Crowdfunding marketplaces provide a space for project initiators to present their ideas with the aim of obtaining financing from the public. What began as an innovation in the cultural sector is having an increasingly significant impact on the economy and is now indispensable as an alternative form of financing. It is becoming more and more popular in Switzerland, too: according to the Crowdfunding Monitor of the Institute of Financial Services Zug a total of CHF 11.3 million was pledged for crowdfunding projects in 2013, twice as much as in 2012. This amount is forecast to double again in 2014.
wemakeit and Swisscom are joining forces to develop the crowdfunding market in Switzerland. Based on the software developed by wemakeit, Swisscom is setting up a crowdfunding platform that will be offered to corporate customers as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Companies and charitable organisations can use the cloud-based service to open their own crowdfunding marketplace quicklyand professionally under their own brand name, all without having to invest in IT . Swisscom supplies infrastructure and software, but does not serve as a marketplace operator (White Labeled Service). Marcel Walker, Head of Banking and Cloud at Swisscom: “We want to provide companies, particularly banks, with uncomplicated access to this new form of financing, which is gaining in importance and will strengthen innovative capacity in Switzerland.”
Under the terms of the cooperation, Swisscom is providing financial support to the non-profit association wemakeit, which operates wemakeit.com. The aim is to work together to promote the development of crowdfunding in Switzerland. Johannes Gees, artist and chairman of the association: “The cooperation with Swisscom is recognition for what we have achieved to date and shows that culture is now providing innovative economic impetus. As Switzerland’s leading crowdfunding platform we aim to continue helping as many ideas as possible come to fruition and bring creative people and their public together.”
The first quarter of 2015 will see a first company open their own crowdfunding marketplace based on the Swisscom solution. The Swisscom crowdfunding platform will initially support ‘crowdsupporting’, a type of financing in which investors usually receive a one-off consideration in the form of products, artworks or services.
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