How to attract investors to energy access crowdfunding
As the market for energy access-related crowdfunding continues to grow, having recovered their pre-pandemic activity levels in 2021, platforms are looking to diversify their strategies to attract more effectively both traditional investors, and increase the participation of new groups, such as female and younger investors.
The latest report from Energy 4 Impact’s Crowd Power programme, How to attract investors to energy access crowdfunding, has analysed a number of outreach interventions put in place by debt crowdfunding platforms such as Lendahand, Trine and Energise Africa, and it has looked at the profile of 1,500 investors across energy access-related campaigns and their investment patterns. The trends identified in the report may help crowdfunding platforms to tailor their outreach efforts to attract specific investor groups and provide valuable lessons for donors and other funders interested in supporting the growth of energy access-related crowdfunding.
The report analyses the effectiveness of outreach interventions, including first-time investor guarantees as well as voucher or discount codes for new investors. The report also focuses on the potential of promoting these interventions through channels, such as social media, blogs and influencers, in order to attract specific investor groups.
The research shows which interventions can significantly increase the number of new investors on platforms as well as being a cost-effective manner of reaching new customer groups. Lendahand’s collaboration with female influencers to promote voucher codes and first-time investor guarantees, for example, doubled the number of women investors participating in targeted crowdfunding campaigns.
The report also highlights the role that donors and funders can play in supporting crowdfunding platforms with market-led interventions by co-funding campaigns or leveraging additional investment by the crowd.
Crowd Power is funded by UK aid, through the Transforming Energy Access platform and implemented by Energy 4 Impact.
Click here to download the report.
For other reports on crowdfunding click here.