StartEngine Reviews 448

I have a number of investments both on SE and other similar platforms. In 2025 two of those investments closed their doors. The other platform sent a K-1, as the company has ceased to exist (no money/broke, etc), in order to fulfill the reporting requirements the IRS requires.

When I contacted SE I was told "not our problem" - the former website and CEO are no longer reachable, but StartEngine doesn't care - there is ZERO post investment support - a big fat ZERO.

DO NOT use StartEngine - STAY AWAY. They do not care about your investment - ONLY that you make 1 or more via their platform and they collect their fees.

Easy.
Informative
Obtainable

I have made "investments" with StartEngine, so I am not just gripping. The company looks good at first glance, but once one is in things change. Nearly impossible to get any timely answers or information and it is starting to look like a scam. I initiated a request for service a month ago and only received an apparently canned answer yesterday. I get two or three emails a day promoting companies that are making wild promises, but as a seasoned investor and one who has been in investment banking for decades, I see though a lot of it.

The reason most companies are on this site is because the venture capital pros won't look at them due to inexperienced management or doubtful prognostications.

I would not even think about recommending this operation to naive investors or even reasonably experienced ones. Way too much hype and the disclaimers essentially say “we don’t do any research or analysis on any of these companies, so don’t expect any support from us We just want our fees.”

Stay away!

Re StartEngine response: That response is not a good description of the company’s performance as I don’t have multiple accounts and it overlooks the fact that they took month to respond to help requests to fix a problem that has been reported for nearly three months. Lots of dodging the issue and still no positive results!.

I have been on the platform for years. I have had public exits, but experienced: 1) I was so diluted, my investment was charitable giving. 2) The company I invested in doesn't make my shares available for public trade and doesn't respond to my emails. The bottom line is that StartEngine is not managing your investments. You have to be responsible for your relationship with the companies you invest in, and they may not be responsive. I believe that new private investment funds for small investors are a more promising model than crowdfunding on a platform like this.

I have added the following after the company comments: I am not suggesting the company is acting in contrary to their terms. I am only suggesting that making money from this Platofrm appears unlikely. The company did not address being ignored by the companies that have had exits, and not providing the investor (me) their public traded shares despite me reaching out. If more money were involved, I'd get a lawyer; not to fight Start Engine, but the companies I 'invested' in. StartEngine doesn't control the companies one invests in. I am only warning. More than diluted, I have zero, despite exit transactions. I have not had the opportunity to know whether I would be profitable or not. This happened once with a Start Engine 'investment', and once at Republic, both of which have a similar model.

I trusted this company with my retirement savings but never received insights with the companies I invested for. Only a small portion of the firms insights was delivered, and repeated attempts to contact them have gone unanswered. I'm leaving this review in the hope that someone finally responds and explains when the rest will be delivered.
I am satisfied with my progress on #Echomines. I don't need to keep sending reminders just to access my money. Everything moves when it should.

A very high rate of companies provide no information once you invest and that includes StartEngine itself. They have no commitment to going public so your money may never be returned or allow you the opportunity to sell despite the fact they claim to constantly increase their revenues.

Stay away from this company. It is legal on paper but you will never see a dime of your money again. You are basically donating to the companies, not investing, and will never have a way to get money back or make money from your donation. It’s a racket. Start Engine makes a killing off of tricking an manipulating people into donating under the pretense of it being a legitimate investment. It’s a great deal for the companies getting free money from the suckers, but horrible for anyone that puts money in.

Invested and never ever heard anything from start engine. I would have to call or email them to find out about any returns and even though that is who I gave my money to they would tell me to check with the company I supposedly invested in. The communication is horrible!! Als o never received a dime of my initial investment or any type of dividends. The company is still in existence and was told from Start engine that the campaign was over and they cant answer any questions. first and last time I will use start engine.

It is a huge hassle to submit documents with this platform. Even when you submit all the right documents, I got declined. Not everyone has documents lying around dating 90 days back (we live in a digital era now), so I submitted a document from 6-7 months ago. Investments don't go through before "verification". Also a huge lack of customer support, just a bunch of automated messages.

I will not recommend anyone to do business with this platform, unless you prefer a huge amount of stress.

UPDATE: After a couple of months I still do not have my money back, which they hold unlawfully.

StartEngine's customer service is virtually nonexistent. The only way to contact them for support is through an email that results in a bot opening a ticket which never gets a response or resolution. I have been locked out of my account for several days due to having to get a new phone, and all I need is for them to reset my 2FA authentication so I can log into my account from my new device. But the only way to do that is through their email support feature that gets you nowhere. It should not be this difficult.

None at this time.

I have used the Start Engine platform to invest in 2 companies. Every time the process was smooth and easy. I like the fact that Start Engine does a lot of dodeligence before recommending a product, service or company.

STARTENGINE WAS CREATED BY HOWARD MARKS. KEVIN O'LEARY IS THE SPOKESMAN. THAT ALONE MEANS THAT I'M IN VERY VERY GOOD HANDS. REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL NATHAN HAS DONE AN OUTSTANDING JOB OF HELPING ME THROUGH THIS COMPLETELY NEW PROCESS. WALL STREET LEGEND ALEXANDER GREEN MADE ME AWARE OF STARTENGINE.COM AND EPILOG IMAGING SYSTEMS. COM. THANKS TO THESE OUTSTANDING MEN, I WILL BECOME A MULTI-MILLIONAIRE. I AM ETERNALLY GREATFUL TO THEM.

JOHN WEYERS

I thought that it was worth the risk to become a part of something great!

Easy to use, great updates and communication.

It was pretty straightforward. I signed up with Olympia Vodka through Startengine. I now look forward to hearing from Olympia Vodka and watch my investment. Thanks.

The opportunity to invest in something exciting, new and meaningful at a price per share was fabulous. I own a considerable portfolio with American Century Investors, Fidelity, and Edward Jones, but this was the first time that I made 100% of investment on my own without broker advisement.

Start Engine makes it easy to choose a company that interests me with the large variety that they present.

I am a new and recent investor. I'm also a novice in the investment platform. However, I have found start engine to be inclusive to someone with limited income such as myself who is interested in putting together a portfolio and very easy to navigate and get information about different investments. Many of those investments are very exciting. I have invested in many, what I believe to be, very helpful innovations for humanity and progress in the world. I'm so happy to be involved with these innovations or movements and I'm so glad that start engine allows people with limited means to have an opportunity. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.