The UK’s first figures on the size and growth of the alternative finance market show £939m has been raised through alternative finance intermediaries in 2013.
£939m has been raised through alternative finance intermediaries* – including crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and invoice trading – in 2013, shown in new data published today by Nesta, University of Cambridge and University of California, Berkeley.
The UK’s first figures on the size and growth of the alternative finance market are published today ahead of the Financial Conduct Authority’s consultation on crowdfunding regulation closing next Thursday (19 Dec). The rapid growth of this sector highlights the need to strike a balance between protecting investors and enabling the alternative finance industries to expand.
Today’s data shows that these new ways of finding and securing finance are increasingly popular and fulfilling the potential that many have predicted.
The survey** of UK based alternative finance intermediaries shows:
The research team predict that in 2014 the UK alternative finance market will grow to £1.6 billion and provide £840m worth of business finance for start-ups and SMEs.
Liam Collins, a researcher on the project and policy advisor at Nesta, explains: “The data provides a timely snapshot of a booming UK alternative finance industry. Both the rapid growth and the diversity of this industry hold significant promise for the UK economy going forward.”
Dr Richard Swart, another researcher on the project who directs crowdfunding research at UC Berkeley, adds: “With the cooperation of alternative finance intermediaries, the UK is leading the way in creating comprehensive and valuable data on this important new area of finance.”
Julia Groves, Chair of the UKCFA said: “the data proves that our sector is increasingly moving from “alternative finance” to mainstream “modern finance”. Crowdfunding is already providing real value in the provision of desperately needed capital in the engine room of the UK economy. With growing awareness and the advent of a new regulatory framework early next year the future looks extremely bright and the sector is primed to go on and completely replace aspects of retail banking”.
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