May 2, The Hague. Unknown Group is delighted to announce an investment in Oneplanetcrowd, a leading sustainable crowdfunding platform. The investment includes a strategic partnership aimed at increasing the offering of funding possibilities to promising impactful ventures. Unknown recognizes this global capital need among ventures via their global startup competition Get in the Ring, with a presence in 110 countries and receiving 25.000 applications annually.

The leading European sustainable crowdfunding platform, Oneplanetcrowd unites established social enterprises with investors interested in making sustainable investments. The newest venture in the Unknown portfolio, Oneplanetcrowd goes beyond crowdfunding. As a financier, they have a fast-growing community of 35,000+ – both socially engaged crowdfunders and impact and future-driven angel investors. As a certified B Corp, Oneplanetcrowd has been awarded as the market leader in venture capital by CrowdfundingCijfers.nl in 2018 and 2019.

Founded in 2012 by Coenraad de Vries, Laura Rooseboom and Maarten de Jong, the Amsterdam-based financing platform has raised over € 70 million in funding for more than 250 projects, including leading e-bike manufacturer – VanMoof, the sustainable smartphone – Fairphone, airborne wind energy generating drone – Ampyx Power and Unknown Group’s portfolio venture, Saltrex, who successfully crowdfunded the development of their circular waste platform in 2019.

“Both Unknown and OnePlanetCrowd share the belief that founders and their game changing solutions are the key to turning the world’s problems into opportunities. We were very impressed by the success rate of their projects over the years and of course, by the community of engaged angel investors they have fostered. We’re thrilled to welcome Oneplanetcrowd to the Unknown portfolio ”. says Hans Peddemors, Chief Investment at Unknown.

Established in 2008, Unknown Group has developed a global network in innovation and entrepreneurship, having partnered with over 200 corporate and governmental organizations for open innovation and corporate venturing activities. Via their global startup competition, “Get in the Ring”, which has a presence in 220 cities and receives 25,000 startup applications yearly, Unknown has unique access to dealflow from around the world and an acute understanding of the global capital need amongst ventures. The investment in Oneplanetcrowd is synergistic with and adds to the value proposition that Unknown delivers to these ventures.

Coenraad de Vries, Co-Founder of Oneplanetcrowd said: “Straight from the first meeting with Unknown, it feels we have so much common ground in supporting the growth of impact entrepreneurs. With the investment of Unknown, as well as their network and expertise, we will be able to further fuel our growth to financing innovative SMEs as well as renewable energy companies. ”

“With Get in the Ring, we meet with a large number of promising ventures with a capital need. With Oneplanetcrowd, we’re going to be able to support these ventures worldwide and satisfy our common goal of making tangible contributions to global challenges. We’re equipped to assure a consistent inflow of ventures from around the world for the Oneplanetcrowd platform” adds Unknown COO and Managing Director of Get in the Ring, Jurgen Nieuwenhuijsen.

Unknown Group is a merger between VenturesOne Group and Unknown Group. VenturesOne’s investment expertise combined with Unknown’s experience in business development and global startup scouting puts Unknown in a unique position to provide value to Oneplanetcrowd as an investor. 

Unknown Group has invested in Oneplanetcrowd through VenturesOne Investments B.V. a joint venture between Unknown Group and European Angels Fund (EAF). EAF is a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Europe.  EAF is part of the EIB Group (shareholders are the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and a wide range of public and private banks and financial institutions).

Dive Deeper:

Oneplanetcrowd’s venture page

About Unknown Group

Unknown is an early-stage venture capital and business development firm, supporting founders and industry leaders to successfully bring innovations to the market: a “Venture Engine®”. With a fresh approach delivering venture success, lining up the industry and creating a pool of solutions ready to be adopted by the market.

Unknown is a merger between VenturesOne group and Unknown Group. Unknown’s experience in global startup scouting and corporate venturing, combined with the investment expertise of VenturesOne, strengthens the ambition to increase the success rate of innovations that address pressing local and global challenges.

About Oneplanetcrowd

Oneplanetcrowd is the largest sustainable funding platform in the Netherlands. The platform connects innovative entrepreneurs and forward-looking investors to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy. Since 2012, Oneplanetcrowd has financed over 250 entrepreneurs and energy projects for over € 70 million with a community of 30,000 investors.​ Oneplanetcrowd was initiated by StartGreen Capital, one of the largest impact fund managers that has financed over 300 sustainable entrepreneurs and energy projects.

For Press Enquiries:

Rayhaan Imam

rayhaan@unknowngroup.com