First there was ArtistShare. Then came IndieGoGo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe and a slew of sites that revolutionised the face of fund-raising. Crowdfunding, which has taken off in a big way in the United States, is still very much in its infancy in Asia, with only a handful of homegrown platforms like Crowdonomic, MoolahSense and Crowdtivate. Yet, with a rapidly growing economy of over $16.2 billion worldwide in 2014 (up from $6.1 billion in 2013), it is clear crowdfunding is here to stay and has much more potential waiting to be tapped upon. Words by Lim Der Shing — Years ago, financing a business meant relying on bank loans, venture capital and borrowing money. Today, crowdfunding is turning that idea on its head, using the power of the Internet to help entrepreneurs raise billions in funding for everything from donations for music projects to equity financing for businesses. Now that ......