FINANCIAL AND MARKETING PERSPECTIVES OF A CROWDFUNDING

• Published in: Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings pp. 353 - 363
• Main Authors: Bukvic, Ivana Bestvina, Buljubasic, Iva
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Varazdin Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency (VADEA) 08.12.2017
• Subjects: Crowdfunding; Donations; Economic development; Economic growth; Economic models; Entrepreneurial finance; Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Equity; Financial management; Financing; Funding; Innovations; Intellectual property; Internet; Internet access; Investments; Marketing; Platforms; Risk management; Small business; Social networks; Social research; Startups; Europe; China; Croatia
• ISSN: 1849-6903; 1849-6903

From a few initiatives mainly based on donations, the crowdfunding (CF) developed to a widespread alternative source of financing of the creative and innovative ventures but from the conventional financial markets mainly rated as highly risky. The entrepreneurs and associations started to use this model as a significant financing, marketing and even consumer-relationship management tool. As well, it is a model that indirectly fosters economic growth through financing innovative and creative projects, often in cultural and creative industry's sector that, through numerous researches, already proved its economic significance. In the same time, the nascence and development of the crowdfunding raised numerous questions in the fields of legal regulation and modelling of this alternative financing source, project and product branding, consumer-relationship management, financial structuring, intellectual property protection, appropriate marketing mix structuring, risk management etc. In this constellation, it is interesting to observe and research the implications of the crowdfunding development as a model of financing different ventures and projects with different aims run by profit or non-profit sector, as well as observing the final solutions of the problems that crowdfunding found throughout its development stages. Although is well known as a financing model and with existing national crowdfunding platforms, the Croatian crowdfunding ventures are rare and mainly launched on the global platforms, where the national platforms did not succeed to impose themselves as an equally valuable alternative. This article presents the results of the research of the position of the crowdfunding in Croatia, where its appearance should influence on the corrections of venture financing market imperfections and at the same time offer the possibility to use global platforms to boost new services, products and ideas.