The goal of the webinar is to understand how crowdfunding can be used as an alternative form for financing innovation, and how it can be complementary to traditional forms of financing.

The webinar will highlight different crowdfunding models and explain which crowdfunding model is most suitable for certain projects or organizations. Further, the webinar will give practical advice on which aspects have to be considered to run a successful crowdfunding campaign and how crowdfunding can be used to validate a potential market.

As an outlook, we will include the views of investors and public authorities to this innovative form of financing by discussing trends in match funding and strategies for investment portfolio diversification.

Learn in this webinar:

• How does crowdfunding complement early-stage finance?
• Which crowdfunding model is most suitable for my project or organisation?
• What are the essential elements to consider for running a successful crowdfunding campaign?

About the speaker

Dr Conny Weber is an innovation and crowdfunding expert working since 2016 for the European Crowdfunding Network (Belgium) and since 2006 for is – innovation service network GmbH (Austria). She also teaches Financing Innovation at the Danube University Krems (Austria). Since the start of her career, her work and research topics have been mainly related to innovative business models and alternative financing instruments, enhancing access to finance for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Currently, she is exploring distributed ledger technologies for alternative finance. She authored and co-authored several policy reports and studies in the field of crowdfunding for public authorities, e.g. the Austrian Ministry of Economy, the German Development Agency (GIZ) and the European Commission.

The European Crowdfunding Network AISBL (ECN) is a professional network promoting transparency, (self) regulation and governance whilst offering a combined voice in policy discussion and public opinion building. The network is incorporated as an international not-for-profit organization in Brussels, Belgium. We support our members with initiatives aimed at innovating, representing, promoting and protecting the European crowdfunding industry. We aim to increase the understanding of the key roles that crowdfunding can play in supporting entrepreneurship of all types and its role in funding the creation and protection of jobs, the enrichment of European society, culture and economy, and the protection of our environment. In addition, we develop professional standards and provide industry research and, professional networking opportunities to facilitate interaction between our members and key industry participants. On behalf of our members, the ECN will maintain a dialogue with public institutions and stakeholders as well as the media at European, international and national levels.