Solving the Puzzle of Crowdfunding: Where Technology Affordances and Institutional Entrepreneurship Collide

Crowdfunding has been embraced by entrepreneurs across the globe as an alternative to traditional sources of funding. However, it is not clear that ICT entrepreneurs in Sweden have embraced it as warmly, despite the potential benefits it offers. This paper explores this empirical puzzle in light of two complementary theoretical literatures: institutional entrepreneurship and technology affordances. It first examines existing institutional logics around startup investment before turning to the features of crowdfunding and whether ICT entrepreneurs perceive these as affordances. We discuss the tension among these affordances, institutional logics, and the crowdfunding platform providers' attempts as an institutional entrepreneur to become "taken for granted" as a legitimate part of the Swedish start-up institutional field.