Crowdfunding as an alternative method of raising capital

Crowdfunding is a method of financing new ventures, commercial, cultural or social, often in return for future products or actions, engaged in by many investors. Currently, it is an important element in the structure of available sources of financing for investment projects. Despite the interest of potential investors, individual social sponsors and large-scale activities of institutions promoting knowledge about the functioning of crowdfunding aimed at encouraging and promoting it as a source of capital for new ventures, there is a lack of knowledge and, consequently, experience on its development and achievement. The aim of this study is to analyze this source of financing, assess its development globally and in Poland. In the preparation of the article,. a critical analysis of foreign and Polish literature was carried out, and descriptive and comparative research methods applied. The research task undertaken in the study was to analyze the crowdfunding market globally and in Poland. The Polish crowdfunding platforms were detailed and compared in terms of value in relation to the largest global platforms. The source for analyses of crowdfunding development in Poland was available literature on the analyzed topic and secondary data from the websites of specialized internet platforms. The article depicts a new, but important, aspect of financing the activity of enterprises, which is crowdfunding.