The Regenerative Finance movement, also known as ReFi, focuses on restoring our local economies to better the world. Rather than abide by the traditional raise-to-exit financial model most startups undergo, they create a raise-to-community circular financial model.
One organization at the helm of ReFi, Bloom Network, is leveraging Fairmint tech to open equity to their network of volunteers. With thousands of participants around the world, they have completed many impactful projects, such as planting indigenous crop species to prevent flooding and implementing restorative justice.
As a global media and events company that helps people find and participate in regenerative actions in their local communities, creating circular value was Bloom’s top priority. However, like many ReFi organizations, they have faced underfunding, making it difficult to maximize the impact of their projects. That’s where Fairmint comes in.
In this interview, Magenta Ceiba, CEO of Bloom, talks about how she uses Fairmint to reward volunteers in the Bloom network for their work.
Why did you look to Fairmint as your community equity tool?
We came to Fairmint because we ran into a barrier in trying to raise directly for our cooperative, since that requires capped returns of 2–3x. We decided to set up a C-Corp to offer investors uncapped returns, while not destabilizing the community-led governance structure that allows us to build our social network technology in a way that services local-first communities.
How did you become interested in community ownership?
Our lawyers actually recommended Fairmint to us. They are like the world specialists of DAO cooperative hybrids. Bloom is a hybrid technical solution — an online social network and also a real world network in your local community.
I also had heard Thibauld [co-founder of Fairmint] talk about continuous organizations [in 2018]. I was like, “This is it! This is the solution for exit-to-community, or community ownership that is a hybrid of professional investors and community.”
How do you use community equity?
We use it in the hybrid sense [a combination of angel investors and community equity]. It’s perfect for us. The understanding among the traditional investment community about Regenerative Finance movements is that it’s not appropriate to push for an exit. We’re trying to create an economy that circulates value.
What’s the biggest perk for your community investors? For VCs?
It reduces the risks for grassroots and locally rooted communities that are trying to accept investment for their ecological projects. It’s important for them to not be exposed to the legal risk of starting a token. In a DAO for instance there’s so much uncertainty around regulation.
Fairmint offers a securities-compliant framework for us to make a registered securities offering without spending tens of thousands of dollars. The $1,000 cost is easy to offset. It’s just gold for a grassroots-led project. Contributors get to participate in the upside.
A lot of people in Bloom and ReFi communities — the normal economy does not serve them. It doesn’t support them. But with Fairmint they can embrace community ownership and autonomy from Day 1.
For small VCs, an early liquidity structure is formidable to unlock. But thanks to Fairmint’s solution, what was impossible before is now a possibility. They don’t have eat the 5-10+ year horizon to profit. I believe this will allow more VCs to enter into the more experimental models of regenerative finance companies, to test the waters and have a whole community at their backs supporting the company in being successful.
What is the best part of community ownership?
You have the momentum that community ownership creates, because your community naturally pushes the marketing of the product. The network effects are big. A company is more likely to succeed because of it, which means the value of each share or token increases.
Speed is another big perk. We need to spin up new models and new local environmental projects fast. Fairmint makes community ownership easy & accessible without compromising compliance and regulation.
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Companies like Bloom Network build a more sustainable, equitable, and regenerative world. We are proud to offer a full-stack solution that makes it easy for them to share the financial upside of success with the individuals that make up their communities.
Read how other founders use Fairmint here.
