Regionaal Energieloket has opted for steward ownership to safeguard its mission.
Regionaal Energieloket (REL) helps residents by providing independent advice on making their homes more sustainable. Over the past ten years, the organisation has grown from a start-up into a national company with 130 employees and branches in Amsterdam, Groningen and Rotterdam. Its social mission – a sustainable home for everyone – has always been its guiding principle. To safeguard that mission for the future, REL has now opted for steward ownership – a corporate structure in which profits serve the mission, rather than the other way round. DOEN Ventures, which has been involved as an investor since the outset, is proud of this decision and is confident in selling its shares back to REL.
Making sustainable living easier
When REL started in 2014, founders Reinier Schneider, Paul Geurts van Kessel and Joppe Out had one clear goal: to combat climate change. They deliberately chose to set up a business. This would enable them to help many people make sustainable choices. Making homes more sustainable is a key means of achieving this. It saves energy, provides more comfort and is better for the climate.
But this has not happened much. Reinier, Paul and Joppe realised that although residents did want to make their homes more sustainable, they were held back by complicated choices, regulations and grant schemes. And that’s why they developed a platform for making homes more sustainable. The organisation has now helped hundreds of thousands of households to make their homes more sustainable, comfortable and energy-efficient.
Confidence from the very beginning
DOEN Ventures came on board as an investor in REL at an early stage when the company was still very much in its start-up phase. Its initial contribution was used to purchase laptops and cover the rent for an anti-squatting office for six months. Co-founder Reinier explains: “We thought it was brilliant that DOEN Ventures wanted to invest in us, because it was quite a risky undertaking. They gave us the confidence to build our business without constantly interfering in day-to-day operations. That gave us the peace of mind and space to keep our mission at the heart of everything we did.”
Growth brings exciting choices
Over the years, REL has grown from a start-up into a mature organisation. This hasn’t always gone smoothly, and in 2018 it was even almost a case of make or break. Reinier: “The money was running low, and we reached a crossroads where we had to choose between raising new funding from an external investor or continuing with the few resources we had. Raising money is full of temptations: you gain momentum, get in the news and can take on new staff, but you also lose some of your autonomy. We opted for slower growth on our own and with a focus on the long term. I’m still proud of that.”
Mission first
Yet one question kept coming up: how do we ensure that our social mission remains safeguarded in the future? The founders discovered the answer in steward ownership. In this form of entrepreneurship, the focus is not on profit for shareholders, but on the company’s mission. Control remains with the people committed to that mission and cannot be sold to parties with conflicting interests. In this way, the company remains true to its original, long-term purpose, that being a sustainable home for everyone.
A long and costly process
Steward Ownership is still relatively unknown in the Netherlands. Around 70 per cent of business owners have never even heard of it. At the moment, setting up a steward-owned business structure still requires a lot of detailed work. This results in relatively high legal, tax and notarial costs. It took five years to thoroughly research and document everything, at a cost of around €50,000. Reinier, Paul and Joppe hope that their own experience will enable them to help other companies to make the transition to steward ownership in the future.
A choice that fits DOEN Ventures
For DOEN Ventures, choosing REL fits seamlessly with their vision of impactful entrepreneurship. DOEN Ventures has previously supported several initiatives championing this form of entrepreneurship such as We are Stewards, which aims to put steward ownership on the map in the Netherlands through the Steward Owned Festival Amsterdam (SOFA). SOFA want to have thousands of steward-owned companies in the Netherlands within the next ten years. And there is also Purpose, a global pioneer and leader in the field of steward ownership.
Proud of this milestone
For DOEN Ventures, this is what impact investing is all about: helping businesses grow whilst ensuring they remain true to their social mission. Ward Wolters, Impact Investment Principal at DOEN Ventures: “What sets Reinier, Paul and Joppe apart is that they continue to take a critical look at themselves. It’s not about how they keep control but more about what the company will need to keep making an impact in ten or twenty years’ time. This long-term vision requires courage and confidence.” That is why DOEN Ventures is stepping down as an investor and congratulates the entire REL team on this significant milestone. They demonstrate that successful entrepreneurship and social impact can go hand in hand.
DOEN Ventures invested in REL thanks to the players in the Postcode Loterij.