Renewable Energy Crowdfunding World Map launched

Crowdfunding has become increasingly important as a source of financing for renewable energy, and the platforms are starting to make a real difference. But which are the most important platforms and where are they based? How much money have they raised so far, and how many projects have been funded this way?

Last year’s edition of the Renewable Energy Crowdfunding conference, introduced crowdfunding, the financial innovation that bridges the gap between financing demand and supply for renewable energy projects. Since last year, crowdfunding has proved that it is here to stay, with today’s industry landscape in a constant state of motion. New platforms have been established, existing ones have grown significantly, and some have disappeared. Crowdfunding has become increasingly important as a source of financing for renewable energy, and the platforms are starting to make a real difference.

Download the full report and map here.

The total amount of money raised by the ‘Big 5’ has more than quadrupled in one year’s time, today totaling €144 million compared to €31 million last year. Trillion Fund’s achievement is particularly remarkable, considering they occupied fourth place last year. From our comprehensive overview of 24 platforms, we can see that Europe takes the lead with 17 renewable energy crowdfunding platforms established, while the USA lists at number 7. Most of the top European platforms are based in Germany, while the UK and the Netherlands follow as the most active markets. Currently, only select countries are hosting platforms, but several upcoming platforms are expected to expand the market geographically in the near future, such as Joukon Voima in Finland or Fundera in Italy.

Top five by funds raised

– TrillionFund (UK) has raised €104.4m for 23 projects

– Abundance  (UK) has raised €15.9m for 14 projects

– Windcentrale (NL) has raised €15m for 9 projects

– Viollage Power (US) has raised €4.6m for 10 projects

– Econeers (DE) has raised €4.1m for 10 projects

Top five by projects

– Solar Schools (UK) has raised €0.7m for 65 projects

– Bettervest (DE) has raised €1.7m for 28 projects

– GreenCrowd (NL) has raised €1.8m for 24 projects

– TrillionFund (UK) has raised €104.4m for 23 projects

– SunFunder (US) has raised €0.4m for 21 projects

Renewable energy crowdfunding platforms based in Europe and North America are increasingly interested in the development of community projects, as well as projects in emerging markets. This trend underlines clearly the catalytic role that crowdfunding plays in funding renewable energy development in regions and markets that need it the most but which often cannot afford it. For instance, KIVA has a category specifically devoted to renewable energy projects and in this way helps to address the 1.3 billion people still eagerly waiting for access to electricity. The future of crowdfunding promises to be exciting, with new platforms being set up and ambitious projects being launched, such us Citizenergy, the first attempt for a pan-European platform to connect investors and projects from all over Europe.

This exclusive overview has been realized as a preparation for the 2nd edition of the Renewable Energy Crowdfunding Conference, taking place in London on 5 November 2015. If you wish to network with 150+ investors, project developers and crowdfunding platforms, while listening to top-tier international speakers, book your conference ticket today.