Oct.27(Coindesk) - Crowdfunding platform StartEngine has announced that it is acquiring rival platform SeedInvest from Circle, best known for the USDC stablecoin, pending approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The SeedInvest acquisition is the second major M&A deal in the equity crowdfunding sector to occur in the last year. Last December, Republic, another equity crowdfunding platform announced that it was acquiring U.K.-based crowdfunding platform Seedrs in a deal worth $100 million (the deal was completed in September 2022).