More crowdfunding firms approved under new EU rules
The EU crowdfunding regulator has approved more platforms eligible to operate under the new pan-European crowdfunding rules.
The new regulation on European crowdfunding service providers (ECSP) allows P2P and crowdfunding platforms to operate in all of the 27 European member states and to carry out cross-border transactions.
Read more: Europe prepares for influx of newly licensed P2P and crowdfunding firms
Under the new rules, a crowdfunding provider must be approved by the relevant authority within the country where it is based. The EU said that this has led to discrepancies between regulators, as some have moved more quickly than others.
This disparity led the EU to extend the transition period to the new rules until November this year.
The new framework is expected to harmonise crowdfunding across the bloc, generate more competition and encourage consolidation.
As of last October, just four platforms were authorised under ECSP regulations: Lendahand, Crowdcube, CrowdedHero and Villyz.
UK-based Crowdcube became the first EU licence holder via its Spanish subsidiary Crowdcube Europe. Since obtaining the licence, the company has already expanded into France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia, and it has funded more than 20 deals under the new permissions.
The full list of ECSP-approved platforms is here, in alphabetical order:
- Beefordeal, based in France
- Crowdcube Europe, based in Spain
- CrowdedHero, based in Latvia
- Enerfip, based in France
- Fellow Funders, based in Spain
- Fundeen Platform, based in Spain
- Horeca Crowdfunding Nederland, based in the Netherlands
- Kapitaal Op Maat, based in the Netherlands
- LendaHand, based in the Netherlands
- NLInvesteert, based in the Netherlands
- Oneplanetcrowd, based in the Netherlands (acquired by Invesdor)
- Spreds, based in Belgium
- Seedblink, based in Romania
- Villyz, based in France
- Wefunder EU, based in the Netherlands
- ZIB Investments, based in the Netherlands