Real estate projects are driving the market for swarm financing in Germany. The total volume increases by 50 percent to nearly 300 million euros.
More money from the swarm: Compared to 2017, the German crowd investment market has risen by 50 percent last year. This is the result of a current analysis of the information portal crowdfunding.de (here it goes to PDF). According to this, publicly available investment offers for energy projects, real estate and companies totaled 297 million euros. However, the growth rates were in some cases much more impressive in previous years: the market volume more than doubled between 2016 and 2017, for example.
The strongest growth was again recorded in real estate last year. According to the study, this sector now accounts for 71 percent of the total volume. 27 per cent of the financing volume went to companies, and a niche role with a market share of two per cent has energy projects. So-called club deals, ie non-public financing offers, are not included in the figures.
Exporo and Kapilendo as market leader
Start-ups benefit from the growing crowdfunding market in two ways. On the one hand, swarm financing is an alternative to the search for institutional financiers. On the other hand, start-ups are the driving force behind the switching platforms.
In the real estate segment, for example, Exporo holds its own as market leader. The Hamburg start-up 2014 started with project financing, which was reserved for large investors. The company also buys existing real estate and invests its investors in rental income. Among the competitors are, among others, Zinsland and Bergfürst, with Engel & Völkers also mixing a sector giant on the market.
Crowdfunding.de currently sees Kapilendo as the market leader in Germany in terms of corporate financing. Last year, Axel Springer entered the Fintech, which was founded in Berlin in 2015. A new industry giant is currently emerging in Finland: The platform Invesdor, which is not yet active in Germany, recently announced its merger with Finnest from Austria. “Together, we will be the first pan-European digital investment and financing platform for companies in all stages of life, from start-ups to large corporations,” said Invesdor CEO Lasse Mäkelä.
Companies hope for marketing effect
Many companies appreciate the crowdfunding platforms, which can be associated with a strong marketing effect with financing campaigns. At the end of last year, Heidelberg-based digital company Ameria therefore once again launched a search for capital at Companisto prior to its IPO.
A surprisingly critical balance drew against Kartenmachen.de. The online shop had collected over € 340,000 from Seedmatch in 2016 to buy new machines. Now founder Andreas Ritter announced that there was not much left of much of the crowded crowd effects such as product feedback or marketing support. However, continuous costs for investor reports have arisen. Today, he would prefer professional venture capital firms: “In the best case, the investor shares knowledge and contacts. As a professional, he understands the business life and brings the respective company on. “