Why you should consider investing in green small businesses and innovations, and how to do it!

Investing green is all the rage these days, especially when it comes to renewable energy and electric cars. Sustainable small businesses and innovations are leading the way by creating shared value between consumers and their beliefs, building a circular economy, creating tangible impact in their communities, and strengthening their communities.

Raise Green and Honeycomb Credit are leading the way on providing investment opportunities for regular people to help support the green businesses and innovations that they love.

For as little as $100, you can invest in a green business like Botanical Vegan Cafe or WeSolar,  and help support their growth, while potentially earning a return on your investment!

Raise Green and Honeycomb Credit recognize that both of our missions have tremendous overlap and we are teaming up to put the message out to both of our communities. Both organizations are focused on empowering local businesses, green innovations and small businesses by opening up access to capital and providing our communities with the ability to invest in line with their values. 

As we thought about Earth Day, we wanted to come together to highlight how we support entrepreneurs. Read on to find out more about green small businesses and how you can help support them this Earth Day through your investments. 

About Raise Green

Raise Green is the first marketplace in the US dedicated to democratizing access to capital and investment opportunities in the climate solution space. Launched in 2018, the Raise Green investment platform is democratizing access to investment in climate solution tech companies and energy transition opportunities. For as little as $100 you can invest in climate solutions on Raise Green. Our investor marketplace is for people who understand that investing in clean energy projects and other climate solutions is not just an opportunity to align investing with your personal values. It can also be a profitable one.

Raise Green's offerings are open to accredited, non-accredited, institutional, corporate and individual investors seeking fractional ownership in clean energy and climate solutions with potential outsize local impact. They are registered with the SEC and FINRA member to facilitate the sale of private securities, and can work with US companies incorporated in a US state or territory looking to raise capital.

In order to be listed on the Raise Green platform, all projects undergo our “R.A.I.S.E.” due diligence process (Revenue—Ambition—Impactful—Social—Environmental). This is our way of ensuring that each project is in the best position possible to successfully raise money in our marketplace. We host a variety of entities on the platform, like non-profits, small businesses and larger organizations that serve markets across the United States. We have issuers who have hosted multiple successful raises, and we allow issuers to offer several common forms of securities that span equity and debt. 

Solar For Us, owned and operated by a Maryland nonprofit Green Bank, raised catalytic capital on Raise Green to fund the first-ever crowdfunded, 100%- LMI community solar project for underserved and overburdened Baltimore communities, hosted by the Henderson-Hopkins School. Their project aims to reach 100% low- and moderate-income customers, and to help the community save 25% on their energy bills. Successfully raising investments through Raise Green was a key piece of the capital stack that got this project over the line. It was structured as a debt offering so that the project could benefit from the IRA’s Direct Pay incentive. 

NEIF has launched several projects on Raise Green. Led by energy financing pioneers, Peter Krajsa, and Matthew Brown, and a team responsible for over $900 million in innovative energy financing programs, NEIF is currently the nation’s only Certified B Corporation® specializing in energy efficiency and resilience lending and is supervised as a consumer lender and servicer in 30 states. NEIF's mission is to increase the affordability of energy efficiency and resilience improvements in homes and commercial properties, and to help contractors grow their businesses in the energy efficiency and resilience markets. NEIF has completed multiple offerings through Raise Green, most recently Preferred Equity aimed to payout over 7 years. 

NEIF provides financing for essential energy and resilience improvements like heating, ventilation, Air-Conditioning (HVAC), roofing, lighting, and battery storage, which make homes and businesses more resilient, efficient, healthy, and comfortable and helps contractors grow their businesses.

About Honeycomb Credit

Honeycomb Credit provides a platform for growing local businesses to borrow money from everyday investors. At Honeycomb, they are opening up new possibilities for anybody to become an investor in local businesses, around the corner or across the country, and start building their portfolios. 

From burgeoning tech start-ups to the local coffee shop, due diligence is performed on each business owner. The credit analysis team looks at operating history, business plans, and financial viability to vet the investment while supporting the business owner’s plan and community involvement. 

The money you invest in a Honeycomb investment offering goes directly to the small business owner. They use it to sign a lease, purchase new equipment, hire staff, or fund many kinds of growth projects. Then they repay the money and interest rate back to you. The interest goes back to the community, rather than a bank.

Honeycomb Credit works with local businesses all over the country and in multiple industries. 

Ecotone Renewables sustainably converts food waste into powerful liquid fertilizer. They do this through on-site waste processors called the ZEUS which is a patent-pending and automated anaerobic digester housed in a shipping container. They then produce and sell their signature Soil Sauce organic fertilizer to local farmers, home gardeners, retailers, and plant enthusiasts.

Ecotone worked with Honeycomb to purchase a new ZEUS digester to process all the food waste for the Homewood Senior Center. This helped them expand their impact and revenue generation by 20% through additional food waste processing, fertilizer production, and product sales. They raised $124,000 from 105 investors through Honeycomb Credit. 

The Realm Refillery is the 1st package-free grocery store in the state of Oregon. They are an accessible store which provides a more sustainable way of shopping through the option to buy as much or as little of all products as needed. This mode of shopping produces less food waste and eliminates unnecessary packaging.

The Realm Refillery worked with Honeycomb Credit twice to raise money to keep up with demand and refinance high-interest debt and create a stable foundation for the growing business. From both of their offerings combined, they raised $124,000 from 81 investors using Honeycomb.  

Opportunity to Earn some Green by supporting Green Small Businesses and Innovations

There are many reasons to invest in green small businesses and innovations - they can contribute to the circular economy, create a tangible environmental impact, and build community. The final reason is that it’s straight-forward and fast to place an investment on our fully online platforms, and a great way of strengthening your ties from your values to your community, while also contributing to your own financial portfolio.

From compost to solar panels, green small businesses and innovations are creating tangible, environmentally-friendly impacts in their local communities. Be a part of building more vibrant, financially empowered, and climate-conscious communities by investing in a green small business and innovation this Earth Day!

Learn more at www.honeycombcredit.com/invest and https://invest.raisegreen.com/offerings