Fees

The fees of crowdfunding on Startnext are ultimately covered indirectly by supporters through their payments.

That means project starters do not pay any additional amount to Startnext on top. The fees are deducted when the raised amount is paid out.

The fees are calculated and deducted from the payout. So project starters should plan for them as a percentage, even though the exact amount cannot be determined in advance.

The fees consist of the success fee for Startnext and the transaction costs plus VAT. By choosing a plan, the project starter decides how high the success fee is.

Additional costs such as AI tokens, starter kits, merch or RAISER consulting are offered and billed independently of the project’s success.

Costs for your Startnext project are only due when we pay out the funds. For payout, the minimum amount must be reached and the funding period must be finished.

The fees are deducted from the payout amount. We issue an invoice for the fees including VAT (or without VAT in the reverse-charge procedure).

Depending on the type of crowdfunding, we offer different commission tiers and product plans.

As a starter, you first choose the crowdfunding type and then a plan. The plan defines the feature set and the services provided by the Startnext team. With a discount code, you can reduce the price of Pro & Premium plans.

Classic crowdfunding (green)
for startups, creatives, musicians

Fundraising (pink)
for non-profit organisations, NGOs, activist, education and democracy projects

Fundraising for private projects (orange)
exclusively for projects with purely private benefit (e.g. personal health, education, legal costs, etc.). In some cases this can also be used for third parties (emergency aid etc.).

Included are costs for starter verification, chargebacks, research and fraud prevention. Not included are transaction costs and VAT.

Assigning a project to the correct crowdfunding type is the project’s responsibility during onboarding. We reserve the right to switch a project to the correct model even during the funding phase. Discounts remain valid, but the success fee changes according to the plan.

For the following funding volumes, the following tiered discounts apply to the success fee. The discount always applies only to the respective volume bracket.

• from 25,000 € = -5%

• from 50,000 € = -15%

• from 100,000 € = -20%

• from 500,000 € = -30%

• from 1,000,000 € = -50%

The tiered discount is applied to the commissionable portion of the funding volume and reduces the effective commission.

Startnext is not a payment service provider. That’s why we work with partners Stripe and PayPal. We pass on their costs as a flat rate.

Fees only occur if the project is successful and paid out.

• PayPal: 3.5% + €0.45 net per transaction (typical usage 70%)

• Credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay etc.): 2% + €0.25 net per transaction (typical usage 20%)

• Direct debit: 0.5% + €0.35 net per transaction (typical usage 10%)

For advance calculations we assume an average of around 3.5% net for transaction fees.

• Transaction costs do not include VAT.

• Transaction costs are excluded from discounts.

Transaction fees are non-refundable after payout. Additional costs for chargebacks, fraud or foreign credit cards may apply and may be charged on.

Projects on the Basic plan show a support box for community work and the funding pool at checkout. We suggest a contribution of 5%. This contribution is voluntary and can be set to 0%.

VAT is already included in this contribution.

If we as a company earn more than we spend on salaries, rent and infrastructure, the profit is reinvested or set aside as a reserve.

Examples of reinvestments in recent years:

• Our own co-funding campaigns, such as the COVID relief campaigns with more than 500,000 € and the weekly Launch Day show with 500 € per show

• Initiating the daily, free and publicly accessible Office Hours

• Launch Day co-funding