UBI investigates crowdfunding potentialities in Portugal

27 January, 2022

The University of Beira Interior (UBI) is developing one of the largest studies on crowdfunding in Portugal, under a research project, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Named “The role of microcredit in promoting financial and social inclusion”, the project aims to analyse the impact of crowdfunding on Portuguese businesses and help understand the role and potential of instruments such as RAIZE – Portuguese Crowdfunding Platform and other platforms, as gateways for financing in Portugal.

The work is developed by a team that won, in 2020, the European Microfinance Research Award. Coordinated by Ana Paula Matias Gama, from UBI’s Department of Management and Economics, the research also includes Mário Augusto, from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra, a partner in the project.

A protocol was recently signed with RAIZE as part of the study. According to Ana Paula Matias Gama, “the partnership established aims to study the impact of crowdfunding, as a new source of funding, both for companies that use this instrument to finance themselves and for investors who see in this instrument a new investment opportunity”.