Start-up businesses raised more than 11.42 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) through crowdfunding in China in 2015, according to Internet finance service provider Wangdaizhijia.

Crowdfunding allows people to raise money for projects online in return for giving investors business stakes, products or services.

The sum raised through crowdfunding in 2015 was more than five times as much as the 2.16 billion yuan raised in 2014, following authorities' encouragement of mass entrepreneurship to counter a slowdown in growth and aid economic restructuring.

The number of crowdfunding platforms almost doubled to 283 in 2015, according to Wangdaizhijia.

Venture capitalists and private equity firms have also been driving the boom in start-up funding.

Early stage funding can be risky, warned Wangdaizhijia. About 40 crowdfunding platforms were shut down in 2015 while another 26 left the business, it said.