| dc.description.abstract | This thesis aims to educate the reader on the different characteristics of crowdfunding, such
that entrepreneurs who are considering how to raise funds for their new project can make
more informed decisions. The thesis does this by extensively reviewing existing literature,
both on crowdfunding and on related financing methods. The authors also examine the
leading European crowdfunding markets in terms of performance, the crowdfunding
platforms that operate and legal characteristics in the crowdfunding environment.
Crowdfunding involves an entrepreneur creating an Internet campaign, with the aim to raise
small amounts of money from a large amount of people – the crowd. The main focus of this
thesis is on reward and equity crowdfunding, as these models are found most suited for
startups with limited credit and performance history. Reward crowdfunding is essentially a
pre-purchasing model, where future customers are invited to pre-purchase a product before
production has begun. Equity crowdfunding is the offering of private companies’ equity to
the general public. The thesis also examines the possibilities that Norwegian entrepreneurs
have in regard to crowdfunding. For the time being, the reward model seems to be more
feasible for Norwegian entrepreneurs, seeing that cross-border transactions are better
facilitated for this model, while the equity model faces more challenges. Two case studies of
successfully crowdfunded businesses are presented, one by reward crowdfunding and one
by equity crowdfunding, in order to illustrate practical aspects of crowdfunding campaigns. | nb_NO |
