Taking the Green route to tax-efficient investments

Green Crowd is an Irish crowdfunding platform offering climate-conscious private individuals the opportunity to invest directly into sustainable projects and businesses, Paul Browne, chief executive of Green Crowd, said.

Growing public interest in tackling climate change and the advancement of technology to make that possible, has led to an influx of green start-ups in Ireland. Consumer demand, declining costs and cheaper data processing are all driving investor interest in this area.

“Green Crowd lets you invest directly in a range of businesses and projects that put your money to work in a tax-efficient manner and help build a green economy,” Browne said.

Green Crowd is one of the most successful Crowdfunding Platforms in Ireland. Established in Carlow in 2019, Green Crowd has raised over €4 million under EIIS for its client companies.

Crowdfunding finances people, projects or businesses by raising contributions from a large number of people, usually via the internet on a ‘platform’. In return, you receive shares in a company or earn interest.

The sector is often associated with early-stage equity investments in start-ups, but in fact some 97 per cent of the money raised in mature markets like Britain has been debt-based, said Browne. “Much of the market is now lending to more mature businesses with established revenue streams.”

“Green Crowd conducts and manages private placements on behalf of our clients in the EIIS fundraising and private placement markets. We specialise in asset-backed, tax-based investments with a focus on renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure projects.”

“We have designed Green Crowd to allow a wide range of investors to directly invest in start-ups and growing sustainable businesses and do so in a tax-efficient manner achieving high returns,” he said.

Avoncourt Building & Construction is raising funds through Green Crowd for the third year, Janine Donoghue, operations manager, said. “Avoncourt Building & Construction Limited will be building social and affordable homes as well as commercial construction projects. The company is in the process of refurbishing a vacant commercial unit in Co Wicklow which will then be converted into three individual housing units. They are seeking up to €1 million for working capital to commence more projects”.

“For the second year running, Green Crowd will also be raising EIIS funds for Bioenergy Installations”, Donoghue said. “Bioenergy Installations and its sister company Woodco are established manufacturers of biomass boilers. Bioenergy Installations is installing its own biomass boilers at care homes, leisure centres and commercial buildings and are selling the heat to customers under 15-year contracts.

“We will also be raising for the start-up company Green Tech Distributors. Due to the supply chain issues effecting the solar industry, Green Tech Distributors are looking to raise funds to become the leading distributor of inverters and solar panels in the Irish market.”

Another start-up company, Batterybox Installations is seeking to raise up to €1 million for the supply and installation of large-scale batteries to existing commercial solar panel consumers allowing them to better manage their loads and avoid peak network charges.

Green Crowd EIIS Shares allow you to invest directly through private placements in start-up or growing businesses and receive tax relief of up to 40 per cent on your investment.

To benefit from the full tax relief, you will need to hold your Green Crowd EIIS Shares for the full four-year term.

The investee companies tend to be relatively small or growing businesses and thus have higher-risk profiles. EIIS funding provides them with much needed finance to help them grow in the early part of their business lifecycle. For this risk EIIS investors get rewarded with tax relief. Investors need to be aware that while the returns are attractive, they can lose all of their capital and should take independent financial advice before investing.

Due to the ongoing success of the Green Crowd raising funds under EIIS, Green Crowd are currently applying for Authorisation as a Crowdfunding Service Provider from the Central Bank of Ireland. This will allow Green Crowd to offer a broader range of investment opportunities to investors.

For more information on raising funds or on how to invest, contact info@greencrowd.ie or call 01-9120345