Germany | Current State of Crowdfunding 2021
The current state of Crowdfunding in Germany
What is the current state of crowdfunding in Germany? This year, based on the German crowdfunding market performance in 2020, CrowdfundingHub has carried out the research on the analysis and the information regrouping of the German crowdfunding market.
Based on data from the Global Bench-marking Report of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, we can extrapolate some of the developments of German crowdfunding market for 2020. The trends observed in 2020 show that donation-based and reward-based crowdfunding have grown during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas equity-based and lending-based crowdfunding grew slower than in previous years.
Donation-based and Reward-based Crowdfunding
Donation and reward-based crowdfunding has more than 200 platforms which are active in Germany. We estimate that in 2020, donation and reward-based crowdfunding platforms collected about €50 million in total.
Regarding donation-based crowdfunding, Germany has more than 150 platforms. Betterplace, as the largest German donation-based platform, reported a volume of €19 million euros in 2020. Until 2019 it had raised €19 million, which shows the impact COVID-19 had on donation-based crowdfunding. With an average donation of €72, Betterplace’s projects concentrate in categories such as child & youth, COVID-related, health, education, culture, etc.
Based and operating in Germany, Startnext is the largest German reward crowdfunding market. In 2020, Startnext funded 2.795 projects with the help of 1,67 million users (in 2019, this number was 1,35 million). The total volume of Startnext was approximately €29 million. Another active reward-based platform is Fairplaid, Germany’s largest crowdfunding platform for sports. Since its inception, Fairplaid has mobilized €11million, successfully funding 1.850 projects with an average donation of €70 per supporter.
Other active platforms: Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Wemakeit, Ulule
Equity-based and Real Estate Crowdfunding
There are 78 equity-based crowdfunding platforms and 16 lending-based crowdfunding platforms that are based in Germany. These platforms operate not only in Germany but also in other countries. Moreover, another 15 equity-based crowdfunding platforms, which are based in Austria, also operate in Germany.
An Overview on German Equity-based Market Segments and Collected Volume
Real estate crowdfunding is a subcategory of equity-based crowdfunding in Germany. Real estate crowdfunding has been the leading segment during the past three years, topping €381,8 million collected in 2019.
Lending-based Crowdfunding
The now available data is about the total digital-credit-based market, which includes peer-to-peer lending as well as other forms of digital lending (for example, loans to municipalities by traditional investors). This total has reached €11,7 billion in 2020, providing 2.360 loans. However, this number is possibly too large. Based on platform statements, we estimate that the German P2P lending market has a size of approximately €800 million.
Download the report HERE for more detailed research result.