  Crowdfunding is a new funding method through which founders request small
amounts of funding from a large number of people through an online platform.
Crowdfunding facilitates a new type of social capital and exhibits a unique
form of social dynamics, thus attracting the interest of sociologists and other
social scientists. Previous studies have focused on social relationships in
crowdfunding such as direct reciprocity and consider how they contribute to the
success of funding. The social structure of crowdfunding, however, involves
more complex social relationships and it may contribute to the success of a new
venture or project in many ways. In this study, we focus on a specific type of
triadic social structure, the buddy relation, which can be described as a
relationship through which project founder x, who previously backed another
founder z's project, receives financial backing from the other backers of z's
project. We found that the buddy relation occurs significantly more often than
randomly, concluding that this structure facilitates the gathering of financial
backing and may contribute to the success of a crowdfunded project.
