Case study of the equity crowdfunding landscape in London: an entrepreneurial and regulatory perspective

This case study offers an entrepreneurial and regulatory perspective on the potential of equity crowdfunding to address the entrepreneurial equity gap, within the context of the rapidly growing UK equity crowdfunding cluster particularly prominent in and around London. It addresses factors driving the growth of equity crowdfunding, including the regulatory and tax regime as well as the broader London entrepreneurial ecosystem, and provides for a comparison of the business models of the current three market leaders. In showing the importance of equity crowdfunding to investors, entrepreneurs, platforms, regulators and stakeholders in the wider national economy, it is argued that key contributory factors in the success of equity crowdfunding in the UK have been the London ecosystem for entrepreneurial finance and the emergence of a sympathetic tax and regulatory regime encouraged by policy makers keen to nurture innovation. Finally, the case study offers five main lessons for researchers and policy-makers to be taken from the London experience.