That is not correct. They have to get $12.5M
from the entire offering. That $12.5M limit applies to the Reg A+ offering as a whole, and not to the private pre-sale.
Or they could have sold only $50,000. (That's exaggeration for effect, in case anyone thinks I'm really serious about that...) You're correct in that we don't know, because we just don't have enough information. But that won't stop any of us from speculating, and we all know that. It's what we're best at around here.
We only know one thing for certain: That they did not get more than $30M in sales so far. We can pretty sure that they did not get more than $25M. (My reasoning on that being that they previously stated that although they had the option to go for $30M, they only really wanted $25M, and probably would stick with that.) We can also assume that, since they say they have enough to go ahead with the E series vehicles, that they have at least the $12.5M. That's great. I'm excited that they hit that target. I *want* this to go forward. I *want* it to succeed.
It also means that I had better get the full value of shares that I purchased. That pro-rated stuff was only supposed to be for the pre-sale for reserved shares. My understanding is that as soon as they $25M (or possibly $30M, although they have previously indicated they did not intend to do that), sales will be cut off, and everyone gets their full investment amount. So if you overbought in the presale, counting on it getting cut back due to an oversell.... Ooops. I hope that's not going to cause anyone any problems.
My "fail" comment is not related to an assumption that the Reg A+ offering overall is a failure. (It's not.) Or that the stock sales overall is a failure. (It's not.) Merely my assertion (poorly stated because I was in a hurry) that being able to offer the shares for sale to the general public is
NOT "good news". It's bad news. Or, at best, neutral news when you combine it with the announcement that they got enough to fund the E series vehicles.
You see, they've been trumpeting for quite some time, in front of everyone who would listen, about the number of potential investors with expressed interest (~12,000), and the fact that they have >$45M in expressed interest, and claiming that makes them the largest crowdfunding project ever. But when it came down to brass tacks, less than $25M of that money actually materialized, despite the weeks of warning that people were given from a string of emails from both StartEngine and EM that it was going to start any time, and a 13-day window to do the purchase. (I have no idea how they count 7 days. Common core math, maybe? The offering started on November 20 and went to December 2, inclusive. That is 13 calendar days on which stocks were available for purchase) They said four days prior to that, that they expected approval any day, and that they would start selling almost immediately. That gives you at least a 17-day window where you could have read your e-mail and acted upon it. That is NOT short notice.
There could have been many reasons for the failure of the money to materialize. Holidays during the investment window, short notice (although I don't really believe that one), financial situations changing, people over-pledging and under-investing (I know I'm guilty of that one a bit), lack of contact information to get the word out, etc. This is a new system, for both StartEngine and EM, and all of us, too. But still, when it came down to it, only half the money showed up. When you're standing in front of everyone trumpeting ">$45M in expressed interest", and then only half of that actually appears, it is NOT "good news". That's the kind of corporate spin control that calls getting shut down by the government "some really big opportunities for improvement".
So, yeah, I'm happy that they apparently got at least the minimum they needed. I'm glad to own stock in it. I'm glad that we move one step closer to getting my Elio in my driveway. But I'm not swallowing that particular flavor of kool-aid today.
Yep. And, of course, keep on speculating.