Symbid Italia Ready For Lift Off

The Symbid platform is about to be switched on in Italy.

Symbid Italia has secured the approval of the Italian regulator (CONSOB) to operate an equity crowdfunding platform. The platform will go live in Q4 2015, under the management of Marco Bicocchi Pichi, who claimed the title of “Italian Business Angel of the Year” in 2014. Symbid's Italian operation is a joint venture between the platform and Banca Sella, as was first revealed back in March. Symbid claims to be the best established platform to date to have secured the blessing of the CONSOB. 

Korstiaan Zandvliet, Founder and CEO of Symbid, commented:

“As one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms worldwide we’re delighted to now be one of the first to internationalise. The potential for equity crowdfunding in Italy is huge with small businesses being so crucial to the national economy and yet underfunded. As a leading figure in the Italian startup world, we’re delighted to have Mr. Bicocchi Pichi on board our mission to simplify the way small businesses are funded. This announcement is a major milestone in the growth of our pan-European online funding platform, The Funding Network™, connecting traditional and alternative finance.”

There are a number of other incidences of equity crowdfunders branching out overseas. Leading UK platforms Seedrs and Crowdcube, for instance, have branched out to the US and New Zealand respectively.

Symbid is the platform behind the multi-faceted funding aggregator The Funding Network, which embodies a wide range of alternative and traditional business funding solutions. We were promised at the time of The Funding Network’s launch that international expansion was on the cards. Will the Italian equity crowdfunding licence be the first of many international permits?