‘Lack of regulation’ holds Irish crowdfunding back

Crowdfunding has yet to gain traction in the Irish market partly due to a lack of regulation which is in stark contrast to the progressive approach of UK authorities, a new report has found.

A range of existing legislation currently governs crowdfunding — which allows businesses raise money from online contributors — but the Irish environment lacks bespoke legislation which may leave gaps in consumer protections.

A Europe-wide report on the state of crowdfunding across the continent carried out by the Amsterdam-based Crowdfunding Hub found regulatory issues to be at fault in almost all countries where the volume of crowdfunding was low.