Switzerland based Investiere has published as list of the top 5 investment crowdfunding platforms based on total funding volume. The rankings were released earlier this month. Investiere only included platforms that publicly publish data on their site so platforms like Seedrs and SyndicateRoom, two leading UK sites, were excluded from the list (and may have been included otherwise).
According to the crowdfunding platform, the top five are:
- Crowdcube – United Kingdom: € 82,838,846
- Seedmatch – Germany: € 22,446,750
- Companisto – Germany: € 16,348,945
- WiSeed – France: € 15,343,600
- Investiere – Switzerland: € 11,949,864
The average amount raised according to the report (a figure that is increasing) stands at:
- Companisto : € 430,235
- Crowdcube: € 427,004
- investiere: €385,479
- Seedmatch: €295,352
- Wiseed: € 284,141
Now Investiere correctly notes that funding volume is only one metric to measure an investment crowdfunding platform. Also funding volume is always a moving target (along with exchange rates) and a single deal can completely alter these rankings. Perhaps a better metric would be the overall return to investors – a number that is certainly a few years out.
Investiere mentions that the United Kingdom is leading the way in investment crowdfunding within the European market – and rightly so. The UK is far and away in the lead in regards to an effective regulatory regime. One that has allowed crowdfunding platforms to flourish with no fraud to date.
An additional factor highlighted in the Investiere report is the fact that investing in early stage companies is highly subsidized in the UK. There are two tax incentives in the UK: the Seed Investment Enterprise Scheme (SEIS) ; and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). Both of these tax programs have a direct impact on the risk associate with investing in early stage companies and thus represents a significant incentive for individuals to back SMEs.
Investiere is a crowdfunding platform where individuals invest alongside known lead investors at a minimum amount of CHF 10,000.
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