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A recent survey by Interface Financial Group revealed nearly one in three SMEs have been unable to secure business funding through traditional channels in the last twelve months. Unsurprising for anyone who follows this market, but what’s more interesting is what the survey doesn’t show – the reasons why these businesses have been refused and whether private investors would be willing to invest given the same information. It is further evidence of a reaction to the lending excesses and disregard for risk that characterised the period prior to the credit crunch from providers of traditional business funding. They have pulled up the drawbridge leaving SME owners to try down the road, or plod on with modest growth, or worse still rely on short term finance measures like credit cards and overdrafts to support long term plans.   And what happens to those businesses in the mean time? Everyone knows start up businesses have high failure rates, we’re told so all the time, but what if more could access funding at an early stage and move their business forward? Crowdfunding platforms like rebuildingsociety.com exist to support growth. We recognise the importance of access to business funding for early stage SMEs and our investors have a wide range of risk preferences to match a variety of investment opportunities. The crowdfunding revolution is still in its early stages in the UK, but its ability to offer business funding for SMEs will soon see it leapfrog its inflexible competitors and give entrepreneurs the help they need to accelerate business growth.