Crowdfunding Panel at INOTEX 2025 Reveals 170 Trillion IRR Raised by Knowledge-Based Companies

At the Crowdfunding Panel during INOTEX 2025 on April 30, 2025, the Secretary of the Farabourse Crowdfunding Evaluation Working Group announced that from the inception of the crowdfunding scheme until the end of 2023, 630 unique applicants submitted 1,273 projects, raising a total of 170 trillion IRR.

 
During INOTEX 2025, a panel discussion titled “Crowdfunding: Solutions and Challenges” was held on the event stage, featuring key figures such as Hamed Rafiei, Head of the Financing and Investment Development Center at the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy; Seyed Ruhollah Mir Amini, CEO of the Fund for Development of New Technologies; Ruhollah Aboojafari, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Farabourse Iran; Meysam Zarezadeh, Secretary of the Crowdfunding Evaluation Working Group at Farabourse; and Mojtaba Zare Mehrjerdi, Deputy of Investment at the Innovation and Prosperity Fund.

Meysam Zarezadeh shared insights on crowdfunding efforts, noting that before the introduction of crowdfunding, there was no financial instrument available for small-scale project financing. From the start of the scheme until the end of 2023, 630 unique applicants presented 1,273 projects for crowdfunding, successfully raising 170 trillion IRR. He added that by the end of 2023, 109 working group sessions were held to review projects, resulting in 80 preliminary approvals and 48 final permits.

Zarezadeh emphasized that crowdfunding platforms must prioritize building a supportive community for their campaigns before focusing on platform development and expansion. He highlighted that in the 12 months of 2023, 26,000 investors participated in crowdfunding initiatives, marking an 84% growth compared to 2022. Since the inception of crowdfunding, a total of 35,000 unique investors have engaged in this space.

Ruhollah Aboojafari, a faculty member at the Technology Studies Research Institute, also spoke at the panel, stating that crowdfunding studies in Iran began around 2016. By 2018, guidelines were approved by the Supreme Council of the Stock Exchange, formally establishing the crowdfunding ecosystem. He noted that as a relatively new financial tool, crowdfunding saw a multi-fold leap in growth last year. While this marked significant progress in financing within the country, it also brought certain considerations and concerns.

Aboojafari further explained that crowdfunding was initially defined as a participatory mechanism by the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology. However, due to the nature of investor expectations, it has shifted toward a debt-based model, leading to reduced involvement from the Vice Presidency in this domain.