Helping investors fund Ireland’s sustainability goals

Helping investors fund Ireland’s sustainability goals

Founded in 2020, Green Crowd specialises in crowdfunding for renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure companies, offering investors the chance to be part of Ireland’s sustainable future.

Committed to “building real assets that deliver real impact”, in recent years Green Crowd has provided backing for several projects, including Solarstream, a solar installation company; Batterybox Technologies, a battery storage firm; and biomass specialists Bioenergy Installations.

Solarstream has been successfully exited and the other projects are performing well and remain on track to return capital to investors as scheduled, underscoring the effectiveness of the Green Crowd model.

The year 2023 saw Green Crowd authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Crowdfunding Service Provider under the EU regulatory framework, giving it the green light to expand into Europe, while this past May saw the business appoint Donal O’Shea as its new finance and fundraising director, to oversee investor relations and fundraising activities.

As Janine Donoghue, operations manager, explains, what sets Green Crowd apart is its specific focus on sustainable projects and its policy of charging no fees to investors ‒ all fees are paid by the companies seeking funding. Investors will receive quarterly updates to know exactly how their funds are being spent: on actual assets, rather than fees or overheads.

“We’re very niche in that we only work with green and renewable projects, as opposed to other crowdfunding platforms and funds,” she said.

“All of our investments are asset-backed, which is another unique selling point ‒ our investors keep coming back because we offer something tangible that they can fall back on.”

Before committing to any investment, Green Crowd undertakes a rigorous due diligence and project assessment process. The company’s experienced board ‒ which includes founder Paul Browne and two independent directors with extensive backgrounds in governance, compliance and corporate banking ‒ plays a key role in guiding these decisions.

It also works with businesses structured as special purpose companies (SPCs), enabling investors to claim tax relief in the same year of investment, unlike larger, diversified funds where relief timing may vary.

“We do the legwork and the due diligence, as well as getting independent input to make sure that we’re putting funds into the right projects,” said O’Shea.

“That’s what investors expect and rightly so; yes, the tax relief is great, but it’s not worth much if they don’t get their capital back within the next five years. Capital return to investors is a hugely important focus for us.”

Green Crowd’s current focus is on the Irish market.

“It’s all about economies of scale, growing the company in a controlled manner that best utilises the skill sets and experience that we have available to us,” said O’Shea ‒ with plans to move into the UK and Europe in due course.

With that in mind, it is currently raising funds for two businesses under EIIS in the solar space: SRE Renewables, which operates an ‘electricity-as-a-service’ model, installing solar panels on commercial buildings and selling the electricity generated back to the business in question; and Eden Solar Farm Development, which is developing a network of small to mid-scale solar farms (3-15 MW) across Ireland.

Last year, both companies raised around €950,000 each ‒ “in the year to date, Eden has surpassed that, and SRE is nearly on par,” said Donoghue ‒ with the target for the current round between €3 million and €5 million.

“We did extensive work in 2025 engaging with accountancy firms and finance brokers across Ireland, and expect to see the benefit of that in our 2025 investment figures to really grow these two funds,” O’Shea added.

“Both companies are offering 50 per cent tax relief on amounts invested in 2025; SRE is going to be commercial next year, so it’s a good option for investors who are looking for a company that will be generating cash soon, whereas investors into Eden have the comfort of a large solar farm asset as collateral for their investment.

“It depends on which style of investment suits you, as they’re both similar but different. I think there’s a lot there to appeal to all types of investors.”

Longer term, Green Crowd plans to explore other funding vehicles such as green bonds, as well as embark on its European expansion; however, the company’s current priority is to maximise the benefits of EIIS, ensuring capital is efficiently deployed into projects that offer both investor and company advantages.

“Our immediate focus is on managing investor interests and growing these companies,” said O’Shea.

“As we keep saying, EIIS isn’t going to be around forever. It’s an incredibly valuable opportunity for both companies and investors in terms of income tax relief, so we want to make the most of it while we can ‒ to deliver benefits on both sides.”

To learn more, visit greencrowd.ie, email info@greencrowd.ie or call (01) 912 0345

Green Crowd Limited T/A Green Crowd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.