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The Citizenfund becomes B Corp!

After a little more than 5 years of existence, Citizenfund is very proud to announce that it has obtained the prestigious B Corp certification. This is great news for our company, which works every day to change finance and contribute to making it a tool for transition.

After a demanding labelling process lasting more than a year, Citizenfund obtained a score of 85.7, thanks in particular to the help of LSM Conseil. Citizenfund has the honour of being the 36th Belgian B Corp company (alongside Kazidomi, Simone a soif! and IBA among others) and the first Belgian citizen investment fund to be certified.

Since its creation, citizen participation, collective intelligence and impact have been at the heart of Citizenfund’s operations. The investment fund aims to be accessible to all: investments, in the form of cooperative shares, are possible from €50. Financing decisions are taken by the co-operators, after the entrepreneurs have passed before a selection committee. Finally, all the enterprises financed have the mission of solving a social and/or environmental problem.

Alain Boribon, its co-founder, says: “With Citizenfund, we are aware that we are pioneers of a truly participatory and human finance that aims to integrate projects that also address culture, education or citizen participation, for example, into investment funds. And, thanks to this label, we want to give a strong signal to traditional finance to change its paradigm: an investment fund must reflect the type of society we want to have.

It is therefore a great source of pride to be recognised in this way at international level. Far from being an end in itself, the label allows us to question ourselves and to take our approach even further thanks to the network’s good practices.

 

The Citizenfund

Citizenfund is a cooperative and impact investment fund.  Since 2017, 235 cooperators have already invested more than €500,000. Part of it has already been invested in 23 Belgian startups, the latest of which were funded in early July 2022. Cooperative shares are available from €50 for those under 26, and €250 for others. Citizenfund’s ambition is to rehumanise and reterritorialise finance, by opening local funds to bring citizens closer to entrepreneurs. A Citizenfund Charleroi Métropole is currently being created.

The companies financed by the Citizenfund are urbike, Incredible Company, Wilfried, CinéCité, Give a Day, Happy Hours Market, Waio, NewB, BC Materials, Incofin cvso, Sonian Wood Coop, Entusia, Coucou, Bulkbar, Novacitis, Ma Ferme, BPart, Yuman, Hyppy, Linked.Farm, Relieve Furniture, EVAZION and Polyperception.

More info at: www.citizenfund.coop

 

The B Corp label

Certified B Corporation, or B Corp, companies are those that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Today, nearly 5,000 companies are certified worldwide.

To join the community, a company must meet a series of stringent and verified criteria in terms of social, environmental, transparency, governance, etc. B Corps certified companies are legally obliged to consider the impact of their activities on their employees, customers, partners and the planet.

The B Corp Label is carried by B Lab, a non-profit organisation that transforms the global economy by using business as a force for good, to benefit all people, communities and the planet.

More info at https://www.bcorporation.net/

 

The Shift

The Shift is the Belgian network for sustainable development that brings together almost 540 companies, NGOs, public bodies and academics. The Shift is the Belgian contact point for B Corp.

For more information, visit https://www.theshift.be/