As the Portuguese Advisory Board Member for Altfinantor.eu I help secure access to alternative finance for innovative Small & Medium-sized EU Enterprises.

As the Board, we will establish best practice of access to alternative financing in platform and asset based formats across EU.

Altfinantor.eu as an independent institution will expand the financial ecosystem in South, Central and Eastern European countries to improve the provision of Alternative Finance.

Europe’s capital markets are still relatively underdeveloped and fragmented. Access to finance is one of the main challenges for European companies, in particular smaller, younger, more reliant on intangible assets and more innovative, that in case of success will bring the most benefits in terms of growth, jobs and added value.

SMEs financing gaps in European countries are three to five times bigger than for the US, hindering the competitiveness of the EU

SMEs in the world.

In the EU, bank loans constitute the main source of external funding for corporations in the majority of Member States and the difficulties of accessing bank loans are particularly affecting smaller and younger companies.

Some businesses receive less financing than requested or decline loan offers due to their high costs and tough conditions. As a result, over a quarter of SMEs do not have the financing needed.

In this context, alternative finance will plays an increasingly important role to bridge the funding gap of SMEs.

Currently, the total European alternative finance market grew 151% from 2013 to 2014 and 92% the following year reaching €5,431m in 2015.

The aim of Altfinantor.eu is to stimulate the continuous growth of alternative financing for European SMEs and the first Advisory Board Meeting successfully launched the process this week in connection with the Techsummit in Bratislava.