There are a couple of reasons why many ideas or businesses don’t realize their full potential in today’s world, and at the very top of that list is funding. Back in the days, if you had the best of ideas with no one to fund it, then there’s really not much you can do. However, today, you can easily take advantage of crowdfunding sites in Nigeria to ensure you get the financial backing you need.
Crowdfunding in Nigeria
The emergence of crowdfunding means that businesses do not need to chase down investors anymore or even bank loans. Basically, you can simply place your brilliant idea on a crowdfunding site and watch people fund you from all over the nation. Several projects and businesses which wouldn’t normally become a reality, has blossomed as a result of strong backing from the public through crowdfunding. Today, there are a good number of crowdfunding sites in Nigeria to turn to when in financial need.
How does crowdfunding work?
Basically, all you need to do is to submit a project to the crowdfunding site and the site reviews it before posting. In the application process, they require you to fill in the amount needed to start the project along with the projected fundraising span. After that, it’s left to people to go through and make donations if they believe it would work. After the fundraising time elapse, the site hands over the money to you, the creator.
Crowdfunding sites in Nigeria
At the moment, some of the top crowdfunding sites in Nigeria include:
1. Kickstarter
This is a funding platform that exists to support creative projects. Therefore, artists, writers, designers, filmmakers, musicians and more are welcomed to use the platform to bring their idea to life. Kickstarter operates an all or nothing structure, therefore you must meet the financial goal you set within the specified time or every crowdfunded money is returned. However, after hitting your target, Kickstarter deducts a 5% service charge and processing fee between 3-5%.
2. Indiegogo
This is a global platform that creates an avenue for people around the world to fund projects they believe in. With this platform, you can generate presales and also collect feedback from individuals before you manufacture your product as a company. However, you can also opt for live crowdfunding campaigns. The company has helped raised over $1 billion since its inception in 2008, for over 650,000 projects.
3. NaijaFund
This platform empowers Nigerians to raise money for anything including personal needs and businesses. With Naijafund, you can throw open your financial challenges for everyone who wishes to support to do so. Also, you can link your social media account to the platform and ask for funds from friends. The platform is completely free to use, however, deducts a 10% fee from each donation you receive.
4. MicroVentures
As one of the oldest crowdfunding sites today, MicroVentures has helped a countless number of businesses gather capital from accredited and non-accredited investors. One of the most popular companies on this list is Facebook. Although foreign-based, MicroVentures is also supported in Nigeria. They review your idea, team, and market size among other factors before approving your funding request on their site. This process takes about six weeks.
5. CircleUp
CircleUp favours businesses that are looking to get their customer product on the market. Basically, it focuses on building and producing brands, making it one of the best equity platforms in Nigeria. Their services include connecting you with accredited investors, access to a line of credit for credible startups, and even insight from machine learning technology.
6. Patreon
This is another crowdfunding platform for creators to bring their idea to life. Basically, it allows Music artists, Bloggers, Content creators and many more to build a strong community and fund their idea. Also, Patreon charges a 5% fee excluding all processing fees.
Bottom line
If you really have a solid idea that you’re sure would work and people would buy into, you can hop on any of these crowdfunding sites in Nigeria to get the backing you need. However, your idea has to be good enough, and something that would actually work for people to buy into it. Putting something shabby or that you didn’t construct well wouldn’t get you any funding.
