EUROCROWD’s has put together a first general compliance analysis of more than 200 licensed crowdfunding platforms across Europe, based on data from ESMA’s public register. The data reveals significant gaps in transparency and regulatory compliance under the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation (ECSPR).
Our data collection is based on core information published by European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA) on ECSPR license holders (CSPs) as drawn in June 2025. We read relevant data from the websites linked for each license holder as published by ESMA. We then analysed the raw data for combined qualitative insights and quantitative metrics across 17 core criteria.
As Europe strives to strengthen its economic resilience and global competitiveness, the European Commission has launched several initiatives to unlock the flow of private capital into innovation and entrepreneurship. The emerging Savings and Investment Union (SIU), expanding on the Capital Markets Union (CMU), and the Startup and Scale-up Strategy both converge on a common goal: to provide European businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with easier, more diverse, and more transparent access to finance.
Against this policy backdrop, the European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regulation (ECSPR) represents a critical innovation for enabling regulated, cross-border investment in startups and SMEs. Designed to harmonize standards across the European Union, ECSPR promises to bring transparency, investor protection, and operational consistency to the market.
You can download the full report
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ECSPR Compliance: Uneven Ground – A Pan-European Analysis of ECSPR Compliance in the Crowdfunding Sector 2025 – here
ECSPR has been in force since November 2021, giving market actors and competent authorities time to prepare. Nearly four years on, our research shows a:
- Wide Variation in Compliance: The average compliance score with our KPI across platforms was 5.0 out of 10, with a stark range from 0 (non-compliant) to 9 (highly compliant). One outlier country averaged 7.0, while 11 countries, including Spain and France, scored below 5, reflecting systemic weaknesses.
- Transparency Deficiencies: Only 25% of platforms demonstrated strong adherence to ECSPR and transparency best practices as per our KPI. In contrast, nearly 40% failed to meet baseline expectations, raising red flags for investor protection.
- Platform-Specific Risks: Of the evaluated platforms, only three received an “Excellent” rating against our set of KPI, while 29 were deemed “At Risk,” indicating potential non-compliance or investor exposure.
The assessment of crowdfunding platforms was conducted through a structured website review using a standardized questionnaire. The review is limited to publicly available information to ensure transparency and comparability across platforms. Despite limitations, the overall indication of the results remain, in our view, strong enough to create a general indication.
Data Availability
We will make the detailed results available to interested national competent authorities, ESMA and relevant people at the European Institutions. CSP are welcome to inquire about one-on-one discussions seeking to understand potential shortcomings in their platforms. We may also make available a scorecard with high level assessments of all platforms for retail investors and SME seeking funding.
