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Abstract

This book chapter reviews crowdinvesting, which is sometimes referred to as equity crowdfunding. It specifically aims at answering the following question: Is crowdinvesting transforming the crowd into small business angels? In order to answer this question, we review the securities regulation in different jurisdictions and compare crowdinvesting practices in these countries with angel finance. Finally, we offer insights into different avenues for future research. One pertains to the question whether crowdinvesting will complement or substitute angel finance. While this issue cannot be answered unambiguously, we expect that in many cases, crowdinvesting may become a complementary source of funding to angel finance rather than a substitute. This is because crowdinvestors fill funding gaps at the lower end of the market or may at times co-invest with professional investors. In other cases, crowdinvestors may compete with business angels for the same investments since average funding volumes can be similar.