ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the post-funding phase of equity crowd financing. It describes crowdfunding and the most popular crowdfunding models and offers an up-to-date account of the relevant research findings and analyses the geography of crowdfunding, including fundraising patterns worldwide. The book introduces the concept of entrepreneurial finance, differentiating among the stages of new venture development, and the available sources of finance. It provides a more detailed picture of crowdfunding and a review of work on the factors associated to fundraising success, across different crowdfunding models. The book deals with a detailed description of the equity crowdfunding phenomenon in Europe and an in-depth analysis of the two most popular platforms in the UK, Crowdcube and Seedrs, to highlight their main differences. It also focuses on equity crowdfunding.
