Equity crowdfunding is the raising of capital by issuing securities (e.g. shares) to a large number of people for small dollar amounts through a web-based funding portal. While donations-based crowdfunding (e.g. Go Fund Me) and rewards-based crowdfunding (e.g. Kickstarter) brought the concept of crowdfunding into the mainstream, equity crowdfunding is a more recent phenomenon and is a multibillion-dollar market globally and growing (e.g. StartEngine, Republic, WeFunder).  

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