Why Crowdfunding Is Set To Explode In Size Over The Next Few Years

The type of social-driven lending that helped fund flashy startups such as virtual reality goggles maker Oculus VR could more than double over the next few years, according to research from the Tabb Group. Oculus was scooped up by Facebook for a cool $2 billion less than a month ago after receiving its original funding through the crowd-funding company Kickstarter.

Tabb, in a recent report, estimates that the crowd sourcing market could hit around $17 billion globally by 2015, with more than 1,000 funding organizations formed to raise money. That would represent an eye-popping 200% increase in crowd-funding and an 88% increase in the number of lending venues throughout the world, Tabb says...