Criptalia is a regulated company of CrowdLending founded in 2018. It immediately began to develop a proprietary technological infrastructure, including integration with Blockchain. Criptalia allows SMEs and startups to access a facilitated channel of liquidity collection in a fast, simple and… Fintech manner through its platform that now has an audience of thousands of members. Giuseppe Scapola, Head Of Business Development of Criptalia, explains how it is growing and what goals it has.
What are the most important results achieved in 2020 in terms of platform collection?
We started with operations in February 2020, right in the middle of a critical period for the global health situation. Today, after about 10 months, we have reached important goals. This year we also closed a round of 500 thousand euro capital increase supported by Digital Magics and Cdp Venture Capital Sgr-Fondo Nazionale Innovazione.
How many projects have you closed so far and above all what kind of projects are they?
This has been a special year for everyone. We started in the peak period of the pandemic and despite this we achieved important results: we closed 15 projects for a total of almost 1.5 million euros.
Working in favor of real companies, SMEs with concrete growth projects and supported by a solid business plan, we allowed the acquisition of funds for realities that could then immediately start production lines such as surgical masks to fight the pandemic. We have facilitated the purchase of sheds to launch new production lines for the making of high quality flour, a product that had an increase in use especially during lockdown.
These are projects with a high impact both in the entrepreneurial fabric and in society in general.
What impact has the pandemic had on your business? How did you “react”?
At first it left us with a moment’s hesitation: just when we were leaving, we felt the weight of this problem on us, impacting the whole world with devastating effects, particularly on many businesses, especially those dealing with retail customers. Fortunately, we live in a high-tech world, and so does our platform. We decided, however, to continue operating and raising liquidity for our businesses at such a difficult time: a time when they needed it most. It is a fundamental part of our “mission”: we want to impact the real economy by generating a virtuous circle.
What are your goals for 2021?
Our goals for 2021 are very ambitious. The European Crowdfunding market is about to change and will finally be regulated at a European level, considering Europe’s statements regarding these issues.
Criptalia is also based in Spain and we have been authorized by the Spanish National Market Commission (CNMV), the Spanish equivalent of the Italian CONSOB, and are ready to operate in that market as well, opening up to Europe and going beyond national borders thus starting an effective expansion of our platform.
We also have an already dense pipeline of projects to propose to our investors and we want to further expand our team of analysts to help us in the increasingly important process of analysis due to the growth of collaborations with “heavy” partners and our impact on the market.
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