Equity strategy and financial leadership built for cooperatives
Your cooperative deserves more than a generalist CFO. RBI brings 30+ years of specialist expertise to equity management, capitalization, and financial leadership for the organizations built on shared ownership.
Financial services designed for the cooperative model
Every service RBI provides is calibrated to the specific financial mechanics of cooperatives — patronage dividends, membership equity, cap table management, and the fiduciary obligations of cooperative governance.
Equity Strategy & Management
Cooperatives are founded on the promise of creating wealth for membership. We build and execute the equity strategy that fulfills that promise — from initial capitalization through membership revolving, patronage distribution, and long-term equity growth.
Senior financial leadership at a cost your organization can actually sustain. Strategic planning, cash flow management, lender relationships, and board-level financial reporting — all through a specialist who understands cooperative finance, not just corporate finance.
GAAP-compliant bookkeeping built for cooperative accounting mechanics — patronage records, member equity accounts, and the reporting your board and auditors actually need. Reliable, accurate, and done by people who know what a patronage dividend is.
Securing investment in a cooperative requires a fundamentally different approach than conventional capital-raising. We design and execute capitalization strategies built around member equity, community investment, and the cooperative capital stack.
Strong cooperative governance requires boards that understand their fiduciary obligations. We provide financial training, board reporting frameworks, and governance documentation that builds organizational accountability from the ground up.
A Reg CF investment platform designed for cooperative projects — where investors are members, not just funders. Coming online shortly. Join the waitlist to be among the first to invest in cooperative development through the only platform built around cooperative ownership principles.
The cooperative financial specialist you've been looking for
Most financial advisors treat cooperatives like small corporations with unusual bylaws. That's not just wrong — it leads to equity strategies that dilute membership, capital structures that undermine democratic governance, and patronage calculations that expose your organization to liability.
RBI was built around cooperative finance from the beginning. Not a generalist who added cooperatives to their service list — a firm whose entire practice exists to serve the distinct financial needs of the cooperative model.
Full-time CFO cost
$250K+
Annual salary + benefits, for a generalist who'll learn cooperatives on your dime
RBI fractional CFO
$3K–$8K
/month retainer — senior cooperative finance expertise, available when you need it
Patronage dividend expertise
Calculating, allocating, and distributing patronage dividends correctly is a specialized skill most CPAs have never performed. We do it routinely.
Cooperative cap table management
Member equity accounts, revolving fund schedules, and equity redemption planning — the specific instruments of cooperative ownership that generalists overlook.
FASB ASC cooperative accounting
Financial reporting that meets the specific GAAP requirements for cooperative organizations, including member-based equity disclosures.
Succession without selling out
Retiring founders and retiring owners increasingly choose employee ownership. We structure transitions that work — financially and cooperatively.
Global Reach
All cooperative sectors. Seven countries. Growing.
RBI has worked on cooperative development projects across the globe. We serve all cooperative sectors — worker, housing, consumer, producer, investment, and beyond.
🇺🇸 United States🇬🇧 United Kingdom🇯🇵 Japan🇦🇺 Australia🇳🇿 New Zealand🇫🇯 Fiji🇻🇺 Vanuatu
RBI is actively expanding globally.
We are passionate about cooperative development wherever it takes root. If your country isn't on this map yet, we'd love to change that — be the first cooperative from your country to work with RBI.
Five courses. Everything your board needs to lead with financial confidence.
Cooperative boards carry a significant fiduciary responsibility, and most receive very little training to carry it well. Our five-course Coop Education Series was built to change that — covering accounting fundamentals through equity management, governance, and membership participation.
Free to access. Designed to serve the cooperative movement — and to connect you with the expertise your organization needs as it grows.
A Regulation CF cooperative investment platform — where investors aren't just funders, they're members. Built around the same cooperative ownership principles as the projects it finances.
Regulation CF crowdfunding opened investment to everyday people. RBIFunder takes that further for cooperative development — with one critical difference. On RBIFunder, every investor is a member. Members share in the platform's success alongside the projects they fund.
Projects go through RBI's full feasibility and due diligence process before reaching the platform. Members vote on which projects to advance. This isn't passive investment — it's participatory cooperative development.
Currently in regulatory approval process with FINRA and the SEC. Beta projects are open for expressions of interest now.
Leadership
Kevin J. Fort, Founder & CFO
Kevin J. Fort is an MBA with more than three decades of experience in cooperative and enterprise finance. He has built and advised cooperative enterprises across worker, housing, consumer, producer, and investment cooperative models, and has managed budgets at the scale of federal programs — including projects for the U.S. Department of Defense and NASA.
RBI was founded on the conviction that cooperatives deserve the same quality of financial leadership that capitalized corporations take for granted — built around the distinct mechanics of cooperative ownership rather than retrofitted from corporate practice.
MBA30+ Years FinanceCooperative SpecialistDoD / NASA Scale
