A mélange of high-profile brands and personalities are trying to ride the coattails of the recent explosion in the popularity of crowdfunding.
A few short years ago, crowdfunding, or raising large sums of money by soliciting many small donations, was an off-the-beaten-path grassroots movement largely relegated to artists. Not anymore. Crowdfunding has captured the attention of cable TV producers at CNBC and A&E, real-estate mogul Donald Trump and tech behemoth Google. Here’s a look at some of their recently announced high-profile projects:
• New CNBC prime-time reality TV show Crowd Rules, where small-business owners compete for $50,000 and the audience votes on which owner to fund, premieres tonight.