Coenraad de Vries, co-founder and managing partner of StartGreen and Oneplanetcrowd, has been named Changemaker of the Week by Change Inc in the finance category.
Coenraad was nominated together with Anne Mieke van der Werf, director of business development at Invest-NL and Cilian Jansen Verplanke, owner of Karmijn Kapitaal. With the most votes, Coenraad is the favorite changemaker of week 43.
Podcast on Pampus Together with Paul van Liempt, he therefore recorded a podcast on Fort Island Pampus yesterday. In it they go in depth about leadership and impact on the way to a better future economy.
Change Inc, the platform for sustainable news about change, has nominated Coenraad as Changemaker of the Week in the finance category. Vote for him as your favorite changemaker. If he wins, you'll hear him soon on the Change Inc podcast!
Until Wednesday Coenraad's profile page central to Change.inc, to inspire people with his personal story. In this interview he tells how he wants to make an impact with StartGreen, about his leadership style and how he wants to change the financial sector sustainably.
Vote for Coenraad On Wednesday afternoon, October 27, it will be announced which of the three nominees, according to the voters, will make the greatest contribution to a better future. Paul van Liempt is recording a podcast with this Changemaker of the Week.
Investment Manager Nienke Rijpstra describes in this blog how StartGreen can help both developers and citizens' initiatives to set up a new energy project.
How do you make money as an innovative sustainable entrepreneur? Rianne Lachmeijer from the platform change.inc interviewed our managing partner, among others Laura Rooseboom about this question, the emergence of StartGreen Capital, maintaining a broad focus and the lack in the market for this type of financing. Also the by Oneplanetcrowd. gefunde RE:BORN discusses in this article how it remains difficult for innovative parties to get money from the market. Read the entire article via the link below.
Our crowdfunding platform Oneplanetcrowd. recently raised EUR 1 million in growth financing from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Funding has been raised through the EU Program for Employment and Social Innovation and will be used to further develop the platform and achieve further growth. Read all about it below in the joint press release. And read the interview with our General Council Lisa Hees about this investment here.
Oneplanetcrowd raises EUR 1 million in growth financing from the European Investment Fund
- Crowdlending platform Oneplanetcrowd attracts EUR 1 million in growth funding from the European Investment Fund (EIF) for supporting social entrepreneurship.
- Funding is made possible by the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) Program of the European Union.
To further develop the platform and achieve further growth, Oneplanetcrowd has raised funding from the European Investment Fund (EIF) through the EU Program for Employment and Social Innovation. This is a favorable loan with a term of eight years. The required equity capital has been strengthened because all shareholders have converted their outstanding (convertible) loans into shares and existing Oneplanetcrowd crowd investors have bought additional depositary receipts for shares. After the issue of these shares, Oneplanetcrowd is well positioned to finance its further growth. The conversion of loans greatly increases solvency.
“We are proud to have the EIF on board. With their financial support, we can further strengthen our growth and invest in our business model for financing small sustainable SMEs. It also demonstrates the strong and pragmatic effort of the EIF (EU) to support the alternative finance sector, which is even more necessary in these difficult economic times due to the coronavirus ” Thus Coenraad de Vries, managing director of Oneplanetcrowd.
“At this difficult time, access to finance for the smallest companies in our economies is more important than ever. In addition to the health emergency, one of the main goals of the EIF is to support SMEs wherever possible in the face of the economic consequences of this crisis. ” Added Alain Godard, Chief Executive of the EIF, please.
Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, says: “Beyond traditional bank lending, Europe needs innovative forms of financing to meet the significant liquidity needs of SMEs and mid-caps. Oneplanetcrowd can bring together sustainable investors and social enterprises seeking financing, I am pleased that the EU can support this platform. ”
Investing in growth Partly with this financing, further investments will be made in the quality of services in the coming years by, among other things:
• The improvement of the front-end and back-end IT systems
• Expanding the sales and marketing capacity.
• Offering new products such as bonds, shares and limited tradability.
• To meet strict regulatory requirements, as Oneplanetcrowd is one of the few platforms operating under MiFID II.
Oneplanetcrowd has received the capacity building investment funded by the European Union under the Employment and Social Innovation Program (EaSI). The EaSI program supports the social and employment policies of the European Union. The program falls directly under the responsibility of the European Commission and contributes to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy.
It looks like the economy will reopen soon. Entrepreneurs who look ahead want to start up and invest again. However, traditional financiers look at 2020 from an old perspective, which often makes financing difficult. The entrepreneur needs a financing partner who looks at the opportunities of 2021. Three SME financing parties, including the Oneplanetcrowd initiated by us, join forces and offer entrepreneurs financing power, personal guidance and speed with Prognose Financing. Read more about it here.
- press release -
Alternative financiers offer a solution with Prognosefinancieren for SMEs who want to move forward
April 15, 2021 - Now that an economy is opening up again, entrepreneurs are making reopening plans. How do you finance investments after a difficult year? Traditional financiers are cautious about providing capital in times of crisis. Three parties with extensive experience with SME financing are joining forces: Financing Guild, Geldvoorelkaar.nl and Oneplanetcrowd.. They are introducing Prognosis Finance, with which they help the entrepreneur who is looking ahead on the way to recovery with a personal approach.
Investment plans have been shelved due to a complicated year. Now that an economy is opening up again, entrepreneurs want to implement their deferred investment plans. Research by the MKB Financiering Foundation shows that 45% of entrepreneurs wants to invest in the short term, which shows a growing optimism among entrepreneurs. The MKB Financiering Foundation also advises entrepreneurs to make reopening plans and to draw up scenarios for liquidity developments and financing needs. Funding for these growth plans is important to get the engine of the economy running again.
Looking ahead is important when it comes to financing after a difficult year When applying for financing, traditional lenders, such as banks, mainly look at the results of the past period. However, if the past period deviates from the normal results due to corona, there is a greater chance of rejection. Research by the MKB Financiering Foundation shows that SMEs are increasingly opting for other forms of financing outside the bank. 22% of the SMEs has already opted for non-bank financing.
The way to alternative financiers and good credit arrangements is still relatively unknown Entrepreneurs do not always know their way to non-bank, alternative financiers and often need advice in this regard. Only a third of the companies rejected by the bank have continued to look for other financing and have succeeded. In addition, the government has set up various financial schemes for entrepreneurs, such as a surety credit (BMKB-C), whereby the government guarantees three-quarters of the financing amount. However, little use is made of this, according to figures from the Dutch Banking Association. Only 14 percent of SME bank loans with a government guarantee have been provided. This scheme is also offered by alternative financiers and can also be combined with crowdfunding, so that the funding is given extra strength by the ambassadors involved.
Forecast finance: financing solution for entrepreneurs who want to grow again Three SME financing parties, Financing Guild, Geldvoorelkaar.nl and Oneplanetcrowd, are joining forces to help entrepreneurs get out of the crisis and introduce Prognosefinancieren. This approach emphasizes the forecast for the coming year when assessing funding demand. Based on the situation of the company and the expected scenarios for the coming months, liquidity is forecast with the corresponding financing requirement. With tailor-made advice, personal guidance and financing power, entrepreneurs are enabled to realize their investments and to grow again and investors get a good picture of the risks and opportunities. Geldvoorelkaar.nl and Oneplanetcrowd have around 15 million euros available for BMKB-C loans and this can be supplemented with crowdfunding.
Andre Hendriksen, owner of the Financing Guild: “Right now, the forecast for the coming year is crucial to convince lenders to provide financing. We work closely with Geldvoorelkaar and Oneplanetcrowd, because this gives entrepreneurs quick access to financing with or without government guarantees. ”
Chris Stoffer, Member of the House of Representatives (SGP): “Alternative forms of financing, such as Prognose Financing, can offer great opportunities for SMEs. Especially now it can be the support they need for entrepreneurs to get out of the crisis. That is why I will continue to work in the House of Representatives to encourage alternative forms of financing. "
Ronald Kleverlaan, Chairman of the SME Financing Foundation: “Financing is looking ahead. This good initiative helps the entrepreneur to find suitable financing to invest in future growth. ”
Personal advice and webinar forecasting financing Entrepreneurs who want to know whether Prognosis Financing suits them, can fill in a forecast quickscan and find more information at https://www.financieringsgilde.nl/prognosefinancieren/. Entrepreneurs can also register here for a webinar about growth and recovery after corona.
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
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
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
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
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 Therapeutic
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
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
Sympower unlocks revenue streams by maximizing the value of flexibility in all energy markets and industries.
IME Medical Electrospinning
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.
Composite Production Technology
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.
RGS Development
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.
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.
B4Energy
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
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.
The Green Generator
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
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.
The 7 Virtues
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.
Triple Solar
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 Next Closet
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.
Full green
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
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.
Fairphone
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.
Zaanstad heat network
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
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
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
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 Services
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.
Composite Production Technology
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.
Education:
Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Organizational Science at Tilburg University and various management courses at IMD Lausanne.
Experience:
More than 15 years of experience in venture capital, management, corporate venturing and banking.
Area of expertise:
Venture capital, organizational development, business development for fast-growing organizations, entrepreneurship and corporate venturing.
Additional positions:
Managing Partner OnePlanetCrowd and Board Member European Crowdfunding Association (ECN), European branch organization of crowdfunding platforms.
Frog
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.
In September 2013, Frog Systems Holding BV was acquired by Oceaneering Holdings SARL
FiberCore Europe
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.
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.
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.
How do you make money as an innovative sustainable entrepreneur? Rianne Lachmeijer from the platform 
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
