What is Milaap

COVID-19 led to catastrophic impacts on almost all aspects of human lives, national economies, and international trade. However, the crisis is also known for giving rise to innovations. The emergent trends indicate growing importance for crowdfunding initiatives as traditional financial institutions are increasingly encountering economic hurdles. Crowdfunding is a popular model to raise small-sized investments or donations from a larger set of contributors to support for-profit or non-profit ventures, social causes, or medical needs. This chapter argues and confirms that crowdfunding has been a resilient tool to generate financial resources during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It offers convenience, speed, accessibility, and support for local needs and local businesses thereby making it more attractive. To understand the finer nuances of the role of crowdfunding in the COVID-19 era, this chapter analyses one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in India, Milaap, the first Indian crowdfunding platform to initiate pandemic-support fundraising campaigns.