What crowdfunding website do you recommend?
There are several. I want to get your feedback. Which one do you currently recommend?
Crowdfund is a platform that allows everyone to invest in businesses alongside specialized investors without any middlemen or fees.
Check out this list:
https://www.crowdrise.com/
http://crowdfund.co/
https://www.crowdfunder.com/
https://www.crowdcube.com/
https://www.equitynet.com/
We are using the groundbreaker.co platform for a new series of transactions. You can follow them at
projects.terrafunda.com
Hi Imanuel,
I had to revert to a crowd funding website a couple of years ago when my son was undergoing health issues. Indiegogo.com is one of the best ones out there. It is the platform that I personally used. I wanted to go with the ones that were well known since I didn't want my funders to get scammed or anything. Gofundme.com is another brilliant website that I looked into. However, the indiegogo.com had more cases like ours and I thought it would be best for my fund. Hope this helps.
I think it also depends on your geographic location / target, as certain crowdfunding sites may not be adapted in that case.
Hi Imanuel,
There is a website called All Street, www.allstreet.org - which has a list of other crowdfunding platforms and success stories, plus other alternative finance solutions.
I hope it helps.
Jermaine
Hi Imanuel,
There are various niche specific crowdfunding website, you need to select one of them.
Innovative ideas and pre-sales
1. Kickstarter
2. Indiegogo
Music
1. PledgeMusic
2. SellABand
Charity
1. Razoo
2. Causes
Equity crowd funding
1.Crowd Cube
2.Mobile applications
AppBackr
1.AppsFunder
Movies
1.Connected Films
Games
1. Gamesplanet
2. Gambitiuous
This website - www.crowdingin.com - from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) provides a good overview of the crowdfunding scene and covers the full rage of offerings from Donation (charity) focused sites through to Equity focused sites and peer to peer lending.
If you are looking to raise equity financing there are four UK based sites that you could try, which are (in no particular order)
Seedrs
Crowdcube
Syndicate Room (You need a lead investor to pitch on here)
Investing Zone
Hello Imanuel ,
I suggest you see these 3 links : http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228534/printthis/.html ;
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2013/05/08/top-10-crowdfunding-sites-for-fundraising/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katetaylor/2013/08/06/6-top-crowdfunding-websites-which-one-is-right-for-your-project/
After reading the 3 articles , you will be in a position to decide which crowdfunding site best serves your start-up project .
Best regards ,
Hasan A.L. Abdul-Karim ,
CEO and Chairman ,
Aljazera Brokerage Company .
Use the Crowd Funding that agrees to give you the money be it Kickstarter or whomsoever is the flavor of the month , they are the next best thing to friends and family.
But there are other more reliable sources of funding that can be explored depending on your business model and which publicly traded corp can benefit from your product or service directly or indirectly
I don't like the crowd fund model. I stick with standard Business Loan and MCA funding options.
Take a look at WealthForge. Their expertise is helping small business find the right crowdsourcing opportunity. They also can assist with the infrastructure you need to prepare http://www.wealthforgellc.com/ or https://www.fundroom.com/wealthforge
I am not affiliated in any way with this organization. I have been following the development of this company as it is based in my home city so I have done some research on it myself.
I agree with Alex. Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but there are a lot of tricks to running a successful campaign, so make sure your social media is strong, and that you know how to get a huge following initially. It's competitive out there, and crowdfunding is powered by social media.
Here is a list of sites:
www.peoplevc.com
www.gofundme.com
www.kickstarter.com - #1 crowdfunding site
www.gogetfunding.com
www.razoo.com
www.crowdtilt.com
www.onsetstart.com
www.indiegogo.com
www.SecondMarket.com
www.RocketHub.com - #2 largest crowdfunding site
www.Peerbackers.com
For Real Estate, here are a few to get you started:
1. Prodigy Network– This platform for class-A real-estate investments serves the United States and Latin America. Crowdfunding for various projects in New York and Bogota, it is giving smaller investors access to large real estate assets. Its 3,500 investors have put $200 million into a skyscraper that will be Colombia’s tallest building. http://en.prodigynetwork.com
2. Fundrise - The company raised $575,000 for two projects in Washington, DC—a food market and the rehabilitation of a closed library into an apartment building with retail space. Fundrise lets people invest in their local communities, earning profits while becoming socially involved and providing insider access to pre-vetted real estate investments. www.FundRise.com
3. Realty Mogul – Since its launch, Realty Mogul has received more than $9 million in investments and $51 million total cost of properties funded. Accredited investors pool money to buy shares of pre-vetted investment properties for as little as $5,000. It was incubated by Microsoft MSFT +0.34%Techstars and won top awards in pitch competitions. www.RealtyMogul.com
4. iFunding–This firm allows you to choose from pre-vetted deals. For a $1,000 minimum, members can buy into any piece of the site’s portfolio of multi-family, hospitality, office, and residential properties. Each project is a distinct limited partnership that pays dividends in as little as six months. www.ifunding.com
5. Primarq– Pursuing the American Dream of homeownership, Primarq is the NASDAQ of residential real-estate equity. It has developed a platform where investors help consumers buy homes, and home-owners can monetize the value of their homes. It also offers a secondary market where investors can sell their shares without having to sell the actual properties. www.primarq.com
6. GroundBreaker – Led by a strong team of tech and real estate entrepreneurs, GroundBreaker is committed on creating a white-label fundraising site for its investors. They have automated all administrative tasks and significantly lowered the costs of serving investors through technology. www.groundbreaker.co (not .com)
7. RealtyShares– This platform went on beta launch in November, claiming 289 investors intending to invest $1.5 million. As little as $500 can buy shares in commercial real estate, apartment buildings, and homes. They have streamlined everything needed to invest in real estate using technology. www.realtyshares.com
Hope this helps!!
Andrew
Thanks Imanuel!! LOL. I do hope it helps you. There are two other sources of capital not mentioned here that might be interested and I am direct to both lenders. If interested (anyone else reading this too), send me a private message.
Hi Imanuel
It depends on what type of CrowdFunding you want to do.
Broadly speaking there are 4 types of CrowdFunding websites.
Donation based websites are where people give money and do not expect anything in return.
Rewards based CrowdFunding is where someone is offering a product or service in return for their investment. Kickstarter.com and Indiegogo.com are two such examples.
Equity based CrowdFunding is where you offer a percentage share of your business to the Crowd. The UK at the moment lead the world in equity based Crowdfunding with the US coming on stream later this year.
Peer to Peer Crowdfunding is where an entrepreneur can borrow money from an investor at an agreed interest rate taking the local bank out of the equasion.
Once you know what type of CrowdFunding is best for your situation then you can choose the website. Not all websites operate the same way so you would once again have to research which CrowdFunding website would be the best for your situation.
For example Kickstarter operate on an all or nothing basis. If you do not reach your target you do not get any of the money. Indiegogo on the other hand will allow you to run a flexible campaign which means whatever money you raise you get to keep minus their fee and banking fees (around 12%)
Hope this helps you in making a decision.
Anthony
It depends on the type of project... whether it is commercial or scientific for example... you could try these two:
kickstarter.com
indiegogo.com
Alex
http://www.beonespark.com
I'm not a big fan of crowd funding. I tend to think about other avenues of building business credit to develop a paydex score and creating vendor lines of credit so you don't use your cash flow needlessly.
I agree with you to Steve, it's just that most services I encounter costs thousands and banks aren't interested unless I'm generating over $100K a year. Have to look else for funding! Thank you for sharing
Thank you! I will reach out to them