Tag Archives: Crowdfunding Research

Top 100 Crowdfunding Sites in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and other Global Markets in 2015

3 Apr

Seeking New Crowdfunding Sites on a Worldwide Basis to Be Ranked for the Upcoming June 2015 Top Crowdfunding Sites in the United States and the Rest of the World

 By Robert Hoskins

[Click to Tweet this Top 100 List to Your Friends]

United States – We are currently updating our List of the Top 100 Crowdfunding Sites for 2015 in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and other global markets.  

Clicking on the website traffic links below will take readers to one of the most insightful resources of information that details each website’s traffic ranking; the number of unique visitors per month; the average time spent on each site per visit; and the number of pages viewed per each visit.

Of more interest to crowdfunding campaign managers will be the precise ratio of social media, content marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing and display advertising that is being utilized by each crowdfunding site’s marketing campaigns to drive readers and investors to their crowdfunding profiles.

GoFundMe vs Kickstarter SimilarWeb Stats

GoFundMe vs Kickstarter SimilarWeb Stats

Even though these numbers reflect the aggregation of all of a given portal’s crowdfunding campaigns marketing efforts, they offer direct evidence of what is working and what is not.  Note the difference on how much social media and display advertising is being used by the Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites compared the lower 90 crowdfunding sites. 

This information can be used by crowdfunding sites as well as their crowdfunders to get a thorough understanding on how to plan future marketing campaigns that will have a higher than average success rate.

Want to know how GoFundMe just bypassed Kickstarter as the #1 crowdfunding platform on the planet? Click on the links below and use the comparison tool to show side-by-side comparisons of SEO keywords, link referrals, and social media usage. See the bottom of the page for more crowdfunding marketing tips.

[Click Here to Tweet this Top 100 List of Crowdfunding Sites]

Rank © Front Page PR   Global Rank
#1 (2014: #2) www.gofundme.com    1,318
#2 (2014: #1) www.kickstarter.com    1,373
#3 (2014: #3) www.angel.co    2,010
#4 (2014: #6) www.indiegogo.com    2,277
#5 (2014: #4) www.lendingclub.com    7,545
#6 (2014: #9) www.justgiving.com    8,558
#7 (2014: #8) www.youcaring.com   13,563
#8 (2014: #12) www.kiva.org     15,111
#9 (2014: #23) www.ulule.com   16,099
#10 (2014: #15) www.donorschoose.org    21,617
#11 (2014: #17) www.pledgemusic.com   24,461
#12 (2014: #13) www.crowdrise.com   26,906
#13 (2014: #18) www.tilt.com    29,512
#14 (2014: #10) www.giveforward.com    32,576
#15 (2014: #38) www.crowdcube.com    34,262
#16 (2014: #5) www.fundingcircle.com    34,307
#17 (2014: #14) www.razoo.com    44,329
#18 (2014: #16) www.fundly.com    48,132
#19 (2014: #36) www.pozible.com   48,898
#20 (2014: #19) www.firstgiving.com    58,401
#21 (2014: #20) www.fundrazr.com    64,163
#22 (2014: #27) www.circleup.com   68,095
#23 (2014: #25) www.fundable.com   73,430
#24 (2014: #new) www.kickante.com.br    75,510
#25 (2014: #26) www.crowdfunder.com    77,551
#26 (2014: #34) www.equitynet.com   88,181
#27 (2014: #new) www.zeczec.com   90,296
#28 (2014: #35) www.gogetfunding.com   97,023
#29 (2014: #29) www.fundrise.com 112,206
#30 (2014: #55) www.fundedbyme.com 116,409
#31 (2014: #new) www.experiment.com 133,573
#32 (2014: #22) www.realtymogul.com 134,519
#33 (2014: #61) www.geldvoorelkaar.nl 146,963
#34 (2014: #new) www.onevest.com 149,343
#35 (2014: #24) www.rockethub.com 149,430
#36 (2014: #33) www.wefunder.com 169,021
#37 (2014: #32) www.offbeatr.com 174,673
#38 (2014: #30) www.seedinvest.com 184,226
#39 (2014: #37) www.slated.com 210,555
#40 (2014: #new) www.patchofland.com 220,267
#41 (2014: #43) www.givezooks.com 234,356
#42 (2014: #58) www.pledgie.com 241,865
#43 (2014: #new) www.microventures.com  241,967
#44 (2014: #28) www.fundanything.com 248,200
#45 (2014: #46) www.ourcrowd.com 248,635
#46 (2014: #44) www.pave.com 268,856
#47 (2014: #68) www.growvc.com 285,285
#48 (2014: #62) www.ppl.com.pt 297,874
#49 (2014: #48) www.dragoninnovation.com 306,056
#50 (2014: #54) hwww.seedandspark.com 319,789
#51 (2014: #47) www.pubslush.com 336,465
#52 (2014: #41) www.opportunity.org 354,764
#53 (2014: #45) www.peerform.com 376,044
#54 (2014: #60) www.bolstr.com 388,543
#55 (2014: #new) www.investx.com 403,141
#56 (2014: #11) www.uinvest.com.ua 417,925
#57 (2014: #new) www.plumfund.com  421,110
#58 (2014: #40) www.fundraise.com 433,539
#59 (2014: #new) www.earlyshares.com 442,508
#60 (2014: #new) www.barnraiser.us 482,296
#61 (2014: #new) www.flashfunders.com 485,226
#62 (2014: #new) www.trucrowd.com 485,665
#63 (2014: #57) www.piggybackr.com 518,504
#64 (2014: #67) www.symbid.com 558,247
#65 (2014: #new) www.crowdstreet.com 704,602
#66 (2014: #39) www.assetavenue.com 742,849
#67 (2014: #51) www.microgiving.com 834,667
#68 (2014: #new) pitchfunder.asufoundation.org 861,826
#69 (2014: #77) www.artistshare.com 928,003
#70 (2014: #new) www.nextseed.com 992,563
#71 (2014: #76) www.appsfunder.com 1,047,453
#72 (2014: #42) www.assob.com.au 1,049,032
#73 (2014: #79) www.foodstart.com 1,080,478
#74 (2014: #new) www.loquidity.com  1,087,691
#75 (2014: #70) www.faithlauncher.com 1,089,032
#76 (2014: #80) www.solarmosaic.com 1,108,499
#77 (2014: #new) www.crowdfundingpays.com 1,256,560
#78 (2014: #new) www.dreamfunded.com 1,267,585
#79 (2014: #82) www.propellr.com 1,350,583
#80 (2014: #75) www.pledgecents.com 1,363,715
#81 (2014: #new) www.massventure.com 1,388,521
#82 (2014: #new) www.crowd2fund.com 1,494,834
#83 (2014: #96) www.ipledg.com 1,567,232
#84 (2014: #new) www.texasenetworks.com 1,721,280
#85 (2014: #63) www.icrowd.com 1,769,510
#86 (2014: #65) www.banktothefuture.com 1,836,932
#87 (2014: #new) www.acquirerealestate.com 2,169,205
#88 (2014: #056) www.sterlingfunder.com 2,533,134
#89 (2014: #new) www.realtywealth.com 2,647,893
#90 (2014: #85) www.massivemov.com 2,826,166
#91 (2014: #89) www.venturehealth.com 3,931,192
New www.offerboard.com 4,112,781
#92 (2014: #31) www.rockthepost.com 4,505,534
#93 (2014: #84) www.funderhut.com 5,182,841
#94 (2014: #83) www.fundafeast.com 5,325,919
#95 (2014: #71) www.crowdit.com 5,535,187
#96 (2014: #88) www.crowdhelps.com 5,892,083
#97 (2014: #95) www.crowdfundingbank.com 6,503,461
#98 (2014: #98) www.startacure.com 8,281,014
#99 (2014: #78) www.cMEcompete.com 9,332,644
#100 (2014: #87) www.endlesscrowds.com 12,934,557

Source: Feb 2015 SimilarWeb Website Statistics

Crowdfunding PR’s goal is simple. We want to make it possible for crowdfunders to shop for  crowdfunding platforms in a similar manner to the way media planners/buyers used to analyze ABC and BPA audit statements to buy advertisements in the business-to-business trade publication industry, where important media buying decisions were based on straight mathematics, not popularity or random guessing.

For example, would you rather run a crowdfunding campaign on a site where visitors are looking at 2-3 pages in around 3 minute’s time or a site where buyers are spending 6 to 11 minutes reviewing 6 to 10 pages?

This is the difference between shoppers who are visiting a site to see a particular crowdfunding campaign based on a marketing campaign versus people who are visiting a site to explore and actually shop around to find good deals to buy or invest their money.

This is why launching a campaign on Kickstarter or GoFundMe does not guarantee success. While GoFundMe or Kickstarter may be the largest sites in the world, people are only spending enough time to shop through more than 2 to 3 crowdfunding profiles before they exit. While other sites like Razoo.com, DonorsChoose.org, and FundingCircle.com have visitors that stay more than 6 to 11 minutes and view 6 to 10 pages.

When researching, planning and executing successful marketing programs for both crowdfunding platforms as well as their individual crowdfunding customer profiles, it is extremely important to see what is driving the most traffic to any given crowdfunding site.  Success is usually determined not only by what site the crowdfunding campaign is being hosted on, but also the marketing programs being harnessed to drive potential donors/investors to a specific crowdfunding profile.

Clicking on each link above will allow media planners/buyers to understand what role direct traffic (content marketing), search engines (SEO, PPC Advertising), social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Quora), email marketing and display advertising (Google Display, Outbrain, AppNexus) are having on the success of crowdfunding campaigns.

For example, when planning a social media strategy, one of the most popular questions we get asked is – what social media networks are driving the most visitor traffic? Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, Reddit, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram? The links above will make this answer crystal clear.

Not satisfied with your position on the list? Front Page PR’s team of crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing experts can help crowdfunding sites and crowdfunding campaigns plan the perfect mix of integrated marketing programs to significantly improve the amount of website traffic being driven to any given fundraising campaign or crowdfunding platform.

Feel free to call (512) 627-6622 with questions or request help to improve your website statistics before June.

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If you’d like to add your site to the Top 100 list, please fill out the form below.

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Raising Awareness for the Crowdfunding Industry through Free Online Crowdfunding Training Programs

4 Aug

Please help us spread the basic concepts of the crowdfunding campaigns with the masses by sharing the following free training class links with your social media networks

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – It amazes me to discover at business networking events the number of people that that have never heard of crowdfunding.  And while crowdfunding may still be under the radar for general population, based on the number of calls we receive each week, the crowdfunding industry is definitely experiencing hockey growth rates.

Our team at Front Page PR used to spend a tremendous amount of time on the phone educating future crowdfunding campaign managers one person, which was extremely time consuming.

Over the past 6 months, the demand for crowdfunding knowledge became overwhelming, so we decided to create the crowdfunding industry’s first free source of crowdfunding training classes.  The goal was to make it as easy as possible for anyone to learn more about crowdfunding by providing the basic crowdfunding training materials listed at the bottom of them page.  If you like the reading materials and find them useful, please help us spread the word about using crowdfunding as a small business finance tool to your social media networks.

“Just click to tweet. It is very easy!”

If you have a marketing background and would like to start a crowdfunding training class in your city or town, please give us a call (512) 627-6622.  We have several printed books that combined with the crowdfunding training materials listed below can help  any get a basic understanding of what it takes to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding Training Class Links:

  1. Introduction to Launching a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

     [Click to Tweet]

  2. How to Conduct a Competitive Analysis for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-F [Click to Tweet]

  3. How to Shoot a Persuasive Video for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1r [Click to Tweet]

  4. How to Write an Effective Crowdfunding Profile that Converts Donors

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-S [Click to Tweet]

  5. How to Write Copy with Language that Encourage People to Donate

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-P [Click to Tweet]

  6. How to Offer the Right Perks/Rewards with Good Calls to Action

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1n [Click to Tweet]

  7. How to Utilize Perks/Rewards to Conduct Marketplace Research

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-P [Click to Tweet]

  8. How to Set Realistic and Achievable Crowdfunding & Fundraising Goals

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1a [Click to Tweet]

  9. How to Do a Great Job of  Explaining How Crowdfunding Funds will be Spent

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1e [Click to Tweet]

  10. How to Raise the First 30% of Crowdfunding Funds from Family and Friends

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-17 [Click to Tweet]

  11. How to Build a Great Crowdfunding Management Team to Enhance Success

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1i [Click to Tweet]

  12. How to Build a Press Room for Crowdfunding Campaign to Achieve Success with the Press

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1x [Click to Tweet]

  13. How to Build a Press Kit with the Materials Reporters Need to Write a Story

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1z [Click to Tweet]

  14. How to Write SEO’ed Press Releases to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1B [Click to Tweet]

  15. How to Create an Informational Crowdfunding Campaign FAQ Sheet

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-14 [Click to Tweet]

  16. How to Develop a Crowdfunding Timeline Complete with Milestones

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-2y [Click to Tweet]

  17. How to Plan an Effective Advertising Campaign to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-g [Click to Tweet]

  18. How to Use Content Marketing to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-u [Click to Tweet]

  19. How to Calculate Average Crowdfunding Conversion Rates by Industry

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-M [Click to Tweet]

  20. How to Use Email Marketing to Reach and Convert More Crowdfunding Buyers

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-12 [Click to Tweet]

  21. How to Conduct Media Relations to Generate Publicity for Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1l [Click to Tweet]

  22. How to Find the Best Social Media Tools to Promote Crowdfunding Campaigns

    http://wp.me/P4r9U5-1M [Click to Tweet]

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Sixteen of the Top 100 Crowdfunding Websites Lose Traffic Due to Fierce Competition over the Past 12 Months

11 Jun

#1 Kickstarter Sees 25% Decline, #6 Indiegogo Falls 36%, #11 uInvest Loses 28%

By Robert Hoskins

Overall, the Top 100 Crowdfunding Sites worldwide saw a growth rate of 255%.  Not bad in a hyper-competitive market place. This demonstrates an impressive growth rate for the Crowdfunding industry, which is growing rapidly on a worldwide basis.   Click here to see the Top 100 Crowdfunding Sites and their growth rates over the past 12 months according to SimilarWeb Statistics.

Sixteen of Top 100 Crowdfunding Websites Lose Traffic Due to Fierce Competition

Sixteen of Top 100 Crowdfunding Websites Lose Traffic Due to Fierce Competition

And while most Crowdfunding sites grew, sixteen of top 100 crowdfunding sites saw significant website traffic decreases.   This is the result of fierce competition and shows how difficult it can be for the crowdfunding leaders such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo to maintain their growth due to the onslaught of new competitors.

The cool thing about the SimilarWeb statistics that were used to build this report was the competitive information they provide for each crowdfunding website such as the top referring sites, sites that viewers went to next and the amount of traffic being generated by direct traffic, referral partners, search, social media, email and display advertising.

Crowdfunding sites at the bottom of the Top 100 Crowdfunding List can use this information to improve their marketing program’s performance and try to work their way to the top of the list.

SimilarWeb Traffic Sources for Kickstarter

SimilarWeb Traffic Sources for Kickstarter

Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites that Experienced Decreasing Website Traffic over the Last 12 Months

Source:  April 2014 SimilarWeb Statistics

Rank Site Rank Link Growth
92 www.fundageek.com 2,376,689  (-3,636,206) -83.58%
80 www.solarmosaic.com 754,410  (-399,359) -52.94%
90 www.clickstartme.com 1,791,606  (-894,227) -49.91%
96 www.ipledg.com 2,841,472  (-1,375,367) -48.40%
100 www.getspringboarded.com 8,005,621  (-3,514,142) -43.90%
68 www.growvc.com 433,297  (-163,387) -37.71%
6 www.indiegogo.com 3,711  (-1,361) -36.67%
11 www.uinvest.com.ua 7,393  (-2,037) -27.55%
85 www.massivemov.com 1,119,512  (-295,027) -26.35%
1 www.kickstarter.com    964  (-244) -25.31%
76 www.appsfunder.com 570,311  (-105,800) -18.55%
97 www.dreambank.org 4,727,020  (-854,041) -18.07%
82 www.propellr.com 880,890  (-126,480) -14.36%
95 www.crowdfundingbank.com 2,735,695  (-343,103) -12.54%

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Crowdfunding Securities Research and Valuation Firm Signs Agreement with Technology and Services Company to Expand International Opportunities

18 May

New relationship adds value to Crowd Valley and Zacks CF Research by expanding the reach of both companies

By Robert Hoskins

Chicago, IL – A strategic relationship between two crowdfunding leaders holds the promise of an expanded reach and increased value for both companies. Zacks CF Research and CrowdValley look forward to expanded international services in the partnership.

Zacks Investment Research is a Chicago based firm with over 30 years of experience in providing investors with the analytical tools and financial information necessary for the success of their investment processes.

Zacks Investment Research is a Chicago based firm with over 30 years of experience in providing investors with the analytical tools and financial information necessary for the success of their investment processes.

“The opportunity to expand into foreign markets just cannot be underestimated. The global market for direct investing is huge and getting bigger all the time. International crowdfunding will become increasingly important in the next few years,” says Howard Orloff, vice-president and director of Zacks CF Research.

In fact, the crowdfunding space has grown in the last five years from a handful of sites to nearly 1,000 securities crowdfunding platforms operating across the world.

“The growth and globalization of the crowdfunding and private securities market is driving the need for more information so that investors can make informed decisions,” said Crowd Valley CEO, Markus Lampinen. “We believe Zacks is well positioned to provide much needed information and transparency in this emerging market, in large part because Zacks is an established and respected public and private company research market leader, with an outstanding reputation among US financial industry actors. This is the type of credibility needed in the international securities crowdfunding space.”

He added “Crowd Valley is committed to working with exceptional companies and we look forward to working with Zacks and continuing to expand and develop the services we offer to our customers and partners.”

Expanding into international markets is something Zacks CF Research has planned to do from the beginning, Mr. Orloff says. The company was waiting for the right opportunity and the right platform provider to partner with.

“When Zacks CF Research approached Crowd Valley about doing their securities research, we knew this exactly the opportunity we’d been looking for. Crowd Valley operates on six continents, which gives us immediate global access that wasn’t possible elsewhere.” he said.

For their part, Crowd Valley was looking for a company which could provide independent and reliable valuations for its clientele. “Foreign markets do provide a potential for excellent returns, but obtaining information on foreign investment opportunities could present challenges to investors, simply for the reason that the rules differ from those in the US. By partnering with Zacks we aim at filling this informational gap, providing our customers with reliable information sources, and fostering international investments in the securities crowdfunding market”, he added.

Zacks CF Research provides independent, 3rd party valuation reports for crowdfunded securities offered through our portal partners. Zacks CF Research is the leading provider of crowdfunding valuation reports for Title III, Intrastate and International crowdfunded issues. Zacks employs over 600 professionals between our Chicago headquarters and offices overseas and is the second largest independent financial research firm in the nation.

Crowd Valley provides the platform, back office and ecosystem services for crowd funding, peer to peer investing and alternative asset marketplaces for securities professionals. The Crowd Valley infrastructure also allows customers to syndicate investments and tap into networks of investors around the world.

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EarlyIQ Announces U.S. Investment Benchmark Study on $40 Billion Equity Crowdunding Industry

14 Mar

By Robert Hoskins

EarlyIQ, Inc. released the results of a new CrowdfundIQ Benchmark Study, which is the Crowdfunding industry’s first national study on potential US equity Crowdfunding investors. The Crowdfunding research study provides unique and quantifiable insight into the demographics, investment intent, planned investment frequency, and views of likely equity Crowdfunding investors in the United States.

CrowdfundIQ Benchmark Study on $40 Billion Equity Crowdfunding Investors

CrowdfundIQ Benchmark Study on $40 Billion Equity Crowdfunding Investors

Highlights from the study include:

  • Annual market size estimate at maturity likely reaches $20B-40B – similar to angel and venture capital markets.
  • Anticipated investment frequency is 2-3 investments annually, averaging just under $2,000 per investment, for investors with annual household income $75K+.
  • The likely investor profile is middle aged, upper middle income, urban/suburban dwelling and college educated, with almost 70% indicating a high likelihood to invest.
  • 58% of all respondents indicate high interest in early stage equity investments
  • #1 demand by likely investors is transparency by the management team.
  • Government review of issuing companies is not a requirement of likely investors with only 5% requiring.
  • Investment intent rises 4-times when a neutral 3rd party provides review of the management team.

“The most intriguing aspect of the study is the strong appetite for investment and the demand for transparency in the market,” noted Steve Yin, co-founder and CEO of EarlyIQ. “We’re also encouraged by the uniformity of interest across demographics. We believe it speaks to an American desire to support entrepreneurship,” Yin added.

The study was conducted in time sequence throughout 2012, both before and after the passage of the JOBS Act. The nationwide online survey was conducted with a random sample of 480 complete respondents in total with a minimum qualification of an annual income of $25K.

Early IQ, Inc is a San Diego, California based, hosted information and analytics company serving early stage capital markets including the Crowdfunding, peer lending, angel, accredited, private equity, and venture capital.

CircleUp Explored: Crowdfunding Insight from Co-Founder, Rory Eakin

6 Feb

by 

I had the pleasure to sit down with Rory Eakin, co-founder and COO of CircleUp. Rory gave a wealth of insight into the pioneering equity crowdfunding model him and his team have built to fund underserved companies in a targeted industry vertical (emerging growth consumer product and retail companies).  I’ve distilled and summarized key themes below for convenience, but the full interview offers far more depth. So make sure to carve out 20 minutes to give it a view.

Currently only open to accredited investors (as legislation permits), CircleUp is a front-runner in the investment crowdfunding space. It’s one of a handful of platforms “crowdfunding” (personally defining as executing transactions entirely online) from accredited investors today; to date eight companies have raised a total of ~$7.5 million on CircleUp’s platform.

I’ve paid acute attention to CircleUp because (i) it has traction, i.e. data exists, and (ii) i’m a big believer in the merit its crowdfunding model is proving out. Broadly, it couples domain expertise and curated partnerships with technology to efficiently and transparently deliver high-quality, shepherded deal-flow to investors. It’s a model championed by many other platforms—e.g. RealtyMogul and Fundrise attacking real estate—and I have no doubt it will be applied to nearly many other industry verticals in time. It just makes tremendous sense; on so many levels.

Read more…

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