TOKYO -- The practice of collecting small amounts of funds from backers on the Internet to finance a project, known as crowdfunding, has finally begun to be adopted in Japan after becoming commonplace in the U.S. and Europe.
Crowdfunding platforms raised $5.1 billion in 2013, according to an estimate by research company Massolution. Sixty percent of the total raised in 2012 was in North America and 35% came from Europe, with Asia accounting for slightly more than 1%.
