Activist investment platform gives a voice to push for positive changes

The Tulipshare platform demands that Coca Cola, Apple and Amazon address environmental and social issues

Spotted: The Tulipshare platform is designed with the purpose of empowering consumers to demand positive environmental and social changes from major companies. When a share is bought, the company “leverages your shareholder rights to make the world a better place”. This can be as little as investing €1. 

At the moment, Tulipshare allows shares to be bought in Coca Cola, Apple and Amazon. The concept is based on the fact that all company shareholders have voting rights. However, in the US and UK, this needs to be a significant proportion of the company’s shares. To suggest a voting resolution, a shareholder must own 4 per cent of the company in the UK and the equivalent to around €21,000 of equity in the US. 

Tulipshare essentially joins up all of its shareholders’ investments. Then, when the shares in one of the three companies reach €21,000 collectively, they will have the right to vote on behalf of their customers. This will be carried out through a table and a voting resolution.  

Antoine Argouges, CEO of Tulipshare, said that “If you ask most boards and exec teams today why they’re not changing something for ESG purposes, they will tell you ‘because shareholders don’t want it”. “So the first time we’re going to have a group of shareholders that are going to actually push it”, he added. 

The campaign is different for each of the three companies. For Apple, it asks that Apple products are repaired by independent and third-party technicians without penalising customer guarantees. For Amazon, the investments demand fair and safe working environments for Amazon warehouse workers. And for Coca-Cola, it’s that they make all plastic bottles from 100 per cent recycled material by 2030. In the future, Tulipshare aims for investors to be able to suggest new campaigns based on what works and not. 

The platform launched last week, after around €800,000 was raised in pre-seed funding.

Explore more: Financial Services Innovations | Sustainability Innovations