Crowdfunding grows up and a big story spreads the word around. The Finnish digital fundraising platform Invesdor has recently merged with the Austrian Finnest, a leading debt-platform in the German speaking countries, creating the first integrated digital financing and investing ecosystem in Europe.
“Together, we create the 1st pan-European digital investment and financing platform for companies of all life stages, from startups to large corporations,” says CEO Lasse Mäkelä. “We offer them one of the widest ranges of digital financial instruments available in the market today. It is a place for top-tier companies as well as private and institutional investors across Europe.”
The move potentially marks the end of an era as the industry could enter a mature phase, experts argue.
Indeed, in a recent interview, Invesdor Chief Executive Lasse Makela pointed out that the new born Invesdor Group is “starting the consolidation game (…) hoping this would spark consolidation interest from others as well.”
He also added: “We feel there will be three to five major platforms in Europe and we want to be one of them,” announcing they are already looking for further targets in Northern Europe: “We feel we are jumping to the next league.”
“In the FinTech industry, the consolidation game is on,” confirms Stefan Klestil, partner atSpeedinvest F, a European venture capital fund for early-stage tech . “Financing and investing go digital. Successful European enterprises on the one hand and private and institutional investors on the other hand want convincing digital alternatives to their existing options,” the top manager concludes.
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Oliver* 