CrowdsUnite, advising the world on crowdfunding platforms

Wednesday, we have had the chance to interview Alex Feldman who founded CrowdsUnite. His company does not offer a crowdfunding platform, but rather focuses on the education and advising side. CrowdsUnite maintains a database with more than 400 crowdfunding platforms, each of them reviewed with regard to their features, popularity and costs. They also give workshops to entrepreneurs to spread their knowledge on crowdfunding.

One strength of crowdfunding Alex particularly emphasised, was the removal of the middleman. The government can be seen as a large intermediate between the taxes and public goods. By taking out this party, an individual can choose to fund his or her own needs within the neighbourhood directly. Crowdfunding allows everyone to convey their support for a project, which gives direct feedback on the desire of the project. It also creates a community by connecting the people involved in the project.

We also asked Alex whether the growing number of platforms is a positive development. Accordingly, he answered that many crowdfunding websites target a niche market and offer features specific to that market. For example, some platforms are exclusively for the funding of novels. When someone donates, he or she will also be kept up to date on the writing process and potential sequences. Such features do not exists with the larger, well-known general platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. However, he still expects many platforms to cease existing in the future.

If the government would like to stimulate the use of crowdfunding in community projects, Alex would definitely recommend the creation of a custom platform. The city of Rotterdam can also be seen as a niche market, exclusively for its citizens. Alex even hypothesised about converting part of income taxes to credit on the city's crowdfunding platform, so people have a more direct influence on the allocation of their tax money.

We learnt a lot about Alex Feldman's expertise on crowdfunding platforms. If you seek a comparison between crowdfunding platforms we would strongly advise you to take a look on his website: crowdsunite.com