Crowdfunding in sustainable innovation: Insights from and for Romania

The take up of innovative services and products has contributed to creative thinking also in terms of new sources of financing. Innovation processes are characterised by constant development, and it is beneficial if models of financing can be aligned to that. Crowdfunding, i.e. collecting finance from publics, has emerged as a new alternative also in the field of sustainable innovation. Crowdfunding is particularly interesting for Small and Medium size companies (SME’s) looking for financing when their product or service is not considered quite ready for investments. This policy brief looks how crowdfunding relates to sustainable innovation. It introduces crowdfunding as an activity, discusses it in relation to sustainable innovation and looks at the development of crowdfunding in Romania. This policy brief looks at crowdfunding from several levels: a strategic, programmatic and case level. Concerning Romania attention should be paid to adopt the proper legislation. The regulatory framework should provide clear definitions, safety provisions for potential investors and functional conditions for crowdfunding platforms. In case of sustainable innovation, crowdfunding could be an important complementary finance source for SME’s, together with the European funds. An information campaign on alternative sources is required in order to increase awareness on crowdfunding and the existing platforms.