The partners behind PlusPlus
An initiative of development organizations Solidaridad and Cordaid, crowdfunding platform Lendahand and business booster Truvalu. With offices around the world, our teams have years of experience driving entrepreneurship. Only entrepreneurs that improve production in quantity and quality will be selected for PlusPlus. Your investment takes these agricultural entrepreneurs to the next level!
The partners:
- Cordaid and Solidaridad have been strengthening food supply chains and supporting local entrepreneurship in developing countries for decades.'
- Truvalu was set up by ICCO (now part of Cordaid). Truvalu helps small and medium-sized agricultural companies prepare for their next big step in the corporate world.
- Lendahand is a crowdfunding platform for impact investments in entrepreneurs in emerging countries.
Who are we?
A team full of dedication. This is perhaps the best way to describe us. Each team member works for one of the organizations behind PlusPlus. So we have a lot of experience and expertise under one roof. Nice to meet you!
Peter Heijen
Managing DirectorWith PlusPlus, I take up the challenge to make financing possible for companies that make a difference. The creation of new jobs is the most powerful tool in the fight against poverty. This applies especially to the agricultural sector, which provides the most employment in emerging countries. The initiators of PlusPlus are in contact with entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector and food chain all over the world. As a result, PlusPlus can help companies to grow.
Suzanne Larsson
Finance & Compliance DirectorIn my previous job as a commodity banker I financed trade flows from developing countries. In those 25 years, inequality in these chains became increasingly confrontational for me. I saw that farmers and small businesses at the beginning of the trade chain hardly have access to finance. With PlusPlus I want to contribute to the improvement of this situation.
Lars van Doremalen
Investment & Operations ManagerI am enthusiastic about PlusPlus because I believe in the importance of small and medium-sized businesses for a good economy. It is fantastic to see that we can finance these companies and grow them on a professional basis. I am convinced that this creates the most social impact in the long term.
Judith Mathijssen
Impact & Fundraising ManagerWhat motivates me is that PlusPlus dares to jump in the gap for promising agricultural entrepreneurs in emerging countries who just fall to short. They are the engine for food production and jobs. Together with investors here and entrepreneurs there, we show that it does work and with that we hopefully motivate other organizations to permanently change the system for these entrepreneurs.
Michelle Schouwenburg
Marketing ManagerI see PlusPlus as a special way to stimulate economic development. Not with subsidies, but with investments. There is no shortage of entrepreneurs and good ideas, but there is no funding to make those plans come true. With PlusPlus Good ideas can still be given a chance and growth can arise that benefits so many people. PlusPlus is an engine for social impact, and we can start that engine together.
Hans Kramer
Marketing Team“All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”. This quote from George Orwell's Animal Farm outlines - retroactively - one of the greatest challenges of our time. With PlusPlus we make a difference for people who are slightly less equal than us here in the West. And the more equal we become, the more equitably opportunities, labor and food are distributed. I get excited about that! You too?
Michelle Steggerda
Investment TeamIt is great when people all over the world are given the opportunity to create social impact with their company and that investors can follow what is happening with their investment on the other side of the world. I think it's really interesting to be able to contribute from the Investment Team to the direct connection between investors and entrepreneurs.
Maarten Hasselman
Investment TeamAs an Investment Officer for PlusPlus, I evaluate investment proposals before they are reviewed by the PlusPlus Credit Committee. With financing from PlusPlus, we meet a need of promising entrepreneurs who want to realize their growth potential. I find it very inspiring to hear their passion and to turn their dreams into a realistic plan for which 'the crowd' is happy to make money available to realize this.
Jorge Vilar
Application & Operations SupportWhat drives me is ending social inequality and poverty in the world, nothing more, nothing less! PlusPlus is a good step in that direction.
Rafael Zubieta
Investment ManagerI started my carrier in the stock market and got involve through the years in many NGOs, in my country, which made me realize the huge inequality between groups of people. The most powerful way to combat that is to give people the same opportunities and that is what PlusPlus does. As Investment Manager I can propose cases and do a monitoring process where we can see the positive impact, financially and social, in the companies we finance as in their communities around.
Hazal Altunal
Growth MarketeerI recently joined the PlusPlus Marketing Team as Growth Marketeer. Coming from a background of creative digital marketing with a focus on growth marketing and storytelling, I am excited about my new journey at PlusPlus and its' deep sense of purpose. Making an actual difference in the world while creating opportunities for labor in emerging countries in the field of food security and agriculture means being on the right side of some of the crucial issues we’re facing today. Contributing to the economy, to sustainability and to the dreams of small-sized entrepreneurs, I am thrilled to be a part of the PlusPlus team and its cause!