Written by experts from national governments, the report addresses the challenges the cultural and creative small businesses face finding funding. It highlights over 100 innovative instruments and 32 success stories.
In an economy increasingly reliant on creativity and intangible assets, the cultural and creative sectors are among the fastest-growing. However, most small businesses in the sector struggle to access finance and this is one of the main obstacles to their growth.
Because of the intrinsic characteristics of the cultural and creative industries (lack of physical assets, dependence on intangible assets, the consequent lack of collateral and highly uncertain market demand), creative small businesses seeking finance from private banks are likely to be turned down.
Lenders, including banks, have limited understanding of these characteristics of the sector. The creative and cultural sectors face challenges such as a lack of information on available sources of funding, the structure of the financial system and the valuation of intellectual property.