crowdfunding

A method in which individuals and businesses raise money by accumulating small investments from many people online. It is considered a social networking approach to fundraising. 

Historical perspective: As of 2020, some $9 billion was raised on the charitable crowdfunding site GoFundMe through more than 120 million donations, at which time a fundraiser was started every eight seconds. But note: Your brilliant idea could be on sale in China before you've even finished funding it. An entrepreneur launched a crowdfunding campaign for his invention. Just one week later, he found Chinese vendors selling his creation online, some even using the exact same product name! According to one venture capitalist who works in China: If you have a simple product that has some market demand, you will get copied.