[jcfrei]

I'm assuming US regulation is not much different than Swiss regulation here but nobody is ultimately stopping you from investing in those companies. You can invest in any company you like and as much as you like it's just that you can't do it through an intermediary like coinlist. But if you ask the founders for shares they could offer you as many as they like. It might not be worth the extra work for small investments but it's not impossible for you to invest. The purpose of such laws isn't to keep out small investors from lucrative deals - VCs would profit the most if small investors could participate as well and massively drive up the price. The intent of such laws is to create a more thorough funding process which makes financing rounds less lucrative and less likely to succeed for scammers.