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The best Russian and foreign crowdfunding sites

This article outlines the top crowdfunding sites from Russia and other countries. It breaks down the top 5 sites for each region, highlighting the key features, advantages, and unique qualities of each. The Russian crowdfunding sites focus on social initiatives while other sites offer broader purposes, facilitating multiple donation methods, low commissions, integrated payment gateways, reward systems, and other features. The article highlights the importance of researching into the best crowdfunding sites for a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Novice entrepreneurs, artists and public figures often face the need to find money. Crowdfunding appeared to get support from people who share their ideas..

What is crowdfunding?

transfer of money

Crowdfunding is a way to get investment from many people to implement a business idea. In the broad sense of the word – this is public funding.

Entrepreneurs around the world publish their projects on special online sites. They ask for help from those who are interested in their offer. Any user of the platform can become an investor and make a contribution for the desired or arbitrary amount.

Crowdfunding mechanism

mechanism operation


How crowdfunding works


For example, you came up with an economical way to color print on fabrics. To realize the idea, you can take a loan from a bank or find private investors. But there is another scenario.

You go to crowdfunding site and create an ad. You declare your goal (for example, introduce technology to production in order to halve the cost of clothing with prints), name the amount of starting capital. Then you have to offer people who will invest in your idea something in return: a share in the business, a percentage of profit or a mention in the media.
Everything that happens next depends on you to a lesser extent. Users on the portal (they are called donors, sponsors or investors) begin to invest money, and information about the collection is displayed in open access mode. If you managed to collect the required amount, all funds will be transferred to you (net of taxes and commissions), and you will report to investors and give rewards for them.

Crowdfunding helps small businesses attract many investors. In the US, startups receive on platforms up to $ 1 million.

You can also collect money to help people, support different movements, creative endeavors, even to deliver pizza home.

Types and models of crowdfunding

colleagues discuss a business plan

There are three types of crowdfunding. They depend on how much remuneration the investor receives.

  • Reward crowdfunding – for bonuses (public mention of the name, advertising in the media, future products for free).
  • Debt crowdfunding – per share of profit (percentage of sales).
  • Equity crowdfunding – for a share in the project (company shares).

Fundraising happens with material return and without. The second is typical for personal projects or donations to charitable foundations. Donating money is possible in socially useful business ideas: refugee protection, waste disposal, the search for environmentally friendly energy sources.

A share of the business or royalties on the sale of products is called crowdfunding – the most popular way of working. True, such an investment model was invented only 15 years ago – while it is complicated by legislative regulation. Even at crowdfunding, you can simply borrow at interest.

Business crowdfunding platforms

work success


Kickstarter


Site

One of the first international platforms with great authority. Among the advantages are guarantees for sponsors and safety (money does not leave donor accounts until the end of the project). Over the 10 years of its existence, the site has helped 150 thousand entrepreneurs and raised more than $ 4 billion..

Kickstarter is good for both business and creative ideas. Creative projects run better, so music, gadgets, independent cinema, comics are more active than regular IT offers. OUYA game console and Pebble smartwatch got help here.

Projects are created for free, and the commission is 5%. Authors can fall into certain categories of recommendations from the platform team and receive an additional influx of interested sponsors.

Among the minuses – a commission for withdrawal, work only with American / British banks. Lack of charitable, political, medical projects.


Rockhub


Site

A platform for entrepreneurs who want to sell their ideas and improve them in the “Capital Financing Room”. A separate plus platform – cooperation with channel A&E who selects projects for his television broadcast.

The service has simple rules: a commission of 4% and the same amount – a percentage of transfers. If the goal is not achieved, the commission will double.

The advantage of the platform is to help beginners with applying and opening the collection. RocketHub is asking for money for business, research, art, social projects.


Fundable


Site

Fundable helped entrepreneurs raise $ 377 million. It has a special structure of monthly deductions: you do not pay a percentage fee, but give $ 179 on a regular basis. Not so many projects are created here as the pages of organizations looking for an audience.

Fundable collects money both for new startups (investments cannot exceed $ 50,000) and for the development of existing companies (up to $ 10 million), for example, for the mass launch of new goods into production.


Crowdfunder


Site

Large crowdfunding projects for long-term investment of money are found here. CrowdFunder is a professional community of 200,000 entrepreneurs. Shares of companies can be sold by both beginners and experienced businessmen. Accredited donors CrowdFunder is a whole network of 12 thousand venture investors who have already invested $ 150 million.


Boomstarter


Site

If you are looking for Russian venues for business crowdfunding, then go to Boomstarter.

More support is given to entertainment projects: board or computer games, movies, smartphone applications. Here they helped the project of an inflatable sofa without a Bevan pump and the Empire mobile game. There are 15 startup destinations in total..

On Boomstarter there is a crowdfunding service – a joint purchase of goods for a birthday person or a needy person.

The disadvantages of the service are cooperation under the “all or nothing” scheme and restrictions on minimum donations. The platform works for Russian citizens with a ruble bank account.

Personal Crowdfunding

people support


Indiegogo


Site

Indiegogo appeared 10 years ago and collected tens of millions of contributions from donors from 200 countries. People come here with their ideas, even if there are no specific deadlines for implementation.

In Indiegogo you can get an investment in a wedding, surgery, travel. There is a separate section for philanthropists in charity.

You can implement various business ideas, films, videos, support shelters, projects to protect human rights or nature. The rating of projects is calculated using an automatic algorithm that takes into account the number of donors and comments.

The fee for using Indiegogo is 5% (but if the goal is not achieved, then twice as much). There are additional costs for processing payments. The audience is more modest than on Kickstarter, but the requirements for authors are less.


“Planet”


Site

Planeta.ru – crowdfunding of Russian origin. Creative, educational, charitable and social projects are warmly welcome. Here you can raise money for a book, restoration of a city monument or a performance.

There are almost no disadvantages on the Planet, but projects cannot be simultaneously placed on other sites. Registration for sponsors is required, and the term for cash collection can be extended only once.

Resource commission – standard 5%, another 13% – tax to the state.


Gofundme


Site

GoFundMe supports the restoration of natural or public sites in cities and simply fulfills someone’s dreams. An ideal platform for private projects, charity gatherings for a sick relative or organizing a marriage proposal. 40 million users daily tell their personal stories here..

Advantage – receiving money even if the set amount was not accumulated by the end of the project.

Crowdfunding Risks

business risk


Fraud


For those who invest there is a serious threat – fraud or default on the part of the authors. You get limited information about any idea on the platforms. No personal contact between authors and investors.

Fortunately, crowdfunding sites identify fraudulent projects. Moderators check ideas for adequacy and feasibility, request documents. They can block access to the project at any stage. Some platforms plan to insure investor finances. You can also find the author in social networks and discuss issues with him personally, or just study his profile.


Bad business plan


There are problems with calculating business investments and projected profits. It happens that the amount set by the author does not coincide with practice. Here, some platforms adhere to a flexible policy – they allow you to change the exact amount as the plan is completed..


Plagiarism


If you are the author of the idea and describe the entire business plan on the platform in detail, then you run the risk of plagiarism.


Inadequate funding


Even if you approach the design carefully, offering an interesting idea, there are no guarantees that you will collect the required amount. It is also necessary to consider the commission, taxes, risks of termination of the site, if you trust not untwisted resource.

Support from the crowdfunding platform does not mean that you do not have to invest extra money to promote your project and devote a lot of time to it.

Crowdfunding law

crowdfunding law

In Russia, the crowdfunding industry should be regulated by the Federal Law “On alternative ways to attract investment“But he is still pending. It was prepared by the same group of deputies that made the law “On Digital Financial Assets”, which proposes regulation for cryptocurrencies and ICOs..

The law defines the rules of work for platform operators, investors and authors. Operators must ensure data confidentiality, establish the procedure and terms for transferring money to participants, their remuneration, the safety and reliability of entries in the registry of contracts, and can also change the platform’s rules unilaterally.


The law names four ways to invest money:


  • Granting loans.
  • Purchase of securities.
  • Buying a business share.
  • Buying Project Tokens.

The law imposes restrictions on a platform user who does not have the status of a qualified investor or individual entrepreneur. He cannot invest more than 50,000 rubles in one project or more than 500,000 rubles in several projects in one year. The authors of a business idea cannot attract more than 200,000 million rubles in their project. The operator must monitor these restrictions..

The Bank of Russia also maintains a register of investment platform operators. He must control them, conduct checks and establish reporting forms. Users may complain to the Bank of Russia of the actions or omissions of the operator.

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Comments: 1
  1. Nova Clarke

    Which crowdfunding sites would you recommend for supporting Russian projects and also projects from other countries?

    Reply
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