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Company: McDonald's

Industry: fast-food/quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry

Founders: Richard and Maurice McDonald, 1940

Initial Capital: To open a new McDonald's restaurant franchise, the initial investment typically ranges from $1 million to over $2 million

Direct Investment Path:

1. Early Expansion – Franchising First

- McDonald’s began international growth mainly through franchising and joint ventures, which required less capital and risk.

2. Direct Investment Begins

- As McDonald’s matured, it moved beyond just franchising into direct investment (also called FDI – Foreign Direct Investment). Direct investment gave McDonald’s full control over operations, quality, branding, and supply chains.

3. Wholly Owned Subsidiaries

- McDonald’s established regional headquarters and subsidiaries (e.g., McDonald’s China, McDonald’s Japan, McDonald’s UK). These subsidiaries manage marketing, supply chain, and sometimes company-owned outlets in addition to franchise oversight.

4. Strategic Balance

- McDonald’s typically owns about 5–10% of its restaurants directly (for control, training, and experimentation). The rest are franchised or joint ventures, but direct investment ensures McDonald’s has a stake in local markets and sets the gold standard for operations.

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Company: Tesla, Inc.

Industry/Field of Work: Electric Vehicles (EVs) / Clean Energy

Type of Investment/Funding: Government Grants, Loans & Incentives

Founders of Company: Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning (Elon Musk joined soon after as an early investor and became CEO)

Initial Capital: Private startup capital + venture investment

Total Grants/Loans Received: In 2010, Tesla received a $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program.

Path of Investment:

Tesla was founded in 2003 with the mission of creating mass-market electric cars. In its early years, the company struggled with production costs and needed large amounts of funding to bring vehicles to market.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Tesla a $465 million low-interest loan as part of a government grant-and-loan program to support clean energy innovation. This funding allowed Tesla to:

Build its Fremont factory in California

Ramp up production of the Tesla Roadster and Model S

Invest in R&D for battery and charging technology

By 2013, Tesla had repaid the entire loan nine years ahead of schedule, becoming one of the most successful stories of the U.S. clean energy grant/loan program.

This government support gave Tesla credibility and financial stability at a critical stage, helping it grow into one of the most valuable car companies in the world. By 2021, Tesla’s market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion, making it the most valuable automaker globally.

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Mama Maria’s Italian Restaurant” in Boston took out a $100,000 small business loan from Bank of America to renovate its dining area and expand outdoor seating after the pandemic.

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Mama Maria’s Italian Restaurant” in Boston took out a $100,000 small business loan from Bank of America to renovate its dining area and expand outdoor seating after the pandemic.

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This is an example of a loan because Mama Maria’s borrowed money directly from the bank to fund their renovations. The restaurant is required to pay the loan back in monthly installments, with interest, over a set period of time. Unlike direct investment, the bank does not get any ownership of the restaurant—it simply expects repayment. This kind of loan helps small businesses improve their facilities and attract more customers without giving up control of the business.

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Company: Apple
Sector: Consumer Electronics / Technology
Type of Financing: Corporate Loans / Bond Issuances
Purpose: Fund share buybacks, dividends, capital expenditures, and supply chain investments
Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne

Apple’s Loan / Debt Highlights

1. Corporate Bonds (2013–present):

Apple issued its first U.S. corporate bonds in 2013, raising $17 billion, despite having large cash reserves overseas.

Funds were used mainly for stock buybacks, dividends, and investments, not operational needs.

2. Global Debt Issuance:

Apple raised debt in multiple currencies: USD, EUR, and JPY.

This strategy allowed Apple to benefit from low interest rates abroad while keeping cash in other countries for tax efficiency.

3. Recent Loan Strategy:

Apple continues to issue bonds for capital returns to shareholders rather than operational funding.

The company maintains an AAA credit rating, allowing it to borrow at very low interest rates.

Significance

Apple’s loans illustrate how a cash-rich company can leverage cheap debt instead of repatriating overseas cash.

Advantages: low-cost financing, shareholder returns, flexibility in cash management.

Risks: rising interest rates could increase costs; high debt levels can affect credit ratings if mismanaged.

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Amazon made a strategic investment in electric vehicle maker Rivian starting in 2019 with over $1.3 billion in funding, and holds a significant ownership stake. The investment is tied to a commitment to purchase 100,000 custom-built electric delivery vans by 2030, as part of Amazon's "Climate Pledge" to reduce carbon emissions. After an initial exclusivity agreement with Rivian for these vans was lifted in early 2024, Amazon continues its commitment to purchasing the vehicles, while Rivian is now able to sell its vans to other customers.

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Company: Apple
Sector: Consumer Electronics / Technology
Mode of Investment: Direct Foreign Investment (manufacturing, retail, R&D)
Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne
Entry into China: Early 2000s
Estimated Investment: Tens of billions of dollars

Direct Investment Highlights

1. Production Base (2001–2007):
Apple partnered with Foxconn in Shenzhen, supplying specialized machinery it owned, establishing China as its global production hub.

2. Supply Chain Expansion (2008–2015):
Apple invested in suppliers like Pegatron, Wistron, Luxshare, including tooling, logistics, and quality control. By 2015, over 95% of Apple devices were assembled in China.

3. Retail Stores (2008–present):
Opened its first store in Beijing in 2008. Now 40+ Apple Stores in major cities, all fully owned and operated by Apple.

4. R&D Centers (2016–present):
Invested $1B+ in facilities across Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Suzhou for hardware design, AI, and China-specific innovations.

==>>>>Apple’s investments in China are true direct foreign investment: it owns and controls factories, stores, and R&D centers. Benefits include skilled labor access, supply chain control, and brand presence; risks include reliance on one country and political/trade tensions.

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Company: Viettel

Industry: Defense, Electronic infrastructure

Founder: Vietnamese goverment

Type of fiance: Goverment Grants

Grants investment path:

Because Viettel is a large coorperation found by the Vietnamese government, they recieves lots government investments, contracts in their projects so that they could develop new defense, civil products such as radars , missiles such as the VCM series, drones to wifi hosting throughout the country. With the government fundings, they had use it to expand to other countries as well and provide Internet service there. .Until today, the continues to contribute to the Vietnamese army's weapons arsenal and the Vietnamese civillian life with high quality, affordable wifi services.

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Company : SpaceX

Industry : Aerospace and space transportation

Type of Finance : Grants

SpaceX, the firm founded by Elon Musk, is famous for building reusable rockets and lowering space travel costs. While a majority of its funding is sourced from private investors and government contracts, SpaceX has also received subsidies and government grants that fund innovation in space technology.

To give an example, NASA has provided SpaceX with grants and investment under programs like COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) to construct spacecraft which could carry cargo (and later even astronauts) to the International Space Station. The grants underwrote research and test costs that would otherwise have been extremely expensive for a private company to undertake individually.

By combining grants with private capital, SpaceX was able to create breakthroughs earlier, such as the reusable Falcon 9 rocket. Without that initial grant funding, SpaceX may not have been able to play on an even footing with traditional aerospace titans.

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Company: Evergrande

Industry: Real estate

Type of investment: Bank Loans

Founder: Hui Ya Kan

Loan investment path: In it's hay day, Evergrande's aggresive and tremendous expansion are normally rely on investments such as bank loans and the pre-sales funds. This is a common practice in Chinese real estate market, by being borrowing a huge amount of money off banks, even larger than their own company fundings, they are able to construct huge amount of properties that targeted middle class families in many spotlights in the many provinces of China. Before constructions are even built, they have allowed private investments from multiple sources from many people to rapidly expands. By this tatics from encouragement from government, they have rises like a dragon through the market, repeating the tatics everytime until the goverment restrictions to cool the real estate market down and a sharp decrease in demand took the company down.

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Company: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Industry: Electronics / Technology / Manufacturing
Founders: Lee Byung-chul (Samsung founder, 1938)
Initial Capital in Vietnam: ~US$670 million (2008, Bắc Ninh factory)
Total Investment (as of 2024): ~US$23.2 billion in direct private investments

Direct Investment Path

Early Direct Investment (First Factory in Vietnam)

In 2008, Samsung directly invested about US$670 million to build its first mobile phone manufacturing plant in Bắc Ninh province.

This was a wholly private investment (not through government or public funds) and marked the beginning of Vietnam becoming Samsung’s global production hub.

In the following years, continue to use direct investment and expand its business in Vietnam

In 2013: Opened a second large factory in Thái Nguyên with billions in additional capital.

2014–2020: Samsung expanded to other provinces and set up R&D centers, increasing total private investment to tens of billions.

By 2020, Samsung had become the largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam, directly employing hundreds of thousands of workers.

Further upgrades & new factories

In 2022: Invested US$920 million to expand production in Thái Nguyên.

2024: Announced an additional US$1.8 billion direct investment into an OLED display factory in Bắc Ninh, raising total capital there to US$8.3 billion.

These expansions are direct private capital injections, not stock purchases or indirect financing.

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Company: Apple Inc.

Industry: Technology / Consumer Electronics

Source of Finance: Retained Earnings (internal finance from profits)

Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne (founded in 1976)

1. Early Years (1990s–2000s)

Apple almost went bankrupt in the 1990s but rebounded after the success of the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

From the 2000s onwards, Apple generated huge profits.

2. Massive Retained Earnings

Apple has consistently reinvested billions from profits into R&D, product development, and expansion.

By 2023, Apple’s retained earnings exceeded $70 billion (on top of paying dividends and buying back shares).

-> Apple uses its own profit to finance new products (iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro) and expansion, rather than borrowing or issuing shares.

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Company: Uber

Industry: Ride-Hailing / Tech

Type of Investment: Direct Private Investment (VC rounds, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Private Equity)

Founders: Travis Kalanick, Garrett Camp
Initial Capital: $200,000 seed investment (2009)
Total Raised Pre-IPO: ~$24 billion in direct private investments (2009–2019)

Direct Investment Path

1. Early Direct Investment (Seed Stage)

UberCab (original name) raised its first $200,000 seed round from angel investor Chris Sacca and First Round Capital.

In 2010, Benchmark Capital invested $11 million, a key early direct investment that allowed Uber to expand in San Francisco.

2. Venture Capital Rounds (Direct Private Investment)

Between 2011 and 2015, Uber raised multiple VC rounds from firms like:

Menlo Ventures

Google Ventures (GV)

Kleiner Perkins

By 2014, Uber had already raised $1.2 billion in Series D direct investment, valuing the company at $18 billion.

3. Strategic Private Investors & Sovereign Wealth Funds

In 2016, Uber secured $3.5 billion in direct investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Other strategic investors included SoftBank Vision Fund, Fidelity, and BlackRock, who directly invested in Uber before its IPO.

IPO and Beyond

Uber went public on May 10, 2019, on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at a valuation of $82.4 billion.

All pre-IPO direct investors gained opportunities for returns when Uber shares were made available to the public.

=> Uber raised money directly from venture capital firms (e.g. Benchmark, Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins) and sovereign wealth funds (e.g. Saudi PIF).Investors gave Uber billions in funding in return for shares, not loans or donations.

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Company: Netflix, Inc.

Industry: Entertainment / Tech
Type of Finance: Corporate Loans & Bonds (Debt Financing)
Founders: Reed Hastings, Marc Randolph (1997)
Loans Received: More than $16 billion in debt raised over the years to fund content.

Loan Path

1. Early Loans (DVD Rental Phase – 2000s)

In its early years, Netflix relied mainly on venture capital and revenue, but as it grew, it began to borrow to finance technology and expansion.

2. Content Expansion Loans (2010s)

As Netflix shifted from DVD rentals to streaming, it faced massive upfront costs for licensing movies and producing original shows.

To fund this, Netflix issued corporate bonds (a form of loans from investors).

Example: In 2011, Netflix borrowed $200 million to pay for streaming rights.

3. Aggressive Debt Financing (2015–2020)

Between 2015 and 2020, Netflix raised over $16 billion in loans/bonds.

These loans were critical for producing original content like Stranger Things, The Crown, and global expansions.

By 2020, Netflix was often called a “debt-fueled entertainment company.”

4. Paydown & Profitability (2021 onward)

In 2021, Netflix reported positive cash flow for the first time in years.

By 2022, it began paying down debt instead of relying on new loans.

IPO and Beyond

Netflix IPO’d in 2002 (NASDAQ: NFLX).

Even as a public company, it continued using loans (debt) as a key financing tool, showing that debt can power growth even after IPO.

=> Unlike grants (Boeing) or crowdfunding (BrewDog), loans meant Netflix had to repay with interest; Netflix used debt strategically: borrow now to create blockbuster content, attract more subscribers, and repay later.

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Company : Oculus VR

Industry : Tech

Type of Finance : Crowdfunding

Oculus VR, the firm behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, began in 2012 with a Kickstarter campaign. They had an initial goal of $250,000, but they raised $2.4 million from an astonishing number of backers. This crowdfunding gave them the capability to create early prototypes, gain interest from gamers and developers, and demonstrate that there was a genuine market for VR.

The campaign was successful, and investors took notice, so in 2014 Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion. Oculus may not have been able to fund or convince large investors without crowdfunding.

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Company: Pebble Technology Corporation

Industry/Field of work: Production of Smart Watches/Devices (the Pebble Smart Watch)

Type of Investment/Funding: Crowdfunding (primarily through Kickstarter)

Founder of Company: Eric Migicovsky

Initial Capital: $375 000

Total Capital Raised After the Crowdfunding Campaign: $10,266,845 pledged from 68,289 backers after the end of the campaign

Path of Investment:

After publishing/taking his idea through Y Combinator, a business incubator program designed for startups; Eric Migicovsky managed to raise more than $375,000 from investors (namely Tim Draper, of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital firm) over the original concept/model of the Pebble Smartwatch.

After that, however, the founder failed to attract additional investments/investors to their company (which had recently been rebranded to Pebble), which meant that they had to turn to crowdfunding as a source of finance.

On April 11, 2012, Pebble launched its' first Kickstarter campaign to (try) and raise money to fund their operations and the production of their smart watches. They initially set a target of $100,000; however, after 2 hours of it going live, the campaign already exceeded its' targets.

With 30 days left in the campaign, they managed to raise over $4,700,000 for their startup; and after the campaign had ended, on the 18th of May, 2012, their campaign closed with over 10 million dollars raised.

Backers/people who raised/spent more than $115 would receive a Pebble smartwatch from the startup when it first became available (with the lower limit of funding being initially set to $99 for the first 200 backers).

On the 23rd of January, 2013, the first smartwatches began to ship; and by 2017, over 2 million units had been shipped out.

In 2016, Pebble was sold to Fitbit for $23,000,000, of which the selling was handled/credited to Charles River Ventures, a private venture capital firm which invested $15,000,000 into Pebble itself.

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Company: Tesla, Inc.
Industry: Electric Vehicles / Clean Energy
Type of Finance: Government Grant / Loan Support

Founders: Elon Musk, JB Straubel, Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, Ian Wright
Granting Body: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Year: 2009

Grant & Loan Details:

1. Tesla received a $465 million government loan/grant package.

2. The funds supported the development of the Tesla Model S and the construction of manufacturing plants.

3. The grant allowed Tesla to speed up production of electric cars and establish credibility.

4. By 2013, Tesla had fully repaid the DOE loan with interest, years ahead of schedule.

5. Tesla continues to benefit from government subsidies, tax incentives, and research grants for renewable energy innovation.

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Company: Spotify Technology S.A.
Industry: Music Streaming / Tech
Type of Finance: Revenue Sharing & Licensing Deals

Founders: Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon
Founded: 2006

Alternative Financing Path:

1. Spotify signed royalty-based licensing deals with major record labels. Labels received equity in Spotify and a share of future revenue, reducing Spotify’s upfront costs.

2. Artists, publishers, and rights holders receive a portion of streaming income. This created a sustainable finance system tied to actual music consumption.

3. Spotify also used convertible debt deals with investors like TPG and Dragoneer in 2016—loans that could convert into equity later.

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Company: Apple

Industry: Electronics

Type of Investment: Direct Investment

Founder: Steve Jobs

Direct Investment Path:

Due to the 2017 trade wars between the United States and China, in order to avoid high taxes and trade barriers between the two countries, Apple had to settle in another country to base its factories in other countries, including Vietnam. By settling in Vietnam, Apple had begin its expansion and direct investment into Vietnam. For example, since 2019, Apple had invested $ 16 billion into Vietnam. In 2023, it had committed for $300 million investment into their factory's infrastructure to improve the production capabilities, creating thousands of jobs for the local people. Its industrial complex extends from the North in Bắc Giang to the South in Hồ Chí Minh city. As of 2025, Vietnam would be responsible for 65% of Airpods, 5% of Macbooks, 20% of Iphones and Ipads from Apple's product range. Recently, the recent 2024 meeting between prime minister Phạm Minh Chính and Apple CEO Tim Cooks further encourages deeper investment from Apples into Vietnam.

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Company: Boeing

Industry: Aerospace / Defense
Type of Finance: Government Research & Development Grants
Founders: William Boeing (1916)
Initial Capital: Privately financed in early years, but major growth fueled by government grants & contracts.
Grants Received: Hundreds of millions from U.S. government programs like NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Grant Path

1. Early Government Grants & Research Funding

Boeing has historically received U.S. government support for aerospace research.

For example, in 2012, NASA awarded Boeing $460 million under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) grant program.

Purpose: To develop the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

This was a non-repayable grant/award tied to specific milestones in research and development.

2. Ongoing Support Through NASA & Defense Programs

Boeing continues to receive government grants for:

Space exploration technologies (e.g., Moon/Mars missions, launch systems).

Aerospace innovation & safety research.

These grants support R&D but do not require Boeing to repay funds, unlike loans.

3. Corporate Grant-Making (Philanthropy)

On the other side, Boeing is also a grant provider:

In 2019, Boeing distributed $48 million in charitable grants to 404 nonprofits worldwide.

Focus areas: STEM education, veterans’ causes, and community development.

IPO and Beyond

Boeing has been publicly traded since 1934 (NYSE: BA).

Government grants (like NASA’s) helped Boeing maintain leadership in aerospace innovation.

Shareholders benefit indirectly because grants reduce Boeing’s R&D costs and accelerate product development.

=> Grants differ from loans or private investment. Boeing did not have to repay NASA’s CCiCap award ,instead, it delivered R&D milestones. This funding enabled Boeing to develop cutting-edge technology without giving up ownership (unlike crowdfunding or VC).Government grants align with national interests (space travel, defense, innovation), making Boeing a classic example of large-scale corporate grant financing.

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Company: Tesla, Inc.
Industry: Automotive / Clean Energy
Type of Finance: Government-Backed Loan
Context:
In 2010, Tesla needed significant capital to expand production and bring its electric vehicles to market. Traditional funding wasn’t enough to cover manufacturing costs and infrastructure.

Loan Financing Path:

1. Tesla secured a $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program.

2. The loan funded the development of the Tesla Model S and construction of its Fremont, California plant.

3. Tesla repaid the loan nine years early (2013), showing strong growth and financial recovery.

Impact:

Helped Tesla scale production from a niche EV maker to a mass-market car company.

Strengthened investor confidence in Tesla’s long-term potential.

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Company: Pebble Technology

Industry: Consumer Electronics (Smartwatches)

Type of Investment: Crowdfunding (Co-funding)

Founder: Eric Migicovsky

Funding Example: $20.3 million raised on Kickstarter in 2015

Pebble Technology gained fame for launching one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns in history. In 2015, the company raised $20.3 million on Kickstarter to develop its Pebble Time smartwatch. This set records at the time, with more than 78,000 backers supporting the campaign.

This is an example of co-funding because Pebble collected small contributions from a large supporter base instead of borrowing from banks or relying on a single investor. The advantage for Pebble was receiving substantial funding upfront, while backers gained early access to innovative smartwatch technology. Although Pebble was eventually acquired by Fitbit, it demonstrated how crowdfunding can validate demand and help bring new products to market.

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Company: Netflix, Inc.
Industry: Entertainment & Streaming
Type of Investment: Loan (Debt Financing)
Founders: Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph
Loan Example: $2 billion debt financing in 2018

In 2018, Netflix raised $2 billion through loans and debt financing to fund its rapid expansion in producing original content, including movies, TV shows, and documentaries. Instead of relying only on profits or investors, Netflix borrowed money from banks and bondholders to finance production costs.

This is an example of a loan because Netflix had to repay the borrowed money, along with interest, over time. The benefit to Netflix was that it could quickly scale up its original programming and compete with rivals like Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video. In return, lenders received steady interest payments, while Netflix gained more subscribers and a stronger global market position.

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Company: Exploding Kittens, LLC
Industry: Games / Entertainment
Type of Finance: Crowdfunding

Founders: Elan Lee, Shane Small, Matthew Inman (creator of The Oatmeal)
Crowdfunding Platform: Kickstarter
Year: 2015

Crowdfunding Path:

1. Exploding Kittens is one of the most successful Kickstarter projects ever, raising over $8.7 million from 219,000+ backers in just 30 days. Backers received physical card game decks and special editions as rewards.

The campaign went viral thanks to humorous marketing and strong community involvement. Exploding Kittens grew into a multi-million dollar game company, expanding into mobile apps, expansions, and even a Netflix collaboration. The crowdfunding success validated the product before any venture capital was needed.

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Company: Tesla, Inc.
Industry: Automotive & Clean Energy
Type of Investment: Direct Investment
Founder: Elon Musk (along with Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, JB Straubel, Ian Wright)
Initial Capital: $7.5 million in 2004 (Elon Musk’s first major investment)

Tesla is one of the most innovative electric vehicle and clean energy companies in the world. Instead of just selling cars in the United States, Tesla has expanded globally by building massive factories known as Gigafactories in different countries. For example, Tesla built Gigafactory Shanghai in China, investing over $2 billion to produce electric cars locally. This has made China one of Tesla’s biggest markets and allowed the company to lower production costs while increasing sales.

It is a direct investment because Tesla puts its own money into physical assets such as factories, production equipment, and technology development. The benefit to Tesla is lower costs, faster delivery to local markets, and increased global market share. The host country, like China, benefits by gaining jobs, advanced technology transfer, and stronger participation in the electric vehicle industry.

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Company: BrewDog

Industry: Craft Beer / Brewing

Founders: James Watt, Martin Dickie (founded 2007, Scotland)

Type of finance: Equity crowdfunding ('Equity for Punks')

Why is it crowdfunding?

Unlike Airbnb or Uber, which relied on large sums from venture capital firms and sovereign funds, BrewDog raised money from the crowd or ordinary fans and small-scale investors.

It wasn’t one or two big institutional investors writing massive checks; it was tens of thousands of small contributors pooling their money.

How did BrewDog use crowdfunding?

BrewDog has had several equity crowdfunding rounds since 2010.

Thousands of everyday customers each invested relatively small amounts, but combined, they helped BrewDog to raise tens of millions,

BrewDog has created a large community of supporters who are not just investors, but also passionate promoters and advocates of the brand

Outcome

Impact of Crowdfunding

BrewDog could expand globally without giving up control to traditional venture capitalists.

Their customer-investors also became brand promoters, boosting sales as well as funding.

This is a hallmark of crowdfunding; it combines finance and community engagement.

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Company name: Monzo

Industry: Fintech (digital banking)

Type of investment: Equity crowdfunding

Founder: Tom Blomfield and team

Initial capital: Not specified

Total raised: £20 million (including crowdfunding)

Direct investment path: The Campaign on Crowdcube was notable for its rapid success and innovative investor engagement. The first campaign in 2016 raised £1 million in just 96 seconds, with 1,861 individual investors averaging £542 each. The crowdfunding round was part of a larger investment raise of £22 million, which also included institutional investors. Due to overwhelming demand, Crowdcube’s platform actually crashed during the campaign launch. To ensure fairness in subsequent rounds, Monzo introduced a pre-registration process where interested investors could pledge amounts via the Monzo app and enter a random ballot for the limited investment slots. Existing investors from previous crowdfunding rounds were given priority to invest again without entering the ballot. The funds raised were earmarked for growing the company, doubling staff, and expanding the product offerings mainly within the UK while planning for future international expansion. This crowdfunding approach allowed Monzo to build a community of investors who were also customers, aligning customer engagement with fundraising goals

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Company: Pebble Technology
Industry: Smartwatches / Wearable Tech
Type of Finance: Crowdfunding (Kickstarter Campaign)
Founder: Eric Migicovsky (2012)

Initial Capital Goal: $100,000 on Kickstarter (2012)
Total Raised via Crowdfunding: Over $10.3 million from ~68,000 backers

Crowdfunding Path

In 2012, Pebble launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund its e-paper smartwatch.

Goal: $100,000 → Final amount raised: $10.3 million, making it one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns at the time.

Backers pledged for early versions of the smartwatch, helping Pebble fund mass production.

Why it’s Crowdfunding

The money came directly from tens of thousands of individuals online, not traditional investors.

Each backer pledged relatively small amounts, collectively generating millions to bring the product to market.

After Crowdfunding Success

Pebble shipped hundreds of thousands of watches worldwide and launched further campaigns on Kickstarter, raising over $40 million total.

Although the company eventually struggled against competitors like Apple and Fitbit, it remains a landmark case study in how crowdfunding can fund consumer tech.

Outcome

Pebble showed how crowdfunding could validate consumer demand, raise massive capital, and launch an entirely new product category (smartwatches).

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Company : Samsung

Industry : Electronics

Type of Investment : Direct Investment

Founder : Lee Byoung Chul

Initial Capital : $670 million in 2008

Samsung is also one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam. Instead of just selling phones and electronics in Vietnam, Samsung built massive factories and research centers. For example, it has spent over $17 billion in Vietnam, employing individuals and making the nation a world smartphone production hub.

It is a direct investment because Samsung invests money directly into physical assets like factories, machines, and equipment of local workers. The benefit to Samsung is that it has cheaper production and a good international supply chain, whereas Vietnam reaps jobs, technology transfer, and rising economic growth.

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Company: Starbucks Corporation
Industry: Coffeehouse / Food & Beverage
Type of Finance: Bank Loans
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many Starbucks stores to close. Because of this, the company needed quick liquidity to stabilise operations.

Loan Financing Path:

1. Short-Term Borrowing:

Starbucks raised $3 billion through a loan facility from major banks, including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

2. Bond Issuance (Debt Financing):

Alongside loans, Starbucks also issued corporate bonds (a form of long-term loan) worth billions, giving investors fixed returns.

3. Repayment & Terms:

Unlike equity financing, Starbucks agreed to repay loans with interest.

Debt financing allowed the company to maintain control without giving up ownership shares.

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Company: Oculus VR (acquired by Meta/Facebook)

Industry: Virtual Reality / Tech

Type of Finance: Crowdfunding (Kickstarter Campaign)

Founders: Palmer Luckey (2012)

Initial Capital: $250,000 goal on Kickstarter (2012)

Total Raised via Crowdfunding: Over $2.4 million from ~9,500 backers

Crowdfunding Path

1. Kickstarter Campaign (2012)
– Palmer Luckey launched a campaign on Kickstarter to fund development of the Oculus Rift headset.
– Goal: $250,000 → Final amount raised: $2.4 million.
– Thousands of individual backers pledged small amounts in exchange for early prototypes and rewards.

2. Why it’s Crowdfunding
– Money was raised from a large number of people online, not from banks or direct investors.
– Each backer contributed a small portion, collectively funding product development.

3. After Crowdfunding Success
– In 2013–2014, Oculus attracted venture capital from firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital.
– In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion, giving huge returns to early backers and investors.

Outcome

Oculus VR is a textbook case of crowdfunding as a source of finance: a product idea funded by thousands of individuals online that later grew into a global company.

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Company : Amazon

Industry : e-commerce/ tech

Type of investment : Loans

Founder : Jeff Bezos

Amazon is one of the world's largest companies yet it still has to resort to the use of loans (debt financing) to fund its growth. Amazon took out an $8 billion loan in 2023 to fund general expenses such as new warehouses, logistics, and technology investments. Amazon also issues corporate bonds (a long-term loan from investors), for example, raising $18.5 billion in 2021.

By paying with money borrowed in the form of loans instead of its own funds, Amazon can expand faster, build more infrastructure, and subsidize projects such as Amazon Web Services and fast-delivery networks. The trade-off is that it is forever paying back the loans with interest, but because Amazon is so profitable and well-regarded, banks and investors are willing to lend at fair rates.

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Company: PóTơ

Industry: Gardening & Sustainable Goods

Type of Investment: Direct Private Investment (Parents)

Founders: Me and 4 other students

Initial capital, which is also the total raised via direct investment: ~250,000,000 VND

Direct investment path:

Context: We struggled to earn crowdfunding because we did not have the ability to do large-scale marketing. Large-scale marketing is needed to attract sufficient crowd-funding for a project at our scale. Large-scale marketing needed to be done by a team of marketing specialists because they have the time to do the work, unlike us. We could not obtain loans because we were not of the age, and the Vietnamese government never provides any grants for projects like these. We also can't register as a limited company yet so no way the bank is giving us money.

Therefore, we had to ask each of the students' parents to take out approximately 50 million VND for each person (after calculation) to cover contracts, employees, workers, and an upcoming patent

Future plans:

We plan to register as a private limited company when we are old enough because we have contracts with other companies that buy from us, who are willing to invest in us, so we can obtain more capital. The company: Dalat Hasfarm.

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Welcome to our Finance Hunt Padlet! Please follow the instructions below to complete the activity.

If you have any questions, please ask your teacher for help.

• Add a post to each section with an example of that type of business finance.

• For each post, include an image or video that illustrates the example.

• In the body of each post, explain why your example fits the category.

• Try to find unique examples that haven't been posted by your classmates.

• After posting your examples, review and like at least 3 other posts.

• Comment on at least one post, sharing an additional insight or asking a thoughtful question.

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Company: Airbnb, Inc.

Industry: Hospitality / Tech

Type of Investment: Direct Private Investment (Angel, Seed, VC rounds)

Founders: Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk

Initial Capital: $20,000 from Y Combinator (2009)

Total Raised Pre-IPO: Over $5 billion in private direct investments (2009–2020)

Direct Investment Path

1. Early Direct Investment (Angel & Seed Stage)

Airbnb struggled to raise funding early on; the founders famously sold custom cereal boxes (“Obama O’s” and “Cap’n McCain’s”) to keep the company afloat.

In 2009, Y Combinator invested $20,000 in exchange for a small stake and mentorship.

Soon after, Sequoia Capital invested $600,000 in a direct seed round — this was Airbnb’s first significant financial backing.

2. Venture Capital Rounds (Direct Private Investment)

Between 2010 and 2017, Airbnb raised billions in direct investments from VC firms like:

Andreessen Horowitz

General Catalyst

Founders Fund

Greylock Partners

These investments were made privately (not via crowdfunding) in exchange for equity, with direct negotiation on terms and valuations.

3. Strategic Private Investors

In 2016, Google Capital (now CapitalG) and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) made large late-stage direct investments.

Airbnb also received private financing from sovereign wealth funds and mutual funds during its pre-IPO phase.

IPO and Beyond

Airbnb went public in December 2020 with a valuation over $100 billion on day one.

All direct private investors saw substantial returns.

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Grants are funds given by an entity, often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient to fund a specific project or purpose without the expectation of repayment.

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Crowdfunding involves raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet, for a business venture or project.

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Loans are sums of borrowed money that are expected to be paid back with interest. They can be taken from banks or financial institutions to start or grow a business.

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Direct investments involve putting your own money directly into a business. This can be through purchasing stock or directly investing in a startup that you believe in.