UNIKAT Crowdfunding
Project Description
The aim of the UNIKAT CROWDFUNDING project is the conception, piloting and evaluation of a crowdfunding platform for start-ups from the University of Kassel. The platform offers these young entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their company and to finance it with the help of numerous supporters. The crowdfunding website is aimed at start-ups from a wide variety of areas (art, film, music, design, inventions, prototyping, founding, etc.) at the University of Kassel and serves to bring supporters (capital providers) and founders (capital takers) together. Potential supporters not only act as pure donors but can also actively contribute to the company, e.g. as part of the evaluation of the business idea.
It should be emphasized that UNIKAT Crowdfunding is the first crowdfunding website in Germany initiated by a university. The website has been online since February 2014. It was created in collaboration with Startnext, the largest crowdfunding community in German-speaking countries.
Project Partners
UNIKAT CROWDFUNDING is a joint project between the following partners:
- Fachgebiet Wirtschaftsinformatik, Universität Kassel
- UniKasselTransfer – Inkubator der Universität Kassel
- Wirtschaftsförderung Region Kassel GmbH
Funding
The project is financed by Wirtschaftsförderung Region Kassel GmbH.
Award
The UNIKAT Crowdfunding online platform at the University of Kassel has received an award from the Stifterverband der Deutschen Wissenschaft. With this, the Stifterverband honors innovative and exemplary projects that are implemented at universities.
Research Contributions
- Wieck, E.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J.M. (2013): Funding from the crowd: An internet-based crowdfunding platform to support business set-ups from universities, in: International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems (IJCIS), Vol. 22, Nr. 3
- Bretschneider, U.; Knaub, K.; Wieck, E. (2014): Motivations for Crowdfunding: What drives the Crowd to Invest in Start-ups?, in: Proceedings 22nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2014), 9.-11. Juni 2014, Tel-Aviv/Israel
- Gierczak, M.; Bretschneider, U.; Haas, P.; Blohm, I.; Leimeister, J.M. (2015): Crowdfunding: Outlining the New Era of Fundraising, in: Brüntje, D.; Gajda, O. (Hrsg.): Crowdfunding in Europe: State of the Art in Theory and Practice, Springer, Cham et al., S. 7-23
Contact
- Dr. Ulrich Bretschneider
- Michael Kunz
- Nikolaus Lipusch