POWER FROM THE PEOPLE

Power from the People. Special report on Crowd Funding in the renewables and clean tech space.

If you don´t have flash, please click here for a plain text version of the magazine. Don´t forget to have a quick look in that case on a flash-enabled computer as well though. It will look so much better.

 

POWER FROM THE PEOPLE

WakaWaka raises €75.000 with crowdfunding

Sustainable business developers raise 75.000 Euro on Symbid and serve a 1.5 billion people market

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – February 2, 2012 - Off-Grid Solutions, a solar energy developer from the Netherlands, raised 75.000 Euro for their WakaWaka Solar Light using equity-based crowdfunding platform Symbid. The WakaWaka Light was able to attract 320 investors from all over the world. Off-Grid Solutions will use the 75.000 Euro to invest in solar LED-light development in developing countries. This success shows the promise of using crowdfunding as way of raising capital for small companies.

WakaWaka focuses on the 'base of the pyramid': the 1.5 billion people living without electricity. According to Off-Grid Solutions, their WakaWaka light will help people get out of poverty, breathe clean indoor air, get better school results and much more. The quality of the light is better, compared to the current kerosene-lights there are no toxic fumes, it prevents severe burn incidents, the LED light has no operating costs and climate change is suppressed. Not only is it environmental friendly, the WakaWaka solar LED-light provides 8 hours of bright light, 16 hours of reading light or 80 hours safety light and its battery is up to three years operational. It's no wonder that such a magnificent initiative has been fully funded in as little as 10 weeks.

Not only their product is well thought out, so is their crowdfunding strategy. Maurits Groen, one of the three founders, says: “After we used up most of our own savings, we needed additional funds for further development and pre financing initial order runs. We realized we could not and did not want to wait for the perfect moment to start talking to investors. I am fortunate enough to know a few media people who have given a significant boost to our campaign. But other than that it has been a lot of hard work. My fellow co-founders Camille van Gestel and Kim van der Leeuw have both put in a lot of effort making our campaign personal. Spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter and personal networks. Though the real work starts now, we made a good start through Symbid”

This crowdfunding transaction is special because all investors become actual shareholders in Off-Grid Solutions. Symbid, the platform used for this campaign, offers the first international equity based crowdfunding service in the world. Investors become actual owners of the company, and receive a return on investment in the form of dividends and have the ability to sell their shares. This way, everyone benefits.

About WakaWaka
WakaWaka is a highly efficient solar LED-light thanks to Dutch Intivation technology. Currently the WakaWaka team is working hard to service prospects from over 40 countries. Coming June the first WakaWaka’s will be received by off-grid families in Africa, India, Indonesia and elsewhere. For more information http://www.wakawakalight.com

About Symbid
Symbid is the first investment platform where investors can directly invest from as little as € 20,- in the equity of start-ups or existing businesses. Any entrepreneur is able to achieve growth or to raise capital via Symbid. Symbid recently reached the finals of the Shell Live Wire Award and is among the most innovative companies in the Netherlands. For more information http://www.symbid.com

WakaWaka raises €75.000 with crowdfunding

Enviu breaks Dutch crowdfunding record

Sustainable business developer raises 100.000 Euro on Symbid

Enviu, a sustainable business developer from the Netherlands raised 100.000 Euro using equity-based crowdfunding platform Symbid. Enviu was able to attract 372 investors from all over the world andbreaks the national record. Enviu will use the 100.000 Euro to invest directly in new start-ups developed. This success shows the promise of using crowdfunding as way of raising capital for small companies.

Utrecht/Rotterdam, 07-01-2012 – Enviu calls it practical idealism: inspiring the crowd to combine innovation, sustainability and co-creation to develop solutions for environmental and social issues. These solutions are brought to the market. The first example was the Sustainable Dance Club. Its flagship product is a floor which generatesenergy by dancing on it. Three Wheels United, is another Enviu start-up, which improves the lives of auto-rickshaw drivers in India while reducing CO2 emissions.

Stef van Dongen, founder of Enviu, started this initiative in Rotterdam. Having a background in entrepreneurship (he started his first company at the age of 17), a Master in Global Business Society Management and with his belief in the crowd, he chose to gather capital through crowdfunding. “I believe radical change is needed to solve major issues such as waste, energy and healthy living. The power of the crowd is required to create sustainable solutions. Crowdfunding is a perfect example of using this power”, says the Enviu founder.

This crowdfunding transaction is special because all investors become actual shareholders in Enviu. Symbid, the platform used for this campaign, offers the first international equity based crowdfunding service in the world. Investors become actual owners of the company, and receive a return on investment in the form of dividends and have the ability to sell their shares. Korstiaan Zandvliet, CEO of Symbid, is excited about breaking the Dutch national record. “Enviu was a special project for us, because the founders made a conscious choice for crowdfunding. With this record we’ve shown that equity based crowdfunding can be an excellent addition to the current ways of how companies raise capital.”

The campaign led by marketing expert Kirsten Toeset, used social media to its fullest extent to make people familiar with the crowdfunding proposition. “We are so proud that so many people believe in Enviu and have invested in our world-changing start-ups, ” said Toeset. She adds: “Due to this overwhelming success we know that collaborative investing is the way to go, therefore we plan to offer the opportunity to directly invest in our projects with our very own crowdfunding platform in the near future”.

/////////////

About Enviu
Enviu develops innovative solutions to environmental and social issues and introduces these to the market. We collaborate with a large group of young entrepreneurial people, senior executives, corporate partners and universities to co-create these innovative businesses. For more information http://www.enviu.org

About Symbid
Symbid is the first investment platform where investors can directly invest from as little as € 20,- in the equity of start-ups or existing businesses. Any entrepreneur is able to achieve growth or to raise capital via Symbid. Symbid recently reached the finals of the Shell Live Wire Award and is among the most innovative companies in the Netherlands. For more information http://www.symbid.com

Enviu breaks Dutch crowdfunding record

Norwegian twins revolutionizing 3D eyewear

One night a couple of years ago, Einy and I  went to see a 3D movie. We were mesmerized by the new phase of the 3D technology, but really disliked the 3D glasses we were given. We were confident we could design more stylish and comfortable glasses, so we took the challenge on a straight arm. We had always wanted to start our own business, but hadn’t had the right idea for a product. Finally we had one – designer 3D glasses!

We decided to start with a soft-launch with only one model, “Popcorn”, and were lucky to get attention from press worldwide. Since my sister and I were full-time students at University of Southern California at the time, we started the company as a side project. However, Ingri:Dahl, quickly became a full-time workload. At that point we knew we were ready to expand the number of styles we could offer.

A few months later we launched the collection as a part of Vogue’s Fashion Night Out. Not long after we were lucky to become involved with the 3D Film Festival, which was hosted by the HBO-star, Thomas Jane. Through both events we were able to create a lot of buzz around the brand. Our business is on a rise and we know there is an increasing demand. The technology that we use is becoming more common in 3D TVs, and you can use these same glasses at the movie theater. But unfortunately we have run out of capital. We have emptied our pockets, and have no way to fund our spring collection. We are in need of external funding to complete this collection, and therefore took our project to Kickstarter. We are seeking 10,000 dollars to fund the collection, as well as a photo shoot. In this writing moment, 114 backers have supported our project and a total amount of 2500 dollars has been pledged.

for more information: http://www.ingridahl.com/pages/pics
http://kck.st/vWxSxh

Norwegian twins revolutionizing 3D eyewear