The crowdfunding market - France

Crowdfunding, or participatory finance, refers to "the exchange of funds between individuals outside of institutional financial circuits, in order to finance a project via an online platform."[French Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty] One of the specific features of crowdfunding is therefore the nature of the players in this sector: funders are mainly individuals, rather than traditional players (banks, investment funds, etc.). The main forms of crowdfunding are reward crowdfunding, equity crowdfunding, lending crowdfunding and donation crowdfunding:

Reward crowdfunding: used for artistic and cultural projects. Backers receive non-monetary rewards linked to the funded project, such as access to exclusive content or delivery of the product they are funding. Participatory financing: mainly adopted by SMEs and innovative start-ups. In exchange for their investment, backers receive shares in the company or a share of the profits, thus becoming partners in the business. Lending Crowdfunding (or P2P Lending): this involves lending money between individuals via a platform. The individual making the loan receives the return of capital plus interest. Donation Crowdfunding: lenders support a project or cause without expecting anything in return. Mainly used to finance social initiatives, charitable or humanitarian projects.