Update: 4 days left in GreenStar Marine crowdfunding, 230% over goal!
September 2: 265 people have reserved shares in the GreenStar Marine program at FundedByMe – and there are still 4 days left to participate.
Click »» here to visit the campaign
Original story: May 28
Sweden’s GreenStar Marine is the latest electric boat motor company to go the crowdfunding route, aiming to raise 2 – 3,000,000 Swedish Korona (US$ 210 – 320,000) to expand operations and get ready for the coming electric boat revolution.
The campaign is being hosted on the FundedByMe platform, which was successfully used by X Shore boats to raise €1.5M. Finland’s Oceanvolt and Italy’s Deepspeed are two electric boat motor companies that have been successful with crowdfunding.
Electric boat motor company founded in 1999
GreenStar Marine is an established and highly regarded company that was founded in 1999 and marked its 500th system installation in 2018. Its core business is complete electric inboard systems for sailboats, although their direct drive units can also be used in other types of boats and barges. The Plugboats Inboard Motors Guide shows they currently have 5 motors from 3.5kW to 30kW in two model lines, the E-Line and premium P-line.
Get information and specs on more than 150 motors in the Plugboats Guide to Electric Inboards
In their funding outline, the proposed use for the capital is to ‘scale up sales and meet the increased demand for our products.’ If the goal of 3M SEK is exceeded, the extra funds will be allocated
- 30% – to scale up sales and better meet the increased demand.
- 20% – to secure agreements with some larger OEM´s.
- 30% – building dealer network and establish installation partners.
- 20% – to roll out the new product line, 10-120 hp inboard straight shaft and sail drive on the new scalable platform
The new scalable platform refers to their launch this past January of a new 24-48V high-efficiency system. This will enable them to expand their inboard line this year to go up to 50 hp motors with a 70, 90 and 120 hp for sailboats, snipers and work boats on the horizon for 2021. What is also intriguing are the photos of a line of outboard electric boat motors that we are looking forward to seeing available in 2020: a 30 hp, 40 hp and 55 hp.
Perhaps the overriding aspect of not just the GreenStar crowdfunding campaign, but all of the crowdfunding campaigns, is that the world of electric boats is on the verge of huge growth, and the companies that have gained practical knowledge about the complexities of electric marine propulsion are well positioned to capitalize on the coming demand.
Goal is to produce and sell 1,000 systems per year
The company says they are now receiving 200 customer requests per month and want to scale production to 1,000 systems per year. The FundedByMe outline goes on to say “We plan for an IPO in 18 months, to make it possible to trade with the shares and to access larger capital investments in the company. We need additional funds to be able to bring the full scale of our product portfolio to the market.”
It also goes on to say “With the market growth we have in front of us related to the commitment we see from potential customers, our goal is that an investment in GreenStar Marine will reach 10 times the investment within 3-5 years.”
Where they see clear expansion opportunities are places with either strong environmental restrictions or a large number of boats, like New Zealand, Australia and the USA.
Investor extras: discounts on electric boat motors
Until now, GreenStar Marine has been totally financed by it owners. A number of suppliers are participating in this funding round, and as of this writing (May 28) there has been significant interest from others: 39 people have reserved shares, amounting to 94% of the reserved total – and there are 35 days left.
Investors also get some electric boat perks:
- 1000-1980 SEK – offered test drives in the company’s demo boats.
- 2 000-49 980 SEK – 5% discount on regular price list.
- 50 000-99 980 SEK – you get 15% discount on regular price list.
- 100 000-249 980 SEK – you get 25% discount on regular price list.
- 250 000-399 980 SEK you get an E10 driveline excl. batteries (value 67 500 SEK).
And investors of more than 400 000 SEK receive an E20 driveline with 5kWh lithium battery. Not so bad, considering the system is valued at 150 000 SEK.
To get the full story, visit the GreenStar Marine FundedByMe page. You will need to register to receive access to the financial information.
