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Why Jane Park Chose Equity Crowdfunding for Tokki

After raising venture capital for Julep, Jane Park said she chose equity crowdfunding for Tokki to reduce barriers to participation and involve customers and other supporters.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Jane Park chose equity crowdfunding for Tokki because, after raising venture capital for her earlier company Julep, she wanted a fundraising route she saw as less burdensome and open to smaller investors—including customers. In a November 2022 interview, she cited legal costs and paperwork from traditional fundraising, StartEngine’s lower stated investment threshold, and the appeal of letting more people share in Tokki’s potential upside. Those were Park’s reasons for choosing the route, not evidence that crowdfunding is always cheaper or more successful than venture capital.

What Tokki was raising money for

Tokki was Park’s Seattle startup, making reusable gift bags with QR-enabled personalized messages. The company’s 2022 SEC-filed offering memorandum described the bags as made from recycled water bottles and positioned them as an alternative to single-use gift wrap and cards.

In November 2022, GeekWire reported that Tokki was raising capital through an equity crowdfunding campaign on StartEngine. That means the campaign involved investors purchasing an ownership interest, rather than contributing in exchange for a product reward as they might in a reward-based crowdfunding campaign.

Why did Jane Park choose crowdfunding for Tokki?

Her prior VC fundraising involved legal costs and paperwork

Park had raised more than $50 million for Julep, her beauty company, from investors that included Andreessen Horowitz, Madrona Venture Group, and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. Comparing that experience with Tokki’s campaign, she told GeekWire: “I’ve raised money from traditional venture capital in the past, and it took thousands of dollars of legal fees and mountains of paperwork.”

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That statement describes Park’s own experience. It should not be read as a general finding that equity crowdfunding is always less expensive or simpler: costs and administrative requirements depend on the offering and the companies involved.

She wanted a lower entry point for investors

Park said StartEngine let Tokki accept investments “starting in the hundreds of dollars, not hundreds of thousands.” She saw that lower threshold as a way for more people to participate than would typically be able to make the large checks she associated with traditional VC fundraising.

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She wanted customers and other supporters to share in the upside

Park also liked the prospect of bringing customers and people interested in Tokki’s consumer product into its investor base. She said it was difficult to find venture investors excited by the same products she cared about, joking: “I don’t know how many VCs have gone out and bought gift bags in the last year, but I bet not that many.”

Her reasoning joined a practical concern—finding investors who understood a consumer product—with a broader participation goal. It does not establish that crowdfunding guarantees customer loyalty, investor returns, or a successful raise.

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How Park’s fundraising history shaped the choice

Tokki was not Park’s first encounter with crowdfunding. GeekWire reported that in 2014 she set out to raise $75,000 to gauge interest in a nail-polish application product. That was a separate earlier campaign; it was not Tokki’s later equity offering, and the reported target should not be mistaken for a verified amount raised.

Her path therefore included both venture capital and crowdfunding: she had raised substantial VC funding for Julep, tried crowdfunding earlier to test interest in a product, and later chose an equity crowdfunding campaign for Tokki. The 2022 interview presents the Tokki decision as a response to her own experience and priorities, rather than a claim that one funding model is universally better.

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What the 2022 campaign terms said—and what they do not tell us

GeekWire reported these terms for Tokki’s StartEngine campaign in November 2022:

Reported term Historical figure Qualification
Minimum investment $250 Reported by GeekWire in November 2022; not a current offer term.
Company valuation $20 million Reported by GeekWire in November 2022; not a current valuation.
Maximum annual raise $1,235,000 Reported by GeekWire as the campaign’s maximum annual raise in November 2022; not a current offering limit.

The reviewed sources do not establish whether Tokki’s campaign reached its target, its final outcome, or whether Tokki is currently operating. A January 16, 2026 Yale Law School profile says Park founded Tokki and Julep, worked at Starbucks and Boston Consulting Group, and is an executive coach at Park Synder Group; it does not confirm Tokki’s current business status.

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