Best Crowdfunding for Startups 2023: How to Fund Your Small Business

So you’ve decided to start a business. Your startup idea has brilliant potential, and you’re ready to rake in those millions. But hold on—startups are expensive, and where will you get the cash to fund it? Unless you know some deep-pocketed angel investors or venture capitalists, it’s time to appeal to the masses!

Crowdfunding sites connect your startup to willing investors and fund contributors—and we found the very best fundraising sites for businesses.

Ready to start crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding portals that are built like social media sites connect you to investors and other folks willing to help small-business owners get products and services into the market.

Kickstarter campaigns have been around for nearly a decade, and the site is probably the most well-known of any crowdfunding platform—and for good reason!

But first, the bad news: completing a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is tough. It’s a highly competitive platform that carefully selects the crowdfunding projects allowed on the site. And you can’t fund just any business on Kickstarter; you must “create something to share with others.” Your project also needs to fall under one of Kickstarter’s curated categories, like arts and crafts, fashion and design, film and photography, games, and technology.

Still, with a base of over 6 billion project backers across the globe, Kickstarter’s worth a shot if you want to get your big idea in front of the largest audience possible.

The name iFundWomen should give you an idea of this crowdfunding site’s focus (though men can also raise money on the platform). The founders created the online crowdfunding platform as a “fundraising ecosystem for women-led startups and small businesses.” It also provides coaching, marketing, and other services for startup owners.

iFundWomen offers free training in the “iFundWomen Method” of crowdfunding. According to the platform, businesses that use this method raise more money than average―like 27 times more.³ That makes iFundWomen’s mentoring pretty valuable.

Unlike some reward-based crowdfunding sites, iFundWomen lets campaigners keep whatever funds they raise. And out of the money the site earns from funding fees, 20% goes back into supporting campaigns and services for women business owners.

GoFundMe is an internationally recognized crowdfunding platform for helping people worldwide put their money toward charities and causes that matter to them.

Although GoFundMe isn’t the right crowdfunding site for every type of startup, if you’re in the business of helping people—or animals—who need assistance due to medical conditions, emergencies, or other disadvantages, it’s worth considering.

The most significant upsides to GoFundMe include zero-funding fees for personal causes based in the US and the ability to keep all funds you can raise. Just be wary that due to the massive scale of the site, GoFundMe campaigns have a reportedly low success rate, so you’ll need to work extra hard to get people to see—and invest in—your project.

Wefunder isn’t the only equity crowdfunding platform out there (in fact, we include several others on this list), but it’s our favorite.

In part, that’s because Wefunder has an excellent success rate (around 75%), even though it’s not super exclusive. It’s also because Wefunder offers lots of resources and help for startups that use it to crowdfund, including mentorship, help with legal documents, and even investor relations support.

Now, Wefunder works best for startups that see venture capitalists funding their projects in the future. It’s not for small businesses that plan to stay small. And because it deals with equity crowdfunding, Wefunder has way more rules and regulations than many other crowdfunding platforms. But if none of that bothers you, Wefunder’s equity-based platform can provide a great way to fund your startup.

Most crowdfunding platforms, whether they are equity or reward-based, take a percentage of the funds you raise. Fundable, however, takes a different approach. It charges a flat monthly subscription. As long as you’re subscribed, you can create campaigns to raise money (though Fundable will have to manually approve your campaign after verifying it meets its terms and conditions).

Fundable’s flat fee makes it a great deal for many successful crowdfunding campaigns. For instance, if you set a goal of just $3,580, that fee comes to about 5% of what you raise (comparable to other platforms). However, if you make it to $10,000, the fee is less than 2%.

The only problem? You pay the fee whether you’re successful or not.  (If you do an equity campaign, you at least get to keep whatever you raised.) A failed campaign will lose you money, so Fundable is best for startups with a lot of confidence in their ideas and want to run an equity campaign.

And if you’d like a little extra help with your campaign, Fundable offers consulting services. It will do everything from design assets to market your campaign. These consulting services do cost more than Fundable’s monthly fee, but you’ll have to contact Fundable to get the exact cost for your startup.

Patreon may not be the best solution for launching a technology startup with high capital needs, but it’s an excellent way for creators to build an audience and a source of income.

Anyone in the world (at least 13 years old) can set up a Patreon campaign. And the platform is excellent for helping you fund creative projects like video and photography, music, writing, comics, podcasts, games, animation, and more.

You’re probably not going to earn colossal investments with Patreon, but you can keep all your donations (minus a 5% payment fee) and leave your campaign running indefinitely.

Next to Kickstarter, Indiegogo may be the best-known crowdfunding site in the world.

Initially founded to help fund projects like theater and cancer treatment, Indiegogo is now an international platform with over 9 million backers, that accepts campaigns in various industries, from consumer technology to community improvement.⁵

Most Indiegogo campaigns are reward-based with all-or-nothing funding rules. But there are options for equity investment and keep-what-you-raise campaigns too.

The downsides: Indiegogo’s success rate is measly, with reports in the 8% to 10% range. And according to some reviews, the experience for some startups has been less than favorable, partly due to the high fees for partially funded campaigns.

As an equity-focused crowd-investing platform, Republic is the new kid on the block. And with a highly curated selection of companies, it’s not for everyone.

But for growing US companies with enormous revenue potential, Republic’s 95% success rate for selected campaigns makes it one of the most enticing platforms for connecting with willing investors.

Republic also focuses on diversity and looks for organizations with diverse teams.

If you’d like more information on Republic, you may want to check out our Republic Equity crowdfunding review 2022.

Founded by MBA graduates and experienced investors, SeedInvest started as a way to give technology startups access to capital from people willing to make sizable equity investments.

The platform allows only US-based businesses and employs a picky selection process. To start, you need at least a minimum viable product or prototype, proof of concept, and two or more team members. If you make the cut, you’ll get access to both accredited and non-accredited investors for campaigns starting at $100,000.

SeedInvest’s biggest drawback is its expensive 7.5% placement fee on all successfully funded campaigns. Still, the site has a growing base of investors and successful companies, as well as a positive reputation.

When it comes to debt crowdfunding, nonprofit Kiva just might be your most affordable option. Successfully funded Kiva campaigns give your startup a loan—not just any loan—but one with 0% interest.

So while you’ll have to pay back your Kiva loan, there are no funding fees or payment fees to worry about. Instead, you can focus on building a successful campaign. And since Kiva requires you to prove your social capital by kicking off your campaign with donations from family and friends, that means convincing people you know to fund your business.

Note that Kiva loans top out at $15,000. So if you need big bucks, Kiva’s not right for you. But if you want affordable debt crowdfunding for your small fundraising goals, Kiva’s worth looking into.

First of all, crowdfunding is one of the few ways a startup with no track record and no credit can get funded. When you apply for funding through lenders, they look at all sorts of things to decide whether or not you qualify. But with crowdfunding, the persuasiveness of your pitch is what matters—not your credit profile.

Crowdfunding can also help you streamline the process of taking a proof of concept to prospective investors to see if there’s a chance for success. And in some cases, with equity crowdfunding for startups, the investors may help you flesh out your business if your idea isn’t viable on the market.

By getting capital up front, product-centric businesses and capital-heavy projects can launch with rocket speed. Of course, not every crowdfunded campaign results in millions of dollars, but there are plenty of crowdfunding success stories that earn $100,000 or more in just a few months—that’s not chump change.

Plus, your business will benefit from the credibility boost that crowdfunding sites can provide. And you’ll have an eager pool of interested customers willing to pay once your project launches.

If you’re trying to raise money for your startup, the crowdfunding sites above might be just the way to do it. Many business owners can attest that there are plenty of people ready to invest in startups through crowdfunding.

And with our ranking, you can find the right platform for your business—whether that means rewards crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, or something else entirely.

The crowdfunding industry has funded many small businesses. Why not yours?

Not sure crowdfunding is right for you? Learn how to get a startup business loan instead.

Your chances of successfully crowdfunding depend on a bunch of factors, from the platform you use to your own business strategy. That being said, the stats show that less than one-third of crowdfunding campaigns are successful.⁵

That might sound discouraging, but remember that you can increase your chances by having a good plan, choosing the right platform, and creating a solid campaign.

To determine our list of the best crowdfunding sites, here are some of the factors we considered:

• The campaign types (reward, equity) and business locations allowed on the site
• The funding and payment processing fees the site charges startups
• Whether the startup can keep all funds raised (as opposed to an all-or-nothing model)
• The size and public reputation of the site (via CrowdsUnite)
• The site’s campaign success rate (if available)

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.