7 Best Crowdfunding Platforms for Small Businesses

Fundable’s crowdfunding platform gives you plenty of choices and flexibility with your fundraising campaigns. Rewards fundraising can drive contributions from anyone, but only accredited investors can invest in equity fundraising campaigns. You can set your fundraising terms and goals, and interact directly with potential investors to increase your chance of success.

While some business owners may not want to handle fund transfers or legal paperwork outside of the crowdfunding platform, Fundable could be a good choice if you’re comfortable with this.

You can sign up on Fundable’s website following these steps.

1. Enter your email address to get started.
2. Create a free company profile including your funding goal, company name and quick pitch.
3. For equity funding, share your executive summary and fundraising terms, along with a pitch deck, business plan, and financial information if available.

Indiegogo is a popular crowdfunding platform for those looking to develop and launch new products and services. Unlike some similar platforms, they offer flexibility for business owners: an all-or-nothing plan or keep what you earn as long as you fulfill promised perks.

While the 60-day period is short compared to some other crowdfunding platforms, the InDemand program allows you to continue raising funds after the initial campaign, building on your momentum and even adapting your perks.

Finally, Indiegogo offers more comprehensive features to support successful campaigns than some other crowdfunding platforms. This may increase campaign success for new business owners who may need extra support.

Sign up on Indiegogo’s website and follow these steps:

1. Create an account.
2. Click on “Create a campaign.”
3. Add all requested information, including campaign name, location, duration, fundraising type and more. You’ll need video and image assets.
4. Submit your campaign for approval.

Kickstarter may be one of the most well-known crowdfunding platforms for small businesses. Designed for creative projects, it’s exceptionally easy to use and understand even for those who aren’t tech savvy.

If you’re relying on total funds to start manufacturing and shipping products, you can be off the hook from delivering on perks if your campaign doesn’t meet its minimum goals thanks to the all-or-nothing model.

There are plenty of customization options so you can limit the number of rewards offered, offer custom prices for late pledges, and create add-ons to boost fundraising from existing contributors

Eligible businesses and creators can sign-up on Kickstarter and complete these steps:

1. Select primary product categories and subcategories.
2. Share your country.
3. Create an account.
4. Upload project details and submit for review.

WeFunder was created for founders by founders, and it addresses a lot of pain points that many growth-focused businesses experience.

While their fees are higher than some other crowdfunding sites, they also handle significant amounts of grunt work, including fundraising strategies, legal set up and both private and public launches.

Consolidating multiple investments into a single line on your cap table is another huge advantage, as it makes future fundraising easy and allows you to set a single lead investor for sign-ons. Finally, the advanced controls are what you’d expect from venture capital investment deals, allowing you to completely set the terms of your fundraising campaigns.

You can start the sign-up process on WeFunder’s site.

1. Share your company name.
2. Create an account.
3. Share business information like industry, location, company website, how much you want to raise and how much you’ve already raised.

Similar to Fundable but focused exclusively on equity crowdfunding, EquityNet has been helping businesses with fundraising since 2005. EquityNet doesn’t actually manage the investment transactions, which are done off-platform, but instead creates opportunities where investors can use crowdfunding technology to connect with accredited investors. If you want more ultimate control but more visibility, this is a good platform to consider.

1. Sign up on EquityNet’’s website.
2. Create an account as an investor or an entrepreneur.
3. Share business information for approval.

Kiva is a unique loan-based crowdfunding platform, leveraging contributions from individuals to offer small businesses 0% interest loans. While this may not be enough for brands with aggressive growth plans, $15,000 can be life changing for many small business owners. While the loan must be repaid per agreed-upon terms, it allows business owners to keep full equity and profit sharing.

Because the platform stresses “ social capital,” it may be most effective for those who have strong communities or networks who can help support the first leg of your fundraising efforts.

Get started on Kiva’s website and follow these steps:

1. Share personal information including name, age and whether you’ve ever filed for bankruptcy.
2. Add business information like company name, incorporation status and location.
3. Select how much you’d like to borrow and submit your application.

Republic claims to only accept 5% of startup applicants, but 90% of those companies meet their minimum funding goal. Their profit and revenue sharing crowdfunding models may be ideal for business owners who want to raise significant funding but don’t want to sacrifice equity, though their Crowd SAFE program makes it possible to sell equity without granting taxation information rights, voting rights or liquidity rights.

While they’re highly selective, Republic’s penchant for speed can help you launch your campaign quickly. If you’re ready to invest — and don’t want to impact current or future VC fundraising efforts — this may be a great platform.

Apply to fundraise on Republic’s website.

1. Create an account, sharing company information, fundraising goals and how much you’ve already raised for your company.
2. Take time to review different fundraising options.
3. Fill out the application completely, as the platform has a low acceptance rate.