Gijsbert Koren,
co-founder of Douw&Koren and the main organizer of the Amsterdam
summit answered a few questions for Crowdsourcing.org in advance of the event.
How has crowdfunding
developed in the Netherlands so far?
Crowdfunding started
out in the Netherlands in 2006 when SellaBand opened
its doors. SellaBand gives bands and musicians the opportunity to let fans fund
their new album. After the creative industries, projects in developing
countries started to use crowdfunding from 2008 onwards. 1% CLUB was the first
Dutch crowdfunding platform to donate to projects in developing countries. At the end of 2010, start-ups
and SME's started using crowdfunding. CrowdAboutNow
was the first Dutch platform for investing in start-ups, using a lending-based
model.
In
2010, the total amount raised via crowdfunding was 0.5 million euros. In 2011,
2.5 million was raised and last year (2012), 14 million euros has been raised
through crowdfunding on Dutch websites. Crowdfunding for start-ups and SMEs is
growing at the highest rate and specifically crowdfunding for (decentralized)
green energy initiatives seems promising. For more Q&A go to Crowdsourcing.org
