There are currently 6 crowdfunding platforms in Switzerland four of which at less than two years old according to SwissInfo.ch. C-Crowd was created to provide equity based crowdfunding;
C-Crowd was created in 2011 to raise equity for business projects. Although founder Philipp Steinberger’s original plan was to include charities and small commercial projects, he has now decided to concentrate on businesses. “This is our USP, our unique selling proposal,” he told swissinfo.ch.
After years of securing growth capital for young companies with requirements of CHF2 million plus, Steinberger was looking for a more efficient and less time-consuming way to help entrepreneurs, including those with lower requirements.
As these platforms evolve is interesting to see how national regulatory agencies manage or interpret this new form of financing:
Switzerland: FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, considers that crowdfunding is already covered by present legislation that dispenses intermediaries (the platforms) from obtaining authorisations to practise, as long as they do not use the funds raised for their own purpose. On the other hand, it issues guidelines to protect “unqualified investors” against fraudulent start-ups. In the event of fraud, the matter no longer rests with FINMA but falls under criminal law.
So in appearance the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority has taken a more laissez-faire approach to the portals themselves but deal with appearance of fraud outside the financial regulators. But note that C-Crowd is diligent in vetting potential investors;
C-Crowd applies a severe screening process however. It has also obtained assurance from FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, that it is operating within the boundaries of the present legislation.
