Crowdfunding platforms across the world raised $16.2bn last year, growth of 167% on 2013.
Massolution‘s Crowdfunding Industry Report analysed 1,250 sites globally and predicts this will increase by a further 112% over the course of this year, to reach $34.4bn in 2015.
The Asian market is now larger than Europe, growing 320% and raising $3.4bn to Europe’s $3.26bn in 2014. But the US still dominates, seeing $9.46bn raised last year.
The research team collected information on 1250 active crowdfunding platforms (CFPs) across the world, including high-quality data submitted by 463 CFPs to the Crowdfunding Industry Survey, before undertaking significant further research and analysis in order to reach its results.
While rewards- and equity-based campaigns typically get the most headlines, it’s lending-based crowdfunding that dominates the industry: in 2014, it raised $11.08 billion dollars.
Commenting on the report, James Tuckett, MD of crowdfunding supermarket investUP, said:
“The lack of regulation in Europe is holding back this growing industry. In the UK the regulatory bodies have been excellent, and as a consequence trust in crowdfunding has grown, which has aided adoption, but the rest of the EU is in danger of being left behind as the globe embraces crowdfunding. ‘Established sites’ are only established in the sense they have been there early on. With just 3% of the total population being aware of what crowdfunding is, the opportunity for all is vast.”
From the Pono Music digital device from musician Neil Young, listed on Kickstarter, to Gaza’s only accelerator, Gaza Sky Geeks, using Indiegogo, just about everyone started crowdfunding last year. London’s equity crowdfunding site Seedrs, meanwhile, did its 100th deal since launching in 2012.