Tulipshare, the new activist investment platform, has reached the threshold needed to submit a shareholder proposal at Apple, after trading on the platform began just two months ago.
This milestone moment means that for the very first time, retail investors have secured the opportunity to hack capitalism and have the opportunity to change the way Apple operates through Tulipshare’s dedicated campaign.
As of August 30th, $32,000 (£23,000) has been invested on Tulipshare’s platform in support of its campaign to allow independent and third party technicians to repair Apple products. This means that Tulipshare and its community of investors now own enough shares to have a seat at the table and submit a shareholder proposal.
As shareholder activists, Tulipshare will now be able to engage with Apple’s Investor Relations team and once shares have been held for a year, Tulipshare will be eligible to submit its shareholder proposal to be voted on by all shareholders at Apple’s next available annual meeting.
Right to repair
With this campaign, Tulipshare will work to push Apple forward in adopting a fairer right to repair policy which includes:
- Making the repair information for all of its devices publicly available allowing both individuals and other businesses to fix Apple products
- Make ‘genuine’ Apple parts widely available and not limit access to the Independent Repair Provider program
- Ensure the software continues to work regardless of whether a device has been fixed with ‘genuine’ Apple parts
On reaching the threshold for this Apple campaign, Founder and CEO Antoine Argouges said: “We’re incredibly excited and thankful to all our users who have allowed us to reach this milestone with the Apple campaign. It is clear from the speed at which our users have supported this campaign, that there is a significant desire to make this change happen. It means we will now be able to bring Apple’s right to repair issues to light at a shareholder meeting – your investment and trust in Tulipshare can help make change happen.
“Our goal is to give a voice to the everyday individual, to encourage retail investors to rethink their investment strategies. We want to shine a spotlight on the global issues no other investment platform has done to date, and, in turn, truly make progress in fighting the injustices committed by major corporations where, traditionally, major decisions are kept to a handful of individuals.”
On investing in Tulipshare, Tom Blomfield, founder and previous CEO of Monzo, said: “I’m proud to support Tulipshare because it emphasises social purpose alongside profit when making investment decisions. I don’t believe “maximizing shareholder value” should be the sole purpose of a corporation – impact on society and the environment are just as important. Tulipshare empowers investors to vote with their cash and change public companies for the better.”
Empowering Change
Tulipshare aims to empower individuals to make a positive change within some of the biggest household-name companies in the world. The platform enables people to rethink the way they invest in businesses and essentially allows people to vote with their money. Through Tulipshare, investors can have their voices heard in the corporations they are investing in and use their shareholder rights to promote meaningful change that is long overdue.
Tulipshare went live on July 6th with three campaigns that users could invest as little as £1 in. The platform’s first causes include warehouse workers’ rights at Amazon, a focus on Coca-Cola’s contribution to climate change in the company’s plastic consumption, and right to repair issues at Apple. Since its July launch, 22,000 people have visited the Tulipshare platform.
To date, Tulipshare has raised $1M in pre-seed funding from Speedinvest and high profile business angels including Monzo’s Tom Blomfield. The platform has been regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority since April 2021 and has plans to expand to the US market.
