Ecopropagator is the first crowdfunding platform to target the market for cleantech projects. It is for investors who want to make money whilst ‘making the world a better place’. We provide funding solutions and support for ecological projects as well as advice on government initiatives – all in a safe investment environment.
As we are all aware – traditionally fund raising for cleantech start-ups has been very difficult for a number of reasons despite the amount of government money which has been targeted at this sector. In the USA there exists a core of wealthy individuals and funds who have traditionally invested in high risk, eco start-ups; this infrastructure does not exist to the same extent in the UK. The UK funding culture is more risk averse and prefers to invest at a later stage than in the USA.
The legal position in the UK is less severe than that of the USA. There is no specific legislation in place to prevent individuals from investing in private companies, however, the active marketing of shares in private companies is limited and regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).
Investments into early stage UK cleantech start-ups reached a record £600 million in the first half of 2012. 2% of UK start-ups are in the cleantech sector. This means that during 2012 alone there were more than 9,400 cleantech start-ups.
Ecopropagator is the first of an expected trend in the market, focusing on the ‘cleantech’ market sector.
We vet all proposals that are showcased on the platform. Ecopropagator has helped with projects such as the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon which will be the world’s first, purpose-built, tidal energy lagoon, capable of generating predictable, renewable electricity for over 120,000 homes for over 120 years.
We believe that typically crowdfunding works well for cleantech projects because of the funding amount required and typically the rounds of funding needed, that’s why Ecoprogator is a half way house, we have investors from venture capital companies, Angel groups and high net-worth Individuals along with the crowd to fund new cleantech products and companies. Our aim is to rapidly expand our operations, opening in the US early next year with plans to become a global platform by the end of 2014.
Simply put, we advise our clients requiring funding, whilst ensuring the product and team have been vetted, we look for alternative funding routes such as government funding, tax breaks and other initiatives and package them together with our investment community to ensure success.
