9 Interesting and surprising facts about crowdfunding in 2015

Advances in digital technology have changed the way businesses enter the market and find clients. Nowadays, we live in a world where, without leaving your house, it’s possible to create an online campaign that can raise money from people worldwide, and start building a customer base, sometimes before even creating a product. Crowdfunding became a valuable tool for business owners in many situations. Below, we are listing 9 facts that will help you understand the state of crowdfunding today.

1. By the end of 2014 crowdfunding created 270,000 jobs and added over £42.5 billion to the global economy.

2. The largest UK crowdfunding campaign ever, BrewDog, one of the UK’s first craft beer brewers, has raised more than £10 million on its crowdfunding site.

3. Consumer products in the tech space, new consumer products, and video games are considered as the best performing categories.

4. Apart from raising funding, entrepreneurs also use crowdfunding for proof of concept purposes, early validation of their idea, or for receiving pre-orders from potential customers.

5. The average global success rate of crowdfunding projects is 50% which is not too bad at all!

6. Typically, crowdfunding campaigns follow the following path: Initial excitement, a lull in the middle and rapid activity at the end. Long campaigns seem to lower the chances of success as they might signal a lack of confidence in your product or service.

7. Friends, family and local consumers play a crucial role in generating early traction. An early vote of confidence in the project or service by the entrepreneur’s near circle signals project quality to the rest.

8. The number of Facebook friends can play a big role in your crowdfunding success. A study found that a typical founder with 10 Facebook friends had a 9% chance of succeeding, but one with 1,000 friends had a 40% chance of success.

9. Successful crowdfunding campaigns are not an accident. Sure you need to start with the idea but apart from a good idea for a product or service you also need: a great video pitch introducing the product, good branding, customer service system, great perks or updates, a prototype, the price estimate, photos and videos of the product, investor proposal and a good marketing strategy. But above all, you need to present yourself as a professional company in order to instil confidence in your potential.