These figures come courtesy of Nesta - as its crowdfunding directory CrowdingIn celebrates its first birthday. The number of crowdfunding platforms has risen dramatically in the UK since the start of 2011. There now 87 active platforms in the UK – 27 of which launched in 2013. 7 of those have emerged in 2014 alone, and as a quick glance at AltFi News will tell you, the rate of new entrants is not slowing up.
Liam Collins, Senior Researcher at Nesta, explains that a combination of innovative, modern technology and the funding void left in the wake of the financial crisis have produced the ideal conditions for the rise of crowdfunding:
"We’ve seen phenomenal growth in the number of platforms over the last five years, across every type from reward-based crowdfunding to peer-to-peer lending. Crowdfunding has proved immensely popular, both in the UK and globally, and these figures show that this trend is set to continue.”
