CoPower, a clean energy financing and investment company, has raised $2 million in equity financing to scale its investment platform.
The funding was led by Fondaction CSN, a Montreal-based pension fund, and include existing shareholders like Royal Bank of Canada and Innovation Support. New investors include Ferst Capital Partners and Laurie Thomson.
To date, CoPower has raised over $12 million in loans for community-scale clean energy projects, like LED lighting retrofits and geothermal heating and cooling for homes. CoPower says that what separates its investment model from others is its Green Bonds, which allow anyone to participate with $5,000. Normally, clean energy infrastructure investment is limited to institutional and high net worth investors.
“Our vision is to provide simple financial products, like our Green Bond, that offer solid returns
for all types of investors, and that at the same time help finance the clean energy economy,”
said Raphael Bouskila, CoPower’s cofounder and President. “This corporate round of financing gives us additional resources to continue to serve our clients and to deliver on that vision.”
CoPower’s Green Bonds offer up to 5 percent interest annually, and are available through CoPower’s online platform and select financial advisors and brokerages.
“Being the preferred partner in smaller, innovative sustainable infrastructure in Quebec, we’ve
seen first-hand what a challenge it is for these clean energy projects to access financing,” said says Stéphan Morency at Fondaction CSN. “CoPower’s innovative approach to filling that gap through crowd-investing shows that they are natural partners for us and our entire ecosystem by trying to accelerate the energy transition through technology and financial innovation. We are delighted to reaffirm our support of the company and its management.”