Crowdfunding, a method that enables projects to raise money over the Internet, has become one of the hottest trends in the world of Web-startups. The most successful of these is Kickstarter.com, which has hosted more than 45,000 projects.

Crowdfunding services host project details alongside the fundraising target and the deadline. Projects vary from site to site, from fundraising for charities and causes, to creative projects seeking investment — such as those on Kickstarter. For example, someone may have an idea for a product yet needs backing to start production. By using crowdfunding they can get an initial injection of funds to get the ball rolling. In return they set "rewards" based on the amount pledged to the project, such as giving the final product to those who pledge a substantial amount — but only if the project reaches its target. This process reduces the risk for both investors and developer, as a project will only advance once the required funds have been raised. Hosting sites generally only make money once a project has passed its goal.

As always with these things, new concepts from elsewhere are eventually copied in Japan. And there are currently more than 10 Japanese-language crowdfunding services like Kickstarter. Campfire (camp-fire.jp) and ReadyFor (readyfor.jp) are the leading two.