Crowdfunding for Blue Economy Projects

Webinar organised by INSULEUR (Insular Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the European Union) assisted by the Gozo Business Chamber and Rethymno Development Agency, as part of the project entitled

‘Capacity Building of Blue Economy Stakeholders to Effectively use Crowdfunding’

SMEs and potential entrepreneurs often face difficulties in obtaining financing for innovative ideas, or in new economic sectors as the Blue Economy. In 2015, DG Mare had defined the blue economy as any market activity that is intrinsically linked to the sea and covers: (1) primary sectors such as transport (shipbuilding, shipping), energy (oil, gas, and renewable energy), food (fisheries, aquaculture), and coastal tourism; (2) secondary sectors (e.g. insurance) which provide goods and services to these primary sectors; and (3) smaller sectors such as marine aggregation extraction or communication cable laying [Source: EC, DG MARE (2015)]. Crowdfunding can be a vehicle through which new ideas in the Blue Economy can be financed as it is an innovative concept that connects entrepreneurs and potential investors through an online platform (Golic, 2014).

This webinar entitled ‘Crowdfunding for Blue Economy Projects’ will highlight the importance of the blue economy and provide participants with the basic elements of crowdfunding as an important financing tool. This will be held on Friday 23 October between 13:00 hrs and 14:30 hrs (CET).

Project co financed by the European Regional Development Fund.