CROWDFUNDING AS A WAY OF FINANCING ENTREPRENURIAL PROJECTS

Crowdfunding ili grupno financiranje je jedan od načina financiranja poduzetničkih projekata putem raznih internetskih platformi. Sama riječ potiče iz engleskog jezika, Crowd (grupa, skupina ljudi) te funding što je engleska riječ za financiranje. Princip ovog načina financiranja je vrlo jednostavan ali ujedno i rizičan. Na platformama se predstavljaju projekti te sami ljudi koji su korisnici platformi odlučuju da li žele pomoći nositelju projekta ili ne. Crowdfunding omogućuje lakši i brži pristup kapitali za razliku od tradicionalnog načina financiranja. Trenutno se nude četiri vrste crowdfuninga te dva različita modela koji mogu biti fiksni i fleksibilni. Trenutno na svijetu postoji preko 2 500 crowdfunding platformi. Najpoznatije crowdfunding stranice na svijetu su Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Patreon, Causes, Wefunder, Ulule, SeedInvest dok su u Hrvatskoj najpoznatije platforme Croinvest, Croenergy te ČiniPravuStvar. U svijetu je crowdfunding način financiranja jako popularan te jedan od važnijih načina financiranja projekata dok je u Hrvatskoj još uvijek u početcima razvoja te se ne koristi dovoljno kako bi projekti koji su u začetcima dobili dovoljno financijske pažnje. Iako je crowdfunding lakši i jednostavniji način prikupljanja kapitala, kao i ostali oblici financiranja poduzetničkih projekata ima svoje prednosti i nedostatke.Crowdfunding or group financing is one of the ways to finance entrepreneurial projects through various online platforms. The word itself comes from the English language, Crowd (group, group of people), and funding which is the English word for financing. The principle of this method of financing is simple but also risky. Projects are presented on the platforms and the people who are the users of the platforms decide whether they want to help the project holder or not. Crowdfunding allows easier and faster access to capital as opposed to the traditional way of financing. There are currently four types of crowdfunding and two different models that can be fixed and flexible. There are currently over 2,500 crowdfunding platforms in the world. The most famous crowdfunding sites in the world are Kickstarter, GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Patreon, Wefunder, Ulule, SeedInvest, while in Croatia the most famous platforms are Croinvest, Croenergy, ČiniPravuStvar, and Funderbeam SEE. Crowdfunding is a very popular way of financing in the world and one of the most important ways of financing projects, while in Croatia it is still in its infancy and is not used enough to get enough financial attention to projects that were in the beginning. Although crowdfunding is an easier and simpler way to raise capital, like other forms of financing entrepreneurial projects, it has its advantages and disadvantages