If you are looking for a list of licensed crowdfunding platforms in Europe, there is one authoritative source, it is free, and it is not this page.
We could publish a table of platform names here. Plenty of sites do. The problem is that such a table is out of date the week it is written — licences are granted, withdrawn, passported and surrendered continuously — and a stale list about regulated financial firms is worse than no list, because it looks authoritative while being wrong.
So instead: where the real register is, how to read it, and what the entries actually mean.
The Authoritative Source
ESMA — the European Securities and Markets Authority — maintains the official register of authorised Crowdfunding Service Providers under Regulation (EU) 2020/1503. Every firm lawfully providing crowdfunding services to the public in the EU appears there.
It is published on ESMA’s own website, it is free, and it requires no account. Search for the register of crowdfunding service providers on esma.europa.eu.
Alongside it, each member state’s regulator keeps its own register of firms it has authorised. Between the two you can confirm any claim a platform makes about itself.
How to Read an Entry
A register entry is short, and every field carries meaning:
- Legal entity name. Compare it with the entity named in the contract you are asked to sign. They are not always the same company.
- Home member state and competent authority. The regulator that granted and supervises the licence — for example ASF in Romania, AMF in France, BaFin in Germany, AFM in the Netherlands, CSSF in Luxembourg, CONSOB in Italy.
- Date of authorisation. A firm authorised last month has a shorter track record than one authorised in 2022. Neither is disqualifying; both are context.
- Services authorised. ECSPR distinguishes the facilitation of lending from the placing and reception of transferable securities. A platform authorised for one is not thereby authorised for the other.
- Passported member states. An ECSP licence can operate across the Union, but the firm must notify the states it serves. Check that yours is covered.
Which Regulator Authorises What
An ECSP licence is granted by a single national competent authority and is then valid EU-wide through passporting. Practically, this means:
- A platform licensed in Romania can lawfully serve an investor in Sweden, and both operate under the same regulation.
- The home regulator’s reputation is not a proxy for platform quality. ECSPR sets the standard; the authority applies it.
- Where a firm is registered often reflects where its founders are, not where its risk is.
Solar Plus Garden’s own planned route runs through a Romanian-authorised platform serving investors across the EU — the licence details, including the register number, are set out on the page about that platform, precisely so they can be checked against the register rather than taken on trust.
What Being on the List Does Not Mean
This is where most readers of any provider list go wrong.
Presence in the register means the firm has satisfied a regulator on governance, capital, complaint handling, conflicts of interest and due-diligence procedures, and that it must apply the ECSPR investor protections: standardised disclosure, an appropriateness test for non-sophisticated investors, a four-day reflection period, and proper handling of client money.
It does not mean the regulator has reviewed any project on the platform, formed a view on any business plan, or judged whether a projected return is realistic. It does not protect your capital, and there is no compensation scheme behind it.
A fuller account of the boundary is in what ECSPR protects you from — and what it doesn’t.
Outside the EU
ECSPR governs the EU only. The United Kingdom operates its own regime under the FCA, whose register is separate. The United States uses Regulation Crowdfunding through funding portals registered with the SEC and FINRA, or Regulation D for accredited investors. Switzerland, Norway and others each have their own arrangements.
A platform serving you from outside the EU is not necessarily doing anything wrong — but it is not covered by ECSPR, and the protections above do not apply. Ask which regime does.
The Practical Sequence
- Get the platform’s legal entity name from its footer or legal page.
- Search the ESMA register for that name.
- Confirm the entry with the home regulator’s register and note the number.
- Check the services authorised match what you are being offered.
- Check your country is passported.
- Only then look at the project.
Six steps, done once per platform. It is the difference between “they said they were regulated” and knowing.
This page deliberately does not reproduce the register. Authorisations change; consult ESMA and the relevant national authority for the current position. This is general information, not legal or investment advice, and not a recommendation of any platform. Published by Solar Plus Garden, which plans to raise through an authorised ECSP.
