Equity crowdfunding has grown steadily in UK. From 2011 to 2014, around £190 million has been raised through equity crowdfunding there. 2015 alone saw more than £130 million raised there. In New Zealand, the leading platform there raised $11 million for 10 companies in 15 months.
Global crowdfunding statistics generally lump all crowdfunding services together. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has been studying alternative finance and collecting data on the crowdfunding market since 2015. In 2020, the centre published its first global bench-marking report. CCAF reports the following numbers:
Crowdfunding Worldwide: USD304.53 bn
Active Countries/Territories: 171
The number of platforms in the UK equity crowdfunding market has increased from four in 2010 to thirteen in June 2017, though the sector is very concentrated; we estimate the top three platforms account for around 95% of the market in 2016. By June 2017, the platforms had supplied equity funds of almost £500 million for 1538 entrepreneurial pitches, drawing on more than 400,000 registered potential investors. Given that only around one third of pitches are funded, and the ECF platforms screen out perhaps 90% of initial enquiries, one can estimate that around 45,000 entrepreneurs and their ventures in the UK have sought capital via ECF in the past six years.