The 5th annual European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) convention is scheduled to take place in Paris this fall and ECN has set high expectations regarding the diverse range of topics to be covered.
Oliver Gajda, ECN Executive Director, labeled the gathering a must attend event as industry professionals gather to discuss both successes and failures the alternative finance industry has encountered during the past year. Events such as Brexit, the Lending Club stumble and the rapid growth of blockchain are at the top of the list. ECN will seek to review the impact of these seminal events on crowdfunding and peer to peer / marketplace lending sectors.
ECN points to estimates that indicate alternative finance in Europe topped €7 billion at the end of 2015. The growing sector is gaining traction but is also working towards increased professionalism and heightened transparency. While there will be bumps in the road, new forms of finance will continue to provide increasing support for early stage European SMEs and creative projects. More and more corporations, public organizations and financial institutions are acknowledging crowdfunding’s role in facilitating access to finance and are collaborating with platforms to create win-win partnerships or develop new models and applications. ECN wants to provide the stage to discuss these topics and contribute to set a baseline for a stronger and more transparent pan-European industry for the years to come. ECN’s mission is to be the reference event for the European market.
“the ECN Crowdfunding Convention offers a unique opportunity to meet high-level stakeholders from the ecosystem: platforms, banks, policymakers, professional investors and many others. This is a must be event to develop a truly pan-European vision for 2017 and beyond, to learn from success and failure as well as to connect with international actors from the sector,” explains Gajda.