Enerfip acquires competitor Lumo

French crowdfunding platform Enerfip has announced that it has acquired competitor Lumo. Both are crowdfunding platforms for renewable energy. The amount of money that was involved in the acquisition was not disclosed.

Enerfip is a French crowdfunding platform, that was founded in 2014. It is based in Montpellier, and its focus is entirely on financing sustainable energy projects. Since its launch, the platform has financed more than 600 projects, with a total of more than 755 million euros.

Acquisition of first crowdfunding platform for renewable energy

It has now acquired Lumo, which was the first crowdfunding platform for renewable energy in France. It was founded in 2012, in La Rochelle. It is part of the French bank Société Générale Group. Since its inception, it has raised more than 230 million euros.

‘This is just the beginning’

“This acquisition is inherent to the consolidation phase this sector is experiencing, and this is just the beginning. It allows us to continue our growth by integrating Lumo’s community of 12,000 investors (out of 32,000 registered users) with Enerfip’s community of 28,000 investors”, said Julien Hostache, president of Enerfip.

The crowdfunding market is experiencing a consolidation phase, ever since the European crowdfunding license came into effect. Meeting the requirements for this permit is expensive. As a result, many platforms have merged.

Goal of 1 billion euros invested

Lumo will stop operating, and the brand will disappear. Employees are returning to the Société Générale Group’s workforce. For the upcoming months, Enerfip has set its goals already: it wants to reach 100,000 active investors and 1 billion euros invested in campaigns. It is now also targeting international growth opportunities.

Earlier this week, the company already announced a partnership with Crédit Coopératif, another French bank. As a result, the bank’s customers get access to invest in energy transition projects that are featured on Enerfip. The platform already has similar partnerships with other French banks, to leverage their networks of savers.