7 Most Effective Digital Crowdfunding Platforms To Raise Funds For Your Business
7 Most Effective Digital Crowdfunding Platforms To Raise Funds For Your Business
It is one thing to have a business idea, it is another thing to have the capital to start the idea and grow the business. An all-time requirement for any business to start and run smoothly and successfully is nothing short of capital. This is because capital is one of the most basic ingredients needed for any business to be successful. Without adequate finance, business startups tend to crumble under the weight of various market forces, and this malignant obstacle often causes infant business owners to go seeking financial backing from various source.
Aside from applying for various government programs that offers fund to startups, or acquiring loans from banks and microfinance institutions, modern technology has made it easier for people especially entrepreneurs to share their projects and source for capital to establish their startup through donation and investment from different people across the world. Hence, one of the ways an entrepreneur or a business owner who lacks or do not have enough funds to start or make his/her business idea thrive can raise is called crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is an online community set up for individuals to pitch their business ideas or challenges to a community of investors or people willing to support their ideas or cause.
Highlighted below are the 7 most effective crowdfunding platforms for your business and startup idea:
Kickstarter is the strongest and oldest crowdfunding platform. It is an implicit funding community for creative projects – everything from films, games and music to art, designs, book publishing and technology. The platform is full of innovative, imaginative and competitive projects which are brought to life through the direct support and contribution of other people. With over 18 million supporters, they have successfully funded 186, 995 startups and business idea with the sum of $5.2 billion, among which some have won awards like Grammy, Oscar and so on. Kickstarter, therefore, is one of the great platforms to source for funds and bring your creative project or business to life. If you are an artist, a filmmaker, musician, designer, writer, illustrator, explorer, curator, promoter or performer, you might want to see for yourself what’s going on in there.
However, on Kickstarter, funding is all or nothing. This simply means that you are required to set an amount and a deadline for the project you intended to fund and the fundraising must be completed within the allotted time or else, everyone gets their money back. But if it is successfully funded, Kickstarter applies a 5% fee to collect funds. There will also be processing fees between 3-5%.
Indiegogo is one of the globe’s earliest and largest crowdfunding sites. It is a platform that empowers and create an opportunity for people around the world to fund their business ideas and groundbreaking projects. Indiegogo has a marketplace for innovative products in tech. The platform also enables individuals and startups to generate pre-sales and collect feedback from early adopters before they manufacture their products. Since its inception in 2008, IndieGoGo community has assisted entrepreneurs across the globe raise over 1 billion dollars for more than 800,000 innovative business ideas and projects.
Unlike Kickstarter, you do not have to stop raising money at a specific time. There are no fundraising targets deadlines and you can apply equity, offer securities, revenue sharing and even cryptocurrency sales. IndieGoGo charges a 5% fee for all projects after it might have been fully raised.
7 Most Effective Digital Crowdfunding Platforms To Raise Funds For Your Business
Fundanenterprise is owned and operated by the MSME Crowd Funding Foundation, Nigeria. It is a donation-based crowdfunding website built specifically for fundraising activities, which is solely in the form of grants to support start-ups, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Nigeria and other African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone etc.
DailyTrust News established the fact that Fundanenterprise does not only provide the capital for start-ups, small and growing businesses but change the way Nigerians in particular and the world in general support business operations.
MicroVentures is a fundraising investment platform, combining the best of venture capital with equity crowdfunding. Since its inception in 2009, MicroVentures has been helping businesses (including Facebook) access capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors.
MicroVentures reviews an applicant’s idea, team, traction, market size and other factors before selecting the startup to be featured on its site before potential investors donate his/her money in the business. The funding process typically takes six weeks, according to the company’s website.
Read Also: How to Generate Business Ideas that work
Naijafund was founded by Amaka Osemene in 2016 and is Headquartered in Lagos State. It is a crowdfunding website that brings together fundraisers and donors to help realise dreams. It has over twenty-five campaign categories of which the popular ones include: Medical, Education and Business.
NaijaFund online platform easily connects Nigerians who are entrepreneurs to collect funds from their friends, family, community leaders, pastors and others. Users are also exposed to philanthropic individuals and organizations that they ordinarily wouldn’t have had access to.
Unlike some platforms, NaijaFund website operates a “keep all you raise” model and prohibits the offering of rewards or perks in return for donations. All donations are remitted to the fund seekers’ bank accounts without any extra action required from them.
7 Most Effective Digital Crowdfunding Platforms To Raise Funds For Your Business
If your business is focused on building and producing consumer brands, check out CircleUp. CircleUp is one of the best equity crowdfunding platforms around.
If you’re an entrepreneur working to get your consumer product on the market, CircleUp offers an exciting array of services, including a platform for connecting with accredited investors, insights from machine-learning technology, and access to special lines of credit for startups.
This is the platform to fund scientific discoveries. Experiment backers fund projects that “push the boundaries of knowledge.” The fund project scientists without the overhead costs they would have to otherwise face with university grants (which can be 50-60%).
It is free to start a project but once you receive full funding, Experiment charges an 8% platform plus payment processing fees between 3-5%.
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Serial Entrepreneur - International Business Planning Consultant - Speaker - Trainer - Author - Blogger - Network Marketing professional.
- 2018 SME Business Trainer and Coaching Advisor at GIZ for SME Loop.
- 2018 YALI RLC Online Cohort 9
- 2017 Fellow, Inspire Africa Train-the-Trainer Entrepreneurship programme sponsored by US Consulate Lagos and the Dickey Center, U.S.A.
- 2016 Fellow, Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme
- 2015 Top 50 Innovative Entrepreneurs, BET5 by Diamond Bank and EDC, PAU.
He is an alumnus of Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University (PAU). Through his training, mentoring, speaking and coaching programmes, he has empowered many young people over the years to start and grow their own business, build wealth, create multiple streams of income and achieve financial independence.
- He is a Certified Trainer in Design Thinking by the U.S Consulate, Lagos and the inspire Africa Entrepreneurship Institute.
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