Crowdfunding

Wanted to start your own business, but don’t have the financial resources, where would you take the money from? Your Parents, Banks, Relatives, Friends, ever thought of raising money from the public, no we are not talking about bringing an IPO and listing your start-up on the index, we are talking about the swag new way of raising funds, known as "Crowdfunding".

So what exactly is crowdfunding?

Put Simply, crowdfunding is a method of raising funds from the public by listing/expressing your idea on a platform. With the power of the internet, every process of Crowdfunding is done online, from listing your idea to asking for money, you can raise funds for your dream project sitting at your home with a click of a button.

Getting to the Point – Why is it Different?

10 years back, when you had to raise funds for your next venture, you had to go to the tedious way of creating a marketing plan, setting up meetings with bankers, venture capitalists (that too if they agree to meet you!), explaining the viability of your idea to your friends and family members and working on your plan side-by-side.

With crowdfunding, it provides you with a platform online where you can demonstrate/ share your idea to the public and it automatically gets displayed to the interested parties, drastically reducing the time and resources required to market your idea to the right public. Crowdfunding gives a platform to those voices and makes them readily accessible to those who want to invest here!

From people's point of view, you don’t need to have millions in hand nor you are required to be a venture capitalist to invest in the start-ups. This is the best part of Crowdfunding, where essentially the crowd comes in to fund the venture,  so as an individual you can invest as low as Rs. 500 on an idea or choose to fully fund the project, whatever suits you!

Types

Crowdfunding isn't just limited to financing or raising money for the next million dollar idea, it is for social causes too! People not financially able can raise money for operating on a critical financial ailment, or an NGO can raise money for filing RTIs, or even a sportsperson like PT Usha can raise money to open her dream school of training future girl athletes (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/pt-usha-takes-to-crowdfunding-to-run-school/articleshow/62111263.cms -latest news)