'Good – far from perfect – but we are working on it and showing year-on-year progress '. That's how Dylan Perales, Sustainability Lead at StartGreen, summarizes our impact and ESG reporting journey. In this blog, Dylan shares his thoughts on the challenges he and his peers face with the introduction of the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan (including the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the EU Taxonomy).
Like StartGreen Capital, ASN Bank is a strong proponent of sustainable progress, making the two ideal partners in project financing. Going a step further, ASN Bank promotes specially selected campaigns from Oneplanetcrowd - StartGreen's crowdfunding platform - directly to its own customers. The Director of ASN Bank, Arie Koornneef, explains how shared goals can lead to unexpected gems of collaboration.
January 17, 2023
On Tuesday 14 February, the eleventh edition of the Event HERE Generated (EHO) will take place: the largest national event on local sustainable energy in the Netherlands and the meeting point for all parties involved in local energy initiatives. StartGreen is sponsoring EHO again this year.
November 23, 2022
Oneplanetcrowd, our platform for sustainable financing, joins forces with The Invesdor Group – a leading financing platform in Europe. This creates one of the largest crowdfunding platforms in Europe. With more than 170,000 investors, the new combination has invested more than 438 million euros in more than 800 projects.
This gives Oneplanetcrowd access to investors from the Invesdor Group – which is already active in Finland, Germany and Austria. Invesdor in turn can make use of the expertise and network that Oneplanetcrowd has built up as the most sustainable financing platform in the Benelux. Both merger partners share the ambition to bring together impact entrepreneurs and investors from all over the European Union. The joining of forces also paves the way for European expansion, with the aim of becoming the market leader in Europe.
With banks increasingly withdrawing, the demand for direct financing of innovative scale-ups and sustainable energy projects has grown strongly in recent years. Bridging this funding gap for innovation and the sustainable energy transition in Europe has only gained in urgency in the meantime. Globally, the funding gap is $4 to $6 trillion a year[1] to transform to a low-carbon economy.
The introduction of the Pan-European Crowdfunding Service Provider License (ECSP) and the possibility to digitize stocks and bonds using blockchain technology shows that the EU has put crowdfunding high on the political agenda to create a Capital Markets Union (CMU) to create. This would effectively create a single capital market within the entire EU. Invesdor and Oneplanetcrowd are pioneers in this fast-growing market and are now joining forces to form a strong European financing platform.
Coenraad de Vries is pleased with the joining of forces: 'Sustainable energy projects, scale-ups and impact entrepreneurs can now also raise funding in other European countries.'
Christopher Grätz, co-founder and CEO of Invesdor, will continue as CEO of the Group, while Maarten de Jong, co-founder and managing director of Oneplanetcrowd, will join the management team and lead all activities in the Benelux. Coenraad de Vries and Laura Rooseboom of StartGreen Capital – initiators and co-founders of Oneplanetcrowd – remain actively involved, including in the implementation of the sustainability policy and internationalization. In addition, De Vries will take a seat on the Supervisory Board.
Maarten de Jong: 'Involving citizens in the financing of the energy transition is something that many EU member states are striving for, and this is even becoming a requirement to an increasing extent. Crowdfunding can play a crucial role in this.' Under his leadership, Oneplanetcrowd was the third financing platform in Europe to receive the ECSP license. “This license gives us a significant head start in this promising growth market, which represents a market value of EUR 2.47 billion in our main markets alone.[2]. It enables us to position ourselves as one large, established player that meets strict European quality criteria. With these European laws and regulations, the market has become mature and more transparent.'
More information can be found in it full press release
[2] The 2nd Global Alternative Finance Market Benchmarking Report (2021)
ABN AMRO Bank’s aim is to make the biggest possible impact and, by doing so, create a more sustainable society. Head of Sustainability Richard Kooloos talks about the development of sustainable companies, about the increasingly strict regulations for impact recording and about the need to be able to collaborate with a partner such as StartGreen.
September 16, 2022
Oneplanetcrowd, our platform for sustainable financing, is having a festive week. Earlier it passed the magical 100 million mark. Yesterday, the platform was the third in Europe to receive the new European Crowdfunding Service Provider license (ECSP) from the AFM. This paves the way for offering sustainable financing propositions throughout Europe to private investors.
The ECSP allows crowdfunding platforms to provide services across the entire EU internal market, under the same rules. This will increase the pool of potential investors for renewable energy projects, SMEs and scale-ups and ensure that investors have a wider choice of projects and better protection.
Fairer competition
Crowdfunding platforms operating in more than one EU country will have to comply with one set of ground rules – the new regulation – rather than different rules in each country. Before the advent of European legislation, crowdfunding platforms in Europe faced a patchwork of national consumer protection laws and regulations. 'Now there is one framework for all EU countries and crowdfunding platforms must meet the same requirements,' says Maarten de Jong, director of Oneplanetcrowd. 'That means fairer competition between platforms, better supervision from the AFM, more clarity for investors and more opportunities for entrepreneurs in search of financing.'
More accessible investing
The new license is therefore good news for both entrepreneurs and investors. Investors who invest via a platform with the ECSP license can count on the platform meeting strict requirements regarding, among other things, internal processes, systems, IT security, payment processes, quality and integrity of directors. In addition, the new license will allow more possibilities with regard to the transferability of bonds. This improved liquidity makes it more accessible to invest directly in unlisted companies or sustainable energy projects with a longer term.
The road to Europe is free thanks to the new permit. Oneplanetcrowd therefore has the ambition to offer sustainable financing propositions from all over Europe to all of Europe. De Jong intends to tackle this step by step, country by country, starting in the Benelux. “The ECSP gives us more than ever the status of a professional investment platform. And there is still a lot to be achieved in Europe in the field of sustainable project financing!'
September 13, 2022
Oneplanetcrowd, our sustainable finance platform, passed the €100 million mark for sustainable and social enterprises and projects this week thanks to more than 43,000 investors and nearly 300 campaigns.
Oneplanetcrowd, an initiative of StartGreen Capital, is a financing platform that brings together innovative impact entrepreneurs and forward-looking investors. Sustainable entrepreneurs and energy projects can obtain financing from private investors via the platform. Forward-looking investors can invest directly in innovative companies and projects. In this way investors make 'double returns': financially and socially.
Among the 300 companies that were responsible for that € 100 million in recent years, are well-known names such as VanMoof, Fairphone and Seepje. Currently getting the company Yoni, that the femcaremarket is rapidly conquering, growth capital to finance its expansion plans. Within a week, the company raised more than €650,000, passing Oneplanetcrowd's total €100 million milestone. A convertible loan gives investors the opportunity to become a shareholder in this fast-growing company at a discount within three years.
In addition to SMEs and scale-ups, Oneplanetcrowd also offers many loans for sustainable energy projects. 'To make the energy transition possible, much more clout is needed,' explains director Maarten de Jong. 'That's why we have more and more solar, wind and bio-energy projects on our platform.'
Renewable energy is more topical than ever. De Jong therefore notices that many investors are interested in investing in these types of projects with a fixed return. But companies do not necessarily have to be green and sustainable. Companies with a social impact are also welcome on the Oneplanetcrowd platform. 'We recently had a project for future-proof education,' says De Jong. 'We are currently raising money for an organization that offers a fall prevention program to the elderly. This is often a cost item for municipalities, but with this Health Impact Bond private investors can make this possible with an expected net return of 27.4 percent in six years.' Oneplanetcrowd wants to 'democratize' capital with these kinds of propositions: where previously only professional parties could participate, these kinds of propositions are now also available to private investors via Oneplanetcrowd.
While sentiment among investors worldwide is strongly negative due to all the uncertainty, Oneplanetcrowd is able to realize strong growth. More has already been collected in 2022 than in the entire previous year. De Jong is therefore aiming for an amount in the direction of € 25 million for this year. 'That is a growth of 50 percent compared to last year. I think this shows that we are on the right track.'
Apr 15, 2022
On April 22, Change Inc.'s first Transition Arena will take place. Place. The subject is the shift in revenue models: from paying for possession to paying for use. Or as it is called in trendy terms: the 'service model'. Co-founder of StartGreen Capital and Oneplanetcrowd. Coenraad de Vries takes a seat to share his vision and experience.
'As an 'alternative financier' we have a very good track record in the field of circularity,' Coenraad explains his seat at the round table. 'Good examples are our financing from Fairphone, Mud Jeans, Seepje and Peerby. I like to tell about our experiences in order to be able to take a step indirectly or in collaboration towards one of our objectives: a circular economy.'
Changing business cases
In addition to Coenraad on behalf of StartGreen Capital, representatives of Vattenfall, Rebel Group, PreZero, Peerby and Dutch Clean Tech Solutions will sit at the table. The central question at this interactive meeting is: 'How does a business case change with the emergence of the circular economy?' The table guests tell about the successes and the lessons learned† In the second part, those present can talk to the diners about their own case or ask for advice about their challenge.
More information and the registration form can be found at: Change Transition Arena: The service model
March 7, 2022
Wednesday 30 March will be the festive anniversary edition of the Event HERE Generated (EHO): the largest national event about local sustainable energy in the Netherlands. On that day, all parties involved in local energy initiatives can meet. StartGreen and Oneplanetcrowd are sponsors of EHO this year.
EHO takes place for the tenth time, which is reason for an extra festive edition. As usual, the event will take place in the Spant in Bussum, with the theme 'Local, the new normal'. The event celebrates what the local energy movement has achieved together over the years and looks to the future. The program consists of 18 partial sessions, a plenary program and a network roulette. You can also follow the plenary part online.Be sure to visit our stand!
The financier of local projects
Because we can be of great added value to local energy projects, StartGreen and Oneplanetcrowd are partners of EHO this year. We have the experience and expertise to help local projects with financing from A to Z. Not only can we contribute ideas about the best form of financing, but we can also guide cooperatives in their collaboration with municipalities. In some cases, Oneplanetcrowd arranges citizen participation for developers, by raising funding from our crowd of individual investors.
About EHO
The Event HERE is aimed at people from local energy initiatives and their cooperation partners – such as municipalities, heating companies, energy suppliers and service providers. It is an event where visitors gain a good dose of positive energy to continue working on the energy transition.
The EHO program can be found at www.evenementhieropgewekt.nl
You might want to read: Involving citizens in the energy transition is necessary and possible
Expert Blog – November 16, 2021
StartGreen makes an impact with a team of over forty experts. These are not only specialists in venture capital and impact investing. Maartje Asscheman, for example, together with her team of developers, ensures that investors can make an investment in an intuitive and reliable way via Oneplanetcrowd..
Thirona was founded in 2014 by Eva van Rikxoort and Bram van Ginneken. With a team of leading software engineers and medical researchers, Thirona develops AI technology for automated analysis of medical scans. The company has the unique combination of in-house expertise and access to medical data for further product development, focusing on software solutions for the diagnosis of lung and eye diseases. Thirona's mission is to bridge the gap between academic advances in medical scan analysis and their clinical utility, by offering products that provide state-of-the-art deep learningusing technology to assist medical specialists in their daily activities.
The Next Closet in is a sustainable marketplace for second-hand luxury fashion. With its modern and forward-looking vision, the Amsterdam-based company makes luxury fashion affordable and encourages the idea of a circular economy in which beloved items are reused instead of thrown away. The Next Closet's mission is to make the second-hand clothing market mainstream – saying no to fast fashion and choose quality over quantity.
E-magy develops silicon-based battery technology. Batteries that are widely used at the moment are running up against the maximum energy density of carbon. It is increasingly becoming a bottleneck for more efficient batteries. E-magy's battery technology has the potential to triple the storage capacity of batteries.
The Fabricant is the world's leading digital fashion house and pioneered the digitization of the fashion industry. With their cutting edge designs, vision and technology, they have clients like and partnered with Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, Under Armor, Atari, RTFKT, Puma, Peak Performance and Buffalo London, just to name a few. The Fabricant's long-term vision is to create tools and products that transform the fashion industry into a fully digital existence in both production and consumption, while democratizing fashion creation into a collaborative process utilizing 3D technology and the creativity of the consumer, accessible to everyone.
Zielwear is a 'fashion on-demand' company, with the vision and ambition to facilitate on-demand production on a large scale. Zielwear is building a technology platform to design, manufacture and supply clothing to companies based on actual consumer demand. Zielwear does this under the leadership of serial entrepreneur, Marleen Vogelaar. As co-founder of Shapeways, Marleen has set up the world's largest 3D printing service and marketplace for consumers. Marleen's expertise in digital manufacturing is now transferring to the apparel industry, minimizing overproduction and inventories and enabling customers to sell top-quality, sustainable, custom clothing, with no minimum order and 10-day delivery.
Atlantic Therapeutics develops medical devices and associated software, apps and technologies to treat incontinence. The company's mission is to improve the quality of life for millions of people, enabling them to restore and strengthen their pelvic health, regaining the confidence and control to lead an active life. The product, INNOVO, is an FDA approved CE marked treatment for women suffering from stress urinary incontinence. It works by delivering clinically proven, safe, non-invasive pelvic floor stimulation through unique wearable technology. The revolutionary tool helps prevent pelvic floor weakness by actively treating the cause rather than the symptoms. Results from clinical studies conducted on more than 600 subjects consistently confirm improvements in key outcomes, symptoms and acceptability.
Asperitas, originally from Haarlem, has developed and marketed a technology (based on liquid cooling) to enable data centers to function climate-independent and sustainable for even the most demanding users.
Sympower unlocks revenue streams by maximizing the value of flexibility in all energy markets and industries.
For more than ten years, IME Medical Electrospinning has been a leading player in the development and implementation of electrospinning processes and equipment for the manufacture of medical devices for (regenerative) medicine and drug delivery. IME Medical Electrospinning has developed a unique set of innovations in electrospin technology for the reproducible and scalable production of electrospun material under tightly controlled conditions required by the MedTech and Pharma markets. Under the leadership of Judith Heikoop, the Dutch deep-tech company is actively committed to growth and international expansion of co-development projects in, among others, the MedTech and Pharma industry.
Thanks to CPT's lightweight tank container, made of composites, logistics companies save significantly on transport costs. Due to the reduced weight, the same amount of liquid can be transported with fewer transport movements and, in addition to cost savings, transporters also realize a CO2 reduction.
As a developer and producer of innovative thermoelectric modules, RGS Development is one of the first parties that can efficiently and economically convert residual heat from high temperatures (700-1200 ° C) into electricity. With the patented casting technology, a breakthrough in the application of thermoelectric systems is within reach.
For more information: https://www.pdenh.nl/home/financieringen/
Sun Invest Noord-Holland is an initiative of solar energy developer Ecorus. The new company wants to make a significant contribution to the sustainable economy in the province of North Holland. To this end, it provides financing to housing corporations, companies and governments, so that these parties can purchase solar panels. The investment should ensure that Sun Invest can generate 20,000,000 kWh of solar energy annually, for approximately 10,000 households.
With B4Energy, lettuce specialist B-Four Agro wants to produce two million Nm3 of green gas every year for 1,400 North Holland households. To this end, the company from Warmenhuizen is building a bio-fermentation installation on its own site. Every year, the digester uses 16,000 tonnes of biomass as feed, which consists of vegetable residual flows from B-Four Agro itself and agricultural companies in the region. The green gas that is subsequently released is fed into the natural gas network and provides both households and B-Four Agro's cultivation systems with sustainable energy.
Wocozon's mission is to allow social tenants to take maximum advantage of solar energy, without having to invest in it themselves. To this end, the company rents out solar power installations to housing corporations. In this way they can make their real estate portfolio more sustainable in an accessible way and structurally reduce the housing costs of their tenants.
De Groene Aggregaat is committed to making the construction sector in North Holland more sustainable. To this end, the company builds tailor-made hybrid generators in-house. The initiator is Maru Systems, the installation company from De Rijp that specializes in sustainable energy solutions.
ChainCraft develops technologies that make sustainable biobased chemicals. They are alternatives to the non-sustainable raw materials used by the chemical, food and feed industry. The company is a spin-off from Wageningen University & Research and now has Amsterdam as its base.
De 7 Deugden works from a clear social mission. This is reflected, among other things, in offering work to people at a distance from the labor market. In addition to this social interpretation, the brewery also has explicit sustainability ambitions.
In the energy transition to the use of heat pumps as a replacement for the gas boiler, the consumer is confronted with the noise nuisance from the existing systems. Over the past eight years, Triple Solar has worked on an economical, efficient and silent system and has a worldwide patent on the heat pump panel. A heat pump panel combines a solar panel (electricity) with a thermal system so that the system supplies hot water for heating and tap water day and night, summer and winter.
The originally Amsterdam company The Next Closet gives designer clothes a second life on its own online marketplace and is said to contribute to circularity.
Volgroen is working on making the energy supply in the Netherlands and Europe increasingly consist of small-scale clean energy technologies. These technologies provide major energy-saving and cost benefits for the business community.
CoVadem has an inventive solution for improving efficiency in inland shipping and thus reducing CO2 emissions. By uniting up-to-date depth measurements from countless inland vessels in one up-to-date overview, every skipper has access to the most up-to-date navigation depth of the Dutch waterways.
An ethical and fair phone. That's Fairphone's product. That means sustainable materials, but also fair working conditions for the people who make your phone.
From the end of 2019, about 2,200 Zaanse households and various companies will have sustainable (residual) heat. About Zaanstad Heat Network This open heat network is installed on the growth. This means that both new customers and new (heat) suppliers can be connected at a later stage.
EST ‐ Floattech is one of the world's leading players in the field of marine battery and energy storage systems and with more than 50 projects completed they are number two worldwide.
MX3D is an Amsterdam-based company that can manufacture complex steel structures in a sustainable and cost-effective way using 3D printing technology. The robots that MX3D controls with its own software are aimed at printing metal objects in almost any size or shape, while also achieving significant material savings.
MUD Jeans produces sustainable jeans for which 40 percent of the raw material currently consists of recycled cotton. Thanks to an investment from PDENH, MUD Jeans wants to increase this to 100 percent in the short term.
Dexter Energy develops software for the management of energy networks, based on artificial intelligence. By predicting the use and load of the energy grid, they offer a unique service to energy companies and other major suppliers and consumers of the energy grid.
Thanks to CPT's lightweight tank container, made of composites, logistics companies save significantly on transport costs. Due to the reduced weight, the same amount of liquid can be transported with fewer transport movements and, in addition to cost savings, transporters also realize a CO2 reduction.
Frog Navigation Systems develops, manufactures and markets steering and control systems for freely moving, electronically controlled vehicles (AGV systems). AGV stands for Automatic Guiding Systems = self-steering systems).
The unique feature of the patented Frog systems is that they offer a solution that makes logistics and public transport much more flexible and can also be used outdoors. Because this AGV system also works well at high speeds, Frog makes it possible to optimize both transport systems and public transport systems. The application of these systems in vehicles for both passenger and freight transport makes an important contribution to reducing the aforementioned problems of mobility.
For more information: www.frog.nl
In September 2013, Frog Systems Holding BV was acquired by Oceaneering Holdings SARL
FiberCore Europe specializes in the design and production of load-bearing structures made of fiber-reinforced plastic (composite) for the construction and infrastructure sectors. The company supplies bridges, floating roads, balconies and noise barriers, among other things. FiberCore Europe has quickly realized a significant trend change in the otherwise traditional construction sector. This new trend of light, fast and sustainable construction is now being followed internationally.
Support structures made of fiber-reinforced plastic generate significant environmental benefits. Simply because these new constructions are twenty times lighter than concrete or steel, they cause about twenty times less CO2 emissions. In addition, the production process is low in energy and clean. Finally, as a residual material, composite is chemically inert. After the technical life, the total energy content and the fibers can be recovered.
FiberCore Europe has realized eight bridges made of fiber-reinforced plastic in the Netherlands alone. Just last year, the world's largest carbon bridge span was exhibited at the prestigious JEC in Paris. The company is based on a number of smart patents, automated engineering and an innovative production system. FiberCore Europe supplies products that can initially compete on cost price with traditional building materials such as steel and concrete. Due to the long lifespan and because the material is maintenance-free, the composite support structures are many times cheaper over the entire lifespan than comparable structures in steel and concrete. There too, FiberCore Europe is responding to the trend that infrastructure projects are increasingly being assessed on the total costs of ownership.
For more information: www.fibercore-europe.com
Visions Connected provides video communication as a user-friendly and ready-to-use service. Customers can use video communication for a fixed amount per month. In addition, Visions Connected develops and realizes custom video applications.
More and more organizations are using video communication for contacts with their customers, partners and suppliers. Video communication can also play a major role for mutual contacts between employees, whether or not at different locations. Video communication is changing the way companies operate and people work together. Developments are fast, there is more and more possible, regardless of the distances to be bridged: from private incidental video conferences between two or more locations - anywhere in the world - to public web video tools and from seamlessly integrated video facilities in existing business processes to platforms for interactive video solutions for mobile networks.
Video communication offers concrete benefits, such as higher efficiency and better returns in business processes. It saves travel time, promotes a faster exchange of knowledge (sources) and experience and increases the employability of experts.
For more information: www.visionsconnected.nl
Intivation, together with mobile phone manufacturers and network providers, makes it possible to make mobile communication accessible to 1.6 billion people who live in regions where a reliable electricity grid is not always a matter of course.
Intivation develops and markets innovative technology that increases the output of solar cells. This makes it possible to build solar cells into small electronic consumer products. Intivation works with some of the world's largest ODM manufacturers and has extensive experience in applying solar cells in portable electronics.
Intivation was founded in 2003 as True Solar Autonomy, after inventor Anne Osinga developed a new way to increase the output of voltages. The technology has been further developed and improved in recent years, so that the conversion from solar energy to electricity is now fast and efficient.
Intivation is ready to market the technology on a large scale and will focus on portable consumer electronics with solar cells, mainly mobile phones and chargers.
For more information: www.intivation.nl
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