Abundance investors fund largest ever project
ABUNDANCE has closed its largest ever project, raising £7m for Scottish tidal energy company Orbital Marine Power.
The renewables crowd bonds platform attracted around 2,300 investors who lent an average of £3,000 each, with more than half investing through the platform’s Innovative Finance ISA.
Investors will receive an annual return of 12 per cent over two and a half years.
Orbital Marine Power will use the funds raised to build its first production model Orbital O2 2MW turbine, a floating tidal turbine platform that can be towed, installed and easily maintained.
The project already has secured a number of supporting grants as well as equity funding, including from the Scottish Government.
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“2019 promises to be the best year yet for the environmental and social investment sector, and it feels significant that our largest investment to date reached its £7m target on New Year’s Day,” Bruce Davis (pictured), co-founder of Abundance, said.
“The UK can rightly claim to be a world leader in tidal generation technology and our customers have backed it enthusiastically.
“From those who invest the minimum of just £5 to larger investors with tens of thousands to put to work in the green and social economy, each and every one of our customers is playing a part in building a better world while helping achieve their own life goals.
“We’ve got an exciting pipeline of new investments in a wide range of projects and technologies coming up this year. Expect to see more larger offers like this one as issuers take advantage of the change in EU rules on crowdfunding prospectus limits.”
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