President Barack Obama signed a bill into law Thursday that will make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to raise money.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act gives small businesses and startups more access to fundraising and new investors.

The legislation also minimizes the bureaucratic barriers and regulations entrepreneurs often face.

"There's more reason for an investor to give them money," said Matthew Kaplan, a capital markets lawyer in New York. "They'll get a piece of the upside."

The JOBS Act is aimed at helping fast-growing operations like tech companies, but small mom and pop stores may benefit as well.

The bill had bipartisan support in the House and Senate. House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., is among the supporters

Opponents, however, are concerned over provisions in the law that roll back some rules the Securities and Exchange Commission enforces on companies attempting to make an initial public offering.

"This legislation will unleash a new wave of damaging investment fraud, undermine market transparency, and increase the cost of capital for the small companies it purports to benefit," said Barbara Roper, a director at the Consumer Federation of America.

The JOBS Act would also allow "crowd funding," which allows firms to bypass rules and raise up to $1 million a year from pools of small investors by directly soliciting them over the Internet.