Somerville, MA, February 13, 2023 – Raise Green, the award-winning climate investment platform based out of Greentown Labs in Somerville, MA announced that it is launching a Community Round of financing to expand climate investing opportunities for nearly everyone in the U.S. As an SEC and FINRA registered Funding Portal working with leading clean energy developers and climate entrepreneurs to raise capital, Raise Green will for the first time in its history be selling its own equity to the general public through this Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) offering. The Company, which was named 2022 Impact Investing Platform of the Year by Environmental Finance Magazine, will use the funds to build on its IDC award-winning software, and accelerate the growth of its impact-driven investor community.
“ Raise Green is putting our fundraising efforts where our values are by opening up a community round to let nearly everyone invest in our business of democratizing sustainable finance. By making investing more accessible and inclusive, we make it possible for nearly everyone to benefit from contributing to the clean energy transition and play a direct role in financing a more healthy, just and sustainable future.” said Franz Hochstrasser, CEO and Co-Founder of Raise Green. “While we are building this community from the grassroots up, we are already having an immediate impact by mobilizing millions of dollars and thousands of members to support clean energy projects and climate solution companies through the Raise Green platform – your investment in our community round will accelerate this progress, and I couldn’t be happier to share this with our members and the movement.”
To date, the Company has raised roughly $2.6M in private investment and leveraged that into an additional $6M of crowdfunded capital for climate solutions on its marketplace. Reg CF allows retail, accredited, and institutional investors alike to invest in small businesses and startups. Raise Green uses Reg CF to raise money for pre-screened clean energy projects and climate companies for $50k up to $5M per company per year. US climate companies can raise non-dilutive debt, equity, convertible notes or SAFEs. This includes projects and companies across many industries and sectors: energy and energy efficiency, food, water and land use, materials and industry, climate intelligence and carbon management, and buildings.
Raise Green has partnered with climate-conscious and community-driven organizations and companies at every level. The Company has worked with BlocPower, an energy transition and community empowerment company led by Time’s 2022 Dreamer of the year Donnel Baird, to raise millions of dollars from hundreds of community investors. Raise Green just closed its 5th offering with Connecticut Green Bank to issue the latest series of certified Green Bonds which was oversubscribed. The Connecticut Green Bank offerings are the first of their kind to be issued under Regulation Crowdfunding, as verified by Kestrel Verifiers as meeting the Green Bond Principles set by the International Capital Markets Association. Raise Green has also partnered with WeSolar, the first Black woman-owned community solar company in the US, along with energy efficiency financing pioneers, clean energy project developers, and climate entrepreneurs across the United States.
Raise Green has prioritized climate companies that meet its RAISE model to deliver Revenue, Ambition, and Impact that is both Socially and Environmentally beneficial. Raise Green has already reduced close to an estimated nearly 50,000 metric tons of carbon pollution, the equivalent of taking 11,000 cars off the road; as every $100 invested in Raise Green projects is estimated to reduce harmful carbon emissions by more than 1000 lbs. In addition, more than half of the companies that have raised capital on Raise Green are led by black, women or minority climate entrepreneurs, which is more than 10 times the rate that traditional venture capitalists fund these underserved founders. Raise Green’s marketplace has created an estimated 84 direct, indirect or induced jobs since its founding in 2018, and has more than quintupled its pipeline of projects looking to raise with us over the last two quarters to $72 million.
Raise Green has built channel partnerships for projects and climate companies as a founding member of the Department of Energy’s Clean Power Accelerator, with the Clean Fight Accelerator backed by NYSERDA, Techstars, Greentown Labs, and Onyx Renewables among others. The Company has also built channel partnerships with angel syndicates, family office syndicates and another funding portal in the European Union to accelerate liquidity and investor acquisition.
In 2022, the Company launched an Impact Partners program with more than 20 clean energy and climate leaders from all backgrounds that are collaborating with Raise Green to build community and extend the benefits of community financing and climate investing to new audiences. With the bulk of the climate investment from the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act expected to catalyze more than a trillion dollars in climate investing over the next ten years, Raise Green anticipates 2023 being the best year yet for climate investing. Opening up access to capital for climate companies and investment opportunities to all is core to Raise Green’s mission, and this community round will enable us to further that work. To learn about the terms and make an investment, visit: https://wefunder.com/raisegreen/
About Raise Green, Inc.
Raise Green is the climate investment platform on a mission to democratize sustainable investing. As an SEC and FINRA registered marketplace, Raise Green is a rapidly growing community of thousands of members and investors (accredited/ non-accredited/ institutions) investing into clean energy and climate projects with demonstrable ESG impact. The Company has built award-winning business process automation software and channel partnerships with industry-leading companies, and was awarded Environmental Finance’s Impact Investing Platform of the Year Award for 2022.
Contact:
Franz Hochstrasser
CEO and Co-Founder
info@raisegreen.com
https://www.raisegreen.com/