In search of loans, investments or donations for entrepreneurial projects? Numerous online crowdfunding platforms enable Swiss SMEs to obtain financing directly from individuals, bypassing traditional players.
Crowdfunding denotes an alternative method of financing calling on a large number of sponsors. Each sponsor provides only a small part of the total amount necessary to launch a wide variety of projects.
Sponsors are usually mobilized via internet platforms which put entrepreneurs in touch with financial backers who are usually individuals. Unlike other forms of financing, crowdfunding takes place without any intermediaries. For SMEs, this represents a good way of raising funds whilst bypassing traditional sponsors, like banks.
Increase in sums raised
In Switzerland, according to the report Crowdfunding Monitoring Schweiz 2016 by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, sums raised in 2015 for 1,342 campaigns in total CHF 27.3 million. I.e. an increase of 73% compared to the 2014 financial year. Between 2011 and 2015, amounts allocated to projects or businesses increased ninefold.
No fewer than 90,000 people living in Switzerland donated or lent money via a crowdfunding platform in 2015. The number of these crowdfunding sites has risen significantly in recent years. There were 14 active sites in Switzerland in 2013, twice that amount in 2014 and around forty in April 2016.
The different types of crowdfunding
There are four types of crowdfunding. They are differentiated mainly by the nature of the consideration received by contributors. This consideration may be monetary or not.
Crowddonating
Contributors donate money without expecting anything in return: