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Australia's crowd-sourced funding market has rebounded strongly in FY26, with $40.6 million raised across 49 campaigns from more than 18,000 investors.
The result marks a nearly 40 per cent increase in funds raised on FY25, and signals a market that is maturing into a mainstream source of growth capital for Australian small and medium-sized businesses.
While the number of campaigns fell around 8 per cent, total funds raised rose by $11 million and investor participation grew by 4,443 people.
The FY26 rebound has been driven by larger, higher-quality raises rather than a greater volume of deals, with the average campaign size climbing 52 per cent to $829,000 and investor participation rising 35 per cent to more than 18,000.
The resurgence has also reshuffled the competitive landscape with all 10 of FY26's largest raises hosted on the OnMarket platform, which claimed 73 per cent market share for the year.
The shift is notable given Birchal had held about 70 per cent of the market as recently as FY25.
Birchal earlier this year slashed the value of its business by 87 per cent after opening a new crowd-sourced funding round at a pre-money valuation of $5 million.
OnMarket managing director Tim Eisenhauer says the FY26 recovery reflects a shift in the type of companies choosing crowd-sourced funding (CSF), with more established, growth-ready businesses using the channel deliberately rather than as a last resort.
"Compared with debt or early-stage venture capital, CSF offers a fast, data-driven, community-building pathway to raise up to $5 million while keeping control of the company," says Eisenhauer.
"Crowd-sourced funding doesn't operate in isolation it reflects broader confidence in the economy and FY25 reflected a period of caution across both founders and investors.
"Higher interest rates, tighter capital markets and greater uncertainty meant many quality businesses delayed raising capital, while retail investors became more selective about where they deployed their money.
"What FY26 has shown us is that the fundamentals were always sound. The companies that waited, prepared properly and came to market with a clear growth story have been rewarded for it."
The FY26 figures suggest the crowd-sourced funding market has stabilised after a volatile two-year period.
FY24's $65 million peak was followed by the sharp FY25 contraction, which Birchal's own annual report attributed to macroeconomic headwinds, reduced deal flow, and the Equitise collapse removing a significant platform from the market.
While the number of campaigns fell from 63 in FY25 to 49 in FY26, the higher average raise size and increased investor numbers point to a market that is consolidating around fewer, stronger offers rather than a broad-based retreat.
OnMarket's dominance in FY26 was underpinned by several large raises that drew heavily on existing customer and community networks.
In the healthcare sector, the platform says raises by Cannaponics ($2.78 million) and PhycoLife ($1.85 million) reflected strong appetite for innovative health products and science-backed consumer goods.
In sustainability, Fremantle Seaweed raised $2.18 million and ReSmart raised $1.09 million, while in the beverages sector Barry's and TWØBAYS Brewing each raising around $2.5 million, driven by consumer brands with loyal, highly engaged communities.
SavvyWise also raised $1.51 million, which OnMarket says demonstrated retail investors' appetite for AI-driven businesses with "a clear commercial application".
Drew Lambert, an equity crowdfunding PR specialist who has directed more than 75 CSF campaigns across Birchal and OnMarket, says the best raises blur the line between investor and customer entirely.
"The campaigns that perform best are the ones where your potential investors are already your customers," says Lambert.
"With AI tax research platform, SavvyWise, Australian accountants were already drowning, dealing with a once-in-a-generation budget and a flood of client enquiries driven by confident but inaccurate AI responses.
"We made the case for them to invest, not just subscribe.
"The raise closed at $1.51 million, with accountants making up 39 per cent of investors, contributing 50 per cent of total capital and averaging $4,575 each, which was the highest campaign average of all raises in FY26."
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