22 . Glasgow Business July/August 2013
Investment
FROM LITTLE ACORNS…
Crowdfunding – raising money through a large number of small
investments – is becoming increasingly popular, but could Scotland do more to nurture businesses by tapping into this valuable opportunity?
C
rowdfunding is a major opportunity for Scotland’s business community that could provide much-needed investment to start-ups and growing
companies starved of cash. Yet, as groundbreaking research for
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce shows, there is, as yet, too litle take-up of this new and rapidly growing form of funding. Crowdfunding raised $2.7 billion
(£1.8 billion) globally in 2012, with a projected growth to $5 billion in 2013.
However, as the Chamber research report,
Crowdfunding – Te Scotish Perspective, showed, Scotland is not making full use of this opportunity. Scotish investments are estimated to amount to less than £1 million, while, if it had reached its proportion of the UK figures, it could have been expected to have raised £16 million. Tese figures are based on NESTA
estimates that the UK market was worth £200 million in 2012 and is expected to grow to £300 million in 2013.
As the report says: “Based on these figures,
the Scotish economy, being around 8 per cent of the UK economy, could have created some £16 million worth of funds in 2012 and £24 million in 2013. “Our research shows that probably less
than £1 million was raised in 2012 and, while the figure is growing, it is well short of the sums potentially available.” Alison McRae, Projects Director of
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said: “Crowdfunding is going to be an increasingly
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