The €5M cap: how far retail goes and who funds the rest

Investment crowdfunding comes with a ceiling written into European law. Under the ECSP Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 — the single rulebook for crowdfunding platforms across the EU — a project owner can raise at most €5 million from the public over any rolling 12-month period. That one number shapes how every aircraft on a platform like Skynvest gets financed, and it leads to an obvious question: if public money stops at €5M, how do you fund a jet that costs more?

The €5M cap, in plain terms

The limit is not a platform policy — it is the regulatory boundary for the entire category. It applies per project owner, per rolling 12 months, and it counts across every crowdfunding platform that owner uses. It is not a per-investor limit and not a per-platform limit. Once a project has raised €5M from the public, that funding channel closes for a year.

A frequent misunderstanding is that the ceiling only applies to lending. It does not. The €5M figure covers both debt and equity. On Skynvest, a fixed-return loan, passive ownership and active ownership are all crowdfunding services under the same regulation — so all three share the same ceiling, not just the loan.

Why the cap exists

The ceiling is the trade-off that keeps crowdfunding light. Because raises stay under €5M, platforms can operate under the ECSP regime — with its key investment information sheet, its reflection period for new investors and its standardised risk warnings — instead of the far heavier machinery of a full securities prospectus. The cap, in other words, is part of what makes a €500 ticket possible in the first place.

How far retail investors go

For an individual, the practical meaning is simple. Through the platform, the public — including non-professional, retail investors — funds the project up to €5M. That is the tranche open to small tickets, to spreading capital across several projects, and to the investor protections the ECSP framework requires.

The rules do distinguish between sophisticated and non-sophisticated investors: experienced investors can commit more freely, while everyone else receives extra safeguards and is prompted when an investment is large relative to their wealth. But both groups invest inside the same €5M public envelope. Above that line, the financing is no longer retail crowdfunding — it is something else entirely.

Who funds the rest

The amount above €5M is covered by the promoter of the project — the owner or operator bringing the aircraft — out of its own resources: a leasing structure, an anchor investor, or its own capital. Retail investors are never asked to reach past the regulated ceiling to close the gap. The promoter carries that part.

Larger aircraft can also, at a later stage, be opened to professional investors through instruments built for them — an alternative investment fund (AIF) or a private placement — which sit outside the retail crowdfunding regime. That is deliberately a step for once the platform has a track record, not the starting point. In the early phase the model stays firmly in the ≤€5M retail lane, with the promoter funding anything above it.

A ceiling, not a cage

It is tempting to read the cap as a restriction, but in practice it is a design constraint that keeps every retail raise inside a protective regime. It means the aircraft opened to the public are deliberately matched to the €5M envelope, or structured so that the promoter — not the crowd — absorbs whatever sits above it. You always know which part of the capital is yours to fund, and under which rules.

What this means for you

• The €5M ceiling applies to the project owner over 12 months, across all platforms — to debt and equity alike.
• Retail investors fund up to that line; the promoter funds any amount above it.
• Professional-investor routes for bigger assets are a later-stage plan, not today's product.
• As with any investment, your capital is at risk, returns are not guaranteed, and these investments are illiquid.

Skynvest is still being formed and pending authorisation from the CNMV, Spain's securities regulator, so it is not yet possible to invest. What you can do today is get in line to see the first aircraft before anyone else.

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The projects and figures shown are illustrative; we never make investment recommendations.