Master's Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Business economics - Company formation, Business Plans, grade: 8, , language: English, abstract: This thesis has identified several influencing factors why start-up companies are not using crowdsourcing opportunities for their business development. The author has reviewed different literature sources and theories, identified critical factors, developed a theoretical framework and set two research questions: To what extent are Start-ups aware of crowdsourcing opportunities as business development tools? How can Start-ups apply crowdsourcing principles for their business development?The author analysed a survey, which consisted of 350 respondents, a case study was used to see how companies are using crowdsourcing for their business development and, using this data and framework, a conclusion and recommendation have been made. The data was evaluated using Cronbach alpha.