4. Name: Wefunder

What it does: Allows startups to hold fundraising sessions with a bunch of investors on its platform

How it works: Each company on the platform goes through a screening, to check that the funding opportunities it could meet with are in accordance with the platform’s goals. “And, individuals are limited to only invest a certain amount of any one of these companies and as a collective,” explains Mike Norman, the founder of Wefunder.

Why the idea works: The Wefunder platform disrupts traditional funding techniques that startups normally undergo by combining them with newer, more popular “crowdfunding” techniques followed by websites like ‘Kickstarter’ and ‘IndieGoGo’. Wefunder, however, is different in the sense that it actually goes on to allow businesses to make use of the platform. Moreover, potential funders are offered a stake in the company so it avoids the awkwardness of a startup looking bad because of a lack of funds. Norman explains, “If we have a crowdfunding platform that everyone is using to raise their first rounds of capital, and it’s a way for them to hit those milestones before they go out to other forms of investment, then that signal won’t be there because it’ll be such a commonplace tool to raise funding.”