NEW YORK, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ExplorationFunder today announced the launch of the world's first equity-based Crowdfunding platform for Accredited Investors to connect with curated and high quality exploration and development companies in the natural resources sector. ExplorationFunder aims to leverage the disruptive power of the Internet to help investors and companies come together in the capital raising process.

ExplorationFunder was founded by Yale PhD and tech entrepreneur Rob Leclerc, mining finance guru Damien Reynolds, and Michael Page, a preeminent nickel geologist. ExplorationFunder also boasts an all-star Geo-technical advisory board of some of the world's top exploration.

"The past several years have been incredibly tough on a desiccated junior resource sector and there have been spectacular companies which have struggled to raise capital," says Rob Leclerc, the company's CEO. "The greatest growth opportunities exist at the early stage, but it's incredibly difficult for small companies to connect with the broader investment community because they have no effective media channel to bring greater awareness to their story."

ExplorationFunder's stunning web-based platform helps solve these pain points in the capital raising process. These include deal sourcing and investor sourcing; standardized company profiles with rich infographic modules to quickly relay complex data; and leveraging the power of social networking to empower community management as a means to better identify and vet opportunities and quickly expose bad actors.

ExplorationFunder sees itself as more than just a platform for raising capital, and its broader goal is to become the 'Facebook for natural resources companies'. "Corporate web pages have failed as an effective media channel, and the resource industry has nothing like a CBNC to connect with its stakeholders," says Rob Leclerc. "In the same way that individuals find greater utility in social profiles over personal webpages, we need to do away with lonely, hard-to-navigate and ugly corporate webpages in favor of social corporate profiles that allow companies to connect with all stakeholders whether that be for Human Relations, Investor Relations, or Public Relations."

ExplorationFunder is currently opening its beta platform by invitation to potential investors while it continues to source and curate company profiles ahead of its full launch.

To learn more, to submit a company for listing, or to request an invitation to ExplorationFunder you can contact Rob Leclerc at 1-917-873-3037 or rob@explorationfunder.com, visit www.explorationfunder.com, or follow them on twitter at @explorationfund.

SOURCE ExplorationFunder