The Importance of Crowdfunding in the Startup Ecosystem
- In order to develop the ecosystem, come up with innovative, creative ideas and get these ideas supported, what kind of support does this system need?
Development of the ecosystem cannot be attained through one-sided initiatives – all agents and stakeholders have to undertake efforts to help entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life. In the case of crowdfunding, although it opens up opportunities, it will not achieve necessary scale without equity crowdfunding supportive legislation that allows unaccredited investors to participate in fundraising. Not only that, quality of startups has to improve and investors have to be introduced to risks and investment strategies. Crowdfunding platforms are both mentoring entrepreneurs and educating investors, however without the ecosystem-wide support these opportunities will not live up to their potential.
- What do you think about the performance of the crowdfunding platforms in Turkey? It is a small amount, what kind of development do you expect? Why do you think this system is not well-known and what has to be done in order to develop this system?
Although globally crowdfunding is experiencing unprecedented success, Turkish ecosystem has not yet endured the positive impact of crowdfunding platforms. Both legislation and investors have not kept pace with the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Yet that is onset to change – as Turkish entrepreneurs move up the learning curve and enterprise lifecycle, their entrepreneurial skill set will grow and attract interest. However investors also have to undertake risk, legislators have to create opportunities for innovation and mentors have to coach startups.