Crowdfunding como alternativa de financiamiento para las pymes en Ecuador

Abstract

Abstract: Currently, crowdfunding as a means of raising funds to finance projects of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and in turn individual and social initiatives, has become an additional mechanism for countries demanding capital. The objective of this work using an exploratory and descriptive research methodology had two purposes, first, to determine how crowdfunding is an alternative financing mechanism for SMEs and individual entrepreneurial ideas and second, to analyze in the Ecuadorian context how crowdfunding platforms finance SMEs. The results in the Ecuadorian context determined that SMEs do not opt for or obtain resources from third parties through crowdfunding as happens in contexts such as Europe and the United States; it seems that SMEs obtain resources to finance themselves through banks and their own resources. The findings of the study open an interesting debate about how alternative means of financing such as crowdfunding should be used to meet the capital requirements of SMEs in emerging countries such as Ecuador.