The project

NB: ONLY TAX RESIDENTS OF THE NETHERLANDS ARE ALLOWED TO INVEST IN THIS OFFER

Basic info:

Issuer: Sistema.bio
Currency:  EUR 
Amount: 150,000
Maturity: 12 months, semi-annually and linearly amortizing 
Collateral: N.A.
Interest rate: 6% p.a.

Summary

Sistema.bio is a Mexican social enterprise that has been operating since 2010. We manufacture, sell, distribute, install, and finance high-quality biodigesters as turnkey packages for small-scale farmers. Our mission is to create value from waste all around the world: renewable energy (biogas) and organic fertilizer.

The problem: smallholder farmers produce almost 80% of the worldwide food. However, they are also the population that faces important barriers such as climate change, soil degradation and lack of access to financial services to improve their lives. 

The solution: biodigesters and full wrap-around service allow farmers to benefit from what used to be a problem (manure) to transform it into renewable energy. The digester also is a waste management system and contributes to eliminating pollution spots and reducing greenhouse gases. In that way, farmers can cook without smoke, avoiding pulmonary diseases, and also increase the productivity of their farms with organic fertilizer.

Sistema.bio has a holistic approach to address poverty, food security, and climate change, we work through three axes: technology, capacity building and financing. This solution allows us to solve problems efficiently and end the circle of disadvantages that previously seemed impossible to break, to create a more sustainable, equitable and empathic world without waste. 

The project

With their loan, farmers can pay the system with the savings they are making in fertilizer, wood, charcoal or LP gas; allowing them to pay for the whole system and service within 10 months on average, maximizing their return on investment.

With a loan of EUR 150,000, Sistema.bio will be able to manufacture and export the equivalent of four large containers from our manufacturing plant in Mexico to our clients in Mexico, Nigaragua and Colombia. After the half-day installation provided by Sistema.bio, farmers will start displacing fossil fuels, powering their farms with renewable energy and increase their crop production with organic fertilizer. 

The EUR 150,000 loan addresses the gap between the moment the biodigester is produced and the moment it is installed and paid by small farmers. Each euro we´re going to receive from Lendahand community will cover the cost of manufacturing, shipping and installing biodigesters ordered by our Kenyan clients. 

Don José's story

Don José lives in Tlaxcala, Mexico and has a cheese factory. It is a family business that he decided to start more than 20 years ago. “I was born here in Tlaxcala ( a small town  at 100 km from Capital City), but I lived in Mexico City in the 70’s. My brother and I were bricklayers, I left the town because there was not much money and I did not have any studies”- says Don Jose.

Don Jose worked several years in the city and saved enough to buy the land where now his house and cheese factory is, near Calpulalpan, Tlaxcala. “I finally came back, I missed my cows and my family. And since I started my farm, my wife was the one who knew how to make cheese and now we have our own family business “.

Since 2012, Don José’s family has been using biogas for cheese making and for cooking. “The biodigestor helps a lot, we save the money we use to spent in LP gas that is getting more and more expensive and fertilizer. We use the organic fertilizer that the biodigester produces in the field to grow the cow’s forage.

Don Jose’s five children  and grandchildren work in the business. One of her daughters is in charge of the stables, the others are in charge of the production. Don José, his grandchildren and children are responsible for the distribution of their cheeses in the region, they even have clients travelling from Mexico City.

The money he has saved now he invests in the purchase of animals and in the welfare of his family. José’s example demonstrates the importance of technology and financing for sustainable development in the rural sector, that allows farmers and their families to make important investments to get ahead. With a small margin of utility and better efficiency process, they are able to make investments in the farms that allow them to grow.

Impact so far

The team

Alex Eaton

CEO and co-founder of Sistema.bio, Alex was working on solar energy projects in Central America when he discovered the potential of biodigesters and transformed a low-quality technology into a sustainable, empathetic, profitable and global social enterprise.

Esther Altorfer

CFO of Sistema.bio, Esther is passionate about leveraging innovative financing structures to improve access and affordability of biodigesters to small farmers.

Raymond Chepkwony

Country Director for Sistema.bio Kenya, Raymond is complementing the team with his last-mile agricultural financing and operations experience to bring the Sistema.bio digester into thousands of Kenyan homes.

Partners

●       BID

●       ENGIE

●       LCEF

●       Factor[e]

●       Shell Foundation

●       Kiva

Awards

●       Social Business of the year, 2010 Businesses in Development (BiD Network)

●       Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellow

●       Fellow Ashoka, New Ventures Mexico

●       Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2017 Finalists

●       Endeavor entrepreneurs

●       B Corp

●       GIIRS Company

●       UBS Visionaries