Companies may need an infusion of capital for a multifold of reasons. The importance of capital needed for innovation applies not only to large companies but also to start-ups. In recent years crowdfunding has evolved and become a common alternative for entrepreneurs to finance their start-up. Research about crowdfunding is still in its infancy, and few articles about crowdfunding has yet been published. The purpose of this paper is to examine how social media influences crowdfunding as a communication and marketing channel. The paper is based on a quantitative research strategy, with data regarding 156 campaigns, featured on Kickstarter.com. The outcome of this paper shows that many campaigns used social media to market the campaign. On the contrary not all campaigns used all examined social media. Some social media were more commonly used than other, such as Facebook or Twitter. The outcome of the paper however shows that the number of updates made on the campaigns site does not have any connection regarding the funding level. It can furthermore be other factors that play a crucial role whether or not a campaign reaches its funding goal.

Storytelling is an important skillset for an entrepreneur to possess in order to appeal to funders. Crowdfunding is a relatively new funding mechanism, involving the crowd to fund projects or ideas. The evolution of crowdfunding has created an alternative to traditional means of funding such as bank loans, venture capital and angel investors. This paper examines the effects of storytelling on an entrepreneur’s ability to secure funding at crowdfunding platforms. We argue that stories help leverage funding by conveying a comprehensible story with a clear sequence of events and entrepreneurial identity for the project. Quantitative analysis of 60 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns within technology sector reveal that successful crowdfunding campaigns have more comprehensive stories than unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns. Also, an increase in the comprehensiveness of the stories has a positive influence on the funding success. Findings inform research on storytelling in entrepreneurship and innovation and, research on mobilization of resources from crowds.

Au sein de la littérature émergente sur le crowdfunding, les études ont tenté de cerner les apports de cette nouvelle forme de participation pour les consommateurs et pour les entreprises (Belleflamme et al., 2010; Davis et al., 2017; Ordanini et al., 2011; Tomczak et Brem, 2013; Vulkan et al., 2016). Pour les entreprises, le crowdfunding permet de recueillir des fonds dans le but de créer ou distribuer un nouveau produit (Belleflamme et al., 2014). Sur le plan marketing, il permet de tester un concept et d’ajuster ensuite le mix marketing (Belleflamme et al. 2014; Ducarroz et al. 2016), tandis que le crowdfunding permet aux internautes d’étendre leur participation à la vie des entreprises en ajoutant une dimension financière. A partir d’une analyse de la littérature et d’une netnographie de communautés virtuelles réunies autour de projets de crowdfunding, cette thèse propose un modèle intégrateur, causes-conséquences de la participation appliqué aux campagnes de Crowdfunding. L'objectif est d'étudier de manière holistique la participation aux campagnes de crowdfunding. A notre connaissance cela n’a jamais été réalisé jusqu’alors.Concernant la « participation », cette recherche aboutit à proposer la définition suivante : « Participer, c’est prendre part de manière financière, créative ou sociale au projet de l’entreprise ». Ce nouveau construit et sa mesure ont permis de mettre en perspective dans le cas du crowdfunding les déterminants et conséquences suivants : innovativité, altruisme, besoin d’appartenance, avantages perçus, risques perçus, description du projet, description de l’auteur du projet, relation à la marque. Au travers de ces déterminants et conséquences, cette recherche parvient à expliquer en grande partie les comportements de participation à des campagnes de Crowdfunding. Aussi, cette recherche apporte également pour la première fois à la littérature du crowdfunding, un modèle validé empiriquement au travers des équations structurelles. En effet, le modèle conceptuel testé auprès de 445 individus ayant déjà participé à une campagne crowdfunding montre une stabilité psychométrique satisfaisante. Les résultats démontrent que les principaux antécédents à la participation aux campagnes de crowdfunding sont l’innovativité et la recherche d’un bénéfice supérieur aux risques. A l’opposé, en aval du modèle, la principale conséquence de la participation porte sur la dimension affective de la relation à la marque. Sur le plan managérial, nos résultats offrent aussi plusieurs contributions pour comprendre la participation et ses dimensions (Sociales, Créatives et Financières) via l’approche IPMA. / In emerging literature on crowdfunding, studies have attempted to identify the contributions of this new form of participation from each of the consumer and business standpoints (Belleflamme et al., 2010; Davis et al., 2017; Ordanini et al., 2011; Tomczak and Brem, 2013; Vulkan et al., 2016). Crowdfunding enables businesses to garner funds earmarked for the creation or distribution of new products (Belleflamme et al., 2014), while providing marketers with the wherewithal for testing concepts and adjusting marketing mix (Belleflamme et al., 2014; Ducarroz et al., 2016). Through the addition of a financial component, crowdfunding permits Internet users to broaden the scope of their participation in business affairs. Based on an analysis of emerging literature on crowdfunding and a netnography of the virtual communities grouped together around a project, this study presents a model designed to integrate the causes and consequences of participation in crowdfunding campaigns, thereby providing for the holistic study of this participatory phenomenon. To our knowledge, such a study has never before been conducted. For the purpose of the research at hand, the authors define the term ‘participation’ to mean ‘the fact of engaging financially, creatively or socially in a business project’.’ The new construct and accompanying measurements make it possible to put into perspective determinants and consequences which include as follows: innovativeness, altruism, need to belong, perceived benefits, perceived risks, description of project, description of project initiator, brand relationship. These determinants and consequences enable the authors to explain, to a large extent, crowdfunding campaign participation behaviour. Their research also enriches crowdfunding literature with the first ever empirically validated model using structural equations. In point of fact, the conceptual model tested with 445 individuals having previously taken part in a crowdfunding campaign demonstrates satisfactory stability. Results show that the primary antecedents of participation in crowdfunding campaigns are innovativeness and the seeking out of benefits which outweigh perceived risks. In contrast, downstream of the model, the primary consequence of participation relates to the affective dimension of the brand relationship. Through the use of an integrated project management approach (IPMA), findings contribute in a number of different ways to enhancing managerial understanding of participation, including the social, creative and financial dimensions of the latter.

Crowdfunding is a growing form of start-up funding and is estimated to turn over 5.1 billion USD in the future (Teigland & Ingram, 2013). This may not be a big part of the global economy but still very important, because this capital helps start-up ventures to emerge and help them to evolve in a way they could not if it was not for crowdfunding. The findings of this paper deduces that nationality does not have an impact on the transactions decision of Swedish crowdfunders. Support for other hypothesis are also found, which could be helpful for future research about how crowdfunders transaction decisions is influenced.

In crowdfunding, funders often have very little or no information about the social entrepreneur and the venture. This asymmetric information hinders funding in that potential funders only make a pledge if they can trust the entrepreneur and the seriousness of the project. Thus entrepreneurs have to signal information to potential funders. In the case of conventional ventures, this means showing that the company is committed to the financial returns or the quality of the product, for instance. However, in the case of social enterprises, entrepreneurs can signal their commitment to a social or an environmental challenge. The information that entrepreneurs want to convey to potential funders depends very much on the type of crowdfunding. The type of crowdfunding determines whether the entrepreneur is pitching to potential investors, lenders or potential consumers and general supporters of the project. While investors tend to be more concerned with the financial returns, the quality of the product or service tends to be the variable that matters most to the potential consumer. This thesis examines the crowdfunding campaigns of social ventures in order to understand how to crowdfund social enterprises. It identifies the signals with which, social entrepreneurs try to attract funding through different types of crowdfunding, mainly reward-based. It finds that reward-based crowdfunding offers a good basis for social entrepreneurs to attract funding by advertising and signaling their commitment to social or environmental issues. This is all the more true when the social enterprise seeking to be crowdfunded only aims to be financially autonomous and thus cannot offer attractive financial returns to potential investors.

With the Culture Survey 2009, the Cultural policy in Sweden has got a new direction. The new direction emphasises the importance of broadening the non-public funding for the cultural sector. The new direction opens up new phenomenon to establish themselves in Sweden. Crowdfunding is such a phenomenon. Crowdfunding is an online-method "by which the individual becomes financiers of projects and activities they have passion for" (Jakten på medborgarfinansiering, 11). The essay has resulted in a comprehensive presentation of the phenomenon crowdfunding and a deepening of the platform Crowdculture. Crowdculture is an online-platform for funding cultural projects through a combination of crowdfunding and public support. Societal trends digitization, stronger donation culture, economization of culture and cultural policies that seek broader financing is considered to be the foundation for Crowdcultures existence. The method crowdfunding contribute to a participatory and an audience perspective, witch is not previously been used frequently in the cultural sector. The platform Crowdculture suits a particular type of cultural project, and should not replace the existing funding. Within the cultural sector Crowdculture has the potential to make an impact but the potential has not yet fully spread. Cultural projects that fit within crowdfunding is usually owned and produced by civil society, as these projects have been difficult to get public funding. The method Corwdfunding is not only about getting funding but also with opportunity for early marketing. / Kulturutredningen 2009 har gett kulturpolitiken i Sverige en ny inriktning. Den nya inriktningen betonar vikten av att bredda den icke offentliga finansieringen av kultursektorn. Inriktningen öppnar upp för nya fenomen att etablera sig i Sverige. Crowdfunding är ett sådant fenomen. Crowdfunding är en online-metod ”genom vilken individen blir finansiärer av projekt och verksamhet de känner engagemang för” (Jakten på medborgarfinansiering, 11). Uppsatsen har resulterat i en övergripande presentation av fenomenet crowdfunding och en fördjupning av plattformen Crowdculture. Crowdculture är en online-plattform för att finansiera kulturprojekt genom en kombination av crowdfunding och offentligt bidrag. Samhällstrenderna digitalisering, starkare donationskultur, kulturens ekonomisering och kulturpolitiken som eftersträvar breddad finansiering anses vara grunden till Crowdcultures existens. Metoden crowdfunding bidrar till en deltagarkultur och ett publikperspektiv som tidigare inte använts flitigt inom kultursektorn. Plattformen Crowdculture passar en viss typ av kulturprojekt och bör inte ersätta redan befintligt finansieringssystem. Crowdculture har potential att få genomslag inom kultursektorn men är inte riktigt där ännu. Kulturprojekt som ryms inom crowdfunding är oftast ägda och producerade av civilsamhället då dessa projekt har svårt att få offentlig finansiering. Crowdfunding handlar inte endast om att finansiera projekt utan belyser också ett nytt sätt av marknadsföring.

Bakgrunden till studien bygger på nuvarande finansieringssvårigheter svenska tillväxtföretag möter i tidiga skeden, något som påverkar Sverige negativt eftersom dessa företag kan vara en länk till svensk tillväxt och fler arbetstillfällen. Därför studeras i studien det nyligen framvuxna finansieringsalternativet “Crowdfunding” som en eventuell lösning på problemet. Vidare existerar ett akademiskt gap inom förståelsen av vad som motiverar en individ att engagera sig i crowdfunding vilket är intressant att studera givet kontexten. / Background: The background of this study is based on current funding difficulties Swedish growth companies face in early stages, something that affects Sweden negatively as these companies is a link to Swedish growth, welfare and more jobs. Therefore, the relatively recently developed funding option "Crowdfunding" is being studied, as a possible solution of the problem. Furthermore, there exists a gap within the academic understanding of what motivates an individual to engage in crowdfunding, which is interesting to study the given the context of this study. The crowdfunding platform Framtidslyftet is used as a case company. Aim: This study aims to clarify motivational factors behind Swedish individuals' willingness to financially assist growth companies through crowdfunding. Method: The study combines both the qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative work among other things as a pilot study in which interviews were conducted with the purpose of strengthening the main quantitative survey. The methods are furthermore combined in order to triangulate the phenomenon. Using the theoretical frame of reference motivation is studied based on intrinsic an extrinsic motivational factors. Results: The results show that the respondents of this study's survey are primarily motivated by extrinsic motivational factors such as monetary incentives and that material and nonmaterial incentives depend on the situation. They see crowdfunding of growth companies as an investment where the internal factors are important but of secondary importance, plus they want to be engaged passively in growth companies.

Entrepreneurship is a key factor for economic growth and has been a famous and controversial subject for long. However, the creation of innovations for small and medium sized businesses is limited when there is a finance gap in the market, based on the difference between the observed and desired debt. In recent years, it has emerged an alternative financing; crowdfunding, which can help and reduce the problems of the current finance gap. This qualitative study aims to describe the term, crowdfunding, and explore opportunities for crowdfunding in the future development as an alternative financing. To fulfill the purpose of the study, 15 interviews were conducted. This has provided the study with the necessary depth of knowledge to answer the research questions; How can the future of crowdfunding become on the Swedish market? When can crowdfunding be preferable over other forms of financing? How can crowdfunding help to reduce the financing gap? The theoretical framework was created before the empirical data collection and became the basis for the study's development. The chapter includes a description of the crowdfunding other financing options, the financial gap and previous empirical studies. Further analyzed the empirical data collected by connecting to the theoretical framework, which led the researchers to the following conclusions; the future prospects of crowdfunding is good when the financing form provides benefits that can not be achieved at other financing options. The factor that should decide a company's choice of financing is not the specific options. The company should instead consider which stage they find themselves in and take decisions based on that. Crowdfunding contributes to an increased supply of financing, which reduces the financing gap. The study shows, however, that action similar to increasing public awareness of crowdfunding and tax benefits may increase the contribution further. / Entreprenörskap är en viktig faktor för den ekonomiska tillväxten och har länge varit ett känt och omdiskuterat ämne. Dock är små och medelstora företags skapande av innovationer begränsad då det råder ett finansieringsgap på marknaden, vilket grundar sig på skillnaden mellan observerad och önskad skuldsättning. Under de senaste åren har det dock växt fram en alternativ finansieringsform; crowdfunding, som kan bidra till att minska problematiken över det rådande finansieringsgapet. Den här kvalitativa studie syftar till att beskriva begreppet crowdfunding samt se till möjligheterna för crowdfundingens framtida utveckling som en alternativ finansieringsform. För att uppfylla studiens syfte genomfördes 15 intervjuer. Det här gav den kunskapsbredd som krävdes för att besvara de frågeställningar som låg till grund för studien; Hur kan framtiden för crowdfunding se ut på den svenska marknaden? När kan crowdfunding vara att föredra framför andra finansieringsformer? På vilket sätt kan crowdfunding bidra till att minska finansieringsgapet? Den teoretiska referensramen skapades inför den empiriska insamlingen av data och utgjorde därav grunden till studiens uppbyggnad. Kapitlet omfattar en beskrivning av crowdfunding, andra finansieringsalternativ, det finansiella gapet samt tidigare empiriska undersökningar. Vidare analyserades den empiriska data som samlats in genom att återkoppla till den teoretiska referensramen, vilket ledde författarna fram till följande slutsatser; framtidsutsikterna för crowdfunding är god då finansieringsformen innebär fördelar som inte kan uppnås vid andra finansieringsalternativ. Den faktor som skall styra ett företags val av finansieringsform är inte de specifika alternativen utan i vilket stadie företaget befinner sig i. Crowdfunding bidrar till ett ökat utbud av finansiering, vilket minskar finansieringsgapet. Studien visar dock på att åtgärder liknande allmän höjd medvetenhet gällande crowdfunding samt skattefördelar kan öka crowdfundingens bidrag ytterligare.

För entreprenörer som arbetar med projekt i en "start up"- fas kan det vara svårt att lyckas med finansieringen. Detta beror på att det inte finns någon ekonomisk historik att visa upp för finansiärerna. För att lyckas få in tillräckligt med kapital för att kunna finansiera ett projekt kan man vända sig till olika typer av investerare. De vanligaste sättet är att man antingen vänder sig till banker, venture capital-bolag eller affärsänglar. Vad som motiverar dessa aktörer är olika, men det gemensamma för dessa aktörer är att det är svårt att få dem att investera i ett projekt. Under senare tid har det dock skapats ett nytt sätt för entreprenörer att få in kapital till sina projekt. Detta nya fenomen kallas för crowdfunding, vilket innebär att entreprenörer lägger ut sina projekt på internet. Entreprenören beskriver sig själv, sitt projekt och motiverar vad pengarna ska användas till. Sedan har vem som helst möjlighet att investera valfri summa till projektet, som motprestation får finansiären någon form av belöning. Crowdfunding har under de senaste åren blivit mer och mer populärt och fler entreprenörer väljer att använda sig av det. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som lockar individer till att satsa kapital i crowdfunding-projekt. Studien har baserats på information från 260 stycken projekt där olika faktorer har tagits fram som kan tänkas påverka möjligheten att lyckas. Dessa faktorer baseras på entreprenören, projektets produkt samt investerarens avkastningen. / Entrepreneurs that are in a "start-up" phase within a project they are working on finds it hard to find investors. This could appear within almost every project when a financial history don't exist to show the investors. If a project successfully wants to be financed there are different ways and options to explore. One can turn to either venture capital or business angels. What motivates these investors varies in different projects. What the investors all have in common is that it's hard to get them to invest in a project. During the last years there have been a new way for entrepreneurs to raise capital, called crowdfunding. Through crowdfunding, entrepreneurs can add their project/projects online on websites. The entrepreneurs describes themselves, their project and what the money will be used to. Through these websites it's open for the public to donate an amount of money in to the project and in return the investor gets some form of reward. This form of investment has become more and more common throughout the years and today there are many investment made with this method. This study is a research that shows which factors whom makes the investors interested to invest in a crowdfunding- project. The study is based on information from 260 different projects were we were able to discover some factors which can increase the possibility to succeed. These factors are based on the entrepreneur, the projects product and the investors return.

För entreprenörer som arbetar med projekt i en "start up"- fas kan det vara svårt att lyckas med finansieringen. Detta beror på att det inte finns någon ekonomisk historik att visa upp för finansiärerna. För att lyckas få in tillräckligt med kapital för att kunna finansiera ett projekt kan man vända sig till olika typer av investerare. De vanligaste sättet är att man antingen vänder sig till banker, venture capital-bolag eller affärsänglar. Vad som motiverar dessa aktörer är olika, men det gemensamma för dessa aktörer är att det är svårt att få dem att investera i ett projekt. Under senare tid har det dock skapats ett nytt sätt för entreprenörer att få in kapital till sina projekt. Detta nya fenomen kallas för crowdfunding, vilket innebär att entreprenörer lägger ut sina projekt på internet. Entreprenören beskriver sig själv, sitt projekt och motiverar vad pengarna ska användas till. Sedan har vem som helst möjlighet att investera valfri summa till projektet, som motprestation får finansiären någon form av belöning. Crowdfunding har under de senaste åren blivit mer och mer populärt och fler entreprenörer väljer att använda sig av det. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som lockar individer till att satsa kapital i crowdfunding-projekt. Studien har baserats på information från 260 stycken projekt där olika faktorer har tagits fram som kan tänkas påverka möjligheten att lyckas. Dessa faktorer baseras på entreprenören, projektets produkt samt investerarens avkastningen. / Entrepreneurs that are in a "start-up" phase within a project they are working on finds it hard to find investors. This could appear within almost every project when a financial history don't exist to show the investors. If a project successfully wants to be financed there are different ways and options to explore. One can turn to either venture capital or business angels. What motivates these investors varies in different projects. What the investors all have in common is that it's hard to get them to invest in a project. During the last years there have been a new way for entrepreneurs to raise capital, called crowdfunding. Through crowdfunding, entrepreneurs can add their project/projects online on websites. The entrepreneurs describes themselves, their project and what the money will be used to. Through these websites it's open for the public to donate an amount of money in to the project and in return the investor gets some form of reward. This form of investment has become more and more common throughout the years and today there are many investment made with this method. This study is a research that shows which factors whom makes the investors interested to invest in a crowdfunding- project. The study is based on information from 260 different projects were we were able to discover some factors which can increase the possibility to succeed. These factors are based on the entrepreneur, the projects product and the investors return.