Thinking of Crowdfunding? This Review Site Helps You Choose Wisely

With hundreds of crowdfunding platforms online, it's hard to know which to choose. Do you go with a donation-based service like Kickstarter or RocketHub? An equity-investment site like EarlyShares? A debt-investment platform like Prosper? Should you pick one that lets you keep whatever you raise, or one that requires you to raise a predetermined amount? Or should you eliminate the middleman altogether and build your own page using a white-label platform like Crowdhoster?

CrowdsUnite aims to cut through the confusion. Alex Feldman, an MBA who spent six years working in IT at New York's investment banks, launched the site in 2012, after the U.S. JOBS Act was passed, paving the way for legal equity crowdfunding from non-accredited investors. Feldman's first thought was to build a platform of his own. But while researching the competition, it struck him: A platform that crowdsources user reviews of crowdfunding sites could be a big assist for business owners befuddled by all the options. CrowdsUnite was born. "What I'm trying to become is a Yelp for the crowdfunding industry, a resource that anybody can use," Feldman says.