Civic crowdfunding. That is, a new solution not only for private startups but also for public bodies, associations, non-profit organizations, and creative or innovative projects. Starting with the most noble of these, the first case in Italy (at the moment): fundraising for the reconstruction of the Città della Scienza in Naples, which in one year has already raised over 1 million euros through 2.206 lenders.
The new business model launched by DeRev arrives where public money or in any case conventional financing methods do not arrive, innovative startup born in August 2012 from an idea of blogger Roberto Esposito and now the main Italian crowdfunding platform, which just today saw Digital Magics, a venture incubator listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, enter the capital with a 17,5% stake.
From today, after this operation which gives the official start to the civic crowdfunding project after the pilot-experiment in Bagnoli, by clicking on www.derev.com public administrations (municipalities, provinces, regions and public bodies) can also launch fundraising campaigns to finance projects and works of public interest, such as the restoration of monuments and public areas, the implementation of initiatives or events in one's city, and the development of innovative services for public transport and the improvement of city life.
Like the one that, just today, saw Bulgari donate 1,5 million to the Municipality of Rome for the restoration of the Trevi Fountain in Piazza di Spagna. The objective, conceptually noble, is that crowdfunding can also intervene alongside patronage, making it local and social: to participate is the whole community of citizens united by the idea of improving their spaces and their cities. Civic crowdfunding can intervene when the public administration is unable to solve the problem on its own, giving life to a virtuous and ethical process that also personally involves municipalities, departments and public bodies. Just knowing it, and today's initiative is more than an assist.
The tool, moreover, is of proven success: according to the data of the Massolution Report 2013 – The Crowdfunding Industry, in 2012 “mass fundraising” grew worldwide by 81%, reaching the figure of 2,7 billion dollars, with 1 million campaigns successfully funded. In Europe, growth stood at 65%, with a result of 945 million dollars according to the surveys of two years ago. Most of the crowdfunding traffic is generated from Western Europe, with Italy closely following countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
“We are thrilled with this investment – he said Roberto Esposito, Founder and CEO of DeRev -, which marks a fundamental milestone for our startup. This is a result that opens up important growth and development prospects for DeRev, thanks to the support of an important incubator like Digital Magics". It echoes him Enrico Gasperini, founder and President of Digital Magics: “Communities have always helped themselves through crowdfunding, even if in the past it was not called that: for example, the history of the Milan Cathedral and the base of the Statue of Liberty demonstrate this. It is a very interesting and highly scalable business model on which we want to focus: we chose DeRev because it is an innovative startup that is already demonstrating, with experience and excellent results, that it has all the potential to become a successful disruptive business even internationally".
