Crowdfunding Platforms in Europe

Crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly efficient channel for funding projects as an alternative to traditional banking sources. Based on this evidence, this chapter provides a detailed examination of the crowdfunding market, exploring its technological and open innovation profile, size, growth trends, and area of specialization around the main European countries. The chapter comprehensively analyzes European crowdfunding platforms’ current state and evolution using available data from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) and the European Crowdfunding Network (ECN). The chapter aims to quantify the phenomenon, offering an overview of the volume of funds raised and the number of active platforms while identifying key trends influencing the market’s development. The chapter also categorizes and provides a concise overview of the business models employed by these crowdfunding platforms. This classification aims to understand better how these digital platforms operate and address the different needs of crowd-borrowers and crowd-investors.