What Eppela does

Eppela is an Italian crowdfunding marketplace headquartered in Milan that connects project creators with individual backers for donation-based and reward-based campaigns. The platform focuses on creative, social, cultural, and community projects, branded as "Crowdfunding per idee innovative e solidarietà" (Crowdfunding for innovative ideas and solidarity). It is operated as a privately held Italian entity (VAT P.IVA IT01837640463), connected to Eppela Sviluppo Progresso SRL, and operates exclusively in Italy with no disclosed international footprint.

The platform's core offering is a self-service website (eppela.com) where project creators launch campaigns across categories including culture, solidarity, music, health, and civic initiatives. Projects are tagged with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators (e.g., health, education, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities). A distinguishing feature is the mentor program, in which corporate partners — including MSD Crowdcaring, Fondazione Vodafone, PostepayCrowd, Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRT, Fondazione Il Cuore si Scioglie, Enel, UnipolSai Future Lab, and Comune di Milano — co-finance selected campaigns, providing matching funds, visibility, and credibility. The platform also provides a dedicated human advisor service guiding project creators throughout their campaigns and a mobile-optimized user interface.

Eppela operates on a transaction-fee revenue model, charging fees on successfully funded campaigns (exact rates not publicly disclosed). Platform-level 2025 metrics include €2.2 million raised across campaigns, €7.5 million in co-financing from mentor partners, €4.5 million in volume of offers, an average donation of €53, over 12,000 cumulative donations processed, and +125% growth in new users. The reported success rate for mentor-backed projects is 99%. The customer base consists of a long tail of small NGOs, cultural associations, and nonprofit organizations (e.g., Associazione Handala, Tedacà, MuPIn, Area ETS, Officine CAOS, Immagina, Collisioni), plus individual backers. The company has no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, leadership team details, or external investors in the available public data.

Name

Eppela

Legal name

Eppela

Website

https://eppela.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Eppela is an Italian crowdfunding marketplace based in Milan that enables nonprofits, cultural associations, and individuals to raise funds from backers for creative, social, and community projects, with corporate mentors providing co-financing and credibility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Crowdfunding Platform

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Crowdfunding platform
• Reward-based crowdfunding
• Community fundraising
• Creative project funding
• Corporate mentorship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Lucca

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Crowdfunding Platform Fees: Eppela operates a reward-based crowdfunding platform where project creators raise funds from backers. The platform generates revenue through transaction fees on successful campaigns, with co-financing from corporate mentor partners who contribute to project campaigns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Eppela is an Italian online crowdfunding platform that enables individuals, associations, NGOs, and small cultural organizations to launch campaigns for creative, social, solidarity, music, health, and civic projects, and to collect pledges from a community of individual backers. The platform's distinctive feature is its mentor program, under which corporate partners co-finance selected projects alongside community backers, supported by a team of advisors who coach creators through their fundraising campaigns.

Product overview

Eppela is a crowdfunding platform for innovative ideas and solidarity projects. The platform operates as a unified service combining project fundraising with mentor support from corporate partners. Key offerings include campaign hosting across categories (culture, solidarity, music, health, civic), a mentorship program featuring partners like MSD Crowdcaring and Fondazione Vodafone, and sustainability certification through UN Sustainable Development Goal indices. The platform also provides promotional tools, advisory support, and a mobile-first user experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Eppela Crowdfunding Platform Online crowdfunding platform that allows individual creators, associations, NGOs, and small cultural organizations to launch campaigns and collect pledges from a community of backers for creative, social, solidarity, music, health, and civic projects. Includes a mentor co-financing program in which corporate partners match community pledges, free advisor coaching for creators, and a sustainability framework aligned with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% success rate for mentor-backed projects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MSD CrowdcaringcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMSD Crowdcaring is a corporate mentor program focused on disability, youth, and women's support projects. They co-finance projects on the Eppela platform and provide visibility to selected campaigns. Projects like Lucy Library and others have received €3,000 co-financing from MSD Crowdcaring.
• Fondazione VodafonecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFondazione Vodafone supports technology and innovation projects through the Eppela mentor program, providing co-financing and visibility to selected campaigns.
• PostepayCrowdcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPostepayCrowd is a mentor partner on Eppela focused on youth and social innovation projects, providing co-financing support to selected campaigns.
• Fondazione Il Cuore si SciogliecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFondazione Il Cuore si Scioglie supports solidarity and social inclusion projects on the platform, providing co-financing and credibility to campaigns focused on vulnerable populations.
• Fondazione Sviluppo e Crescita CRTcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerFondazione CRT provides co-financing to cultural and social projects through the Eppela mentor program, with matching contributions up to €5,000 for selected campaigns.
• UnipolSai Future LabminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUnipolSai Future Lab supports innovation and social projects through the Eppela platform, providing co-financing and mentorship to selected campaigns.
• EnelminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEnel supports energy and sustainability-focused projects on the Eppela platform through its mentor program.
• Nastro Azzurro CrowdminorGTM or Marketing PartnerNastro Azzurro Crowd supports sports and youth projects on the platform.
• Comune di MilanominorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Municipality of Milan partners with Eppela to support civic and community projects in Milan.
• CrowdFunder35minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCrowdFunder35 supports youth entrepreneurship projects through the Eppela mentor program.
• Paesaggio che vaiminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPaesaggio che vai supports landscape and environmental projects on the Eppela platform.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Produzioni dal Basso: Italy's largest donation- and reward-based crowdfunding platform. Directly comparable to Eppela on geography, target creators (NGOs, cultural projects, civic initiatives), and business model (transaction fees on successful campaigns).
• DeRev: Italian crowdfunding platform with reward, donation, and equity verticals. Competes head-to-head with Eppela for Italian creators and serves a similar mix of social, civic, and creative projects.

Regional players

• Ulule: European reward-based crowdfunding platform headquartered in France. Comparable on platform mechanics and creative/social project focus, but primarily serves French-speaking Europe rather than competing directly in Italy.
• WhyDonate: European donation-based fundraising platform focused on nonprofits and social causes. Comparable in cause-driven positioning and transaction-fee model, with primary strength in the Netherlands and broader EU.
• Rete del Dono: Italian online donation platform connecting donors with nonprofits. Overlaps with Eppela in facilitating giving to charitable causes in Italy, but is donation-only and lacks the reward/creative-project angle.

Broad incumbents

• Kickstarter: Global reward-based crowdfunding incumbent. Overlaps with Eppela on creative and innovative projects, but operates at vastly greater scale and with a much broader international creator base.
• Indiegogo: Global crowdfunding marketplace covering tech, creative, and social causes. Comparable transaction-fee model and campaign-based structure, but with broader product and geographic scope than Eppela.
• GoFundMe: Global donation-based crowdfunding leader. Directly comparable in donation mechanics and social-cause focus, but with an order-of-magnitude larger donor community and broader international footprint.
• Patreon: Subscription-based creator funding platform. Adjacent in enabling ongoing community monetization, but differs by being recurring-subscription rather than campaign-based and global rather than Italy-focused.

Emerging players

• Ko-fi: Creator-focused donation and membership platform. Comparable lightweight donation mechanics aimed at individuals and small creators, but skewed toward global individual creators rather than Italian NGOs and cultural projects.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/eppela_it
• Facebookfacebook.com/Eppela
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eppela

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Eppela