Dear family, friends, and VELD fans! We have big news: our bid for the very first VELD location has been accepted!
Nearly 18 hectares of old factory ground can now be transformed into protected, rewilded nature. With space for biodiversity, restoration of soil and landscape, and room for people to learn, stay, and recover.
To secure this location and realize this first phase, we need your help. Will you invest in VELD? Together, we can make this place a reality. Every contribution, large or small, helps!
With love, Veerle and Anne-Marijn
We have a location!
Now is the moment to make VELD possible, together!
Invest in new, wild nature & a strong society
Contribute to a healthy future for yourself and future generations
Double your investment: 100% return
Receive fun extras and become closely involved with VELD
This is VELD
VELD brings the recovery of people and nature together, in one place where they strengthen each other.
We are creating a regenerative landscape where wild nature is returning and where people are invited to connect with the power of that nature.
We are restoring biodiversity, giving the river space, and making the landscape accessible. Not as a mass destination, but as a carefully designed place to stay, move through the landscape, and learn from what happens here through overnight stays, recreational use, and workshops that show how nature and people can reinforce each other.
VELD is not a place where you consume nature, but a place where you become part of it by being there, participating, and contributing to its restoration.
While you recover in nature, nature recovers thanks to you.
The location
In the floodplains near Maurik lies a beautiful place where river, land, and history come together. Once, a brick factory stood here; afterward, the landscape was long neglected.
Here, river-related nature can flourish once again. Rich, layered floodplain forests teeming with life can develop here: a unique landscape with space for birds, insects, and plants that belong along the river. But this unique opportunity may be lost to redevelopment.
We do not see this as a construction site, but as a place where nature and people can once again take center stage. With nature restoration as the starting point and carefully integrated human use, this place can grow into a rich ecosystem—and a place where people can experience nature up close and grow alongside it.
On the map
Maurik, along the Nederrijn
17.6 ha
In total, we are financing at least €1,800,000 in this round. This will enable us to purchase the location and begin with the first accommodations. We will do this in two steps:
Step 1: The purchase €1,380,000
First, we focus on raising the purchase price and associated costs. Once this amount is reached, the acquisition will go ahead.
The financing campaign is not yet public: for this step, we are focusing on specialized investors, funds, and institutions. And on our immediate circles and local residents.
Step 2: the next €420,000—or more!
Next, we will raise investments so that we can actually start on site. We will use these investments for nature restoration planning and start-up, the first facilities and accommodations, and operational costs.
At this point, we are already certain that we will continue on location, and the majority of the financing campaign consists of broader crowdfunding.
A number of financiers are already on board or are about to come on board.
But one essential element is missing: you!
This is the plan
Our goal is to raise €150,000 with family, friends, and VELD fans.
That may not seem like much in relation to the total amount, but it is incredibly important. An early crowd that is also investing puts us in a very good position in discussions with large investors. Because it shows interest in the product and confidence in the company and the entrepreneurs. And it gives us capital, of course!
We’re investing ourselves too, of course! What do you think, can we make this happen together?
HERE WE ARE:
€67,040 to go
€82,960 achieved
And this is how you participate!
Invest
Investing is done through sharefunding.
This is a great way to VELD together with many people and pay fair returns to investors.
Here's how it works: in exchange for your investment, you will receive shares (certificates) in the VELD cooperative. This makes you a co-owner of this place!
The certificates entitle you to a share of the profits, up to a maximum of 200% of the amount you invested. This means you double your investment! For example: if you invest €1,000, you will receive a total of €2,000 through profit sharing. However, this is a long-term investment; it will take a few years before we make profits and can start sharing those profits.
In the meantime, you will of course remain closely VELD with VELD , and all investors will receive lots of great extras, such as a guided tour, an invitation to the opening party , and a discount on your stay!
A certificate costs €100. Investments start at €500.
Stay overnight
Have you already decided that you want to stay at VELD? Contribute to this round and receive a voucher for future stays. Plus extras!
Special friends, family & fans price: per night (2 people), including breakfast: €100.
Donate
You can also support us with a donation. For us, donations are just as important as investments. And for your donation, you will of course receive the same great extras as the investors!
Donations start at €25.
Frequently asked questions
Invest
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We will start paying profit sharing as soon as we make a profit. In the first years of operation, we will still be operating at a loss (and that is planned).
The profit sharing does not only go to our investors: part of it also goes to nature & society and another part is reinvested in the company for continuity.
This gives us immediate, broad impact and allows us to continue our mission and make a constant impact on nature, people, and society. This is what VELD is all about!
In order to offer investors a fair return, we offer a 100% return. This is comparable to interest payments over the same period of 4-6% per year.
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You become a member of VELD , and as a member, you are a co-owner of the organization.
VELD steward-owned, which means that control lies primarily with the team that carries out the day-to-day operations. Investors have limited control, but they do have certain rights, for example when it comes to changes that directly impact profit sharing. The exact details of how this works will be announced in our governance policy when the cooperative is established. You can already read a number of basic principles in our Concept & Business Plan.
Donate
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We use final donations to cover costs that we incur regardless, even if the purchase does not ultimately go ahead. For example, for soil testing.
If we collect more definitive donations than the costs, we will contact the people who have made definitive donations. We can then choose to donate the money to another organization with a similar vision and mission, or refund (part of) the money.
General
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Each type of support (investing, donating, staying) has a section called "more information and downloads." Here you will find all the available information. You can also here here.
A little more about us
VELD is an exceptional project where a unique concept and an innovative business model come together. We connect nature restoration, stays, and learning within a single landscape, and organize this in a way that is still rare in the Netherlands.
The initiative is led by Anne-Marijn Bogers and Veerle Verlooij. Anne-Marijn VELD , and Veerle recently joined as co-founder. What connects us is vision, dedication, and the ability to bring people, expertise, and collaborations together at the right moment. From the outset, we have been working with a strong network of partners and advisors, including Stroming, Woonpioniers, and Kajola. In the coming phase, we will further expand the team, including an interim fundraising manager and, upon opening, a hospitality manager.
VELD established as a steward-owned impact company. The people who run it on a daily basis also bear responsibility for it. And our profits serve our mission: revenues are reinvested in the company, the team, investors, and in ecological and social value, both within and outside VELD. In this way, we are pioneering a way of organizing that can grow without exhausting people and nature.
Looking ahead
Over the coming years, we will continue to expand this first VELD location step by step. With another 2 to 4 rounds of financing, we will create space for education, additional lodges, and a team that can support the site on a daily basis—in close connection with the surrounding area.
This first site is just the beginning. VELD is designed as a transferable model, carried by local entrepreneurs and mission-led by the VELD Foundation. VELD will not grow through scaling up a single location, but through a network of places that share knowledge, experience, and impact.
Read more in the Concept & Business Plan (NL or EN version) or in the pitch documentation.
Value and experience that suits you
However you choose to support us, you contribute to VELD in your own way. You may receive a financial return, you will certainly create natural and social impact, and you will gain a tangible experience in this place. Moreover, you are always welcome at VELD.
Invest in VELD: Positive impact for yourself, nature, and society
Ecological &
social impact
Thanks to your contribution, we are developing a new, wild nature reserve and expanding it where possible. The area will remain protected forever. In addition, we are giving a social boost to the environment and to people.
Even more for nature & society
All our profits are distributed or reinvested. Because nature and society also have a right to profits, a portion of the profits is structurally allocated to nature restoration and a regenerative society.
Ready to make an impact with us?
With this investment round, we are not subject to supervision by the AFM (Financial Markets Authority) and we are not required to draw up a prospectus. However, we do draw up an EBI, as this provides clarity for investors.
