ECCO NOVA
ECCO NOVA is a crowdlending platform that finances ecological transition and sustainable development projects. It started in 2015 as a master's project at HEC Liège and the platform has been operating since 2016. The platform is regulated by the FSMA, is B Corp certified, publishes an ethical charter and does annual carbon accounting with Tapio. The platform finances three categories of projects: renewable energy, energy-efficient real estate and sustainable SMEs. More than €128 million has been raised in total, including €16.5 million in 2025, from a community of more than 15,000 members. Across 163 campaigns, €14.8 million in gross interest has been paid and €35.8 million in capital repaid, with an incident rate of 3.6%. The average campaign raises €785k over 5 years at a 7% rate, 8% of submitted projects are selected and the average funding time is 60 minutes. Projects financed include Skysun, VDH, Watt Matters, Kameo Bikes, Aeterra, Life Tree Group and Terr.A. Partners shown include Triodos Bank, Beangels, PMV and Finance & Invest Brussels. The team includes Nicolas Delrez (Senior Fullstack Developer), Séverine Deroanne (Administrative & Financial Manager), Aurélie Vincent (Investor Relations Manager), Raphaël Roubaut and Bruno Dufays (Project Analysts) and François Jacquet (Investment Manager).
Stated facts & numbers
- Founded: 2015 (platform live since 2016)
- Headquarters: Liège (second office in Ghent)
- Founders: Quentin Sizaire, Pierre-Yves Pirlot (Managing Partners)
- Employees: 2-10
- Total financed via platform: €128M+ across 163 campaigns
- Members: 15,000+
- Markets: Belgium, France, Luxembourg
- Regulation: FSMA-regulated, B Corp certified
Key People
Pierre-Yves Pirlot - Co-founder
Quentin Sizaire - Co-founder and Managing Partner
In the media3
Pierre-Yves Pirlot describes his background as a civil engineer working in renewable energy, and explains how he and his co-founders created Ecco Nova, a crowdfunding platform where citizens can lend money to sustainable and profitable projects while maintaining independence in project analysis.
Pierre-Yves Pirlot discusses his background as a civil engineer who worked in renewable energy projects and became interested in project financing. He explains that Ecco Nova is a crowdfunding platform where citizens can lend money to sustainable and profitable projects, with the platform serving to connect citizens with entrepreneurs rather than developing projects itself. He also shares his vision for bringing citizens closer to decision-makers and reducing bureaucratic confusion by decentralizing certain governmental functions.
Pierre-Yves Pirlot discusses ECCO NOVA, a crowdfunding platform for citizen lending that he co-founded with Quentin, which has collected over 100 million euros for 120 sustainable initiatives in Belgium and the Netherlands since 2016.