Plus Plus

https://plusplus.nl/en-NL

• An initiative of development organizations Solidaridad and Cordaid, crowdfunding platform Lendahand and business booster Truvalu. With offices around the world, our teams have years of experience driving entrepreneurship. Only entrepreneurs that improve production in quantity and quality will be selected for PlusPlus. Your investment takes these agricultural entrepreneurs to the next level!

  The partners:

  • Cordaid and Solidaridad have been strengthening food supply chains and supporting local entrepreneurship in developing countries for decades.

  • Truvalu was set up by ICCO (now part of Cordaid). Truvalu helps small and medium-sized agricultural companies prepare for their next big step in the corporate world.

  • Lendahand is a crowdfunding platform for impact investments in entrepreneurs in emerging countries.

• When we refer to investing on this website, we mean proving a loan to an agricultural or food business in Africa, Asia or Latin America. Investors do not receive financial interest on their loan, but they do achieve high social and societal return.

• If we were to pay interest to investors, this would mean that the costs would be higher for the entrepreneurs. The purpose of PlusPlus is to provide affordable loans to support local industry, creating jobs and improving livelihoods.

  PlusPlus charges 8% for a loan, which is a lot lower than what is asked from most financiers. Of this 8%, 4% is used to cover the expenses of PlusPlus. The remaining 4% goes to a separate fund, which we build up to pay back any losses. If an entrepreneur is unable to repay the loan, investors can submit a claim to this fund and potentially get part of the loan back.

• The companies that are financed through PlusPlus have the following characteristics:

  1. They work in the agricultural or food sector in Africa, Asia or Latin America

  2. They are small and medium-sized companies with a maximum of 100 employees

  3. They all have the potential to grow and innovate with a focus on people and the environment.

  PlusPlus believes it is important to support entrepreneurs who can make a difference. That's why we're creating a movement of investors who understand the importance of jobs and food security. We often support entrepreneurs not only financially, but also with training and advice. This is how we help them to achieve sustainable growth.

• Companies in the agriculture and food sector make a world of difference in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They fight poverty and food shortages in many countries. Nevertheless, a large group of these companies has difficulty finding affordable finance locally. These entrepreneurs are too big for microcredit institutions but they are too small or risky for local banks. The company may be too young, have insufficient collateral or face specific risks to their harvests due to unpredictable climates. These are just a few examples. As a result, they are not eligible for a loan from a standard financial institution. If they can get a loan, it is usually at a sky-high and unaffordable interest rate. With your investment, they can further build and innovate their thriving business without having to worry about an unreasonable financial burden. This way they can provide new jobs, more food and a better quality of life to those in their community.

• As a social enterprise, PlusPlus primarily has a social mission. Impact first! We want to solve a social problem above all else. Measuring our social impact is crucial for this, as knowing whether our approach is successful or whether we need to make adjustments is key. We do this on the basis of measurable indicators related to Sustainable Development Goals. We will monitor our entrepreneurs every six months during the term of the loan. We also conduct research after the completion of the loan cycle in order to gain more insight into the longer-term effects of our work. We do this directly and through the local country offices of the co-founders: Solidaridad, ICCO (now known as Cordaid) and Truvalu.

• Transparency about the results of PlusPlus, both about what is going well and what can be improved, is of paramount importance. We will do this with data, supporting and inspiring stories about our entrepreneurs, and blogs from experts. This info will be made available on our website, through our bi-monthly newsletter, our social media channels and an annual impact report. PlusPlus has not been around that long.

• To enable investments through the PlusPlus platform, bonds are issued to the crowd. The investor who issues the bonds is called the "issuer". These are entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector and food chain in developing countries who therefore directly raise capital as an issuer via the PlusPlus platform.

  The bonds issued are kept by Lendahand, the investment company affiliated with PlusPlus, in a so-called collective deposit. These pieces qualify as financial instruments, are kept in accordance with the Securities Book-Entry Transfer Act, are separated from the assets of PlusPlus and Lendahand and are therefore protected. The issued bonds are always excluded from a possible bankruptcy of PlusPlus or Lendahand.