A big name in the crowdfund industry arrives at the shores of Spain. Meeting a strong demand for non-US residents and entrepreneurs to participate in crowdfund ventures, Kickstarter will start operating in the Iberian Peninsula, accepting payments and displaying the projects in euros. This venture comes to join their UK operations, the company’s first in Europe.
The project is limited to Spanish entrepreneurs at least 18-year old. However, people from around the world can start a project if they have a legal representative residing in Spain or a legal entity, such as a company, based in Spanish territory. The platform commission is also very attractive: only 5% if the project succeeds to raise the minimal amount planned. There is no commission if it fails. The value does not include the fees charged on funders, up to 3% plus 0.20 euros of the funded.
The platform will start operating in Spain on June 2nd. The website will be the same, kickstarter.com, as they will not start a specific local website for Spaniards. Hence, despite the requirement that the entrepreneurs (or companies) be residents in the country, funders from all over the world can contribute to any project started by these Spanish entrepreneurs. Those funders will have to comply to Spanish laws on financing, la “Ley de Financiación Empresarial” (link in Spanish), as reports 20 Minutos (in Spanish as well), which establishes that an individual can contribute a maximum of 3,000 euros per project and 10,000 euros per year in crowdfund platforms.
Kickstarter is quickly becoming the largest crowdfund platform in the world and is now expanding to overseas markets. In 2014 alone, the platform raised nearly $500 million from 3.3 million users for 22 thousand projects. Questions from Spanish entrepreneurs, asking if they could raise money on Kickstarter for their projects, abound on the Internet. Now, it’s finally possible to do it there.