Crowdfunding in Europe
Crowdfunding is an important form of financing in Europe, both for businesses and individuals. For investors, crowdfunding projects can be an interesting way to earn a return on capital, although there are major regional differences and significant variation between platforms.
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What is crowdfunding?
With crowdfunding, you can raise capital for a project or business, with small amounts of funding from a large number of people. A platform does the paperwork, making it an easy way to get finance for certain sectors or regions.
The platforms bring investors and entrepreneurs together, and create an opportunity to raise thousands or even millions of euros from all types of investors.
Funding projects, and becoming a crowdfunding investor, can be interesting as the incentive, such as the interest rates on business loans, are usually good. It is easy to start with as the minimum per project is usually low and you can choose from a lot of different projects.
Invest via Mintos, Europe’s P2P leader with 11.62% average return, or EstateGuru for property-secured real estate loans across Europe. Investing involves risks. You can lose your investment.
Types of crowdfunding
There are several types of crowdfunding. The most well-known form is donation-based crowdfunding, often used by charities and nonprofit organisations. Reward-based crowdfunding is also popular. In this case, startups or independent artists offer a discount or a free product or service in return for a donation.
Investment crowdfunding
Investment crowdfunding, however, makes up the largest part of the market. If you want to make money with crowdfunding, there are roughly three forms you can invest in:
The biggest platforms focus on real estate or peer-to-peer lending. Some have already funded more than one billion euros, such as Mintos, PeerBerry, Mogelijk and Collin Crowdfund.
Peer-to-peer lending
Peer-to-peer lending is the most popular form in Europe. This means you invest in consumer credit meant for someone else’s home renovation or education, for example. P2P loans have potentially high interest rates, especially in countries where bank fees are high. Mintos and PeerBerry have both funded more than one billion euros this way.
Business loans
Financing business loans is the second most popular option. This type of crowdfunding will usually consist of small-to-medium businesses looking for growth capital or funding for real estate, for example. The last option can be safer because of the collateral. Mogelijk and Collin Crowdfund already funded over a billion euros this way.
Equity crowdfunding
Equity based crowdfunding is also a possibility and growing in popularity. This type pays back lenders with company shares proportional to their investment. It is especially interesting for startups that do not want to rely on capital investors. Large European platforms are Republic, Crowdcube and Invesdor. Keep in mind that this form of crowdfunding bears more risk as an investor. With equity crowdfunding, many projects will eventually fail to pay its shareholders.
European crowdfunding market per region
Crowdfunding is popular in some parts of Europe, but there are big differences between regions. In 2023, new European rules came into effect. Platforms now need an ECSP license from a local regulator, which allows them to start operating in other European countries more easily.
Baltics
The Baltic States are clear frontrunners. Platforms like Mintos, EstateGuru and Reinvest24 started there. However, EstateGuru and Reinvest24 have scaled back their international expansion due to poor results, especially outside the Baltic region.
France & Germany
Success now depends mainly on selecting the right projects and recovering collateral when needed. Many projects in Germany have run into problems. In France, which has the highest crowdfunding volumes in continental Europe, growth has slowed. In 2024, volumes even dropped, as real estate projects came under pressure.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, crowdfunding is still growing steadily. This is partly because the real estate market continues to perform well and business property loans can quickly generate high volumes. Collin Crowdfund, one of the Dutch market leaders, even expanded to Germany in 2025, where it has big ambitions.
Scandinavia
Sweden and Finland have a mature fintech scene, but crowdfunding volumes are relatively low. Because getting a loan is more easy there, the largest crowdfunding platforms focus on equity projects instead. Still, some Nordic platforms are expanding abroad or shifting focus to sustainable finance and green bonds.
Southern Europe
In Spain and Italy, crowdfunding for real estate and SME lending is growing, but at a slower pace. Some platforms have started cross-border operations under ECSP, but volumes remain modest compared to Northern Europe.
Invest via Mintos, Europe’s P2P leader with 11.62% average return, or EstateGuru for property-secured real estate loans across Europe. Investing involves risks. You can lose your investment.
Advantages of a crowdfunding platform
Crowdfunding has some advantages compared to other investments. First of all, when you invest in peer-to-peer or business loans, you receive repayments with interest. This usually means fixed monthly payments.
If you do not like the ups and downs of listed stocks and are less interested in buying real estate directly, crowdfunding platforms make it quite easy to spread your investments and still get good returns.
On these websites, you can access many different projects and companies, including their documents and credit scores. This way, you can choose the projects that suit you best. Some crowdfunding platforms focus only on specific types of investments, such as real estate or environmentally friendly projects.
You can also see if other investors have already joined, which helps you make a better decision. And if you are interested, you can invest right away.
Risks
Like any investment, crowdfunding involves risks. Platforms help reduce these by checking plans and company figures before approving a loan. Usually, each project is given a risk label so you know what to expect.
Still, a business may fail to repay the loan. Some platforms offer a buyback guarantee for this, repurchasing overdue loans including interest. This varies per platform, so always check the conditions.
You can lower your risk by spreading small amounts across several low-risk projects or on different platforms. Crowdfunding in Europe is regulated by the European Union, which makes it safer and allows platforms to operate across countries more easily.
Returns
Crowdfunding can offer good returns. For a typical small or medium business loan, interest rates are usually between 6 and 8 percent. Platforms with peer-to-peer loans such as Mintos, PeerBerry or Debitum can offer even higher returns.
Equity crowdfunding, where you invest in startups, is a lot more risky. While some success stories like BrewDog or Revolut gave amazing returns, these are very rare. Most equity projects do not succeed and do not even pay back the original investment.
Frequently asked questions
Some frequently asked questions about crowdfunding are:
Which projects should I invest my money in?
If you want to finance projects be aware that the differences between crowdfunding campaigns can be huge. Some are looking for support and donations, while others offer serious financial rewards. Be aware that lending money to a business or individual comes with a risk. You can lose your money.
