The Crowdfunding Centre: London is the World’s Crowdfunding Capital

Move over, New York City and San Francisco. According to a recent report, London has been dubbed the world’s capital of crowdfunding.

During one of The Crowdfunding Centre events last week, an interactive map shows that London was the top city for the funding option, all thanks to local businesses and startups creating more campaigns during July than any other city that was reported. Also according to Forbes,  just over 250,000 crowdfunding have been launched internationally so far this year and London is leading the charge in terms of cities, with 12 new projects launching on average each day.

Barry James Head ShotFounder and CEO of The Crowdfunding Centre, Barry James, stated, “When we look at the database, I was stunned to see that London sees the most crowdfunding activity on most days.”

Sharing his thoughts as to why the city is contributing so many projects, Barry added, “It’s clear form the figures that the hyper-connectivity of the startup community in London is helping. There is also the fact that compared to the U.S., where centers of excellence are scattered around the East and West coasts, London has become a center of many specialisms.”

The data also revealed that London is a leader for crowdfunding projects in business, technology, publishing, and gaming industries. University of California’s Dr. Richard Swart, said, “London and the UK are continuing the growth documented in our research. It is becoming clear the UK is leading the market in many respects.”

Chancellor of the Exchequer George OsborneRevealing the UK’s government’s reaction to the data, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, stated that the UK is ready to challenge the US when it comes to crowdfunding dominance. “We stand at the dawn of a new era of innovative finance. Setting the objective of the UK leading the world, London has become the world capital of crowdfunding. The technologies being developed today will revolutionize the way we bank, the way we invest, the way companies raise money. It will lead the new products, new services, new lenders.”

Other data has also revealed that crowdfunding has significant grown in the UK over the last few years, with more than 600% between 2012 and 2013. Under £4m raised in 2012 to more than £28m in 2013. The industry is now on track to reach £1bn in peer-to-peer and £50 to £60 million in equity crowdfunding by the end of 2014. Britain is currently the home of around 80 Jeff Lynn CEO Seedrscrowdfunding platforms, with the biggest being Crowdcube and Seedrs.

“[The UK] is the best jurisdiction for crowdfunding in the world,” Founder of Seedrs, Jeff Lynn, explained. “The U.S. and the rest of  Europe are far behind the UK, which has a sensible regime that protects investors while still creating a commercial model in which to operate. Hats off to the government for their enthusiasm.”



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