World Bank launches research project into role of IP in closing the finance gap for creative industries
16 Jun 2025
Author
Martin Croft
PR & Communications Manager
Photo by Markus Krisetya on Unsplash
The World Bank has just published a blog post, Unlocking finance for creative industries, about how monetising IP could help close a finance gap that afflicts creative industries. In the post, the World Bank it announces a new research project, into IP monetization and finance for creative SMEs, with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility and the CreatiFi Trust Fund.
The post begins: “Creative industries, such as film, music, fashion design and advertising are a growing important source of economic activity globally, generating around $2 trillion of revenues and supporting over 50 million jobs, especially for young people. Yet they struggle to get the financing they need to reach their full business potential.”
The authors then discuss the “rising economic importance of intangible assets like IP, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents” citing statistics from the WIPO-LBS Global INTAN-Invest Database, which shows that out of 26 countries covering 52% of global GDP, “total intangible investment consistently outpaced tangible investment, growing three times faster during the period 2008-2023.”
The World Bank post adds that “Global investment has shifted toward intangible assets, where the value of Intellectual Property (IP) often surpasses that of tangible assets, and intangible assets now represent around $80 trillion globally.”
However, the major problem – from the banking industry’s point of view – is that “while IP holds immense potential as financial assets, it is not recognized globally as collateral for capital adequacy purposes. Notably, under the Basel III framework’s Standardized Approach for Credit Risk, intangible assets, including IP, are not eligible as collateral for reducing credit risk exposures, restricting their use in securing loans.”
The World Bank post continues: “This challenge is compounded in many EMDEs by the absence of robust collateral regimes and regulatory frameworks that do not facilitate the use of IP as collateral. The lack of knowledge, insights, and research on critical aspects such as IP valuation, accounting standards, risk assessment, and market dynamics further hinders progress. This gap not only limits the growth of creative SMEs but also stifles innovation and economic resilience.”
The new research project will look at “new financing solutions for SMEs in creative industries to offer insights into existing good practices and approaches to financing creative SMEs at various stages of their development.” A key focus will be “how supportive collateral regimes, innovation like smart contracts and regulatory reforms can enable creative entrepreneurs to monetize their IP effectively. By addressing challenges such as valuation, risk management, and regulatory recognition and protection, this research will hopefully serve as a springboard to start and contribute to the global dialogue on IP backed financing of creative industries.”
The project is part of a wider “creative industries for jobs and growth” project, which the World Bank hopes will encourage collaboration between whereby and private sector development teams “on both the demand and supply side of financing creative SMEs.”
The post finishes with a reference to the recent WIPO IP Finance Dialogue in Geneva in May 2025, which, amongst other topics, “highlighted the urgent need to rethink how we finance creativity and innovation.” Inngot CEO Martin Brassell was a speaker at the event, exploring best practice in building robust IP finance ecosystems.
Photo by Markus Krisetya on Unsplash
The World Bank has just published a blog post, Unlocking finance for creative industries, about how monetising IP could help close a finance gap that afflicts creative industries. In the post, the World Bank it announces a new research project, into IP monetization and finance for creative SMEs, with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility and the CreatiFi Trust Fund.
The post begins: “Creative industries, such as film, music, fashion design and advertising are a growing important source of economic activity globally, generating around $2 trillion of revenues and supporting over 50 million jobs, especially for young people. Yet they struggle to get the financing they need to reach their full business potential.”
The authors then discuss the “rising economic importance of intangible assets like IP, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents” citing statistics from the WIPO-LBS Global INTAN-Invest Database, which shows that out of 26 countries covering 52% of global GDP, “total intangible investment consistently outpaced tangible investment, growing three times faster during the period 2008-2023.”
The World Bank post adds that “Global investment has shifted toward intangible assets, where the value of Intellectual Property (IP) often surpasses that of tangible assets, and intangible assets now represent around $80 trillion globally.”
However, the major problem – from the banking industry’s point of view – is that “while IP holds immense potential as financial assets, it is not recognized globally as collateral for capital adequacy purposes. Notably, under the Basel III framework’s Standardized Approach for Credit Risk, intangible assets, including IP, are not eligible as collateral for reducing credit risk exposures, restricting their use in securing loans.”
The World Bank post continues: “This challenge is compounded in many EMDEs by the absence of robust collateral regimes and regulatory frameworks that do not facilitate the use of IP as collateral. The lack of knowledge, insights, and research on critical aspects such as IP valuation, accounting standards, risk assessment, and market dynamics further hinders progress. This gap not only limits the growth of creative SMEs but also stifles innovation and economic resilience.”
The new research project will look at “new financing solutions for SMEs in creative industries to offer insights into existing good practices and approaches to financing creative SMEs at various stages of their development.” A key focus will be “how supportive collateral regimes, innovation like smart contracts and regulatory reforms can enable creative entrepreneurs to monetize their IP effectively. By addressing challenges such as valuation, risk management, and regulatory recognition and protection, this research will hopefully serve as a springboard to start and contribute to the global dialogue on IP backed financing of creative industries.”
The project is part of a wider “creative industries for jobs and growth” project, which the World Bank hopes will encourage collaboration between whereby and private sector development teams “on both the demand and supply side of financing creative SMEs.”
The post finishes with a reference to the recent WIPO IP Finance Dialogue in Geneva in May 2025, which, amongst other topics, “highlighted the urgent need to rethink how we finance creativity and innovation.” Inngot CEO Martin Brassell was a speaker at the event, exploring best practice in building robust IP finance ecosystems.
Photo by Markus Krisetya on Unsplash
The World Bank has just published a blog post, Unlocking finance for creative industries, about how monetising IP could help close a finance gap that afflicts creative industries. In the post, the World Bank it announces a new research project, into IP monetization and finance for creative SMEs, with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility and the CreatiFi Trust Fund.
The post begins: “Creative industries, such as film, music, fashion design and advertising are a growing important source of economic activity globally, generating around $2 trillion of revenues and supporting over 50 million jobs, especially for young people. Yet they struggle to get the financing they need to reach their full business potential.”
The authors then discuss the “rising economic importance of intangible assets like IP, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents” citing statistics from the WIPO-LBS Global INTAN-Invest Database, which shows that out of 26 countries covering 52% of global GDP, “total intangible investment consistently outpaced tangible investment, growing three times faster during the period 2008-2023.”
The World Bank post adds that “Global investment has shifted toward intangible assets, where the value of Intellectual Property (IP) often surpasses that of tangible assets, and intangible assets now represent around $80 trillion globally.”
However, the major problem – from the banking industry’s point of view – is that “while IP holds immense potential as financial assets, it is not recognized globally as collateral for capital adequacy purposes. Notably, under the Basel III framework’s Standardized Approach for Credit Risk, intangible assets, including IP, are not eligible as collateral for reducing credit risk exposures, restricting their use in securing loans.”
The World Bank post continues: “This challenge is compounded in many EMDEs by the absence of robust collateral regimes and regulatory frameworks that do not facilitate the use of IP as collateral. The lack of knowledge, insights, and research on critical aspects such as IP valuation, accounting standards, risk assessment, and market dynamics further hinders progress. This gap not only limits the growth of creative SMEs but also stifles innovation and economic resilience.”
The new research project will look at “new financing solutions for SMEs in creative industries to offer insights into existing good practices and approaches to financing creative SMEs at various stages of their development.” A key focus will be “how supportive collateral regimes, innovation like smart contracts and regulatory reforms can enable creative entrepreneurs to monetize their IP effectively. By addressing challenges such as valuation, risk management, and regulatory recognition and protection, this research will hopefully serve as a springboard to start and contribute to the global dialogue on IP backed financing of creative industries.”
The project is part of a wider “creative industries for jobs and growth” project, which the World Bank hopes will encourage collaboration between whereby and private sector development teams “on both the demand and supply side of financing creative SMEs.”
The post finishes with a reference to the recent WIPO IP Finance Dialogue in Geneva in May 2025, which, amongst other topics, “highlighted the urgent need to rethink how we finance creativity and innovation.” Inngot CEO Martin Brassell was a speaker at the event, exploring best practice in building robust IP finance ecosystems.
Photo by Markus Krisetya on Unsplash
The World Bank has just published a blog post, Unlocking finance for creative industries, about how monetising IP could help close a finance gap that afflicts creative industries. In the post, the World Bank it announces a new research project, into IP monetization and finance for creative SMEs, with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility and the CreatiFi Trust Fund.
The post begins: “Creative industries, such as film, music, fashion design and advertising are a growing important source of economic activity globally, generating around $2 trillion of revenues and supporting over 50 million jobs, especially for young people. Yet they struggle to get the financing they need to reach their full business potential.”
The authors then discuss the “rising economic importance of intangible assets like IP, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents” citing statistics from the WIPO-LBS Global INTAN-Invest Database, which shows that out of 26 countries covering 52% of global GDP, “total intangible investment consistently outpaced tangible investment, growing three times faster during the period 2008-2023.”
The World Bank post adds that “Global investment has shifted toward intangible assets, where the value of Intellectual Property (IP) often surpasses that of tangible assets, and intangible assets now represent around $80 trillion globally.”
However, the major problem – from the banking industry’s point of view – is that “while IP holds immense potential as financial assets, it is not recognized globally as collateral for capital adequacy purposes. Notably, under the Basel III framework’s Standardized Approach for Credit Risk, intangible assets, including IP, are not eligible as collateral for reducing credit risk exposures, restricting their use in securing loans.”
The World Bank post continues: “This challenge is compounded in many EMDEs by the absence of robust collateral regimes and regulatory frameworks that do not facilitate the use of IP as collateral. The lack of knowledge, insights, and research on critical aspects such as IP valuation, accounting standards, risk assessment, and market dynamics further hinders progress. This gap not only limits the growth of creative SMEs but also stifles innovation and economic resilience.”
The new research project will look at “new financing solutions for SMEs in creative industries to offer insights into existing good practices and approaches to financing creative SMEs at various stages of their development.” A key focus will be “how supportive collateral regimes, innovation like smart contracts and regulatory reforms can enable creative entrepreneurs to monetize their IP effectively. By addressing challenges such as valuation, risk management, and regulatory recognition and protection, this research will hopefully serve as a springboard to start and contribute to the global dialogue on IP backed financing of creative industries.”
The project is part of a wider “creative industries for jobs and growth” project, which the World Bank hopes will encourage collaboration between whereby and private sector development teams “on both the demand and supply side of financing creative SMEs.”
The post finishes with a reference to the recent WIPO IP Finance Dialogue in Geneva in May 2025, which, amongst other topics, “highlighted the urgent need to rethink how we finance creativity and innovation.” Inngot CEO Martin Brassell was a speaker at the event, exploring best practice in building robust IP finance ecosystems.
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Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.
Inngot's online platform identifies all your intangible assets and demonstrates their value to lenders, investors, acquirers, licensees and stakeholders
Accreditations
Copyright © Inngot Limited 2019-2025. All rights reserved.