Crowdfunding as a Financing Alternative for Entrepreneurial Ventures

Abstract

Entrepreneurs often use various sources of financing to finalise an entrepreneurial idea. Crowdfunding on specialised internet platforms is an alternative method for collecting funds from several small sources for business investments and projects. The biggest difference between crowdfunding and other forms of financing is that crowdfunding uses smaller amounts of money from many investors interested in a business idea. Crowdfunding has been globally known for over a decade, and in Croatia, the interest has been growing for several years. The paper aims to demonstrate the importance and potential of crowdfunding, which, as a collective micro-investment of citizens, can serve as an alternative funding source for entrepreneurial ventures. The paper presents the research results conducted in Croatia based on the data collected through survey research. The paper investigates the knowledge and familiarity with the term and motives for investing through crowdfunding platforms.