Equity Crowdfunding in the EU: Growth, Italian Expansion, and Over Ventures’ Key Role

The number of equity crowdfunding platforms authorised to operate in the EU has reached 233, in compliance with European Regulation 2020/1503, which came into full force in November 2023 (as of December 31st, 2024 there were 224).

Of these, 41 are Italian, but only four have the passporting necessary to operate in other EU countries: Walliance (France and Spain), Ener2Crowd (Holland, Portugal, Spain and Austria), Doorway (Belgium and Austria) and Tifosy, active throughout the European Union.

At the same time, 37 foreign equity crowdfunding platforms, mainly French and Spanish, followed by Romanian, Dutch, Irish, Austrian, Latvian, Portuguese and Cypriot operators, are authorised to raise capital for Italian companies.

However, access to these portals for Italian companies remains limited: so far only 6 Italian companies have raised funds on international platforms, 4 in 2024 and 2 in the first months of 2025.

Among them, Sealence (deeptech) is currently raising money on Crowdcube, while MG Shell (medtech) has raised over one million euros from 134 investors on the Spanish Capital Cell.

The performance of equity crowdfunding in the EU and Italian companies

In terms of volumes, in the first two and a half months of 2025, the European equity crowdfunding market for startups and SMEs has recorded over 80 million euros raised by more than 20,000 retail investors , with over 80 closed deals.

This is a figure that could indicate significant growth, since in 2024, a total of approximately 250 million had been collected in the 12 months.

Life sciences remains the most attractive sector as in 2024, while the leading countries in equity crowdfunding include France, Italy and, surprisingly, the Netherlands .

These data emerge from the European Equity Crowdfunding Landscape , updated to 13 March 2025, a report created by Over Ventures , a crowdfunding studio co-founded by Giancarlo Vergine, Alberto Vergine and Myryam Sollai in 2022, specialized in the large-scale growth of companies through crowdinvesting.

The European role of Over Ventures

In November 2023, Over Ventures had curated the first Italian campaign with the new European regulation, on Mamacrowd and from 2024, and, subsequently, 5 of the 6 rounds of Italian companies on international portals (Republic Europe and Crowdcube).

Today, Over Ventures – with offices in Milan and Lecce, global partnerships and a consolidated presence in Spain and the United Kingdom – has launched, in collaboration with some important operators in the Italian and European ecosystem including the Italian Tech Alliance , the European Equity Crowdfunding Landscape Roadshow .

After the success of the inaugural stage in March in Barcelona, ​​the tour will continue in the main European capitals of innovation: Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and London.

“With the roadshow we want to connect local and international ecosystems, encouraging dialogue between entrepreneurs, early-stage investors, crowdinvesting operators and venture capital,” says Giancarlo Vergine.

“Our goal is to break down geographical and cultural barriers – continues Vergine – making equity crowdfunding and online fundraising in general a strategic lever for the growth of startups and the attraction of capital on a global scale not only in an alternative way but also in a complementary way to the traditional venture capital path.”

The next stops of the Roadshow will coincide with key events for the innovation ecosystem, including VivaTech in Paris, Sifted Summit in London, GITEX in Berlin and TNW Conference in Amsterdam .

M&A activities for SMEs

Over Ventures’ activity is not limited to equity crowdfunding. Since 2024, it has also started operating in the M&A and micro-M&A sector, responding to one of the main critical issues of the market: the low exit possibilities for startups and early stage investors.

In this context, Over Ventures has already successfully closed two merger operations and is supporting an AI startup in the sales phase.

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(Featured image by Alexandre Lallemand via Unsplash)

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