Raising capital

Social and environmental businesses face a number of challenges when raising capital and Triodos Bank has a track record meeting them. We have successfully lent to ethical businesses in the UK since 1995 and have brokered capital raising since 1998. Triodos Bank is authorised by the FSA to provide regulated Investment Services.

Our services range from private capital raisings involving investment funds and business angels, to raising money through public offers. We can structure a public issue to suit your organisation’s needs, and make sure it meets all regulatory and legal requirements. We can project manage the public offer and work with you to:

• Understand your specific capital raising requirements
• Devise a strategy to raise the funds
• Choose the right advisers and other suppliers
• Ensure the prospectus tells your organisation’s story
• Promote the issue to our active investor network.

We are looking for the following attributes in social businesses seeking to raise capital.

• Experienced and well balanced team with a good track record
• Idea that meets an unmet market demand
• Targeting a market with strong growth potential
• Sustainable competitive advantage
• Ideally near to breaking even on net profit basis
• Desire to share ownership of the business with an investor that can bring more than just money
• Potential exit routes identifiable at the time of investment
• UK focus
• To find out how Triodos can help your social business raise capital, please contact James Vaccaro.

Click here for more about how you can invest in social businesses.

We’ve helped the following organisations raise capital:

Public Offers

Cafédirect

Cafédirect is the UK’s largest and fastest growing fair trade hot drinks company whose products are now bought by over 1.5 million households and stocked in most supermarkets and wholefood stores. We have worked alongside Cafédirect since they began trading, offering a substantial overdraft facility when other banks might not have helped. We also acted as lead advisers on their successful share issue in 2004, raising £5 million from thousands of private investors, helping to take the company to the next stage in its development.

The Ethical Property Company

The Ethical Property Company buys properties and develops them as centres that bring charities, co-operatives, community and campaign groups together under one roof where they can share skills and ideas. Groups in The Ethical Property Company's centres benefit from reasonable rents, flexible tenancy terms and office space and facilities designed to meet their needs. We acted as lead adviser for all 3 of the Group’s share issues raising £7.2 million (2001, 2003 and 2006).

Golden Lane Housing
Golden Lane Housing provides life long accommodation for people with a learning disability. We helped raise £1.7 million for this organisation through a public Bond issue in 2003. The money raised was used to combat a chronic housing shortage by providing more decent homes for people with a learning disability in their own communities.

Triodos Renewables

One of the most critical steps in the fight against climate change is the switch to generating electricity from renewable sources – like the sun, wind and water. Triodos Renewables was set up in 1980 and gives you the opportunity to act to combat climate change. There have been 3 share issues for this fund raising £7.5 million (1995, 1998 and 2005). There are now over 3000 shareholders.

Private Capital Raising

Organic Farm Foods

Organic Farm Foods, founded in the mid 1980s by a group of organic growers in Wales, is the largest specialist supplier of organic fresh produce in the UK offering a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, and salads – from essential everyday items to exotic seasonal specialities. In May 2004, Triodos Ventures co-invested £310,000 in Organic Farm Foods. We have been able to leverage our knowledge of the organic food sector and add value through brokering relationships between Organic Farm Foods and some of its clients.

Ecotricity

Ecotricity has been in operation since 1996, and is the UK’s oldest and most profitable independent green electricity supplier. They are the only green electricity company actually building new renewable energy sources, investing £25 million in wind energy in 2007. One in ten of the wind projects that operate in the UK today were planned and built by Ecotricity. Triodos supported Ecotricity in raising £2.5 million through a five year Bond to support their continued expansion (2006).

Natural Building Technologies

Founded in 1999, NBT is bringing a new generation of building materials and designs to the UK and Irish markets. Their natural materials and processes mean simpler, healthier and more cost effective buildings (new build, renovation and historic buildings). Triodos raised £250,000 of ordinary equity investment from four private investors for NBT (1999).