What is B Corp?

B Corp stands for ‘Benefit Corporation’ and is a certification that allows you, as a company, to show that you actually do business in a socially responsible way. Oneplanetcrowd obtained its B Corp certification for the first time in March 2016. Obtaining the prestigious certificate is not easy and an intensive process precedes the award. Indeed, in addition to adding financial value, B Corp companies must make a demonstrable impact on people and the environment. The B Corp certificate shows that a company is not just pretending to be sustainable and is not greenwashing. At a time when sustainability is becoming increasingly important, this is a valuable, reliable certification. 

In March, during B Corp month, many certified B Corporations join forces to increase visibility and awareness around corporate social responsibility. So that in the future, more and more companies follow suit to reduce their footprint and take people and the environment into consideration.

How does a company become B Corp certified?  

Companies get B Corp certification only when they meet the high standards set for their social and environmental impact and must account for it. This includes looking at community, customer, environmental, governance and employee impacts. To become a B Corp, an organization must go through an Impact certification process. The questions relate to sustainability in its broadest sense. In the process, a company must score at least 80 out of a possible 200 points. And that’s not easy. To illustrate, worldwide 55% of companies that complete the questionnaire do not receive the certification.  

Once a company is B Corp certified, they are required to communicate transparently about their score. A B Corp certificate must be renewed annually: thus, companies can lose the certificate even if they no longer meet the strict conditions. In this way, the seal retains its value and authority.  

Which companies are B Corp certified?  

The B Corp certificate has been awarded by the American non-profit organization B Lab since 2006. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the first companies in Europe received their certification in 2015. This number has since grown to about 1,100 companies in Europe, of which more than 200 are based in the Netherlands. Worldwide, there are more than 6,000 B Corp companies in 80 countries.  

Reliance Netherlands (formerly Oneplanetcrowd) has been B Corp certified since 2016. In February 2025, the entire Reliance Group received the certification. Together with our investors, we have provided funding to several leading B Corps in recent years, including Kipster, Fairphone, Yoni, Moyee, Snappcar, Mud Jeans, and Seepje. Other well-known B Corps include Tony’s Chocolonely, Triodos Bank, WeTransfer, and Dopper.

Sustainable soap producer Seepje ‘challenged’ by B Corp certification

Reliance helped sustainable soap product Seepje raise their funding in 2014 and 2017. Back then, they were already working hard to make the world a little cleaner and more beautiful by making laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner and hand soap from soap husks from India and Nepal. Not only should the packaging and the product be sustainable, but also the people in India and Nepal should benefit.  

Jasper Gabriëlse, co-founder of Seepje, spoke to the editors of The Entrepreneur about their journey to achieving B Corp certification. “We see B Corp as a comprehensive assessment of our impact on all fronts. During the first assessment we scored 84.2 points, but we make it a sport to reach 100. The great thing about B Corp is that it inspires and challenges us to make the company even better,” said Jasper. 

The future as B Corp 

We are looking forward to a future in which we will continue to encourage our crowd to invest in strong B Corp brands. If you want to stay informed about our B Corp opportunities, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on the socials.

The post Impact & Investing: Reliance Group receives B Corp certification first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

When and where to invest to your money

When many investors sell company shares due to the economic or political situation, the prices fall – and thus offer others a favourable entry opportunity. This is known as an anti-cyclical investment.

Countercyclical value investing is a popular strategy among long-term investors that allows them to profit from stocks or bonds that are undervalued due to market dislocations. In this way, investors capitalise on the fact that financial instruments are often oversold in bad times and therefore undervalued relative to their substance. As soon as market conditions improve, their prices should rise again, the idea goes.

Mari Lymysalo, Managing Director at Reliance Nordics highlights: “The competition among investors for investments in start-ups and growth companies is significantly lower than before. That’s why growth companies in particular have fallen significantly in valuation due to the lack of venture capital.”

This scenario applies to many growth companies and opens enormous opportunities for investors in the areas of equity investments, venture capital and participation in growth companies in the upcoming year.

The hidden opportunities of private equity, venture capital and growth company investments

There are winners in every market phase. Even in crises or recessions, these can be successful start-ups or growth companies with a forward-looking business model and a well-thought-out business plan. These companies are also called growth companies.

“Selected growth companies offer investors excellent opportunities when it comes to investing in companies with attractive returns – this is where the expertise of specialists who know the markets and act professionally when it comes to selecting suitable growth companies for investment is needed,” explains Mari Lymysalo from invesdor.

Reliance always provides you with expertise for growth companies and venture capital. With us, you will only find pre-selected investments in which you can already get involved with smaller amounts.“

Participation in growth companies usually takes the form of venture capital or private equity investment. In both forms, the investors invest in the equity capital and thus obtain ownership shares in the growth company. Both forms of investment take place before the target company is listed on the stock exchange and thus share or bond investments on the stock exchange are not yet possible. They differ above all in the investment horizon and the investment structure. The goal of private equity investors is the exit through an IPO or the profitable sale of the company.

Growth companies have successfully mastered their start-up phase and are pursuing a forward-looking strategy with qualified management. However, these companies do not yet generate excessive profits with which they could finance further growth. They are dependent on financiers. Since banks continue to be reluctant to lend, the main option for growth companies is the participation of venture capital or private equity investors.

“Investments in this area are usually only accessible to institutional investors, especially since the minimum investment amount often exceeds the budget of private investors. However, Reliance makes it possible to bundle the investments of interested investors and thus also transfer shares in growth companies to private individuals,” says Mari Lymysalo.  

For investments in growth companies, we at Reliance are at your side to finance additional growth or to open up new markets. These growth companies offer excellent opportunities – but also risks that need to be calculated precisely. Our experts analyse the potential success of the growth companies. A growth company will be included in our project portfolio only if this assessment is positive.

Why growth companies are proven to be the best investments for 2025

The effects of numerous conflicts have marked the past years. Triggered by the energy crisis and the lack of supplies from Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East, fossil fuels and electricity prices rose sharply. Worldwide supply chains were interrupted or at least significantly restricted. This led to sharp price increases in all areas and thus high inflation.

In order to curb inflation, the central banks raised interest rates several times. The rising interest rates in turn led to a slump in the stock markets, which were only able to recover over the year partially. But the market’s overall momentum has slowed.

Mari Lymysalo, Managing Director at Reliance Nordics explains it as: “The value of growth companies is based on future expectations. The value of these future cash flows decreases as interest rates rise. In the changed market environment, the valuation views of venture capitalists and growth companies have diverged, and it has taken some time for them to align,” says the venture capital investment expert.

Mari Lymysalo’s tips for investing in growth companies at a glance: 

• Define investment objectives 
• Spread across different asset classes and also within an asset class 
• Exploiting the opportunities of crowdfunding 
• Finding the right mix: a good business model with growth prospects 
• Be well-informed and make well-considered decisions 

Why invest with us?

The Reliance Group has been active in the market for over 10 years and is at home in many European countries. Since then, we have become one of the largest financing and investment platforms on our continent. 

To date, more than 194,000 investors have invested over 550 million euros in European companies in more than 1000 projects. Fairness, collaboration and agility are the pillars of our corporate culture. In the areas of crowdinvesting and crowdlending, investors can participate in forward-looking companies with smaller amounts. 

As an awarded and innovative platform for crowdinvesting, our company is represented in five core countries in Europe. The focus is particularly on industries that deal with climate change and people’s health. With venture capital, we support these future industries and thus offer our clientele attractive entry opportunities. Private investors thus have the option of directly participating in growth companies that are not traded on any stock exchange.

Read also:
Learn all about how we select your investment opportunities
Fixed interest or equity investments – which type of return are you aiming for?

The post Growth companies: The best investments for 2025 first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

Reliance brings together innovative entrepreneurs and forward-thinking investors to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy. Citizens are also regularly successfully involved in this transition where they can benefit from the returns of local projects. Windpark Fryslân’s starting point was to allow local residents to participate in the revenues from the wind farm in their own neighborhood. Together with invesdor’s investment platform, Windpark Fryslân raised the overwhelming amount of $27 million from 2609 investors in a period of six weeks. This instantly made this project Europe’s largest crowdfunding initiative for renewable energy.

The post Reliance organized Europe’s largest crowdfunding campaign for renewable energy first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

By joining forces, we will soon become the top 3 player in Europe in the field of impact investing and we can offer you an even wider range of European propositions. We formally merged with Reliance earlier this year. One of the most important steps in this regard is that we will soon continue together on the online investment platform reliancetrade.org. 

What can you expect?

Much will remain the same. This way you will soon be able to login to the reliancetrade.org platform with your Oneplanetcrowd account. Of course, we cannot avoid the fact that the website will look different, but we expect that you will quickly get used to it. We are convinced that you will benefit greatly from it in the long term.

What will change?

• Thanks to the merger, you will soon be able to invest in companies and energy projects from Germany, Austria and Finland, among others, in addition to the Netherlands. The propositions will then continue to be offered in Dutch.
• All propositions offered on Reliance meet our ESG requirements, ‘no harm criteria’. You will continue to find our Oneplanetcrowd logo on all propositions that have a direct impact on one of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• You no longer pay a management fee on propositions offered on the new Reliance platform. This is already the case with the current LandLife proposition, which is also listed on invesdor.
• The frequency of business updates will increase to once a year: the extended version that you are used to receiving in the autumn will remain. The business update in the spring will be canceled.
• More functionality will become available on the Reliance platform to enable you to trade your investment products.
• Thanks to the merger, we are one of the top three players in Europe! With joint resources we can invest even further in a robust platform and provide even better services to our investors and entrepreneurs.

What doesn’t change?

• Nothing will change for your current portfolio. However, your portfolio will become clearer and you will soon have an even better overview. For example, you can see which repayments you can expect from your portfolio in the coming quarter or year.
• The quality of our services does not change: we remain as thorough and decisive as you have come to expect from us.
• Our sustainable character will remain. Oneplanetcrowd’s projects remain recognizable to indicate the sustainable investment offer on the Investor platform.
• You will continue to receive tax statements from us with which you can process your investments in your tax return. Investments you will make on invesdor.nl in non-Dutch companies will of course also be included.
• Oneplanetcrowd remains housed in the SDG House with the same contacts and support.

Support

We will take you step by step through the developments via our newsletters in the near future. Still have questions? Then you can contact our support team, via info@reliancetrade.org.

The post Oneplanetcrowd becomes invesdor first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

Mistake 1: Never try to predict the future

Do you sometimes wish you had a crystal ball that would show you tomorrow’s stock market prices? If you had one, you would probably have Apple and Google shares in your portfolio and be a multi-millionaire with Bitcoin investments today.

But hand on heart, would you really have invested your money in a computer manufacturer that was about to go bankrupt in 1997? Or invested even a single cent in a strange thing called a search engine, where no one knew how it was supposed to make any money at all? And if you did, wouldn’t you rather have chosen the then leading search engine providers Altavista, Yahoo or Lycos instead of Google?

You have never heard of these companies? That’s not surprising, some of them don’t even exist anymore, the others are only a shadow of their former greatness. And did you really know bitcoin before it cracked the record high of just under $20,000 in December 2017?

Don’t overestimate your skills in timing and market analysis

As an investor, it is best not to even try to predict the development of stock market prices. Don’t overestimate your own analytical skills either. Many things are hard to predict, even for experienced investors who get their information from the press, specialist portals or “unfiltered” internet sources. Just think of the last few years; the enormous impact of the Corona crisis on the economy and society was hardly expected.

Professional investors, with technical and personnel support, can certainly manage to beat the market. But they are few and they do their market monitoring as a full-time job and practically around the clock.

Nevertheless, many investors regularly try to predict price developments – and fail. Every now and then, an investor will succeed in entering or exiting the market with perfect timing. If it works, it is often called skill. If it doesn’t work, then it was certainly not because of one’s own skill.

And for many it didn’t work out and they preferred holding on to Lycos or Yahoo shares rather than those of Apple and Google. 

Mistake 2: Putting all your eggs in one basket and not diversifying

“Never put all your eggs in one basket.” – This age-old truism must be mentioned again and again. If only one thing does not go as planned just once, all eggs are quickly broken.

It is the same with investing. Those who put all their eggs in one basket take far too high a risk. Many investors tend to act emotionally and invest in hype stocks or in “the top investment of the hour”, for example.

Of course, anyone can put the next biotech stock in their portfolio that is “very close” to the successful development of a Covid vaccine – but just as an admixture to take advantage of opportunities or to spread the risk further. Do not let yourself be influenced by the daily flood of news and rather invest according to firm, long-term oriented principles.

Diversification – Spread your money over different investments

Try to create a portfolio that is ready for any market situation. It is best to spread your capital across various asset classes and it is important to invest in different markets and sectors, for example, not only in the German car industry or only in American tech stocks. Don’t just put money into real estate or into a single crowdinvesting project in the hospitality sector.

For investors, it is advisable to have a portfolio that is structured as globally as possible and spread across different asset classes and is also prepared for special situations such as the Covid crisis. This is exactly why the legendary investor Ray Dahlio designed the so-called “all-weather portfolio” about 30 years ago. 

Mistake 3: Accepting to high costs

The more natural ingredients are processed with industrial additives, the higher the price goods can be sold at – and the more unhealthy it usually gets.

The situation is similar with financial products. Many financial investments are basically simple in structure but are “processed” by the financial industry and thus complicated.

And what appears to be complicated and somehow well thought-out is often accompanied by very high costs. Especially complete solutions that are supposedly structured with the customer in mind often contain high fees. Building loan contracts are combined with various life insurance policies. Advertised as “safe” and “sensible”, they are actually just expensive and so complicated and convoluted that no one understands them.

For that reason, don’t get lured by well-meaning advertising promises and always pay attention to the costs of a financial product. After all, the costs have a significant effect on the effective return, even if it is “only” one or two percentage points. The impact of fees on performance can be serious over the years, as our example shows:

Investment fund with + 5.00 % performance p.a.:

Mistake 4: Making conclusions for the future from the past

People like to do it, but it is highly problematic: projecting the historical development of an investment into the future.

Just because a fund has performed well in the past does not mean that it will do so in the future. Inferring the future from the past is usually as fruitless as trying to predict share prices. You simply cannot know what the future will bring.

There are also changes in fund management, a change in investment strategy or social changes that affect the performance of many investment models.

Would you like some examples?

• The shift away from fossil fuels and the politically desired energy turnaround (keyword: nuclear phase-out) has deprived many electricity companies of their lucrative business basis.
• More photos are being taken today than ever before, but the old-established photo and camera manufacturers are not the beneficiaries of this boom. Software companies from Silicon Valley are.
• The growing ecommerce has disrupted numerous business models; but this does not necessarily mean that there will be no more “offline” businesses in the future.

One should also not be blinded by the extremely good performance of some shares or funds. A return of 20 % says little if it is not put in relation to the underlying risk. Many investors focus on absolute rather than risk-adjusted returns. This is because high returns usually go hand in hand with higher risk. The “Sharpe ratio” can be used to make a correct assessment. The Sharpe ratio can help to put returns and risk into perspective.

For example, an equity fund that has achieved a 10 % return but has crashed by 20 % in the meantime would have a lower Sharpe ratio than a fund that has only achieved 8 % but has never been in the red. Many investors would ultimately feel more comfortable with the second fund, even though it had a 2% lower return. 

Mistake 5: Constant buying and selling

“Too much back and forth makes your pockets empty.” This old stock market piece of wisdom is still valid today.

Just like the costs of a financial product, trading costs can also significantly reduce the return. Because every purchase and sale on the stock exchange costs fees. Especially for small amounts, these fees have an extremely negative effect on the return and can even turn it completely negative.

Although investors can get the feeling that they are “taking care” of their portfolio by actively reacting to the current market situation, in the end they are usually harming themselves.

Too much buying and selling can also lead to greater nervousness. It tempts them to keep looking at their portfolio and reacting to supposedly threatening or lucrative situations. Not only does this incur high trading costs, but you may even miss out on important value gains by temporarily exiting the market.

This is why the best advice is to always stay calm, keep a cool head even when bad news arise and follow a (preferably fixed) investment strategy for the long term. There is power in calm, especially when it comes to investing.

The post 5 mistakes investors can avoid first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

Jakoba is involved in managing various funds in the renewable energy and sustainability field. She brings a wealth of experience in financing wind power projects. She has gained this experience in her home country, the Netherlands, and in numerous professional and private positions worldwide.  

Jakoba, how did you get into green investments?  

My family runs a taxi business in the north of the Netherlands. When I was young, alternative fuels came on the market, and we were one of the first companies to invest in them. At that time, the fuels were plant-based, and the cars smelled like a potato chip factory – but it was the first step towards sustainable mobility. We tested different fuels and tried to continue our business professionally despite the changes and challenges. It wasn’t easy because the plant-based fuels clogged the diesel filters. The cars broke down after a few hundred kilometres, and the filters had to be cleaned or replaced. But this is how it started. Today, my brothers and I are the shareholders of the family business, and a director runs it.   

So that was the beginning. What came next? 

After my economics degree and master’s in finance, I started investment banking at JP Morgan in London. I started looking for deals in renewable energy at a time when the whole energy sector was all about gas and oil. Significantly few companies were even involved in renewable energy. I then found a Finnish corporate finance boutique in London dedicated to paper packaging, energy, and forestry.  

I have accompanied many transactions with connections to the Nordic countries. I love working internationally! After my time in London, I went to India to travel and work. There I came into contact with incubators and impact investing, among others. It was a great time. After a year, I went back to the Netherlands and decided to combine finance and renewable energy. I helped finance onshore and offshore wind farms for three years for a Japanese bank. 

Before joining StartGreen, you cycled through North and Central America for a year. How did that come about?   

After working for the Japanese bank, we went on our honeymoon for a year. My husband and I wanted to make the trip meaningful, so we travelled across America, visiting various renewable energy projects along the way.  

We wanted to make the trip as eco-friendly as possible, so we travelled from Alaska to Panama with a wind-powered bicycle, Whike. It combines cycling and sailing. During our trip, the altitude differences were sometimes enormous, but the many places we visited and the friendly people who helped us get to know the country better were worth the effort. 

Then you started working at StartGreen Capital? 

When we returned from our trip, I looked for a finance and sustainable development job. I came across StartGreen Capital, and my bike trip to America was no problem for them – quite the opposite. It showed them that I was very committed to environmental issues. 

How do you bring your know-how to StartGreen and OnePlanetCrowd? 

I divide my time between the funds and the crowdfunding platform. We have been doing crowdfunding for ten years and want to expand it further in the renewable energy sector; my background in banking and financing onshore and offshore wind energy projects is as helpful here as it is in fund management.  

How would you describe your daily work?

After a morning team meeting, most of the day consists of having meetings with entrepreneurs, among others. An exchange with a lot of inspiration. It can be about acquisitions, about new structures for new deals. This also helps my colleagues at Reliance in Finland, Austria, and Germany, who ask me for an assessment of potential projects: whether something is financeable, whether it is suitable for OnePlanetCrowd, whether it is not too risky, where the revenue should come from and much more. I might also participate in our campaigns, hold a presentation in front of the investment committee to get a project on the platform or invest in a project from one of StartGreen’s funds.  

What I like about my work is that every day is different. And now I can work internationally again. That’s really where my heart lies. I am happy with different cultures, people with different backgrounds, and learning about new markets.

What are the highlights of your job?  

My favourite days are when I can talk to entrepreneurs about their innovative ideas for the energy transition and think together about how we can solve the financing problems. I also like to make new markets accessible where private investors can invest into future-proof projects to contribute to the energy transition.

I deliberately chose the venture capital industry because now I can make a difference as a financing partner; I can pave the way for entrepreneurs and make projects fundable that banks see as too challenging.   

What is your idea on how StartGreen, OnePlanetCrowd and Reliance will develop?  

With the opportunities presented by the merger of Reliance and OnePlanetCrowd, we can now spread our wings to build Europe’s largest impact investing platform. A platform that helps to ensure that we don’t overstep the boundaries of our planet – that is a vision worth fighting for.  

What do you do in your private life to save the planet?  

We are currently renewing the taxi company’s fleet with electric cars and using electricity from our own solar roof. Beyond that, of course, I do everything I can. We are modernising our house to make it more sustainable and energy efficient, for example, with a heat pump and solar panels on the roof. I usually travel by bike or public transport; when I drive, it’s electric or via car sharing. I also often ride road bikes and like to go sailing – Fortunately, these are pretty sustainable hobbies.

The post Faces of invesdor: Jakoba van der Mei  first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

In the past, it was unusual for a listed company to be confronted by climate activists at a general meeting.

However, protests against companies’ eco-balance and sustainability criteria have long since ceased to be a rarity – and are no longer perceived as a negligible aberration of overzealous young people. Instead, companies’ interest in the responsible treatment of people and the environment has now reached the centre of the investment community. 

Fund managers now give just as much weight to the sustainability strategies of corporations in their valuations as individual activist shareholders. As a result, they are increasingly demanding a consistent orientation towards sustainability goals from management. 

Get to know the acronyms of impact investing

Acronyms and terms such as ESG criteria and SDG have entered the everyday language of professional investors. Impact investing, in particular, is becoming increasingly popular. But what exactly is it, and what does it mean for investors? 

Let us first look at the abbreviations. ESG stands for Environment, Social and Governance. ESG is a set of assessment measures that can be used by financiers, shareholders, governments and stakeholders to rank companies’ sustainability efforts. Unfortunately, there is no single, internationally recognised set of ESG criteria or benchmarks, so many different ideas exist. 

SDG is the abbreviation for the Sustainable Development Goals, referring to 17 global goals that 193 United Nations states agreed on in 2015 to use as a guideline for using financial resources for social and environmental purposes.

ESG and SDG thus provide the criteria that come into play in impact investing. However, impact investing goes one step further and includes “effective” investing in sustainability. 

Impact investing also means that the positive impact of an investment must be verifiable. For example, how much natural resources and energy have been saved, and how much CO₂ emissions have been reduced?

So it is not just a matter of avoiding investments in environmentally harmful businesses but of making the positive effect of an investment on a sustainable economy and a better environment tangible. The result is what matters. 

Maarten de Jong, the founder of the crowdfunding platform OnePlanetCrowd specialising in sustainability projects and now part of invesdor, puts it in a nutshell: “Use your business as a source for good”. 

Decisive criteria for impact investing

Impact investing has been on the rise for several years. Only investing “sustainably” or “green” has proven to be too vague in the past, mainly since the criteria for such investments are not prescribed. This leads to a supposedly green fund investing in nuclear power plants because they save CO₂. Or that large oil companies are in the fund portfolio because they also promote solar power plants. Or car manufacturers who save energy in production but continue to stick to the combustion engine. 

Criteria for sustainable investments are open to debate, and their positions are sometimes far apart. The decisive question in impact investing is therefore what the investment has brought to the sustainability goal and how significant the contribution is. For many investors, returns are only worth something as long as the company or project positively affects the environment. “We believe that more and more people in Europe are increasingly interested in investments that offer them both a financial return and a sustainability return. We call it a double return,” Maarten de Jong sums it up. “I believe this movement will grow significantly in the coming years.”

The many opportunities for impact investing

The beauty of impact investing is that investors and savers have many different options for making an appropriate investment. 

• Eco-banks offer sustainable current accounts and sustainable overnight and fixed-term deposits. 
• Investment funds committed to impact investing: For example, microfinance funds grant microloans to people in the Third World so they can build up a livelihood. 
• Impact funds are usually equity funds that select stocks according to SDG or ESG criteria and then measure their impact.  
• Green or social bonds are bonds issued by states, countries, municipalities or banks and companies that serve to finance wind or solar park projects, for example. Germany is one of the largest markets for green bonds; there is even a separate trading segment for them on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. 
• Impact investing also offers the opportunity to invest in sustainably oriented companies. Direct investments in corporate bonds and corporate investments via crowdfunding are particularly suitable for this purpose.

The risks of equity investments are often complex for investors to keep track of. This makes the information provided by the company, the project, the fund provider or the investment platform to investors all the more critical. 

Crowdfunding excellence in impact investing

Crowdfunding has also offered a platform for young companies focusing on sustainability for many years. 

Crowdfunding platforms such as Reliance check the seriousness of business models and figures and analyse the competition, management and affected markets. Then, only investment possibilities meeting the criteria are offered to the “crowd”. 

“In the last five years, crowdfunding has become a professional investment opportunity,” emphasises Niklas Green, Project Manager at Reliance Nordics. “Before, it was something that investors did for fun and to support companies. Now, retail investors invest in companies that have good prospects and high return potential.”

Meanwhile, the “impact” of investments is increasingly receiving additional tailwinds from political decision-makers. OnePlanetCrowd founder Maarten de Jong illustrates this with his home country: “For projects such as solar panel fields or wind turbine parks, the regional authorities in the Netherlands require that a certain percentage of the capital must be investable by local residents so that the local community also benefits from the projects. Together with the project managers, we then organise a funding campaign in the region intending to increase the acceptance of the projects via citizen participation.” 

In this way, crowdfunding with the support of politics, becomes the ideal platform for impact investing.

Maarten de Jong also has an excellent example of an ideal impact investment in Fairphone: “This is an Android smartphone made with metals and minerals from sustainable supply chains that can be repaired and upgraded by the owner to avoid premature replacement. The project has huge sustainability potential.” 

OnePlanetCrowd funded Fairphone with $2.5 million in 2018. 

“Crowdinvestors were among the core investors at the time and have been instrumental in making the company profitable today. Now the crowdinvestors can sell their shares in a new financing round with a good return. This is a nice success story,” Maarten de Jong continues.

Apart from returns and responsibility, there is another good argument for investors in impact investing via a crowdfunding platform like invesdor: They can participate in sustainable projects even with small amounts. 

“In my view, crowdfunding offers private investors the only opportunity to invest in growth companies that were previously only accessible to professional investors,” emphasises Niklas Green. 

With crowdfunding, the minimum investment is usually between 250 and 500 euros. This makes it possible to invest in growth companies with a much smaller portfolio and to diversify one’s portfolio more.

“This makes it easier for investors to spread their commitment, return opportunities, and investment risks across many companies with a sustainability focus. And – as Maarten de Jong puts it – “to use business as a source of good”.

The post Double the return through impact investing first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

Maarten, how did you get into crowdfunding? 

Before working for Oneplanetcrowd, I ran an investor network for companies in emerging markets that helped raise capital. Then I got to know the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in the US when it came to the Pebble Watch, the first smartwatch at the time. The watch had already been developed and was offered for pre-sale on Kickstarter. The company wanted to collect 100,000 dollars, but in the end, over 50 million were raised. It was a huge success and a very effective and innovative way to raise capital. That’s how I got to know crowdfunding and was inspired by it.  

How did the founding of Oneplanetcrowd come about? 

One of the investors in my network was Start Green Capital, a fund company that primarily invests in the energy transition in the Netherlands. When I spoke to one of the fund managers there, it turned out that Start Green already had the idea of a crowdfunding platform for sustainable investments or impact investing in the Netherlands. At the beginning of 2012, we decided to launch that. My job was to bring the platform to market together with Start Green Capital. Since the founding of Oneplanetcrowd, we have financed 300 companies with 35,000 investors and with a volume of around 120 million euros. 

In the meantime, you have announced that Oneplanetcrowd will merge with Reliance Group. Why? 

We announced the merger of Oneplanetcrowd with Reliance months ago, but we have only now received approval from the regulatory authorities in Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria. In April we will be able to close the merger formally. But the two companies have already been working closely together since November. First, we want to merge the crowds of both platforms. The goal is to give investors access to all investment projects with just one login. We want to realise it this summer.  

One of the main reasons for us to merge with Reliance was that Reliance is already active internationally and across borders. Conversely, Reliance chose Oneplanetcrowd because we are highly specialised in impact investing here, including projects around renewable energy in the Netherlands. We are now working to build the people, expertise and network for sustainable projects in invesdor’s locations in Finland, Germany and Austria.  

What changes does the merger bring to your daily work? 

As Managing Director Benelux of the Reliance Group, I continue to manage the team in Amsterdam, which looks for interesting sustainable investment projects to offer to crowdinvestors. The big difference is that we can now offer financing projects from our colleagues in Finland, Germany and Austria to Dutch investors. Conversely, we can also offer our investment projects in these partner countries. We expect more “crowd power” with larger business projects and faster capital acquisition via a larger European platform. This opens up many more opportunities. I can also reveal that we are planning, among other things, to expand to Belgium in the near future.

Do you have an example of a successful financing project in the field of sustainability and impact investing? 

Yes, for example, Fairphone. This is an Android smartphone made with metals and minerals from sustainable supply chains that can be repaired and upgraded by the owner. So users don’t have to buy a new smartphone when their old one is broken or obsolete. The project has enormous sustainability potential, as e-waste is also a significant problem of our time. We funded Fairphone in 2018 with 2.5 million euros. The crowdinvestors were among the core investors at the time and have contributed significantly to the company’s profitability today. Now the investors can sell their shares in a new financing round with a good return. That is an excellent success story. 

What kind of funding rounds do you typically organise?

Fairphone is an example of scale-ups, i.e. successfully launched young companies that need to finance their rapid growth. But we also accompany many new renewable energy projects in the Netherlands. Actually, they could quickly raise capital through private equity investors or banks. But for projects like solar panel fields or wind turbine parks, the regional authorities in the Netherlands require that a certain percentage of the capital must be investable by local residents so that the local community also benefits from the projects. Together with the project managers, we then organise a financing campaign in the region intending to increase the acceptance of the projects via citizen participation.  

Does that go down well with the citizens?  

Yes, it is very attractive for investors because they finance a project with a good return and very low risk. Usually, these projects are mature, all permits are in place, and contracts with the grid operators or electricity consumers are already signed. Local citizens share in the revenues and become an immediate part of the energy transition. People like that and it attracts many citizens. 

If renewable energy projects are often a local issue, what is the benefit to investors of a larger crowdfunding platform operating across Europe? 

Local projects indeed remain local for the time being. But often the projects are big enough to attract investors from outside. We often open up investment to outside crowdfunding investors after the local participants had their chance to invest. In this way, German investors will also have the chance to invest in a Dutch wind farm in the future.  

Have the interests of crowdinvestors changed over the years? 

We believe that more and more people in Europe are increasingly interested in investments that offer them both a financial return and a sustainability return. We call this a double return. Our employees, entrepreneurs and investors all think similarly: use business as a source of good. I believe this movement will grow significantly in the coming years.  

Through the combined investor crowd, we will attract more of Europe’s most promising and ambitious sustainable scale-ups. We also want to follow the companies through several funding rounds and offer larger funding volumes as they grow. In fact, the funding campaigns are getting bigger: we started with funding volumes of 10,000 to 20,000 euros, and today, the average is one million euros per project. If we channel this into impact companies, the contribution to sustainability also becomes bigger and bigger. Our impact as a platform will grow substantially.  

Investing money in sustainable investments with a good return does not have to be contradictory. Read more: crowdfunding platforms allow you to invest funds sustainably in a growing market in times of the energy transition and increasing environmental awareness and to advance meaningful projects together.

About Maarten de Jong 

Maarten de Jong is co-founder and CEO of the Dutch crowdfunding platform Oneplanetcrowd. After graduating in Technical Business Administration from the University of Groningen (NL) and spending six months in Sri Lanka, he started working in the Netherlands for the Business in Development Network, where he and his team arranged funding opportunities for many entrepreneurs in emerging markets. He built a network of more than 150 business angels, high net worth individuals, banks and development banks, and venture capital funds. In 2012, he co-founded Oneplanetcrowd with Coenraad de Vries and Laura Rooseboom under the StartGreen Capital umbrella. Oneplanetcrowd specialises in financing sustainable and social initiatives that offer investors financial and social returns.

The post Reliance expands to the Netherlands: “We expect significantly more crowd power”  first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

When it comes to investing in a strong project, the options can seem overwhelming. Making a well-informed decision requires a level of expertise, which is where our team steps in. Our Investment Committee conducts thorough evaluations, while the Campaign Team distills the key information. You can easily access these insights on the project pages of the respective companies.

Ultimately, it’s you who decides. Only you know: With what kind of goal in mind do I invest? Am I convinced by the strategy? How do I feel about the company’s vision? After all, rational considerations play just as much a role in the decision process as gut feeling. So don’t be afraid to make your own judgment.

1. Decide how you want to receive the return on your project investment

The general question to clarify is the type of investment. There are two options here: With equity investments you secure chances for a higher return, but at the same time the risk of the investment grows. Another option are fixed-interest investments. They also count as risk investments, but you receive regular interest payments for your invested money in a predefined amount.

With your investment, you are not only securing returns or interest, but above all you are investing in a project. If the project of the company of your choice becomes a success, you will also profit from it. So clarify from the outset: What does the company actually intend to do with my money and do I think its plans are realistic?

2. Find out the reasoning for financing

For a first impression, we attach a short video to most of the products on our platform. Here you can first dive in emotionally. Find out whether you find the company likeable, whether the product attracts your interest and whether you feel like supporting the realization of the idea presented.

Each executive should also be able to tell you in a few words what he plans to do with the money he asks you to invest. A snappy quote at the top of the project page gets to the heart of the funding reason. In case you are already convinced, now it’s time for some numbers. – Don’t worry: You don’t have to go through pages and pages of balance sheets, business plans and market forecasts – we’ve already done that for you. Without our Investment Committee’s critical pre-selection, no project makes it onto our platform.

3. Take your time to understand the business model

It’s a well-known fact that you can talk a lot and plan a lot, but in the end it’s actions that count. Numbers tell us a lot about what exactly a company does to earn its money, how the company and its market environment have developed in recent years, and what is to be expected from the future. It is important to understand both the company’s business model and the associated market. The focus, of course, is on the product or offering that will be realized thanks to your investment: What exactly is being offered? Is there a demand for this offering? How strong is the competition?

And then there is the financial planning. An idea can be very exciting – but only with a realistic planning of expenses, income and reserves, the idea becomes a product. A realistic financial plan for the company is a prerequisite for receiving back your money, including interest or returns, at the agreed time.

4. Dig deeper into your preferred project investment structure

Are you completely convinced by a product? Let’s get down to business! Now that you know all the important facts about the company and its product, you can decide whether the specific investment offer is something for you or not.

For fixed-income investments, check out the following factors: Do the interest rate and payment rhythm fit my portfolio planning? What happens to my money in the event of a financial bottleneck of the company (subordinated or non-subordinated loan)? Will I receive the interest payments by bank transfer or as interest in kind, i.e. usually in the form of vouchers?

There is a different logic to investing in shares. Investing in growth companies should be judged on how you see the company doing in the long run. Many growth companies do not pay dividends, but say they will invest in growth in the next few years. Then it is worth paying attention to the development of the company’s value and exit strategy, i.e. the possibility to sell shares at a profit in the future.

Anyone opting for a product with participation or profit-sharing rights should check out the following factors: How big is the amount of the basic interest rate? How does the exact structure of the participation work?

5. Diversify, diversify, diversify

With regard to one’s own portfolio structure, the magic word is diversification. If you invest exclusively in products from the same sector, you may incur losses in the event of sector-specific problems.

On the other hand, those who diversify increase their chances that a weak performance in one sector will be offset by a better performance in another.

6. Check the project page and other documents regularly for updates

The project pages of the companies provide information about the most important aspects you need to know in order to evaluate a company. You can find more important information in the linked documents, so you should also pay attention to them.

There you will find, for example, detailed information on investment risks. In addition, it is worth taking a regular look at the project page: As a crowdinvesting platform, we regularly receive important information and exciting input from our investors.

Inquiries from our investors are answered quickly by us and the companies. Updates are posted on the official project page, additionally we will inform our investors by email.

Read also:
Learn all about how we select your investment opportunities
Fixed interest or equity investments – which type of return are you aiming for?

The post A step-by-step beginner’s guide to investing in the right project first appeared on Reliance - Blog.

Niklas Green, Project Manager at Reliance Nordics, is a long-time investor in both growth companies and listed equities. For him, crowdfunding offers an ideal opportunity to become a mini angel investor and to invest in growth companies and start-ups with limited capital. 
 

How does a crowdfunding expert invest?

I invest mainly in listed equities and diversify into growth stocks and fixed assets. I invest ten per cent of my portfolio in growth stocks, most of which are not yet listed on the stock exchange. Trading in them is not very liquid, and the companies often don’t have a market yet – the risk of such stocks is correspondingly high. But when convinced that this market is emerging, these growth investments obviously offer a much higher expected return than shares already listed. The other 90 per cent of my investments have a much lower risk.

How do you analyse your investments?

When building an optimal investment portfolio, several factors are essential. The first is, of course, the expected return. I always start by looking at the company valuation and its development forecast. Then, depending on the company, I do a more minor or extensive market analysis to determine whether the company’s current market value is appropriate.  

How can you judge that?

I ask myself where the company stands and whether it can achieve its forecasts. Then, I compare that with other current company valuations. I also ask myself how much it would cost to build up a comparable company. This is usually called reproduction value. For example, what would it cost to acquire the necessary patents? Are there other barriers to market entry, buildings or production facilities that must be built first? That is the starting point for the business analysis.

What other factors are decisive for your company valuation?

Next, I look at the team. I check how much expertise the employees have and how they are networked. It is also essential to know whether the founders have successfully built up or sold other companies in the past. Have there been exits or IPOs at previous companies? The competitive environment is also important. Are there companies with similar business models? How unique is the business model? Does it offer solutions to a real problem? It is also important to determine what market growth can be expected in the future.

What role does the shareholder structure play when investing in a young company?

The equity offered to the investors in the financing round is a highly important factor as the company will likely raise more equity in the future. This leads to the question of how high the company’s future financing needs are because selling further company shares to new investors dilutes my shares. In this case, I must be prepared to increase my stake in the company by subscribing to more shares in the next funding rounds.  

With what investment horizon do you invest in early-stage companies?

Investors hold shares in a company for different lengths of time. If a company is aiming for an exit within the coming years, I can expect to earn a return soon. With other companies, an exit is still years in the future, and I must be prepared to hold the shares longer. Therefore, when making an investment decision, I must be able to calculate the expected return and the risks of loss.

Why is crowdfunding the right investment channel for growth investing?

Crowdfunding offers a way to invest in growth companies even with limited capital. Previously, only venture capital or private equity companies could invest in growth companies. Otherwise, only investors with a lot of money had access to an investment as angel investors. In my view, crowdfunding offers private investors the only opportunity to invest in growth companies that were previously only accessible to professional investors. As a rule of thumb, you should invest around ten per cent of your total portfolio in growth companies and diversify further over at least ten, twenty or more growth companies. That is now possible with crowdfunding.  

Couldn’t you do that before?  

Through a venture capital fund or as an angel investor, investors must invest at least tens of thousands of euros per company. So, if I want to diversify ten per cent of my portfolio into at least 10 to 20 companies, I will need at least 100,000– 600,000 euros worth of funds available. Considering these investments should only represent ten percent of my total portfolio, I need a relatively extensive portfolio to make this allocation. With crowdfunding, on the other hand, minimum investments are usually between 250 and 500 euros. This makes it possible to invest in growth companies with much smaller portfolios and to diversify one’s portfolio more efficiently.

How has crowdfunding developed in recent years from your point of view?

Long before I started crowdfunding investments, I was watching companies and the digital fundraising market. Back then, it was more something that investors did for fun and to support companies. In the past five years, crowdfunding has increasingly become a professional investment opportunity. Small investors now invest in companies that have good future prospects and high return potential. The market is still developing rapidly and maturing every year. In today’s market, seasoned investors can find exciting investment opportunities through crowdfunding.

Do you also invest in fixed-income investments?

Personally, I have not invested in fixed-income investments, but I might do so in the future. I’m always looking at my overall portfolio and trying to find the best risk-return relationship. In Scandinavian countries, it is common to invest in growth companies instead of fixed-income investments. Fixed-income investments offer investors access to interesting returns, while the risks are substantially lower than equity investments. Investing in fixed-income investments through crowdfunding allows investors to earn a better expected return compared to listed companies’ bonds. Fixed-income investments also offer equity investors the opportunity to diversify. In many cases, this is an excellent strategy.

Why should I invest during a recession?

There are good companies that are now having difficulties with their financing because of higher interest rates. This is due to a higher capital cost, making it challenging to finance profitable growth and assets. Investing in a company with a low valuation means you can acquire a more significant share for a smaller amount. As the valuation is lower, the expected return can be higher long term. In these market conditions, I think finding good investment opportunities at a fair price with a high expected return for the next five to ten years is easier.  

What advice would you give to inexperienced investors?

It is essential to know what you are buying. Before investing in a growth company, you need to know the company’s finances, structure, and valuation. Market research is also important. Investors also need a clear investment horizon. Capital in growth-oriented investments is often tied up in a company for five to ten years. If the company needs further financing, additional investments may be required. This is the case with many growth companies. Investors must then either be prepared to accept the dilution of their shares or invest more. To put it simply, do your homework. Furthermore, investors should pay attention to diversification. Investing not only in growth companies and start-ups, but also in less risky investments such as fixed-income investments, shares in listed companies and real estate is important.

The post Crowdfunding enables you to become a mini-angel investor first appeared on Reliance - Blog.