Web's Largest listing of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding events

Events

Advertise

Web's Largest Directory of Sites

2,358 crowdsourcing and crowdfunding sites

Indiegogo considers letting international projects crowdfund for equity

document Crowdfunding

Indiegogo considers letting projects crowdfund for equity
By David Meyer

international

Indiegogo, which is considering letting users of its platform give equity for funding, reckons the change will mostly benefit small businesses who want to raise cash from potential local customers

Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of the popular crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, says that the company wants to let people exchange equity for funding — if the conditions are right. Speaking at Telefonica’s Campus Party Europe event in Berlin, Ringelmann told me that even if the SEC doesn’t implement the rule changes described in the JOBS Act, which aims to make investment crowdfunding legal, the company would consider allowing proper investments for projects outside the U.S.. “Our original vision was around investing and we pivoted towards noninvesting given all the SEC regulations and the illegal nature of it,” she said. The issue of raising funding for new companies through crowd platforms is developing fast right now. The JOBS Act has passed through the Senate, though the outcome of it will only be seen once the SEC reveals its revised regulations early next year.

But Ringelmann says that Indiegogo may use its global footprint to sidestep the issue in some cases — big rival Kickstarter is still mostly limited to the U.S., while Indiegogo makes much play of the fact that it’s operational around the world (it’s currently opening up its first nonEnglish-language site in Germany, and just started accepting euros as well as dollars for the first time). If Indiegogo did go into the equity business, however, it wouldn’t be the first mover. Early players in this space include Seedrs in the UK and Innovestment, a kind of crowdfunding-auction hybrid, in Germany. It does, however, suggest the direction that this industry may go. It’s pretty clear that crowdfunding is something of a revolution: providing not only an alternative to traditional startup fundraising, but also an entirely new kind of boost for causes and artistic projects. But as with all revolutions, the fundamentals of crowdfunding are already starting to evolve. It’s a concept that’s also starting to be mashed up with other startuprelated projects in interesting ways. Case in point: Ringelmann was in Berlin to promote a new local startup competition and academy called Gründer Garage, in which Indiegogo is involved alongside Google. The revolution isn’t over, not by a long shot.

Summary
Indiegogo, which is considering letting users of its platform give equity for funding, reckons the change will mostly benefit small businesses who want to raise cash from potential local customers.

Description
Danae Ringelmann says that Indiegogo may use its global footprint to sidestep the issue in some cases — big rival Kickstarter is still mostly limited to the U.S., while Indiegogo makes much play of the fact that it’s operational around the world (it’s currently opening up its first non-English-language site in Germany, and just started accepting euros as well as dollars for the first time).

Tags: Crowdfunding, Crowdsource, Crowdsourced, Crowdsourcing, Danae Ringelmann, IndieGoGO

Posted by Fiona Mares

Aug 23, 2012 11:57 pm GMT Viewed 805 times

Author: David Meyer Source

Contact us if you are owner of this content and want to make changes.

Download Flag This

Events

Indiegogo considers letting international projects crowdfund for equity

Comments

Crowdsourcing.org

Categories

Content

Crowdsourcing.org, an initiative by massolution®

Events

Related Content

Indiegogo considers letting international projects crowdfund for equity

Comments

Crowdsourcing.org

Categories

Content

Crowdsourcing.org, an initiative by massolution®