U.K. Homegrown Crowdfunding Platforms Band Together To Create Self-Regulatory Body Without Kickstarter, Indiegogo
by Natasha Lomas
 |
| Natasha Lomas, TechCrunch |
UK Crowdfunding Association (UKCFA)
The 12 founder
members are all relatively small and specialist, counting the likes of startup
seed funding platform Seedrs and
video games funding platform Gambitious among
their number — which suggests the initiative is more about trying to attract
attention, and grow some lobbying muscle (they will be “working with
policymakers to help develop the right frameworks for crowdfunding”), rather
than trying to achieve the impossible: impose order on the unrestricted Wild
West of crowdfunding.
While neither
Kickstarter nor Indiegogo were founded in the U.K., Kickstarter added U.K.-based
projects to its platform last October and Indiegogo launched a U.K. site last
December. So the UKCFA situation brings to mind the global daily deals trade
association, launched last year, that still doesn’t count Groupon or
LivingSocial among its members. Well
meaning, but — to put it charitably — risking irrelevance. Full text at TechCrunch
