Who needs banks? Crowdfunding websites can help you find a community of small investors to fund your business, without the risks of traditional financing.
Here is a list of crowdfunding sites. Some sites focus on funding creative projects, others sites focus on meeting specific needs in the marketplace or community. So don't let access to capital hold you back — let the crowd fund you.
13 Crowdfunding Websites
33needs. 33needs enables everyone to invest, make a social impact, and earn financial rewards. Promoting business-led solutions to our world’s biggest needs, it provides crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs, social enterprises and companies with a social mission. Ventures are organized under these categories: the planet, education, community, health, opportunity, and sustainable food. Investment dollars are exchanged for rewards offered by crowdfunded companies, as well as points to redeem for special offers.
appbackr. Appbackr is a wholesale marketplace for mobile phone apps. The developer posts an app or app-in-development to the appbackr marketplace. Backers can purchase a bulk of apps wholesale, and the developer receives immediate payment. Backers can view monthly sales reports and the daily run rate of purchased apps on the appbackr dashboard. The developer must be a registered Apple or Android developer.
- ChipIn. ChipIn is a web-based service that simplifies the process of collecting money from groups of people. Embed the ChipIn widget into your website, or on MySpace, Typepad, Blogger, Netvibes, or any web page where you can paste a few lines of HTML. Your contributors can track your progress on the widget and chip in directly to your PayPal account. ChipIn is free. Transactions are subject to PayPal payment processing fees.
Cofundos. Cofundos crowdfunds open-source software projects. Open source software ideas are submitted and discussed. Requirements are defined. Specialists offer estimates on completing the project. Bidders select the specialists and donate bid amounts.
FansNextdoor. FansNextdoor is a platform for all creative professionals to promote and fund their projects together with their fans. Create your project, its financing goal and deadline. If the financing goal is met or exceeded by deadline, all contributions are transferred to your PayPal account. If the financing goal is not met, all funds are returned. FansNextdoor is currently free, but lists a fee target of 3 percent. Transactions are subject to PayPal fees.
IndieGoGo. IndieGoGo offers anyone with an idea — creative, cause-related, entrepreneurial — the tools to build a campaign and raise money. Project categories include gaming, film, design, education, mobile, and technology. Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Offers a widget to showcase your campaign on your website. Unlike many crowdfunding sites, you keep all the money you raise, even if you don’t meet your goal. Track contributions with the analytics tools and stay on top of fulfillment with the dashboard. There is a 4 percent fee on the money you raise when you meet your funding goal. Third party payment processing fees also apply.
Thursday, June 16, 2011 · 05:10 PM
Buzzbnk is a crowdfunding website enabling social entrepreneurs and social ventures to raise funds and build a crowd of supporters.
We offer the following:
1) A mix of funding types from donation, pre-sales and loans while combining this with goodies and perks. Plus, projects can set several milestones in the fund-raising journey.
2) A variety of loan structures: revenue participation, fixed interest and principle only loans.
3) Gift Certificates & Gift Vouchers
4) Benefit Delivery Management. Projects receive notifications about what benefits are due to whom and by when (each benefit can have its own individual delivery time).
5) Loan Management - The system automatically tracks and manages the parameters of all loan terms plus manages the distriubtion of loan re-payments back to the lenders (Backers).
6) Community Sharing - We encourage Backers to use any credits in their accounts (from loan re-payments & returned funds) towards other projects on the site, encourging them to help more social ventures and projects and keeping the circle going.
We charge a 5% fee on funds raised successfully plus any card transaction fees at point of checkout (variable, 2% for Credit Cards, £0.37 for Debit, £0.50 for bank transfers). Once funds are in the user's Buzzbnk account, no further charges are taken (e.g. if one project fails and funds are credited to account, there is no transaction fee to back another project).
Thursday, June 16, 2011 · 06:22 PM
This is a great synopsis of a lot of the crowd funding websites out there. Thanks for putting this together. As most people reading this article probably know, once any of these companies offer a return to more than 35 investors the SEC is going to shut them down.
I'm part of the team that is leading the campaign to get an exemption passed with the SEC to allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise up to $1 million through crowd funding. With the transparency that the internet provides today and with safe guards in place to protect both the investor and protect against fraud, there is an amazing opportunity with crowd funding to get capital flowing from the people who have it to the people who can use it to create jobs.
For all of those interested take a look at our petition, our framework, and all of the progress we've made, including testimony presented at a congressional hearing on capital formation in May: www.startupexemption.com
Friday, June 17, 2011 · 03:55 PM
Hi Zachary,
Buzzbnk is registered and based in the UK. We have reviewed with the UK Regulatory body, the Financial Services Authority, on the bi-lateral unsecured loans our ventures offer their backers. The findings are that we do not need to be regulated in the UK. This is similar to other loan based sites in the UK (FundingCircle, Zopa). CrowdCube has also reviewed their model for equity raising in the UK. These 3 sites are currently for UK residents only.
Principle only loans, like those on Kiva, would not be classified as an investment so would not require regulation in the US. It is unclear if revenue participation in the US would be classified as an investment - perhaps Josh can comment on this as it is the format of 33Needs. Revenue participation has also been used by SellABand for many years (open to US residents but takes payments in Euros).
So that just leaves fixed interest loans. Currently we do not have any projects offering fixed interest in the UK - if we did, as a matter of prudence we would need to advise US residents not to participate.
We look forward to the work you are doing in the US with your petition to the SEC and happy to support where we can.
Theresa
CEO & Co-founder Buzzbnk
And thanks Josh for the mention!
Saturday, August 13, 2011 · 04:58 PM
Fondomat is the first crowdfunding site in Prague, Czech Republic. It allows you to realise your dreams, help those in need or fund your next big project. Thanks to the evolution of technology, crowdfunding has become easier, more widespread, and successful which is great for anyone looking to raise money for whatever project, event or business they have in mind. Check out the site: http://www.fondomat.com
Monday, September 12, 2011 · 01:26 PM
InventionBuy.com - A Marketplace For Patents
The purpose of Inventionbuy is to promote a 'continuous
innovation in products and strategies. Innovation few companies that still
manage to produce in them, except at high costs. The 'only way is to seek
out ideas and inventions. The project Inventionbuy.com in this process
becomes the 'privileged that provides tools and knowledge to create the'
meeting between demand and supply of innovation online.
Submit your idea invention : http://www.inventionbuy.com/
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 · 04:53 AM
This is a fairly comprehensive list of the various crowdfunding options available out there. I would add Bolstr.com, Bolstr is a crowdfunding application designed to help entrepreneurs raise funding by means of mobilizing their personal networks. Bolstr walks the entrepreneur/small business through the legal and regulatory hurdles of conducting a capital raise with intuitive software based tools.
Disclaimer: I am a co-founder.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 · 04:33 PM
Here is a new site, www.McKenson-Invest.com, an online platform that connects investors looking for new investment opportunities with entrepreneurs seeking funding.
Here is the link that provides further information:
http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/190682-1323630714-entrepreneurs-can-now-approach-angel-investors-easily-with-new-networking-tool.html
Thursday, January 26, 2012 · 11:31 AM
I think the crowdsourcing websites do a disservice to nonprofit causes in two ways - the 'donations' to artists or projects are not tax-deductible and the 4, 5 and 9% fees are steep. I assume kickstarter and others will be facing fierce competition moving forward, since we know their overhead is rather minimal compared to the fees they are raking in....
Mark from http://cashadvancesus.com/
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 · 11:22 PM
Sadly, a lot of crowd funding sites have developed some ego by thinking that they have the right to decide what is creative or not. How creative a project is should be determine the the wisdom of the masses, not but one person in behind the scenes in a crowd funding site. This is why we at OnSetStart only provide recommendations for project submitted in order to meet standards. Of source, no life plans funding, but as long as I am the CEO I will not allow us to say a project is not creative enough.
Get more information at http://www.onsetstart.com
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 · 08:10 PM
One great Crowd funding site AdoptAnything.com should be on your list also, it has open listing platform, and multiple ways for businesses, and individuals to get their funding, plus collaboration listings for crowd sourcing, and an advertising system that pays for views to your crowd funding campaigns.
its at: http://adoptanything.com
Sunday, April 29, 2012 · 11:17 PM
Mark23 You talk about the steep 4, 5, & 9% fees for these crowdfunding sites. Yet, you represent CashAdvancesUS. Sorry, but we all know that "cash advance" sites are no better than "loan sharks" with their 30 to 70% fees/interest. What's the point that you're trying to make?
Sunday, November 25, 2012 · 11:09 PM
This is a good list of sites to help your business with crowdfunding. I have visited most of these websites and they're good for anyone trying to get support in starting up. One site i also came across to help with open source crowdfunding is thrinacia.
It's still a work in progress but it will be the first 100% open source SaaS white label crowdfunding platform. If anyone has the time its definitely worth checking out. Looks like Thrinacia will feature completely customizable architecture and allow for integration based on how you want, when you want. Definitely there is a lot of different features that will be built in. You can actually check out the website, its quite interesting.
https://www.thrinacia.com/
Monday, January 21, 2013 · 04:18 AM
Why the vitriol toward PayPal? I've been using it for 12 years and never had a bad, or even difficult, transaction through Paypal on any of the 1,915 purchases or sales I've made through them. I buy books from small on-line vendors. I buy and sell on eBay. Hewlett-Packard (computers & peripherals) uses Paypal. Walmart uses them. American Numismatic Association sells memberships through them. American Scientific Magazine sells subscriptions using Paypal. There must be a good reasons that myriad other on-line businesses use it.
Friday, February 08, 2013 · 12:10 PM
Check out one of the new crowdfunding sites CommunityFunded.Com We focus on building viable solutions for non-profits that level the playing field within the non-profit industry.
"I think the crowdsourcing websites do a disservice to nonprofit causes in two ways - the 'donations' to artists or projects are not tax-deductible and the 4, 5 and 9% fees are steep. I assume kickstarter and others will be facing fierce competition moving forward, since we know their overhead is rather minimal compared to the fees they are raking in....
Mark from http://cashadvancesus.com/
Monday, March 18, 2013 · 03:26 PM
These are all great ways to fund your business. I'm glad I found this site. I've been doing additional research as well and came up with a site that will help you fund your business in as little as seven days, up to $500,000 without a credit check.:
http://FastBusinessFundingNOW.com .
Sunday, April 28, 2013 · 11:54 AM
Great list, thanks. For those who are looking for more (especially because of legal reasons, or because of the nature of the project), I've just compiled the possible open source software out there that you can use to launch your own crowdfunding portal http://seedingfactory.com/2013/04/list-of-open-source-crowdfunding-platforms/
Let me know if it's useful. I'm looking to further study, adding for instance notes on the technology and ease of use.
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