CROWDFUNDING AS ALTERNATIVE FINTECH ECOSYSTEM IN FINANCIAL MARKET

Abstract

The financial market offers many opportunities for projects funding. However, in its development, the financial market becomes more complex; it loses such features as flexibility and ease of fund-raising, including increased regulation. As a result, new, sometimes niche types of financial markets and instruments appear in the search for convenient channels for the movement of funds from lenders and investors to borrowers and issuers. Crowdfunding has become such a niche component of the financial market, a kind of ecosystem that consists of investors (lenders, donors), crowd platforms, and beneficiaries (project owners), among which startups occupy a special place. Accordingly, the purpose of the study was to clarify the features of crowdfunding, the factors predetermining its development, and the prospects for its development. To achieve the goal,we use s tatistical methods. We note the positive trends in the development of crowdfunding in all regions, despite that China showed a crucial decline. Thus, the average annual growth rate of crowdfunding in Europe and America has been more than 60 % since 2013. We also analyze the factors influencing crowdfunding development, particularly economic development, gross savings, the number of crowdfunding platforms, regulation. The constructed panel multivariate regression models showed that the following factors were significant: gross savings and the number of crowdfunding platforms. Finally, we have determined the features of the functioning of crowdfunding in Ukraine. Among those, the use of crowdfunding mainly for charitable financing projects, an insufficient number of platforms, an insignificant amount of funds raised, and the absence of state regulation. As a result, we have identified measures that will contribute to the development of crowdfunding in Ukraine, including the adoption of best practices of crowdfunding regulation, ensuring the transparency of its functioning, establishment of specialized crowdfunding platforms, and creating a crowdfunding culture. Keywords: funding, crowd platforms, financial technologies.