The ‘Wild West’ of financing: are ICOs the end of venture capital fundraising?

Traditionally, start-ups looking to get off the ground would have sought venture capital (VC) to raise the funds they need to help their growth plans. Now, however, companies have a new option: Initial Coin Offering (ICO). This nascent fundraising model presents benefits and disadvantages, as well as threats and opportunities, to the traditional VC business model.

Joe Barnett, Analyst at Livingstone, explores the latest trends in capital-raising in a guest article in Financier Worldwide. Joe examines the key benefits for a start-up from an ICO funding model, including the speed in which money can be raised for a project and the investing advantages of offering a large market to present a company’s tokens to. He does however highlight certain advantages that a company can benefit from under VC that ICOs simply cannot offer, such as an investor’s long-term experience and prestige, as well as direct financing and advice.

Read Joe’s full take on the ongoing developments in the world of capital-raising, in Financier Worldwide here.