Tagged: EU

February 13, 2013 @ 5:11 am By JD Alois  |  

(Staff Translation) Delegates explain that small and medium businesses are “starved of capital”. Legislation needs to take account of their particularities.   Straßburg – The EU-Parliament intends to facilitate access to credits for small and medium businesses. To achieve this, more flexibility and transparency in… Read More

February 8, 2013 @ 8:09 am By Presseurop  |  

I have started making loans to total strangers – scores of them. I am not mad, rich or philanthropic. The loans are tiny. The safeguards are good. So far, the borrowers are paying me back and I am turning a handy profit. Even nicer, I… Read More

January 15, 2013 @ 6:01 am By Dominique Litmaath River  |  

UPDATED: In an early version of this article it was indicated that Enviu held the Dutch record for funds raised but it was pointed out (rightly so) that Enviu is in the number two position.  SellAnApp holds the record for raising funds on Symbid crowd funding € 150,000…. Read More

January 13, 2013 @ 12:24 pm By The Malta Independent  |  

The European Commission this week presented an action plan aimed at “unleashing Europe’s entrepreneurial potential to bring back growth”. The message is that in order to return to growth and higher levels of employment, Europe needs more entrepreneurs. With four million new jobs created every… Read More

January 11, 2013 @ 7:14 pm By Business Review Europe  |  

2012 was a tough year for SMEs. The Eurozone crisis rumbled on, economies stagnated or contracted and the banks failed to lend the sums needed to help pull Europe out of the abyss. Government initiatives such as the Funding For Lending (FLS) scheme in the… Read More

January 10, 2013 @ 8:12 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Commission has released a statement indicating that a focus on Entrepreneurship, including crowdfunding, is an increasing priority in driving economic growth. During the economic crisis EU member countries have struggled to various degrees in their attempts to create job. Dramatic structural reform must… Read More

December 13, 2012 @ 5:06 pm By The Economist  |  

    OF THE things you expect to encounter in a financial firm nowadays, hope is not high on the list. Panoramic views, insincere receptionists, plates of uneaten biscuits, yes. Optimism, no. But this is a time of huge opportunity in finance—as long as you… Read More

December 6, 2012 @ 9:54 pm By Reuters  |  

(Reuters) – A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it. The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to… Read More

November 5, 2012 @ 8:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

The recently released document put together by a cadre of European academicians has quickly become a must read for the policy leaders of the domestic Crowdfunding industry. Matthias Klaes, Professor of Commerce from Keele University in the UK opens the discussion by quoting Schumpeter and… Read More

November 1, 2012 @ 5:22 am By JD Alois  |  

(Staff Translation) Europe’s Crowdfunding Portals wish for more EU support. In a 40 page long report (PDF) that can be downloaded on the website Crowdfunding framework, crowdfunding representatives and supporters outline what future framework they have in mind. The EU on the other hand requires… Read More

October 30, 2012 @ 6:00 am By JD Alois  |  

One of the premises of this blog is that the success and methodology of open source are not one-offs, but part of a larger move towards open, collaborative activity. Thus, by observing what open source does well – and not so well – lessons can… Read More