At Informed Funding, our team have been following the development of the Equity crowd funding market pretty much since inception. I met Andy Davis (now Executive Editor for Informed Funding and Programme Head for our Alternative Funding Network) three years ago when we had the chance to interview the ambitious Founders of Crowd Cube…at a time when less than £5Million had been raised through crowd equity platforms.

 

Fast forward to September 2015, and equity crowd funding for business is now becoming a realistic finance option in the minds of the business community, though I believe we are still in the very early phases of development. There’s still a serious lack of equity going into the UK’s small and medium sized businesses, so there’s a great opportunity as well as a great challenge.

 

Informed Funding only launched in February of this year, but we already carry guidance and information on nearly 40 crowd funding platforms that are business focused. At our Funding Fair this Thursday, delegates will get the chance to better understand the emerging range of options that now exist in this particular market, and we will welcoming to the stage, who will be bringing a fresh perspective (and finance option!) from Scandinavia. This session, aimed at businesses looking for finance, will commence at 2pm.

 

 is a licenced Helsinki-based fintech company that runs a pan-European debt and equity crowdfunding service. Founded in 2012, has so far helped raise more than 7.6 million euros for 40 successful crowdfunding projects. has gained a 46% market share in equity crowdfunding in the Nordic region according to a benchmark report by EY and the University of Cambridge.

 

Lasse Makale, CEO and Co-Founder of Invesdor, will also be joining Andy Davis at our Alternative Funding Network round table session at 5.20pm, when we will be looking at what the future might hold for Alternative Finance. I’m looking forward to hearing Lasse’s non-UK angle on developments.

 

If you have not booked to attend the Funding Fair, make sure you do before Thursday. You can find out more, and book your place, at THIS LINK.