The traditional idea of how to secure funding for a startup is rather straightforward: entrepreneurs would perfect their pitch deck and use it to convince banks, VCs and angel investors to believe in their idea. However, times they are a-changing, with small-business owners increasingly becoming aware of alternative ways to raise money.
According to data analysed by Cowgill Holloway, the accountancy firm, ‘crowdfunding’ is the most frequently searched term relating to business funding in the UK. It was deemed even more popular than other finance options like bank loans, angel investors, peer-to-peer lending and government grants.
Commenting on the research, Benjamin Day, director of Cowgill Holloway Business Funding, said: “I don’t think anyone will be surprised to see the popularity of such search phrases rising, but what has been interesting to note is that searches for ‘crowdfunding’ have actually overtaken searches on traditional forms of finance. We’ve also seen big budgets spent on digital advertising for these newer types of funding meaning people are seeing these brand names appear at the top of the advertising rankings – as well as the organic ranking – even when people are searching for funding quite generally.”
While it’s only natural that more people hear about alternative funding if crowdfunding platforms buy ads about it, the fact that these searches are also growing organically suggest that entrepreneurs are becoming more aware of their options.
