Kicktstarter, Rockethub etc. are examples of websites that support such a type of crowdfunding.

• Peer-to-Peer Lending (P2P Lending)- In such a form of lending, an online platform matches lenders/investors with borrowers/issuers in order to provide unsecured loans and the interest rate is determined by the platform. Some Peer-to-Peer platforms arrange loans between individuals, while other platforms pool funds which are then lent to small and medium-sized businesses.

P2P Lending has proven to be a major source of financing for business entities in the recent past. A report by the Open Data Institute in July 2013 found that between October 2010 and May 2013 some 49,000 investors in the UK funded peer-to-peer loans worth more than £378m.

Some of the leading examples from the US are Lending Club, Prosper, etc. and from the UK are Zopa, Funding Circle, etc.

• Equity Crowdfunding- in such a form of crowdfunding, in lieu of funds solicited from investors, equity shares of the company are issued. It refers to fund raising by a business, particularly early-stage funding, through offering equity interests in the business to investors online. Businesses seeking to raise capital through this mode typically advertise online through a crowdfunding platform website, which serves as an intermediary between investors and the start-up companies.

In a few jurisdictions (like China), these platforms are restricted to offer this type of capital raising to sophisticated investors or to a limited number of individual investors. In China, an equity raising offer made to less than 200 individuals do not need to fulfil the public equity raising requirements.

Some examples of equity crowdfunding platforms are Syndicate Room, Crowdcube and Se