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100%
45.000 €

100% funded by 473 investors

Quinta Alma II

Location Pin Svg
Aljezur, PT

instalment

monthly

term

5 years

yearly interest

5%

risk rating

B-

Ecological retreat with efficient resource management.

Description

This is Quinta Alma’s second GoParity campaign. In 2018 the promoter successfully raised 30.000€ through GoParity’s impact investment community, to create a structural lake and increase the project’s photovoltaic installed capacity. Check it out here – GoParity’s 9th campaign ever. Since then, Quinta Alma has grown considerably in business and activity, developing remarkable work in ecological regeneration.

In the last two years, the promoter successfully organized several experimental courses on the topics of Permaculture and Off-Grid Living in Mediterranean Landscapes. Carrying this experience, the promoter will now expand its business scope beyond B&B Tourism to include Educational Tourism, anchored in research, development, and promotion of Agroecology and Self-Sustainability. This new business brand will be called Alma Lab School: an outdoor experimental laboratory with an ecological taipa building to give classes and workshops.

Quinta Alma Lab School will offer recurrent courses and training on Permaculture, Sustainable Building & Construction, and Off-Grid Living & Farming. Alma Lab School will also lecture weekend courses on specific agroecology courses, such as natural cosmetics, fermentation and distillation of food, and beekeeping.

The funds raised through this campaign will be used to: 

  • Transform an old barn taipa building into a professional kitchen and a multi-purpose room.

  • Transform two canvas shelters into mountain wood cabins for winter courses (adding up to a total of four wood cabins).
  • Increase the installed energy production capacity by 50% in order to meet new energetic needs, related to the school and other events.
  • Increase water caption and retention capacity by 50%.
  • Create the structural business framework to hire a seasonal chef and a production assistant.

The Impact

Direct 

  • Increase of clean energy production: with the expansion of the solar energy production system, Quinta Alma will generate per year 21.4MWh of clean energy, avoiding the emission of 4.3 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
  • Soil regeneration and increase of biodiversity: Quinta Alma manages 45 hectares of land with an agroecological approach that drives soil regeneration with increased water quality and retention. This pushes the local biodiversity to thrive and become more resilient. In addition, one hectare is used for growing organic food without any chemical pesticides or fertilizers. 
  • Increased capacity in water management and retention: Quinta Alma will retain more than 100,000 liters of rainwater per year for human consumption and irrigation.

Indirect 

  • Job creation: as a result of this business expansion, 2 jobs will be created with working places for cooking and production management. 
  • Education for sustainability and regenerative economy: Alma Lab School will offer at least 6 structural courses and 12 weekend courses on an annual basis, educating more than 300 people per year for Agroecology and self-sustainability. Opening of social impact business area with potential to dialogue and influence as local, regional and national levels.

Sustainable Development Goals

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Financial viability

The project will require total financing of 82.000€, of which 45.000€ (55%) will be raised through GoParity’s investor community and 37.000€ through the promoter's own capital. Despite of the pandemic situation and its impact on tourism, Quinta Alma has a stable economic situation, characterized by positive results in the past five years.

With this new business area, by the end of the third year, the global revenues are expected to increase 57% with a net contribution margin of 65%.

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The Promoter

About ENI Joana Gorjão Rapaz Moreira

Quinta Alma is the brand name of the business managed by Joana Gorjão, an individually owned company officially named Joana Gorjão Rapaz Moreira, ENI

Open since May 2017, Quinta Alma is a cozy ecological retreat in Aljezur. Initially thought of as Nature Tourism and Ecological Glamping, Quinta Alma is deeply committed to a sustainable relationship with the ecosystem. This life project results from the founders' passion - Joana and Mario - and their vision of an inspiring and relaxing experience in Nature. Quinta Alma is independent from the national energy and water networks and is "hidden" just outside Aljezur on the Atlantic coast of the Algarve.


Quinta Alma - cover of the European Glamping Guide 2021:

The team

Joana Gorjão

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Co-Owner

Joana has over 15 years of experience in events management, human resources, and multidisciplinary team management. During her career, Joana founded a music event production company. She moved on to work in the fashion industry where she was the managing director of Gardénia Fashion Stores, and after that, she was Skunk Funk’s country manager for Portugal.

Mário Silva

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Co-owner

Mário has an MBA and worked as a consultant for the European Commission in Brussels. He has more than 20 years of experience in multinational companies, such as Sonae, Optimus, and McCann Erickson. Mario has founded several companies and is a man of many skills, including solid marketing management experience, business development, and financial management.

Business Model

The company’s business strategy is based on innovation and the team will continue working to diversify the services provided in the upcoming years, under the trilogy of Agroecology, Tourism, and Regeneration.

Permaculture is the baseline for the promotor's personal and business culture, and the knowledge base that drives the laboratorial agroecological practices. Teaching Permaculture is a strategic part of the company’s service portfolio.

Operationally, Quinta Alma is totally off-grid, with low operational costs for water and electricity. It will remain like this, independent from the utility companies. A strategic positioning and self-sustainability customer reason-to-believe.

Human Resources are of paramount importance for Quinta Alma, they will implement an HR strategy that attracts people that are capable, available, and have diversified skills. The promotor considers that this is crucial to driving the company forward. Quinta Alma will reinforce and balance its present model based on a mix of professional managers, internships, and volunteers.

In the past five years:

  • Over 4000 people have been hosted as guests in Quinta Alma’s shelters.
  • More than 700 volunteers and interns have participated in Quinta Alma’s projects.
  • On a trial basis, three certified courses on Permaculture Design have been taught to over 50 participants. There have also been three group retreats focused on personal development, yoga, and meditation.
  • More than 80% of the eucalyptus trees (along about 10 hectares of the property) have been removed and replaced with native species. More than 60% of the total 45 hectares were cleared from invasive busses to allow soil regeneration and ensure improved fire safety.
  • The existing 25 hectares of medronho trees (arbutus berry) are being densified for commercial purposes, and the promoter planted oaks, cork oaks, and aromatic trees to increase forest yields.
  • A large lake was built to retain and infiltrate the scarce water that comes from the rains into the soil. This lake had visible impacts on the increase and fixation of biodiversity. 

Active since

2017

Fiscal country

PT

Operating In

Aljezur

Industry

Tourism

Number of Goparity Loans

2

Women Shareholders

Yes

Updates

2022-01-15

First payment

First instalment was paid to all the investors

2021-12-11

100% funded

441 investors successfully raised 45.000€

2021-12-07

Open for investment

This campaign is open for investment

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