In times of
confinement, where the opportunity arises to collect some extra money, it
may be a good time to review your savings and assess the investment
opportunities that exist in the market, such as crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding, or
crowdfunding model, consists of a fundraising campaign for a given
project, the funding of which is obtained through the contribution of
several people.
The goal of the
campaign may be to implement a new business idea, promote a cultural initiative
or hold an event with social impact.
Everything works on
an online platform in which the person who wants the financing presents
their project, the amount they want to raise, the deadline for the campaign and
defines whether there is a reward for investors.
The origin of
Crowdfunding
Although the
concept of crowdfunding has become more popular since 2010, its origin
dates back to the last century.
As this study points out, we were still in the early 80's
when the newspaper "The Day" launched a fundraising campaign,
along the lines of crowdfunding.
The goal was the
construction of a statue in Praça do Areeiro, in Lisbon (now called Praça
Francisco Sá Carneiro), in honor of the then Prime Minister Portuguese,
Francisco Sá Carneiro, who died in the crash of an aircraft in Camarate.
This model of
crowdfunding, or collective, was born mainly to support small artistic and
social projects, developed by groups of friends, family or acquaintances,
revealing an emotional or family origin, friendship, social, economic,
political, cultural and artistic identification. Although there may be a return
on investment made, this was not an essential condition of this activity.
The expectation
of return on investment has only been introduced recently, thus enabling
anyone to become a crowdfunding investor, even with a
small amount.
The Four Modalities
of Crowdfunding
Advances in
technology and the strong interest aroused by this model of financial
innovation have led to the need to legislate this activity.
In Portugal, crowdfunding
is regulated in Law No. 102/2015 of August 24, as amended by Law No. 3/2018
of February 9, which can be found on the website of the
Securities Markets Commission (CMVM), and four modalities are provided for
depending on the type of financing that is intended to be obtained:
1. Crowdfunding
through donation: investors contribute to causes that support, with or
without the delivery of non-financial compensation;
2. Collaborative
financing with reward: investors receive a non-financial reward associated
with the product or the provision of the funded service in exchange for the
financing obtained;
3. Crowdfunding:
investors receive, in exchange for their contribution, a share holding in the
capital of the financed entity, distribution of dividends or profit sharing;
4. Loan
crowdfunding: investors see their investment remunerated by paying interest
fixed at the time of raising. This modality arises as an alternative to banking,
enabling the granting of loans to people who may otherwise be unable to obtain
credit.
