The crowdfunding in the Netherlands reaches decidedly large volumes in proportion to the size of the country. This denotes the dynamism and technological advancement of Dutch society and economy.

The distinguishing feature of the Dutch crowdfunding market is the Overwhelming prevalence of lending mode than other types of capital raising, attributable to both cultural and economic motivations.

The birth and development of the crowdfunding in the Netherlands have followed a similar path as many other European countries, and the prospects for the future also tend to be common, mainly due to the ECSP Regulations which standardized regulations for crowdfunding service providers in the European Union.

The origins of crowdfunding in the Netherlands

As is often the case-we have seen this in the history of the crowdfunding in the United States, but also in Spain -, the roots of crowdfunding lie in the need for capital for creative and cultural projects.

In our article on the history of crowdfunding, in fact, we traced the principles of this capital-raising mechanism back to the autonomous organization of seventeenth-century Amsterdam explorers and merchants for financing sea expeditions.

But if we want to identify the Origins of crowdfunding in the Netherlands understood as a tool for raising capital online, we need to look closer: in the 1910s, the first fundraising platforms in the service of cultural and creative projects were born in the Netherlands, modeled after the U.S.-based Kickstarter: for example, CineCrowd and Voordekunst. The government itself encourages this form of funding to reduce the arts sector's dependence on public funds.

Le first equity and lending platforms follow closely behind: two pioneers such as CrowdAboutNow and Oneplanetcrowd were born between 2010 and 2012. The latter is also a trend setter because of its specialization in investing in sustainable innovation projects.

At this stage, there is still no regulation for these types of instruments. Only between 2014 and 2016 The Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) and the Central Bank of the Netherlands. begin to establish mandatory licenses for crowdfunding platforms, disclosure requirements for offerings, and limits on retail users' investments.

This gives a significant boost to crowdfunding, which comes to maturity between 2017 and 2019, with the largest platforms consolidating their position. The market encounters a slight slowdown during the pandemic period, then resumes rapid growth from 2021-2022.

Crowdfunding in the Netherlands, moreover, does not seem to have suffered particularly from the compliance hurdles posed by the entry into force of the ECSP regulation, as has been the case in Italy.

The size of the crowdfunding market in the Netherlands

As we anticipated in the opening of this article, the size of the crowdfunding market in the Netherlands is extraordinary relative to the Dutch population and economy. The data include equity, lending, and reward crowdfunding in aggregate.

Even before the pandemic, in 2020, the total annual collection amounted to 417 million, which became about 730 million in 2021. But the decisive leap forward came in 2022, when crowdfunding in the Netherlands has surpassed 1 billion in total funding.

In 2023 and 2024 this trend was confirmed, reaching 1.13 billion in collection.

Of these volumes, lending crowdfunding makes up about 90% and is especially popular in the real estate, as is also the case everywhere in the rest of Europe.

Equity crowdfunding, therefore, has a decidedly minority share of the market, although it is growing.Reward crowdfunding remains a stable niche for creative and cultural projects.

Le reasons for the dominance of lending crowdfunding are to be found first and foremost in the debt predilection of Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises, which tend to avoid ownership dilution.

In the early days of crowdfunding in the Netherlands, moreover, regulations had milder licensing requirements for lending crowdfunding, while equity was considered a full-fledged financial instrument, thus imposing unsustainable compliance burdens on both platforms and businesses.

Finally, the leading Dutch lending crowdfunding platforms have built complementary relationships with banks, for example, financing parts of larger projects upstream or downstream of bank credit.

Finally, the culture of Dutch investors, who tend to have a conservative approach, also plays a role.

Dutch platforms

As of 2024, the following result. 48 crowdfunding service providers active in the Netherlands in the ESMA register, but of these only 22 are platforms based in the Netherlands: the other 26 are foreign platforms that have activated operations in the Netherlands after obtaining the "European passport" established by the ECSP Regulation.

As can be easily guessed, most platforms offer only the lending model and there are very few pure equity platforms, finally some that offer both models.

The vertical platforms on specific sectors: particularly real estate, environmental sustainability, energy, tech.

Some of the best-known platforms:

• Collin Crowdfund (lending)
• Geldvoorelkaar (lending)
• CrowdRealEstate (lending real estate)
• Max crowdfund (lending real estate)
• Symbid (equity and lending)
• Oneplanetcrowd, now part of the German Invesdor Group (equity and lending, sustainability)
• Windcentrale (equity, energy).

Trends and prospects for the future

• Growth and consolidation: The figures achieved in recent years are likely to be confirmed by the results in the coming periods, showing that crowdfunding, especially lending, has now become an established tool in the financing options of Dutch companies.
• Professionalization: The entry into force of European regulation has facilitated the exit from the market of less solid and competent players and the consolidation of larger and more organized ones with more robust governance. The outlook is for increasing stability and attention to systemic risks.
• Internationalization: cross-border campaigns, both inbound and outbound, will increase.
• Shy growth of equity crowdfunding.