
The Second Edition of Crowdfuture
Last Saturday, the second edition of Crowdfuture, one of the largest crowdfunding events in Europe, took place in Rome. Organized by the Italian Crowdfunding Network (ICN) and Nois3lab, the conference had a broad program and interesting national and international speakers.
The event kicked off with a plenary session in a crowded room where investors and lawyers wearing black ties were sitting together with young startuppers with colored t-shirts.
Last Saturday, the second edition of Crowdfuture, one of the largest crowdfunding events in Europe, took place in Rome. Organized by the Italian Crowdfunding Network (ICN) and Nois3lab, the conference had a broad program and interesting national and international speakers.
The event kicked off with a plenary session in a crowded room where investors and lawyers wearing black ties were sitting together with young startuppers with colored t-shirts.
The mixed audience carefully listened to the ICN’s chairwoman presenting research on the evolution of the crowdfunding market in Italy: the sector has been growing fast, with more and more crowdfunding businesses launching this year, after the CONSOB – i.e. the Italian financial authority – adopted a regulation for equity crowdfunding. The results are in line with the findings of Crowd Valley’s Global Crowdfunding Market Report, published last week, that show that Italy is one of the main crowdfunding markets in the world. The participants then had the possibility to attend to one of five different tracks: Legal Aspects of Crowdfunding in Italy, EU Regulation, Civic Crowdfunding, Gamification and Open Source. Compared to the first edition of Crowdfuture, the second one featured more specialized topics that required at least a basic knowledge of crowdfunding to be followed.
Is Regulation for Crowdfunding Needed?
While the most popular track was, without any doubt, the one on the Legal Aspects of Crowdfunding in Italy, the most international one was the EU Regulation track. In fact, the latter hosted both national and international panelists, such as members of the European Crowdfunding Network, of UK Crowdfunding, of the Italian Ministry of Economy and several other lawyers and crowdfunding experts from Europe. The debate in the session touched upon several aspects of the Italian regulation for equity crowdfunding and, more in general, on the regulatory efforts of the different European countries. The opinions were diverse with some convinced that every country should adopt a regulation for crowdfunding and others, instead, in favor of deregulation; some saying that CONSOB’s regulation is too restrictive and others stating the contrary.
The heated discussion brought to the shared conclusion that it is important for each European country to look at what its neighbor States are doing to ease the development of the crowdfunding market and that the EU shall play a crucial role in facilitating this process.
Is Regulation for Crowdfunding Needed?
While the most popular track was, without any doubt, the one on the Legal Aspects of Crowdfunding in Italy, the most international one was the EU Regulation track. In fact, the latter hosted both national and international panelists, such as members of the European Crowdfunding Network, of UK Crowdfunding, of the Italian Ministry of Economy and several other lawyers and crowdfunding experts from Europe. The debate in the session touched upon several aspects of the Italian regulation for equity crowdfunding and, more in general, on the regulatory efforts of the different European countries. The opinions were diverse with some convinced that every country should adopt a regulation for crowdfunding and others, instead, in favor of deregulation; some saying that CONSOB’s regulation is too restrictive and others stating the contrary.
The heated discussion brought to the shared conclusion that it is important for each European country to look at what its neighbor States are doing to ease the development of the crowdfunding market and that the EU shall play a crucial role in facilitating this process.

Born and raised in Milan, Italy, Irene is an International Business graduate, with a strong interest for innovative ideas that can simplify our lives.
During her studies, she co-founded an online community for sportspeople and worked in marketing positions at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and at the European Business Angel Network, in Brussels. She is a passionate blogger about crowdfunding and the startup ecosystem.
During her studies, she co-founded an online community for sportspeople and worked in marketing positions at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising and at the European Business Angel Network, in Brussels. She is a passionate blogger about crowdfunding and the startup ecosystem.