement account, like a SEP-IRA?

You can invest with Forge with retirement account funds through entities like AltoIRA. Alto | Invest in Alternative Assets with a Self-Directed IRA

There are other entities out there who act as IRA custodians so you might want to check around but I’ve generally had good experiences with Alto. They all charge fees.

One warning: Going the IRA route does take longer to close than just wiring funds which can be stressful and can lead to missed opportunities (oversubscribed raises probably won’t wait for you if there are delays).

 

[Cattledog]

Ditto EinSV. I used Kingdom Trust for what's called a 'self-directed' IRA. It was for a smaller company, likely headed to 0, so in the end it really wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[EinSV]

Heard lots of good things about Madison Trust for self-directed IRAs but they were a nightmare to deal with the one time I worked with them and their foot dragging and bureaucracy led to me missing out on an opportunity — despite the company I was trying to invest in being very patient and extending their deadline to close multiple times trying to accommodate me.

This was a small start-up and they might be ok with an established company like Redwood Materials but I’ll never work with them again. Just an n=1 FWIW.

 

[SpaceXaddict]

SpaceXAddict - You can get in on the round with Forge, they contacted me a few days ago. It's a $250K minimum. I emailed them late yesterday with the hopes of a conversation and a peek at documents next week.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of Forge before. I'll check it out. The house looks nice! I love the cantilevered picnic setup!

FWIW, Stoke is raising now. There's access through a syndicate on Angel List, look for Calm Ventures / Zachary Ginsberg. I don't believe I can give any more details but that should be a good hint to find it.

 

[MikeC]

Let us know if they say that they can do it within the confines of a retirement account. Thanks

Just spoke with a rep and he said it is possible to do it through an IRA although the exact mechanics were not entirely clear to me.

He said they are new to working with Redwood and have been trying to get opportunities with them. The costs for this offering would be 5% to Forge, 1% of the cost basis annually to the venture fund offering the shares, plus 10% of any profit when sold also goes to the venture fund. Those fees make it not so appealing to me but I guess that's the price to get in early when the valuation is still under $5B.

He said SpaceX shares used to have similar fees but, now that the opportunity has matured, Forge has their own SpaceX fund with no costs except an initial 1% for administrative costs. He said the shares are worth $77 and the current ask is $82/share with a minimum investment of $250k.

I'm going to start the on-boarding process and will update this with any new info. @Cattledog is all this consistent with your experience using Forge?

Updating this - I was able to invest in SpaceX this round through a Roth IRA. Schwab couldn't do it, so I had to transfer the funds to a bank called Midland Trust, who then sent the funds to the SpaceX investment. The investment is considered to be in my Roth IRA at Midland now. Happy to be slightly diversified away from TSLA now.