SAE Magazine 13-3

160 PRODUCTION & KNOW HOW // CROWDFUNDING In a nutshell crowdfunding is a good method of financing for many small teams and projects if they can gain enough backers. There is always a risk, primarily for the developers, who do not know in advance whether the required sum will be raised and how sound their idea is. This is ultimately what projects depend on. Backers of crowdfunding projects can generally only win. You determine how much money to invest, receive a tailor made product at the end of the process and in advance may receive a small reward. The only risk is if the total target amount of the project is not met. Then dependant on the platform, backers either receive their money back or lose it, which with small contributions is never much of a large loss. Crowdfunding in Germany The crowdfunding concept has become more well known in Germany since the end of 2010. The biggest platforms who offer their services through- out Germany include inkubato, pling, startnext and VisionBakery, which are all designed for creative projects. In addition there are some smaller crowd- funding platforms which provide support for region- al projects. These are primarily based in large cities such as Berlin Crowd and Nordstarter in Hamburg. Although crowdfunding can be a good financing possibility for artists it is less profitable for platform founders and some platforms (e.g. Mysherpas) have had to shut down after barely two years. In addi- tion there is a lot of competition from the numerous operators in the German market as well as at an international level. n

SAE Magazine 13-3

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