The article aims to analyze crowdfunding, crowdinvesting as mod-ern forms of investing in various projects in the context of Industry 4.0 and to determine the advantages of using these electronic platforms. The author draws a conclusion about the prospects of using new forms of investment in the context of the "fourth industrial revolution".
Industry 4.0, digital technologies, crowdfunding, crowdinvesting, innovation, financing, projects, Internet platforms
Introduction
The magnitude of the changes brought about by the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" are leading to the transformation of entire systems of production, management and governance. Industry 4.0 denotes an intelligent manufacturing network that integrates physical manufacturing operations with digital technology, machine learning and big data to form a coherent ecosystem of interconnected companies. [7]. From a technological point of view, the concept of Industry 4.0 is mainly about digitalization and automation.
Digitalization processes predetermine the transformation of public relations [2, с. 104], modern business models, the introduction of key technologies by companies: modeling, horizontal and vertical system integration, cybersecurity, cloud technologies, additive 3D technologies, augmented reality, etc. [6, p. 63]
The introduction of new technologies, the use of financial services through the data telecommunications network, namely the Internet, and other modern technologies is an important direction of development of the financial market of the Russian Federation [1, с. 147] and aimed at improving production processes, which, in turn, requires large amounts of investment. New high-tech financial instruments for attracting money are developing.
Moreover, in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, industries with access to large amounts of data (including the sphere of banking services) will be able to significantly accelerate the process of transactions [4, с. 76].
In its turn, the rapid development of information technology and the Internet leads to the active development of new models of investment in different areas of public life (crowdfunding and crowdinvesting institutions, etc.).
Purpose of the study
It aims to analyze crowdfunding and crowdfunding as new forms of investment in the context of the "fourth industrial revolution", to estimate the prospects of their use.
Materials and methods
The author researches modern financial investment instruments, considering the latest digital technologies. The methodological basis of the work includes: the method of scientific analysis, the dialectical method, the method of logical analysis.
Results and discussion
The advantages of crowdfunding and crowdinvesting platforms lie in the simplicity and high speed of investment transactions.
Crowdfunding is most commonly used by startups or growing businesses as a way to access alternative funds. This is an innovative way to find sources of financing for new projects, businesses or ideas. Crowdfunding platforms are websites that provide with a financial security and the services via a crowdfunding platform.
Crowdfunding can be divided into several types:
- according to the goals of the crowdfunding project: business project, creative, political, social;
- according to the type of compensation to sponsors: without compensation, non-financial compensation, financial compensation.
Crowdfunding is a way of uniting beginners and small investors who can bring significant financial resources working together. Fundraising on crowdfunding platforms leads to an increase of the speed of development and implementation of innovative projects [5].
Currently, crowdfunding is at its peak in many countries, due to the high demand for innovation.
In Russia, crowdfunding is at the beginning of its development. Currently there are more than ten crowdfunding platforms in various areas: the organization of lending to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses (Taplend, Zaimudeneg.ru, StartTrack); attracting investment in small and medium-sized businesses, selling shares of small businesses (SIMEX, IPOBoard); organization of financing creative and original projects in any field of activity (Planeta.ru, Boomstarter, Circles), etc. The most popular crowdfunding platforms are Planeta.ru and Boomstarter [3, с. 29].
Despite the fact that participants in crowdfunding platforms use the forms of contracts established in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (deed of gift, loan agreement, simple partnership agreement, etc.), in order for crowdfunding to rapidly develop in Russia, legislation in this area must be elaborated.
Crowdinvesting is also a new financial tool for raising funds for small and medium-sized businesses and is an alternative to a bank credit and venture capital funds.
The main idea of crowdinvesting is to use a wide range of microinvestors represented by citizens, who are not professional investors, as a source of funds for the development of their business. Over the past decade, crowdfunding tools have become increasingly popular around the world. The kickstarter.com project is especially popular on the global market, and planeta.ru, Starttrek, and Alfa-Stream are widespread in Russia.
Crowdinvesting is a popular financing mechanism for companies at the earliest stages of development. This new entrepreneurial financing scheme supports companies that lack collateral and financial history to access traditional sources of financing. In particular, crowd investing is aimed at financing new innovative enterprises, high-tech enterprises and knowledge-based firms.
Crowdinvesting is a legitimate and sustainable alternative financial tool for founders. Many young innovative enterprises have accumulated capital with the help of crowdfunding platforms. According to the assessment of experts, most of the capital at the early stages comes from online platforms.
Similar to crowdfunding, crowdinvesting is not sufficiently regulated in the domestic legislation, while there is an urgent need for a legal framework to protect investors from unfair companies.
Conclusion
In the context of Industry 4.0, modern business models are being transformed, companies are introducing new digital technologies. The development of information technology leads to the emergence of new investment models in various spheres of public life, which are gaining popularity both abroad and in the Russian Federation due to the creation of favorable conditions for the development of projects that attract funds.
Crowdfunding and crowdinvesting represent the greatest potential among all the tools, which not only attract investors' interest in profitable investments, create favorable conditions for the development of projects that raise funds, but also guarantee new investments and avoid fraud.
Futhermore, the researched platforms help investors make investment decisions by providing with the information about the founders and their teams, and also about the markets where the promoted enterprises participate.
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