Update (September 2026): Totem's WeFunder round has closed, raising $1.36M in total. This post is kept as a record of the campaign.
Totem's WeFunder Community Round: Why We Opened It
Most people think investing in startups is only for Silicon Valley insiders or people with deep pockets.
When we first published this post in August 2025, we set out to change that for our own community. We announced that Totem was opening a Community Investment Round on WeFunder, a platform where everyday people can invest directly in early-stage tech startups. Those are the kinds of companies usually reserved for VCs and wealthy angel investors.
The round gave anyone in this incredible community the chance to become part of the Totem story and come behind the scenes as an official investor.
It meant that the people who'd been helping us build Totem from day one could invest in it, playing an active, tangible role in our mission to make the world a safer and more joyful place to live.
People who had already told us they wanted to invest got early access first, during what became our Private Access period in Winter 2025. After that, the round opened to the wider WeFunder community.
WeFunder 101: How the Round Worked
Who Could Invest
WeFunder opens up startup investing to everyday people. It lets non-accredited investors take part in private funding rounds alongside venture capitalists and professional investors.
That meant you didn't have to be an accredited investor to join Totem's round. When we first wrote this post, we said WeFunder let you invest as little as $100. Totem's Community Round went on to list a $250 minimum.
How We Suggested Thinking About Startup Investing
Investing in a startup is a personal decision that no one can make for you. At the time, we shared this advice from the WeFunder co-founders:
"Our advice? Invest only in what you understand (and preferably love). If you are a customer and love the product, it’s likely a good investment. If you don’t understand it, investing may be a bad idea.
Investing should not be solely about earning a return. To invest in something as risky as a startup, you should feel something extra beyond just the business model. For us, that “something extra” is the fulfillment we feel helping a founder take "their shot" at making our world slightly better."
WeFunder's FAQ for investors explains how startup investing works and what the risks are.
WeFunder vs. Kickstarter: What's the Difference?
One of the most common questions we got during the campaign (and asked ourselves!) was: "What is the difference between WeFunder and Kickstarter?"
Short answer: Kickstarter lets you back a product, but WeFunder lets you invest in the company.
With Kickstarter, creators present their project or product, outlining their goals, rewards for backers (often in the form of pre-orders), and a funding goal with a deadline. If the campaign reaches its funding goal, the creator can then develop and produce their project or product.
In other words, Kickstarter is a project-based crowdfunding campaign.
WeFunder is a little different. You aren't pre-ordering a product or donating to an artist. Instead, you're investing in a company, because you believe it has an important mission and will keep growing.
Investors decide which companies are worth funding. If a startup succeeds, the value of an investment in it can grow. Investors can potentially make money during an exit event, by selling their stake at a profit, or through dividends if the company decides to offer them.
It's important to remember that startups are risky. Many of them don't make it, and investors can lose everything they put in. That's why we suggested investing only if you feel something extra beyond excitement about the business prospects.
Either way, investing in a startup you care about means joining a community of other investors who want to help it succeed.
Why Totem Raised a Community Round
The short answer:
Because Totem was never just the 8 people (our team size when this post was written) working out of a small office in Chattanooga, TN, making fest-tech and offline communication tools.
Totem is (and has always been) TENS OF THOUSANDS of people from around the globe who want the world to be a safer, more beautiful place. Today, that's 65,000+ users in 80 countries.
The long answer:
The first thing we did after coming up with a rough concept of the Totem Compass (and choosing a name) was to start sharing weekly updates.
We did this to bring you inside the process with us. We began Totem Tuesday because we didn't want to just tell you what we're doing, or have you take us at our word. We wanted to show you what building an early-stage tech startup is really like, so you could see for yourself.
And we'd kept it going every single week for over 90 weeks straight (at the time of writing this!) without missing a week.
It’s so important to us that you, friend, have a genuine personal connection with this company. Because that's what matters the most to us.
There have been many weeks when Totem Tuesday was not filled with good news, when it would have been much easier to walk away and not press "Send". But weeks like that have been the most important weeks in this company's history.
For us, the only way to build a healthy, thriving relationship is to be transparent and communicative. We do this by building in public. That’s the core of our philosophy at Totem.
This community, sometimes playfully called the "Totem Tribe", has proven time and time again that it can be:
- more creative than any designer,
- more exciting than any marketer,
- more helpful than any engineer,
- more charismatic than any salesman.
We raised this WeFunder round because we wanted to give you a direct, tangible role in this company's success.
We wanted to bring you behind the curtain.
We wanted to give you a way to genuinely participate in this amazing journey.
We want to win alongside you, our Tribe. Our success is your success, and yours is ours.
Because (and I really do mean this with my whole heart) we wouldn't be here without you.
How the Round Ended
The round has now closed. Across the Private Access period in Winter 2025 and the public Community Round, Totem raised $1.36M in total. To everyone who invested: thank you for backing us.
Want to hear about future opportunities to invest in Totem? Join our newsletter. Totem Tuesday is where we share our news first.
Heading to an event with your crew? The Totem Compass Bundle builder lets you customize the best Bundle for your group size, and you can split the payment with friends at checkout using Paysquad.
