Can alternative funding be a way out of the “valley of death”?
The time where entrepreneurial ventures have limited access to seed capital but are not yet mature enough to engage and interest professional investors, can be critical. The Nordic Crowdfunding Alliance project looks at crowdfunding as an alternative, although partial, solution to financial requirements in a company’s early stage.
Crowdfunding is a funding mechanism that involves the public, and the project wish to establish an alliance of Nordic crowdfunding platforms where 180 Nordic entrepreneurial ventures are invited to run pan-Nordic crowdfunding campaigns. Each of the 180 campaigns will be reviewed and receive academic input both prior to and during the online launch, with results analysed and knowledge communicated back to the market. The project also wants to share knowledge between the platforms publicly via research and reporting, and wants to coordinate national lobbying to towards more harmonised regulatory amendments regionally.
Project status
As of May 2015, the Nordic Crowdfunding Alliance has held its first annual national reach-out events in all four countries, with additional events being held over the next two years. The Alliance has pooled around 30.000 community members from across platforms and has launched 36 of the 180 pan-Nordic crowdfunding campaigns where the absolute majority have reached their funding goals.
The platforms in the Alliance are sharing knowledge in periodic meeting, monthly reports, academic research initiatives, and international research collaborations. The latest public contribution was an EY-Cambridge report. The work on coordinating national lobby work is ongoing.
Project participants
Norway: University of Agder (Project Manager), Gründerløkka AS/FØND
Finland: Invesdor Oy, Mesenaatti.me Oy
Iceland: Karolina Fund
Denmark: AMOX/Boomerang.dk
Project partners
Norway:
University of Agder (Project Manager), Bidra.no
Finland:
Invesdor Oy, Mesenaatti.me Oy
Iceland:
Karolina Fund
Denmark:
Boomerang.dk