Today's cooperativism: Emerging trends. What are the succes factors? Platfotm cooperativism, cooperative capital, cooperative democracy. Ecosystem and networks for cooperative entrepreneurs.

2. Welcome
to Impact Meetup on today’s
cooperativism
● What is cooperative?
● What’s emerging in the
cooperative world?
● What are the success
factors for modern coops?
24.2.2016
Kristiina Ullgrén

3. What is a cooperative?
International Co-operative Alliance:
“A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons
united to meet their economic, social and cultural needs and
aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically
controlled enterprise”

4. The basic cooperative model
Member
Share
(Osuus)
The member
joins the
cooperative
The member
buys a share.
(Merkitsee
osuuden)
Shares make up
the cooperative
equity.
€
Employee
Employee
MemberMember
Member
Member
Member
Member
The members own
and control the
cooperative in a
democratic way:
one vote per
member.

5. Types of cooperatives
Producer cooperatives
Consumer cooperatives
Workers’ cooperatives
Banks, other financial coops
Mutual insurance
Who are the members?
What is their economic incentive?
Which business?
Which markets?

6. The waves of cooperativism
Out of the
poverty
Profitable growth
Coops as social
enterprises

7. What makes cooperatives
relevant today?

8. What is emerging?
Platform cooperativism
Work cooperatives
New consumer coops, community farms
Local service cooperatives

9. Platform cooperativism
What if… Uber would be owned by the drivers?
Meaning that the drivers would
● set the business logic, working terms and conditions, etc.
● decide how the profits are shared or invested
Awesome customer experience: taking the customer service platform to the
cooperative ownership
The ownership matters

10. Case 1: the Women’s cooperative
New York based worker coop
Cornell Tech is developing the platform:
an app that helps scaling the business
“Coopify app connect low-income
workers to the “digital sharing economy”
not as precarious cogs in an impersonal
machine, but on their own terms.“

11. Case 2: Online marketplace
Fairmondo, Germany
Anyone can trade
Eco and fair trade, local
producers and businesses
The platform is built and
maintained by the coop

13. Your examples?

14. Success factors for the cooperatives
Cooperative democracy
ICT
Financing
Ecosystem and networking

15. Cooperative democracy
The members
● One vote in the members’
meeting
● Active participation?
The cooperative
● Organization and
management
● Self-organization?
● Participatory leadership?

16. ICT and cooperatives
ICT is integral part of almost any business
Cloud: less costs, more accessibility and choice
How good are the coops in applying the ICT in their business?
● Scaling
● Customer acquisition and service
Digital innovation, blockchain

17. Loomio

18. Financing the cooperative
What is the business model?
What is the capital needed for?
The most obvious sources of capital are
● the member investment (shares, loans, sweat)
● paying customers, revenue

19. External capital
How to make the investment attractive, while preserving the democratic
member control?
● Equity: cooperative shares
● Loan
● Grants, public funding, EU funding

20. New instruments
Impact investing in cooperatives
Crowdfunding
● Pre-sales: reward-based
● Investments: Loan or equity based
Platform for the cooperative, social and community purposes?

22. Ecosystem and networks for cooperatives
Ecosystem: training, supporting services, financing, legal services,
accounting, hubs, incubators and accelerators, platforms, etc.
Do the coops fit into the current startup ecosystem?
What are the needs for the ecosystem of coops?
What are the needs for networking among the peers?

23. Thank you!
www.impactor.fi
kristiina.ullgren@impactor.fi
+358 50 5752530
https://www.facebook.com/ImpactorConsulting/
@impactor_fi