The 11th Italian Crowdfunding Report by the Osservatori Entrepreneurship Finance & Innovation of Politecnico di Milano records a substantial contraction in market activity, with fundraising volumes falling across both equity and lending crowdfunding.
The data also reveals important structural changes: real estate has strengthened its position as the dominant segment, platform consolidation has accelerated, and the industry is moving from rapid expansion towards a more mature and selective phase.
1. Market overview: volumes return to pandemic-era levels
Italian crowdfunding activity declined significantly during the first half of 2026.
| Period | Crowdfunding volume | Change |
| H1 2026 | €73.72 million | -37.6% YoY |
| July 2025 – June 2026 | €164.19 million | -36.8% YoY |
The market has effectively returned to activity levels comparable with 2020. The contraction seems to reflect a combination of factors, such as, among others, higher interest rates, weaker investor risk appetite, delays in investment exits and increased regulatory and compliance costs. The decline affects both major crowdfunding models, equity and lending based crowdfunding.
2. Equity crowdfunding: real estate dominates while SME finance weakens
Equity crowdfunding raised €37.96 million in the first half of 2026, representing a decline of approximately 29% compared with the previous year. Since the launch of equity crowdfunding in Italy in 2014, cumulative equity fundraising has reached €877.22 million. However, the composition of the market has changed significantly and campaign activity, as shown in the table below, is indicative of this.
| Indicator | H1 2026 |
| Successful equity campaigns | 53 |
| Non-real estate equity volume | €8.56 million |
| Real estate equity volume | €29.39 million |
The most important trend is the concentration of capital. Real estate represented approximately 80% of equity crowdfunding volume during the first half of 2026. By contrast, non-real estate equity crowdfunding reached its lowest level since 2020. This indicates a significant trend away from startup and SME financing towards asset-backed investment opportunities over the past year.
3. Equity crowdfunding issuer profile
The profile of companies raising capital has also evolved. Issuer distribution by SME is no longer dominated by innovative starups.
| Issuer type | Share |
| SMEs | 51% |
| Innovative startups | 29% |
| Innovative SMEs | 10% |
Compared with previous years, traditional SMEs have increased their presence while innovative startups represent a smaller share of activity. This might reflect investor preference for more mature business models and tangible assets or better access to other innovation funding.
4. Investor behaviour: larger commitments and preference for structured returns
Investor behaviour is also changing. The report highlights increasing use of non-voting shares, i.e. the removal of actual participation of retail investors.
| Year | Campaigns offering non-voting shares |
| 2025 | 48.2% |
| 2026 | 56.1% |
At the same time, minimum investment requirements remain relatively high in many real estate campaigns. Around 21.9% of campaigns required a minimum investment of €5,000 or more. This suggests that real estate crowdfunding is increasingly attracting investors seeking structured investment opportunities rather than purely entrepreneurial participation.
5. Lending crowdfunding: strongest decline
Lending crowdfunding experienced the largest contraction since the Observatory is collecting data.
| Period | Volume |
| H1 2026 | €33.60 million |
| 2025 full year | €106.16 million |
| Cumulative since 2019 | €717.93 million |
H1 2026 lending volumes declined approximately 50% compared with the previous year. Campaign numbers have also fallen substantially compared with previous years. The market recorded 103 campaigns launched of which 96 were successful. The high campaign success rate does not necessarily indicate low risk, rather, platforms continue to selectively approve projects before publication.
6. Lending risk: returns increase as risk increases
Average lending interest rates continued to rise.
| Year | Average rate |
| 2026 | 10.58% |
Higher returns reflect a changed risk environment. Reported default ranges vary significantly depending on platform and project cohort. For recent campaigns, reported default levels have increased, particularly in real estate lending. The main drivers include construction delays, increased material costs, legal disputes and slower project exits. The key market challenge is not fundraising capacity, it seems maintaining investor confidence.
7. Real estate crowdfunding becomes the dominant segment
Real estate crowdfunding has become the central pillar of the Italian market. H1 2026 real estate crowdfunding data shows a shift away from lending.
| Segment | Volume |
| Real estate equity | €29.39 million |
| Real estate lending | €28.04 million |
| Total | €57.43 million |
For the first time since 2021, real estate equity fundraising exceeded real estate lending. The sector is also characterised by higher expected returns, longer investment periods, and greater reliance on project completion as well as exit strategies. Most projects continue to rely on sale-based exits rather than long-term rental income, with an average duration of around 2 years plus.
| Model | Average duration |
| Equity real estate | 28.75 months |
| Lending real estate | 23.21 months |
8. Platform landscape: consolidation accelerates
The Italian market counted 37 authorised ECSP platforms of which approximately 30 were active platforms. These can be categorised as:
| Business model | Number |
| Lending only | 13 |
| Equity only | 18 |
| Both lending and equity | 6 |
The market has seen several structural changes, with consolidation through acquisitions and partnerships. In particular exits, acquisitions, suspensions and liquidations have reduced the number of active platforms in Italy. This could indicate a transition from market creation to market maturity.
9. Geographic concentration remains high
Italian crowdfunding remains strongly concentrated in northern and central regions. The concentration reflects entrepreneurial density, investor networks and the availability of investment opportunities. Main regions by equity crowdfunding activity:
| Region | Share |
| Lombardy | 41.9% |
| Lazio | 18.6% |
| Emilia-Romagna | 15.1% |
10. Market environment
The introduction of the European Crowdfunding Service Providers Regulation has changed the operating environment. Italian platforms face now stronger governance requirements, enhanced risk management obligations and increased compliance responsibilities than three years ago. There are only three Italian platforms that have passported services into other EU markets: Doorway, Ener2Crowd and Walliance. After three years, in Italy cross-border activity remains limited compared with the ambition of creating a single European crowdfunding market.
The 2026 data suggests that Italian crowdinvesting is entering a consolidation phase rather than a growth phase. The main factors determining future development will be 1. Investor confidence via improving transparency, risk communication and recovery mechanisms; 2. platform sustainability while smaller platforms face increasing pressure from regulatory and operational costs and 3. policy support. A number of priorities have emerged from the market, such as clarity on lending taxation, effective implementation of guarantee mechanisms and the need for support of SME financing models. Key market indicators at a glance
| Indicator | 2026 status |
| Total 12-month volume | €164.19m |
| YoY market change | -36.8% |
| Active platforms | ~30 |
| Equity crowdfunding H1 volume | €37.96m |
| Lending crowdfunding H1 volume | €33.60m |
| Real estate crowdfunding H1 volume | €57.43m |
| Equity campaigns completed | 53 |
| Lending campaigns completed | 96 |
11. A smaller market, but a more selective one?
The Italian crowdinvesting market in 2026 is significantly smaller than during its peak growth period. Yet, contraction does not necessarily mean failure. The market might be undergoing a transition from expansion to professionalisation. If so, the next phase will likely be defined by fewer platforms, stronger governance, more sophisticated investors and a greater emphasis on trust. For Italy (and for Europe) the central challenge is no longer creating access to crowdfunding, this has been done. The next step is building a sustainable market infrastructure capable of delivering long-term value for investors, businesses and the wider (European) economy. The number of crowdfunding platforms remaining in the market is therefore less important than the ability to provide such long-term value at scale.
