Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-01T08:52:36.601Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The rise of crowd equity funding: where to now?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2017

Marina Nehme*
Affiliation:
Senior Lecturer at the Law Faculty, University of New South Wales, Sydney. E-mail: m.nehme@unsw.edu.au.

Abstract

Crowd equity funding is a type of crowdfunding that allows companies to obtain seed or other capital through small equity investments from a large range of investors via an online portal. This form of finance has been viewed as a way to remedy the shortfall of capital for small and medium enterprises. As a result, a number of countries such as the US, Italy and New Zealand have promoted this form of finance. Accordingly, the paper first considers the reasons behind the rise of crowd equity funding on government agendas around the world. It then focuses on the Australian setting, by highlighting the different proposals that have been put forward to introduce legislation friendlier to crowd equity funding. The aim is to view the extent to which the proposed models provide the right balance between investor protection and entrepreneurship.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, Bill, Chan, Ka Kei, Milne, Alistair and Thomas, Steve (2012) ‘Basel III: Is the Cure Worse than the Disease?’, International Review of Financial Analysis 25: 159166.Google Scholar
Althaus, Catherine, Bridgman, Peter and Davis, Glyn (2013) The Australian Policy Handbook. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Anderson, Elizabeth (2014) ‘Half of the UK Start-Ups Fail within Five Years’, The Telegraph. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/11174584/Half-of-UK-start-ups-fail-within-five-years.html> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Angelilli, Francesca (2016) ‘The Italian Legislative Framework’, Across the EU Universe 11: 1114.Google Scholar
Aristotle, (1972) Politics, trans. Barker, Ernest. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Arts Law Centre of Australia (2015) ‘Crowdfunding: Information Sheet’. Available at: <http://www.artslaw.com.au/images/uploads/Crowdsourcing_funding_info_sheet_19_01_15.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
ASSOB (2013) Crowd Sourced Funding – Submission to the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee. Australia. Available at: <http://www.camac.gov.au/camac/camac.nsf/byheadline/pdfsubmissions_6/$file/assob_csef.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
ASSOB (2014) CAMAC Crowd Sourced Equity funding Submission. Available at: <http://www.camac.gov.au/camac/camac.nsf/byheadline/pdfsubmissions_6/$file/assob_csef.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
ASSOB (no date) ‘About ASSOB’. Available at: <https://www.assob.com.au/about.asp?page=1> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Austin, Robert and Ramsay, Ian (2015) Principles of Corporations Law, 16th edn. Chatswood: LexisNexis Butterworths.Google Scholar
Australian Centre for Financial Studies (2014) Lending to Small and Medium Enterprises – Submission to Financial System Inquiry. Available at: <http://australiancentre.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Lending-to-Small-and-Medium-Enterprises.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Australian Small Scale Offerings Board Limited and Controlled Entities (ASSOB) (2014) Financial Report for the Year Ended 30 June 2014. Australia. Available at: <https://www.nsxa.com.au/ftp/news/021729163.PDF> (accessed 10 May 2017)+(accessed+10+May+2017)>Google Scholar
Ayyagari, Meghana, Beck, Thorsten and Demirguc-Kunt, Asli (2007) ‘Small and Medium Enterprises across the Globe’, Small Business Economics 29: 415434.Google Scholar
Barber, Brad and Odean, Terrance (2002) ‘Online Investors: Do the Slow Die First?’, Review of Financial Studies 15(2): 455487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, Thorsten and Demirguc-Kunt, Asli (2006) ‘Small and Medium-Size Enterprises: Access to Finance as a Growth Constraint’, Journal of Banking and Finance 30: 29312943.Google Scholar
Belleflamme, Paul and Lambert, Thomas (2014) ‘Crowdfunding: Some Empirical Findings and Microeconomic Underpinnings’, Revue Bancaire et Financiere 4: 288296.Google Scholar
Belleflamme, Paul, Lambert, Thomas and Schwienbacher, Armin (2013) ‘Individual Crowdfunding Practices’, Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance 15(4): 313333.Google Scholar
Benkler, Yochai (2006) The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transformed Markets and Freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Berger, Allen and Udell, Gregory (1998) ‘The Economics of Small Business Finance: The Roles of Private Equity and Debt Markets in the Financial Growth Cycle’, Journal of Banking & Finance 22: 613673.Google Scholar
Berger, Allen and Udell, Gregory (2002) ‘Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure’, The Economic Journal 112: F32F53.Google Scholar
Board of The International Organization of Securities Commissions (2015) SME Financing through Capital Markets – Final Report. Available at: <https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD493.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Bon, Gustave Le (2008) The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Digireads, trans. of Psychologie des Foules (first published in 1895).Google Scholar
Borg, Joseph (2007) ‘Protecting Investors and the Integrity of Capital Markets’, Journal of Investment Compliance 8(2): 4951.Google Scholar
Bouaiss, Karima, Maque, Isabelle and Meric, J. (2015) ‘Jerome “More than Three's a Crowd … in the Best Interest of Company! Crowdfunding as Zeitgeist or Ideology?”’, Society and Business Review 10(1): 2339.Google Scholar
Bradford, Steven (2014) ‘Shooting the Messenger: The Liability of Crowdfunding Intermediaries for the Fraud of Others’, University of Cincinnati Law Review 83: 371412.Google Scholar
Bragham, Darren (2008) ‘Crowdsourcing as a Model for Problem Solving: An Introduction and Cases’, Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 14(1): 7590.Google Scholar
Cassar, Gavin (2004) ‘The Financing of Business Start-Ups’, Journal of Business Venturing 19: 261283.Google Scholar
Cavajal, Miguel, Garcia-Aviles, Jose A. and Gonzalez, Jose L. (2012) ‘Crowdfunding and Non-Profit Media: The Emergence of New Models for Public Interest Journalism’, Journalism Practice 6: 638647.Google Scholar
Chaffe, Eric and Rapp, Geoffrey C. (2012) ‘Regulating Online Peer to Peer Lending in the Aftermath of Dodd-Frank: In Search of an Evolving Regulatory Regime for an Evolving Industry’, Washington and Lee Law Review 69(2): 485533.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2014) Financial System Inquiry – Final Report (Australia, Commonwealth). Available at: <http://fsi.gov.au/files/2014/12/FSI_Final_Report_Consolidated20141210.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia (2015) Budget 2015 – Growing Jobs and Small Business. Available at: <http://www.budget.gov.au/2015-16/content/glossy/sml_bus/download/Growing_Jobs_and_Small_Business.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee (CAMAC) (2014) Crowd Sourced Equity Funding – Report. Australia: Commonwealth.Google Scholar
CPA Australia (2012) SME Access to Finance: Recent Experiences of SMEs in Accessing Finance’. Available at: <https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/business/sme-access-to-finance.pdf?la=en> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
CrowdFundingHub (no date) ‘The Current State of Crowdfunding in Italy’. Available at: <http://www.crowdfundinghub.eu/current-state-crowdfunding-italy/> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Crowdready (2015) New Zealand Equity Crowdfunding – 1 st Year in Review. Available at: <http://www.crowdready.com.au/news-1/2015/8/new-zealand-equity-crowdfunding-1st-year-in-review> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Davis-Stober, Clintin, Budescu, David B., Jason, Dana and Broomell, Stephen (2014) ‘When Is a Crowd Wise’, Decision 1(2): 79101.Google Scholar
Dell'ariccia, Giovanni, Detragiache, Enrica and Rajan, Raghuram (2008) ‘The Real Effect of Banking Crises’, Journal of Financial Intermediation 17: 89112.Google Scholar
Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy (2013) Advancing Australia as a Digital Economy: An Update to the National Digital Economy Strategy. Australian Government, Report, June 2013. Australia: Commonwealth. Available at: <http://apo.org.au/files/Resource/Advancing-Australia-as-a-Digital-Economy-BOOK-WEB.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Dorff, Michael (2014) ‘The Siren Call of Equity Crowdfunding’, Journal of Corporation Law 39: 493524.Google Scholar
Ebben, Jay and Johnson, Alec (2006) ‘Bootstrapping in Small Firms: An Empirical Analysis of Change over Time’, Journal of Business Venturing 21: 851865.Google Scholar
European Commission (2013) Crowdfunding in the EU – Exploring the Added Value of EU Action, Consultation Paper. Brussels: EU. Available at: <http://ec.europa.eu/finance/consultations/2013/crowdfunding/docs/consultation-document_en.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
European Commission (2015) ‘Council Recommendation on the Implementation of the Broad Guidelines for the Economic Policies of the Member States Whose Currency Is the Euro’. Available at: <http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2015/csr2015_euroarea_en.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Freedman, Seth and Jin, Ginger Zhe (2008) ‘Do Social Networks Solve Information Problems for Peer-to-Peer Lending? Evidence from Prosper.com’, The Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications Institute. Available at: <http://www.microfinancegateway.org/library/do-social-networks-solve-information-problems-peer-peer-lending-evidence-prospercom> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Friesz, Cody (2015) ‘Crowdfunding and Investor Education: Empowering Investors to Mitigate Risk and Prevent Fraud’, Suffolk University Law Review 48: 131150.Google Scholar
Galton, Francis (1907) ‘The Ballot-Box’, Nature 75: 509510.Google Scholar
Globble, Mary Anne (2012) ‘Everyone Is a Venture Capitalist: The New Age of Crowdfunding’, Research Technology Management 55(4): 47.Google Scholar
Gordon, Steve (2005) The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed with the New Digital Technologies: A Guide for Artists and Entrepreneurs. San Francisco: Backbeat Books.Google Scholar
Harper, Malcolm (1998) Profit for the Poor: Cases in Micro-Finance. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.Google Scholar
Heminway, Joan MacLeod (2013) ‘The New Intermediary on the Block: Funding Portals under the Crowdfund Act’, UC Davis Business Law Journal 13: 177205.Google Scholar
Hong, Lu and Page, Scott (2004) ‘Groups of Diverse Problem Solvers Can Outperform Groups of High-Ability Problem Solvers’, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101(46): 1638516389.Google Scholar
House of Representatives (2016a) ‘Second Reading: Speech’, Scott Morrison, MP, 24 November.Google Scholar
House of Representatives (2016b) ‘Second Reading: Speech’, Terri Butler, MP, 30 November.Google Scholar
Hussain, Javed, Millman, Cindy and Matlay, Harry (2006) ‘SME Financing in the UK and in China: A Comparative Perspective’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development 13(4): 584599.Google Scholar
INDUSTRY Commission (1997) Informal Equity Investment – Small Business Research Program, Information Paper. Australia: Industry Commission. Available at: <http://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/informal-equity-investment/infeqinv.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Ivashina, Victoria and Scharfstein, David (2010) ‘Bank Lending During the Financial Crisis of 2008’, Journal of Financial Economics 97: 319338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janis, Irving (1982) Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes, 2nd edn. Boston: Cengage Learning.Google Scholar
Kickstarter (no date) ‘Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android’. Available at: <https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597507018/pebble-e-paper-watch-for-iphone-and-android> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Kingdon, John W. (1995) Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers.Google Scholar
Kirby, Eleanor and Worner, Shane (2014) Shane Crowd-Funding: An Infant Industry Growing Fast, Staff Working Paper of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions Research Department, SWP3/2014.Google Scholar
Kobe, Kathryn (2012) Small Business GDP: Update 2002–2010, Report No. 390. Washington: SBA. Available at: <https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/rs390_1.pdf> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Libert, Barry and Spector, Jon (2007) We Are Smarter than Me: How to Unleash the Power of Crowds. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Maguire, Anna (2014) Crowdfund It. Braddon: Editia.Google Scholar
Marmer, Max and Dogrultan, Ertan (2012) Startup Genome Report Extra on Premature Scaling: A Deep Dive Into Why Most High Growth Startups Fail, Report Vol. 1. Available at: <https://s3.amazonaws.com/startupcompass-public/StartupGenomeReport2_Why_Startups_Fail_v2.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Massolution Crowd Power Business (2015) 2015CF The Crowdfunding Industry Report. Massolution.Report can be purchased from: <http://reports.crowdsourcing.org/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=54> (accessed 10 May 2017).+(accessed+10+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Michelucci, Fania Valeria and Rota, Francesca Silvia (2014) The Success of Non-Profit Crowdfunding: First Evidences from the Italian Web-Platforms. Torino: DIGEP – Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale e della Produzione, Politecnico di Torino. Available at: <http://www.dii.univpm.it/sites/www.dii.univpm.it/files/dii/allegati/MichelucciRota.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Ministero Dello Sviluppo Economico (2012) ‘Executive Summary of the New Italian Legislation on Startups’.Google Scholar
Mollick, Ethan (2014) ‘The Dynamics of Crowdfunding: An Exploratory Study’, Journal of Business Venturing 29(1): 116.Google Scholar
Moss, Todd, Neubaum, Donald and Meyskens, Moriah (2015) ‘The Effect of Virtuous and Entrepreneurial Orientations on Microfinance Lending and Repayment: A Signaling Theory Perspective’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 39(1): 2752.Google Scholar
Numez, Michael (2014) ‘Kickstarter Crooks: The Biggest Frauds in Crowdfunding’. Available at: <http://www.supercompressor.com/gear/kickstarter-frauds-worst-crooks-in-crowdfunding> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Oakey, Ray (2007) ‘A Commentary on Gaps in Funding for Moderate “Non-Stellar” Growth Small Businesses in the United Kingdom’, Venture Capital 9(3): 223235.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) (2009) ‘The Impact of Global Crisis on SME and Entrepreneurship Financing and Policy Responses’. Available at: <http://www.oecd.org/cfe/smes/43183090.pdf> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) (2013) ‘Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2013: An OECD Scoreboard – Final Report’. Available at: <http://www.oecd.org/officialdocuments/publicdisplaydocumentpdf/?cote=CFE/SME%282012%2912/FINAL&docLanguage=En> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Page, Scott (2011) Diversity and Complexity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Pesok, Jorge (2014) ‘Crowdfunding: A New Form of Investing Requires a New Form of Investor Protection’, The Dartmouth Law Journal 12: 146164.Google Scholar
Popper, Ben (2012) ‘JOBS Act Becomes Law, but Questions Linger about Potential for Fraud’, VB News. Available at: <http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/05/crowdfunding-bill-becomes-law-but-questions-linger-about-potential-for-fraud/> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Powell, Rose (2015) ‘Malcolm Turnbull Says that Australia Could Follow New Zealand Crowdfunding Laws’, Australian Financial Review, 19 May.Google Scholar
Robb, George (1992) White-Collar Crime in Modern England: Financial Fraud and Business Morality 1845–1929. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Robinson, Scott and Eller, Warren (2010) ‘Participation in Policy Streams: Testing the Separation of Problems and Solutions in Subnational Policy Systems’, The Policy Studies Journal 38(2): 199216.Google Scholar
Sabatier, Paul (ed.) (1999) Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Mirjam and Weder, Beatrice (2001) Firm Size and the Business Environment: Worldwide Survey Results, International Finance Corporation Discussion Paper Number 43. Washington: World Bank. Available at: <http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/574601468739143195/pdf/multi0page.pdf> (accessed 20 May 2017).+(accessed+20+May+2017).>Google Scholar
Schwienbacher, Armin and Larralde, Benjamin (2012) ‘Alternative Types of Entrepreneurial Finance’ in Cumming, Douglas (ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurial Finance. Oxford: Oxford Press, 362392.Google Scholar
Sharp, Alexandra (2014) ‘Crowdfunding Success Factors’, International Research Journal of Applied Finance 5(7): 822832.Google Scholar
Shoup, Brian (2001) ‘Policy Section Members Vote for the Most Important Works in Public Policy’, Policy Currents 11(2): 1415.Google Scholar
Stiglitz, Joseph and Weiss, Andrew (1981) ‘Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information’, American Economic Review 71(3): 393410.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass and Hastie, Reid (2015) Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.Google Scholar
Surowiecki, James (2005) The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Symposium Panel II (2013) ‘Crowdfunding’, SMU Science and Technology Law Review 16: 5988.Google Scholar
Taskforce on Startups Established by the Minister of Economic Development (2012) Restart Italia: Why We Have to Restart from the Youth, Innovation and Startups, trans. Dana Candek. Italy: Ministry of Economic Development.Google Scholar
Thaler, Richard and Sunstein, Cass (2009) Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness. New Haven: Penguin Group.Google Scholar
Thompson, Sarah, Shapiro, Jonathan and Eyers, James (2015) ‘Abbott Puts ASIC under the Microscope in Funding and Operations Review’, Australian Financial Review. Available at: <http://www.afr.com/business/banking-and-finance/abbott-puts-asic-under-the-microscope-in-funding-and-operations-review-20150723-gij1t6> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Tomboc, Gmeleen Faye B. (2013) ‘The Lemons Problem in Crowdfunding’, Journal of Information Technology and Privacy Law 30: 253280.Google Scholar
Torre, Augusto de la, Peria, Maria Soledad Marinex and Schmukler, Sergio (2010) ‘Bank Involvement with SMEs: Beyond Relationship Lending’, Journal of Banking and Finance 34: 22802293.Google Scholar
Vaga, Tonis (1990) ‘The Coherent Market Hypothesis’, Financial Analysts Journal 46(6): 3649.Google Scholar
Vitins, Matt (2013) ‘Crowdfunding and Securities Laws: What the Americans Are Doing and the Case for an Australian Crowdfunding Exemption’, Journal of Law, Information and Science 22(2): 92127.Google Scholar
Weinstein, Ross (2013) ‘Crowdfunding in the US and Abroad: What to Expect When Expecting’, Cornell International Law Journal 46: 427452.Google Scholar
Wexler, Mark (2011) ‘Reconfiguring the Sociology of the Crowd: Exploring Crowdsourcing’, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 31(1/2): 620.Google Scholar
White, Eugene (1988) Crashes and Panics: The Lessons from History. New York: Dow Jones Irwin/McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
White House (2012) ‘President Obama to Sign Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS Act)’. Available at: <https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/05/president-obama-sign-jumpstart-our-business-startups-jobs-act> (accessed 13 March 2017).+(accessed+13+March+2017).>Google Scholar
Wong, Terence (2013) ‘Crowd Funding: Regulating the New Phenomenon’, Company and Securities Law Journal 31: 89110.Google Scholar
Wu, Sibin, Wang, Bin and Li, Yuanquing (2015) ‘How to Attract the Crowd in Crowdfunding?’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 24(3): 322334.Google Scholar
Yum, Haewon, Lee, Byungtae and Chae, Myungsin (2012) ‘From the Wisdom of Crowds to My Own Judgment in Microfinance through Online Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms’, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 11: 469483.Google Scholar
Zahariadis, Nikolaos (2005) Essence of Political Manipulation: Emotion, Institutions, and Greek Foreign Policy. New York: Peter Lang Press.Google Scholar
Zahariadis, Nikolaos (2007) ‘Ambiguity and Multiple Streams’ in Sabatier, Paul and Weible, Christopher (eds) Theories of the Policy Process. Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Zahariadis, Nikolaos (2008) ‘Ambiguity and Choice in European Public Policy’, Journal of European Public Policy 15(4): 514530.Google Scholar