​

What is an investment loan?

​

An investment loan is money lent to the Cooperative by those who wish to support the project.

The money will be used by the Cooperative to buy the land for the project and to develop the ecovillage infrastructure.

The loans will then be repaid over time, with annual interest, as people join the Ecovillage as residents and buy a share in the Cooperative.

​

Investment loans will:

​

• Be made to the Cooperative via private loan contracts, signed with a notary. 
   

• Have a repayment period of around 1-4 years, with an aim to pay back sooner if resident members buy into the project sooner.
   

• Receive annual an interest of around 4%
   

• Support the ecological and social aims of the project - recruiting and training land-steward residents to establish sustainable livelihoods while working on the regenerative projects of the ecovillage.
   

• Be secured by the value of the property.
   

• Count as joining investment, if the lender later joins as a resident.
   

​

What are we fundraising for?

​

​

As of May 2024, we have created a co-operative with three resident members who have invested €70,000 and built a common house and basic facilities.
 

We aim to raise at least €65,000 by the end of August 2024 through loans made by investor supporters.

 

These funds will enable us to buy the land and continue to attract new resident members. 

The loan repayments and interest will be funded by the joining-investment money that new residents make when they join the project. 

​

We currently have one new member in the process of joining, and several families interested to stay for a trial period with us this year.
It is important from both sides that we give time for trial periods before new residents become committed and buy into the project, ideally 6 - 9 months. 

 

The money we have raised so far is enough to make a part-payment for the land and become the owners, but we need to pay the outstanding by the end of the year. 

 

Investor supporter loans will allow us to continue on this property and give time for recruiting new resident members.

​

(see Finance and Economics section)

​

​

​

Why become an investor?

​

We hope to connect to investors who want to support ecological and social projects which work for a more sustainable future while being grounded in the realities of the bureaucracy and financial realms. 

 

By making a loan to this project, you will be supporting:

• Long-term ecosystem restoration

• Soil restoration and organic, syntropic agriculture

• Reforestation and agroforestry 

• Sustainable living and Resident land stewardship

• Education and courses

• Training for more start-up ecovillage pioneers

 

Investor supporters can also enjoy free stays at the project in the caravan or yurt, plus free or reduced event tickets.

Investors will also be given priority for starting a potential-resident trial period at the project if they are interested in becoming residents later. 

The loans can be counted as the joining investment if a lender later becomes a resident.

​

​

​

How can I invest?

​

First contact us and we can discuss the terms of the loan to the cooperative.
We already have a loan contract that we can adapt, and we can work with the same lawyer if needed. The contract will be signed with a notary. 
 

The loan will be made to the cooperative and transferred to the cooperative bank account in Portugal. 
The cooperative is legally obliged to pay back any creditors before any other debts. If the cooperative defaults on a loan repayment, they can be taken to court and forced to sell the land to fund the repayments. 

​

Interested? Please contact us though here contact form 

​

​

Previous Experience

​

The project initiator, Hari, has experience of success with a similar fundraising model.
He was one of the founding directors and the secretary of a charity cooperative in the UK ‘Abolish Empty Office Buildings’ (AEOB) in 2015 - a project to buy empty commercial property in the city of Bristol, UK, and convert it into not-for-profit social housing.

AEOB successfully raised more than £300,000 from private investors in 2015 as part of a community share offer. The Coop used this to buy a building and converted it into six apartments using a bank mortgage loan. It opened in 2017, housing 10 people. Read about AEOB here

The community share model offers investors shares in the cooperative, with an agreement to pay interest each year in proportion to the annual accounts of the coop, paid for by rental revenue.
 

Ecoaldeia Guarda Rios is aiming for a similar model, but with loan repayments. The project established a Cooperative in Portugal in January 2024.

​