Climate Equity Crowdfunding Platform

The ask

Build a BSEC-compliant equity crowdfunding platform focused on climate and clean energy startups, mobilising Bangladesh's large diaspora investor base (6+ million overseas workers) and domestic middle-class savers who currently have no path to early-stage climate company equity.

Why now

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission published its Equity Crowdfunding Rules in 2023, creating the first legal framework for retail equity investment in unlisted companies. LetsVenture in India proved the model works in a comparable regulatory environment. Bangladesh's diaspora remits USD 22 billion annually — a tiny fraction directed toward climate equity investment would represent a major capital unlock. The 2023 BSEC rules cap individual investment at ৳10 lakh per company per year, making the product accessible to middle-income retail investors.

Why Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a structural capital distribution problem: billions of taka sit in FDR accounts earning 6–8% while climate startups raise nothing. The diaspora — disproportionately in the Gulf, UK, and USA — holds substantial savings and has strong affinity for Bangladesh-linked investments, particularly those with tangible environmental impact. A platform with BSEC endorsement, multilingual interfaces (Bengali, English), and a curated climate thesis would differentiate immediately against the generic crowdfunding operators who are positioning primarily for SME working capital.

As a business

Revenue comes from success fees (4–6% of capital raised, charged to the startup), listing fees (৳1–3 lakh per campaign setup), and a secondary market transaction fee once the platform is large enough to operate one. The platform itself carries no investment risk if structured as a pure intermediary. At 20 successful climate campaigns per year averaging ৳80 lakh raised each, a 5% success fee generates ৳80 lakh in revenue — modest but with a clear growth curve as deal flow and brand compound.

Economics

Move the sliders to model your own crowdfunding platform. Defaults are order-of-magnitude estimates — pressure-testing them is part of what a founder pitches us.

What ZEPH would back

We want a founder with a securities law background in Bangladesh who has a direct relationship with BSEC and understands the 2023 crowdfunding rules in detail. The right team has two climate startups already committed to campaign on the platform at launch. We are a natural anchor investor and deal supplier — ZEPH portfolio companies would use this as a co-investment and follow-on fundraising channel.

Impact

Equity crowdfunding for climate startups doesn't directly avoid emissions — it is the capital infrastructure that allows early-stage climate companies to form and scale. Every ৳1 crore raised through the platform for a solar or EV startup that would not otherwise have accessed capital represents catalytic leverage: a solar startup funded at seed might deploy hundreds of kilowatts and avoid hundreds of tonnes of CO₂e over its operating life. The diaspora channel is a genuine FX unlock: routing overseas remittances into productive domestic equity investment rather than consumption or FDR accounts multiplies GDP impact per dollar. A functioning secondary market also gives Bangladesh's emerging climate startup ecosystem the liquidity signal that professional angel networks need to commit.