The New Ways to Raise Capital: An Exploratory Study of Crowdfunding

Abstract

Purpose – Paper aims is to describe, analyze and to increase the knowledge of the emerging crowdfunding phenomenon. This can be defined as the practice of funding a project or venture by raising a lot of small quantities of money from a huge number of people. Even though the number of academic studies has been increasing, the coverage of the population is relatively weak and not well understood by entrepreneurs and individual investors.Design/Methodology/Findings - The research can be classified as an exploratory research. It focuses on how the crowdfunding works. The research addresses the following research questions: What is crodwfunding? Which are the main characteristics of this phenomenon? Wihic are the principal strengths and the main weaknesses of crowdfunding? The findings expose purposes, characteristics, roles and tasks, and investment size of crowd-funding activity.Practical implications - The findings have implications for service managers interested in managing crowd-funding initiatives and to improve the activity of the consumers.Originality/value - The paper analyses a new emergent phenomenon. It aims to define the user/costuemr’s role from co-creation to investment.