Why is this important?
Crowdfunding projects have in the past has been mostly associated with consumer products and not an equity investment. According to Catherine Clifford, of Entrepreneur Magazine, “Crowdfunding is, at its heart, driven by a grandiose, ideological utopian vision of a democratization of finance in which the power of the purse strings is pulled down from the elite circles of legacy hierarchy and put in the hands of the people. It’s born of a rather anti-venture capital ethos”. But a major change in US Security Exchange Commision rules has opened the door to equity crowd funding via Reg A+ rules (Read Ruling). Chance Barnett of Forbes estimates that crowdfunding will surpass venture capital: “Just five years ago there was a relatively small market of early adopters crowdfunding online to the tune of a reported $880 million in 2010. Fast forward to today and we saw $16 billion crowd funded in 2014, with 2015 estimated to grow to over $34 billion. In comparison, the Venture Capital industry invests an average of $30 billion each year”. Crowdfund insider predicts that more and more companies will pursue equity crowdfunding, including new industries such as Agriculture, Sports, Energy, Transportation, and Biotech. Part of this growth is driven by cheap digital tools.
Things to keep an eye on
In Finland, the status of crowdfunding has been problematic, but now the situation is improving, as the government is proposing a new law on crowd funding, which should come into action in July (VNK). The new law clarifies the guidelines and makes it easier for companies to use crowd funding. Nordea has already started a crowdfunding platform for growth companies (Nordea). In addition, a crowdfunding platform for piloting and experiments was proposed in a report to the Prime Minister’s Office (VNK). In the energy sector, there are interesting examples of using crowdfunding for financing new solar power plants, such as the Finnoonportti project by Joukon Voima. Crowdfunding thus is seen to be a tool to fund startup companies aiming for growth as well as enable societal experiments or achieve a shift in the existing system.
Selected articles and websites
Crowdfunding in 2016: Five Predictions
10 Secrets of Highly Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns
An Unlikely Romance Between a Venture Capital Fund and a Crowdfunding Platform Promises to Shake Up Startup Financing
Spurring on the startup industry
Next Generation Crowdfunding Starts May 16. Expect Opportunity and Growing Pains.
How crowdfunding can help save Silicon Valley from its harebrained investors
Proposal: Funding platform for piloting and experiments
Nordea to introduce crowdfunding service to the market