Crowdsourcing, Crowdfunding, Crowdinvesting: Eine Renaissance von Genossenschaften bei Unternehmensgründungen?

Crowdfunding has undergone incredible growth worldwide in previous years.Meanwhile
many entrepreneurs use crowdfunding or rather crowdinvesting for financing within
Germany. Due to the fact that crowdinvesting – as a subform of crowdfunding – and
cooperatives are based on the same fundamental idea, which is “many can do more”, it
could be regarded as financial alternative for cooperatives. This article explains crowdinvesting
and discusses its relevance for small cooperatives currently seeking startup
capital. Therefore, first a study of 80 companies, financed through crowdinvesting, was
made. Second, a comparative analysis of eleven start-ups founded as limited liability
companies or cooperatives was undertaken. Third, interviews with six cooperatives including
three crowdinvested ones were conducted. The results indicate a growing potential
for cooperatives in the context of crowdinvesting. However, cooperatives must
improve their openness to digital media as well as on their reputation among entrepreneurs.