Crowdfunding as an investment alternative - Why Crowdfunding?

Abstract: Today it is extremely hard to get funding for different projects trough the ordinary channels such as banks, VC or Business angels etc. In recent years this has opened up for other alternatives, one of them is Crowdfunding. A few of the questions this paper attempt to answer is, which companies is Crowdfunding suited for? How do you succeed with your Crowdfunding campaign? What is the money used for? What’s the outlook on the future for Crowdfunding? The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of Crowdfunding and how it is used today, plus shine some light on how the future for Crowdfunding looks. Hopefully this will help the reader gain knowledge about why Crowdfunding is chosen as a mean to get investments. The purpose of the interviews is to get an inside look on Crowdfunding from those who work with it and those who have used it. What has the money been used for, what makes a successful campaign etc. The method that has been used to gather information is via internet and interviews, where the main content is rendered. The different kinds of Crowdfunding There are four types of Crowdfunding, Donation, Reward, Equity and Loan-based. Donation means that you give away your money and get nothing in return. In Reward based you get something (the product, a t-shirt etc…) in return for the investment. In Equity you get equity in the company. Loan gives you your money back with interest. Analysis and conclusion The main finding in the study is that most companies think that they will use Crowdfunding to gain capital to produce a product, which actually could be of less importance than the free marketing they get. Therefore the campaign, already from the start, should have the market in mind, together with the actual fund rising. Another conclusion is that Crowdfunding usually benefits the smaller companies, and the success of the campaign is strongly dependent on the many qualities of a skillfull entrepreneur.