ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the alternative sources of financing available to entrepreneurs, highlighting their differences and their roles in the financing cycle for new ventures. It provides a description and general overview of the crowdfunding phenomenon, the different crowdfunding types in use, such as donation, reward, lending, and equity crowdfunding, and actors and stages in the fundraising process. Equity crowdfunding provides an opportunity for ventures to obtain funding from a wide range of investors, in exchange for some of the firm's equity. Entrepreneurial finance is a emerged research field, positioned at the intersection between entrepreneurship and finance. Entrepreneurial finance is relevant both to establish the new company and to support the various stages of development of the entrepreneurial project. Most business angel investors are experienced entrepreneurs who expect high returns from their investments. In the growth financing phase, the firm's sales continue to grow, the entrepreneurial activity slows, and the firm becomes profitable.
