Crowdfunding Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Startups

Every year on March 14, Crowdfunding Day is celebrated to promote crowdfunding and educate startup founders and organisations on how to utilise it. Did you realise that crowdfunding is an ancient concept that dates back to the 13th century? It is the practise of giving money to a cause or venture by collecting modest contributions from a large number of individuals. Due to the Internet, crowdfunding is primarily conducted online.

The background of Crowdfunding Day

Crowdfunding dates back to the 1300s, when affluent individuals pooled funds to finance risky business endeavours. Authors had also utilised a subscription-based crowdfunding model, where books are published once sufficient interest has been generated to support them. Alexander Pope utilised this paradigm in 1713 to finance the translation of the ancient Greek poem ‘The Iliad.’ Alexander was paid in advance for the work with the agreement that he would publish one volume per year and credit the benefactors in the first editions of the book. In addition, Mozart received crowdfunding to perform his three new piano concertos. In exchange for the funding, Mozart presented each of the 176 contributors with a concert manuscript bearing their names and his gratitude.

In 1885, the United States government lacked the funds necessary to assemble the Statue of Liberty and create its pedestal; a tier-based crowdfunding model was used to raise the necessary funds. Joseph Pulitzer initiated this crowdfunding campaign through his newspaper “The New York World.” The newspaper offered six-inch and twelve-inch variants of the statue for $1 and $5 donations, respectively. More than 160,000 donors contributed over $100,000 to the campaign. The first use of internet-based crowdfunding occurred in the arts and entertainment sector. In 1994, the Vegan Society conducted a successful campaign to produce the documentary “Truth or Dairy.” Using the success of this campaign, the British rock band Marillion raised $60,000 online from fans in 1997 to finance their entire U.S. tour.

In 2001, Brian Camelio, an American producer, created ArtistShare, the first online crowdfunding platform. Maria Schneider, a jazz musician, received sponsorship for her Grammy-winning album through ArtistShare. As crowdfunding gained popularity and the model developed, crowdfunding websites began to emerge. This included Kiva (2005), The Point (2008), which evolved into Groupon, “Indiegogo” (2008), Kickstarter (2009), MicroVentures (2009), GoFundMe (2010), and YouCaring (2010). (2011). Presently, crowdfunding is a major industry in the United States, raising over $17 billion annually.

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5 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT STARTUPS

Approximately fifty percent of startups falter within their first five years.

Up to 67% of Millennials aspire to work for a startup.

70% of startup founders incubated their concepts while employed elsewhere.

There are more entrepreneurs between the ages of 50 and 59 than in any other age bracket.

There are over 475 active startup unicorns with a combined value of approximately $1,394 trillion.

CROWDFUNDING DAY DATES