Forbes by Jason Hesse | August 21, 2014

London has overtaken New York City and San Francisco to become the world capital of crowdfunding.

At an event held by The Crowdfunding Centre in London today, an interactive map showing crowdfunding’s spread and distribution was unveiled.

London is the top city, with local businesses and startups creating more campaigns during July than any other city.

Just over 250,000 crowdfunding campaigns have been launched internationally this year so far. The UK’s capital, London, is leading the charge in terms of cities, with 12 new crowdfunding projects launching on average each day. The average amount raised is $17,834, with an average fully-funded success rate of 32%.

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“When we looked at the database, I was stunned to see that London sees the most crowdfunding activity on most days,” explains Barry James, founder and CEO of The Crowdfunding Centre.

James attributes London’s lead to the city’s startup community embracing crowdfunding as an alternative way to raise cash.

“It’s clear from the figures that the hyper-connectivity of the startup community in London is helping. There is also the fact that compared to the US, where centers of excellence are scattered around the East and West coasts, London has become a center of many specialisms.”

In particular, the data shows that London is a leader for crowdfunding projects in the business, technology, publishing and gaming industries – all fast-growth areas.

Discussing the findings, Dr. Richard Swart, a crowdfunding and alternative finance expert from University of California, Berkeley, said the research findings come as no surprise: “London and the UK are continuing the growth documented in our research. It is becoming clear the UK is leading the market in many respects.”

Related: Global Crowdfunding with Dr. Richard Swart, UC Berkeley, Director of Crowdfunding Research

The UK government is not ignoring this. Just last week, George Osborne, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that the UK is ready to challenge US dominance in crowdfunding:

“We stand at the dawn of a new era of innovative finance. Setting the objective of the UK leading the world, London has become the world capital of crowdfunding. The technologies being developed today will revolutionize the way we bank, the way we invest, the way companies raise money. It will lead to new products, new services, new lenders.”

Britain is embracing crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has grown extremely quickly in the UK over the last few years, growing by more than 600% between 2012 and 2013, from just under £4m raised in 2012 to more than £28m in 2013. The industry is now on track to reach £1bn by the end of 2014.

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