Crowdfunding comes to South Africa
Summary
Access to seed capital continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing South African entrepreneurs, particularly in light of banks keeping a tight control on lending while financial markets are still in turmoil. Commonly referred to as crowdfunding, the concept has gained international popularity and interest in recent years as everyone, from non-profits and music groups to politicians and artists, look for alternative means of financing for their endeavors. The crowdfunding concept raising small monetary stakes from a large group of investors, particularly through online communities and social networks derives from crowdsourcing, whereby organisations ask the public, usually via the Internet, to do jobs typically done by their employees. Our platform seeks to secure financing for projects in South Africa in a variety of areas, including music, cinema, visual arts, design, fashion, innovation and technology. Entrepreneurs wanting to take advantage of StartMe simply need to visit the website (www.startme.co.za), fill in the necessary information, create their business plan and begin networking.