November 7 (SeeNews) - Romanian co-investment platform SeedBlink said on Monday that it has received license from the country's financial regulator, ASF, as a provider of crowdfunding services under the European Crowdfunding Services Providers Regulation (ECSPR).
The licence will enable SeedBlink to strengthen its operational framework and pursue its European strategy, according to a press release.
SeedBlink is now the first CEE alternative co-investment platform authorized under the new regulation. At the European level, four other platforms have received this license from local jurisdictions, in Spain, Latvia, the Netherlands and France.
"The authorization is a step forward for our company and further proof that we want to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment and protect investors as efficiently as possible," SeedBlink managing partner Andrei Dudoiu said.
Under ECSPR, a licensed platform must comply with several measures to protect investors. Also, according to the regulation, crowdfunding providers are allowed to establish a secondary market where investors can resell their crowdfunded investments, through bulletin boards where buyers and sellers can find each other.
"We have started to apply for accreditation in the jurisdictions of the EU member states to obtain a European passport. SeedBlink offers investors the opportunity to safely invest cross-border in startups with European DNA, along with the strongest network of business angels and VCs. In addition to a clear protocol, the accreditation increases our capacity for co-investments with an investment between €100,000 and €5 million," SeedBlink CEO Carmen Sebe said.
Launched in early 2020, SeedBlink is a platform specialised in European tech start-ups. The company has thus far mobilised 145 million euro ($142.5 million) from more than 63,000 investors. SeedBlink has offices in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland and the Netherlands.
($=1.0213 euro)