Noise barriers from Greenwall are in the spotlight. This company in Beilen meets the growing need for greening and making public spaces more sustainable. Made possible in part by a loan from MKB Fonds Drenthe that the company recently repaid. A milestone for director Erik Muggen, with much appreciation from the fund. "Almost a shame," says investment manager Tim Vonk of the fund, "that Greenwall will continue without us.
Greenwall elements consist of a steel frame, coir cloth and a core of hemp wood fiber. Climbing plants vegetate the frame, in a specially prepared planting bed. Erik: 'What makes them special is that they repel noise and absorb it extremely well. And the Greenwall element is 99.8% re-usable and recyclable: the only product with such a high degree of circularity'.
Start in 2005, choices in 2017
The original idea came from gardener and childhood friend Henk Booiman: an instant green garden fence. To Erik the question to bring this to the market. 'With a phone number, website and a stack of leaflets, Greenwall BV was a fact in 2005.' The potential increased a lot when, after a tip-off from an acoustics agency, lab tests showed how good soundproofing this screen was. 'With that we went to the business market, contractors, property developers, municipalities and provinces; they now account for almost 95% of our turnover.'
Greenwall BV is thriving. That requires choices about direction. In 2017, when it appears that the two partners have different opinions on this, they decide to part ways. With the question of how to finance this, Erik engages a financial advisor. He outlines three options: a bank loan, crowdfunding and MKB Fonds Drenthe.
Co-financing required
The first course is to the bank. Logical, states Tim: 'The bank is cheaper than us, besides, we are not allowed to finance if the bank can. And co-financing is a requirement of funding by us.' The bank turns out not to be a viable option. Erik: 'Our flow is often two years between assignment and execution. Then there is sometimes a 'bad' year in between. Such fluctuations make a bank nervous. Moreover, we have no property as collateral.' Tim understands that. 'Banks work with private savings, among other things, so strict rules apply.' Of course, MKB Fonds Drenthe is also 'strict,' but in a different way. 'It is not a subsidy, the company must be able to pay the money back. Our goal is revolving: we want to make a profit so we can help more companies in the future. But in addition to the economic return, we mainly look at the quality of the entrepreneur and the social return for the region. In the form of employment, but in this case also in greening and sustainability.'
Crowdfunding: completed in half an hour
'The core values of Greenwall - green - sustainable - ecology - particulate filtering - caught on so well that within half an hour we had achieved our target crowdfunding amount, from mainly private investors,' says Erik. With that and his good story, he got the fund to approve the remainder. Tim: 'Erik showed that he is strong in winning contracts and that he has the necessary powers of persuasion. Greenwall operates in a growth market and also works a lot with contractors and subcontractors from Drenthe. We can easily explain to an average Drenthe person why we want to finance this company with Drenthe money. Erik and his partner are satisfied with the buyout. 'Partly because we wanted the best for each other, this was concluded in such a pleasant way that our friendship did not suffer.'
'MKB Fonds Drenthe own responsibility'
A loan from MKB Fonds Drenthe is also risk-bearing for the fund. Erik: 'You therefore have a different relationship than with a bank. The fund radiates that they are also responsible, a shared motivation to make it a success'. That shared self-interest entails a certain 'meddling'. It also depends on the type of funding. Tim: "If we buy shares, for example, our interference with a company is greater than with this loan. How does the entrepreneur experience that? Erik: 'The investment manager came in about four times a year to talk about the market and what you are up against as an entrepreneur. Not an expert on the content, but critical: at first I thought we would probably clash, but no, he was a good sparring partner. So a kind of mediation but in a positive way.'
Innovation and growth
Greenwall continues to innovate. 'Our unique GGS planting model gives vegetation an optimal start in life, including 1 year of maintenance and pruning: replacement of plants that don't take root in one go.' With proper maintenance, a screen stays good for 30 years. 'We are looking together with contractors at possibilities of a kind of management contract upon delivery.' Further sustainability is also being worked on. 'Such as a solution for the plastic strips woven into the coconut fiber. All other parts are fully recyclable or from renewable resources. The hemp comes from Oude Pekela. We currently still buy the coconut fiber from Germany, but we are going to experiment with more sustainable alternatives, sheep's wool or hemp flax.'
Greenwall is putting even more effort into outsourcing production and construction and focusing on its own core tasks: 'New products and further development of existing products. We want to stay ahead and grow in the market, also in Europe. From Beilen we can serve 1,000 km in circumference.' Tim is pleased that the MKB Fonds Drenthe was able to contribute to this. 'Success remains the merit of the entrepreneur. But nice that we can support that, as financier, advisor and booster of positive impact for Drenthe.'
A28 - Example in your own village
Next to the A28, across the road from Van der Valk Hotel Spier, is a green Greenwall sound barrier. 'A few years ago, the gabion basket construction that stood there snapped in a storm and the filling of stones deflated. That seemed like an excellent opportunity to raise our profile as a local company in our own community. Finally, after a pretty intensive decision-making process, we got the green light: beautiful our product in our own village!