The taxonomy of Crowdfunding - An actualized overview of the development of internet crowdfunding models

Abstract: Crowdfunding challenges century long boundaries between the public, the industry andinnovation. In that respect the phenomenon holds the potential to decentralize and democratizethe way ventures are financed and realized. Crowdfunding has seen a lot of exitingdevelopments during the last few years, partly because of new crowdfunding platformsemerging on the internet, and partly because of new ground-breaking technology being used forfunding purposes. Meanwhile research has not quite catched up with the recent developments ofdifferent models for crowdfunding. This study’s aim is therefor to give an comprehensiveoverview of the different models of crowdfunding that are being utilized by crowdfundingplatforms on the internet today. A deductive content analysis has been made of 67 currentcrowdfunding platforms. The platforms have been analysed in order to determine what model ofcrowdfunding they utilize. The result has, apart from partly confirming prior studies, alsoproduced new exiting findings on what mechanisms constitute some of the crowdfundingmodels we see today. A new taxonomy of crowdfunding models is discussed and proposed. Theconclusion is that the need for a updated taxonomy, like the one this study provides, was wellneeded in order to understand the field. One important finding is that blockchain technology hasproduced a new form of crowdfunding through cryptocurrency: Initial coin offering. Thatparticular area will likely develop and continue to decentralize and democratise the economicalhuman interaction when it comes to financing.