1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors of a crowdfunding and payment system, from a plurality of merchant computing devices, transaction data for a plurality of transactions corresponding to purchases by a plurality of customers from a plurality of merchants associated with the plurality of merchant computing devices, respectively, the transaction data including payment data to enable the one or more processors to process payments for each transaction; receiving, by the one or more processors, from a first one of the merchant computing devices, a request to establish a crowdfunding project for a first business of a first one of the merchants, the request describing at least an amount of funding being requested by the first business, and terms and conditions for owning shares in the first business; generating, by the one or more processors, based on the request, a crowdfunding interface for the crowdfunding project, the crowdfunding interface including at least the amount of funding being requested, the terms and conditions for owning shares in the first business, a share price, and an option for purchasing shares in the first business, wherein generating the crowdfunding interface further comprises: determining at least one category and a geographic location for the first business; evaluating, based at least partially on the received transaction data received from the plurality of merchant devices, financial data for other businesses that are associated with the at least one category and the geographic location; and generating at least one projected return on investment metric for the first business based on the evaluating, wherein the at least one projected return on investment metric is included in the crowdfunding interface; receiving, by the one or more processors, from an investor and through the crowdfunding interface, a request to purchase a specified number of shares in the first business; receiving, by the one or more processors, payment for the specified number of shares in the first business from the investor, the investor operating a second business as one of the plurality of merchants using a payment transaction entity associated with the crowdfunding and payment system to process financial transactions of the plurality of financial transactions between customers of the plurality of customers and the second business, by: withholding, by the one or more processors, a portion of revenue from financial transactions for the second business; and transferring, by the one or more processors, the portion of revenue to an account of the first business as payment for the specified number of shares in the first business; allocating, by the one or more processors, to the investor, the specified number of shares purchased by the investor; determining, by the one or more processors, that the amount of funding being requested by the first business has been satisfied; determining, by the one or more processors, based in part on the terms and conditions, that the first business is able to pay dividends; processing, by the one or more processors, a plurality of subsequent financial transactions between customers and the first business, wherein the financial transactions are received from the first merchant computing device as a point-of-sale terminal; allocating, by the one or more processors, a portion of each financial transaction in the plurality of financial transactions for dividend payments to investors; and providing, by the one or more processors, from the allocated portion of each financial transaction, a respective dividend payment to each investor in the plurality of investors.