Platform Gains License to Operate across the EU

Invesdor, a Nordic equity crowdfunding platform, has been granted a MiFID license by financial authorities. This allows the platform to expand debt and equity crowdfunding services across all 31 EU and EEA countries.

Invesdor is the first crowdfunding platform to receive this level of licence and regulation, and it is part of the European Commission’s drive to harmonise financial regulations across Europe.  

Lasse Mäkelä, Invesdor co-founder and CEO, commented:

"Making the fundraising process fair, transparent and standardised for all participants is very important for us. We give growth companies an alternative way of fundraising, and now we can scale our business across Europe."

The platform has so far hosted 30 crowdfunding projects raising €4.4 million. The largest round attracted more than 780 investors and the most international round pulled in investors from 27 different countries. The platform aims to become the dominant cross-border funding platform for new ventures in Europe. We have previously reported on cross-border deals from Lendico – a consumer lending site – but the company has since repositioned and is focusing more on its home market, Germany.

Tero Weckroth, Chairman of the Board, added:

"Through Invesdor, people become part of great stories and diversify their investment portfolios. We're not only helping tech and software startups achieve their full potential in a wider market, but other companies in the sports, medical, musical, and hospitality and catering industries are also current clients."

The company has also recently introduced a new asset onto its platform: CrowdBonds. This is a transferable debt security that investors can use to help diversify their investment portfolios. These CrowdBonds can be traded on exchanges like Privanet, Finland’s leading non-listed securities trading venue.  The interest rate on Crowdbonds is determined by the market, i.e. it is based on buy orders for the bond. 

To help finance the platform Invesdor has utilised crowdfunding and has raised more than €800,000 through crowdfunding rounds and public grants. The company will be opening a new crowdfunding round for itself in May. We have seen many other platforms use crowdfunding as a way to raise funds and boost their profiles. PledgeMe, a New Zealand based crowdfunder, raised $100,000 in less than 24 hours and the UK’s Crowdcube raised £1.2 million in just 16 minutes.   

The growth in European alternative finance has been much slower than what we have seen in the UK and the opportunity in Europe grows significantly when more cross-border deals start to happen.