Brussels, 9 February 2022 – As of February 1^st, 2022, EUROCROWD has officially formalised its ambition to drive growth and synergies within the Italian ecosystem.

The establishment of a local office in Italy is part of a wider framework-agreement between EUROCROWD and ART-ER, Emilia-Romagna Region’s Joint Stock Consortium and long-term member of EUROCROWD.

National ecosystems and country-specific regulations have always played a major role in determining and facilitating the development of crowdfunding in Europe. Since late 2018, EUROCROWD has been coordinating the Italian Strategic Group (ISG), established with the aim of fostering the emergence of a strong crowdfunding ecosystem in Italy by bringing together universities, public authorities, private foundations, and industry associations, and providing them with knowledge, contacts and skills as to support the creation of a culture of crowdfunding in Italy.

Leveraging on the positive results and outcomes emerged from the Italian Strategic Group over the past years, as well as on the long-term cooperation established with ART-ER, EUROCROWD has officially established its first national office in Bologna, at ART-ER’s premises. The partnership will strengthen the existing cooperation, while providing a closer connection to the Italian ecosystem and facilitating exchanges and interactions between parties. In this perspective, the agreement is primarily structured around core joint activities that have been carried out over the past years (training delivery, market research and sectoral reports, policy and lobby activities), but will also encompass new areas of cooperation, such as joint partnerships in EU and international programmes.

“We are excited to join forces with ART-ER on further developing the professional Italian crowdfunding ecosystem. ART-ER has been for years great support for the sector, through our partnership we will now jointly be able to support local innovation and economic development.”, said Oliver Gajda, Executive Director of EUROCROWD.

“Hosting the Italian local office of EUROCROWD is another chance for us to strengthen our mutual relations and increase opportunities for collaboration both within the regional ecosystem we coordinate and at national and European level", said Marina Silverii, Director of Operations at ART-ER.

ART-ER (Attractiveness Research Territory) is the Emilia-Romagna Joint Stock Consortium, born with the purpose of fostering the region’s sustainable growth by developing innovation and knowledge, attractiveness, and internationalisation of the region. ART-ER is a Strategic Member of EUROCROWD since 2016.

EUROCROWD is acting for an efficient, balanced & transparent crowdfunding eco-system in Europe. For more information on how crowdfunding platforms can benefit from our cooperation, please reach out to us via info@eurocrowd.org.