German Crowdfunding Association coming to Berlin

The association, combining central interest group and network of commercial crowdfunding platforms in one body, was founded last year in Frankfurt with its headquarters being in the German capital Berlin. It is the aim of the German Crowdfunding Association to lend a voice to the different crowdfunding platforms, to disseminate information and to collectively articulate their ideas - on a political level both in Europe and Germany including the German federal states, as well as vis-à-vis the German population and the media. In future, quality standards will be developed, too.

Jamal El Mallouki (Geschäftsführer Crowddesk GmbH) is the chairman of the German Crowdfunding Association. Supporting him, among others, are Uli Fricke (Managing Director FunderNation GmbH), Volker Isenmann (Policy Officer of Greenvesting GmbH & Co KG) and Tamo Zwinge (Managing Director of Companisto Gmbh). Karsten Wenzlaff is Managing Director.

Globally, the crowdfunding market has an estimated volume of 30 billion US dollars. In Europe, the market has been growing by an annual 146 percent for four consecutive years. Since 2011, the crowdinvesting industry in Germany has grown to a volume of around 89 million US dollars. The members of the newly found Crowdfunding Association with headquarters in Berlin have contributed more than 50 percent to this in the past couple of years.

The aim of the Association is to draw more attention to the crowdfunding market and its growing importance for Berlin as a business location – both on a public and political level as well as vis-à-vis the media. "Crowdfunding is becoming increasingly accepted and important as a way to invest in startups, especially in light of the zero interest rate policy. A lot more could be done on a political level to support and motivate investors than is currently the case. Initiating a dialogue with policy makers is the first step in this direction", says Tamo Zwinge, member of the board.