Stacey Bowers, Director of the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, delivered remarks at the 2025 “SEC Speaks” event, emphasizing the agency’s commitment to supporting small businesses and their investors through engagement and resources.

Bowers recapped the many endeavors in which her office had engaged in the last year, including dozens of outreach events, policy meetings with the public, and reviews of proposed bills and amendments related to capital formation for small businesses.

Her speech also highlighted a few of the resources her office had created such as the Capital-Raising Building Blocks one-page information sheets, and the Capital-Raising Building Blocks video series, and a Glossary.

Bowers took time to underscore the necessity of community outreach, and the office’s role in “identifying areas where small businesses and their investors would benefit from changes in regulations… problems that small businesses encounter with securing capital… the impact of proposed rules and legislation, and…. capital formation issues.”

Bowers also addressed key highlights from the office’s 2024 Annual Report, which outlines the current landscape of small business capital formation. Some of those interesting facts included:

• 40% of small businesses seek external financing, but only 2% receive an equity investment, mostly coming from friends and family.
• Pre-seed and seed funding accounted for $6 billion of investments during the first half of 2024 with a median seed round of $3.1 million.
• Venture capital firms invested $86 billion during that same time frame with a median round of $5 billion for Series A and B and $7 billion for Series C and D.
• Initial public offerings raised $19 billion during the first half of 2024, primarily led by tech industry.

She also mentioned importance of support and mentorship networks for small businesses, noting that:

• Small businesses that participate in an accelerator program generate more revenue and hire more full-time employees.
• Angel investors and venture capital firms play critical roles in mentoring founders.