Crowdfunding describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations.

 Almost $1.5 billion was raised in 2011 by Crowdfunding platforms around the world (according to an industry report released by Massolution). This amount is expected to double in 2012 and $6.2 billion is forecast to be generated by Crowdfunding sites in 2013 (Ref: Gartner Research).  536 Crowdfunding Portals (“CFPs”) worldwide  1 million successful campaigns were run by CFPs in 2011  Average fundraising campaign timeframe is 91 weeks

“With the fraud rates in the unregulated world of donation crowdfunding hovering around 3%, I think if the Internet's sunlight effect is allowed to work, we will find investment crowdfunding sees even lower incidents of fraud. There are a number of factors at play in making that work, including the pledge system and the basic vetting required.” David Marlett Founder and Managing Partner, Crowdfund International

 Social Media IS NOT A FAD  The average person spends over eight hours a week on social media and has over 150 friends on Facebook  78% of people make purchasing decisions based on peer recommendation  People "believe in the little guy" or they want to be "part of the next big thing“  People have a tendency to want to be part of a community

 Portals  Analysts of portals and investments  Specialized Software  Risk Managers (insurance)  Professional Business Specialists  Escrow Agents  Resellers of Purchased Shares