Co-operative Bonds
Co-operative Bonds is a cooperative development consultancy structured as a cooperative itself. Founded by Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain, and Paul Saeki, it provides education and development services to help purpose-driven member-based organisations build financially viable and sustainable models.
McMullen presented the economic democracy case at a 2020 Designing Open Democracy podcast on moving beyond Corporate Social Responsibility toward structurally democratic economic institutions.
What they do
- Governance consulting and framework design
- Business model development and economic modelling
- Adult learning and cooperative education
- Corporate strategy for member-driven enterprises
Co-operative Bonds notably co-drafted the Co-operative and Mutual Enterprise (CME) governance framework for the Australian Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) in 2018 — a best-practice governance standard for the sector.
Cooperatives they have supported
The consultancy has supported the development of several cooperative ventures, including:
- bHive (Bendigo) — Australia's first platform cooperative for neighbourhood resource and skill sharing
- Cooperative Power Australia — renewable energy cooperative
- Earthworker Co-operative — worker cooperative ecosystem including Redgum Cleaners Cooperative
- ORICoop — Organic and Regenerative Investment Cooperative
About the founder
Antony McMullen is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia (FGIA) and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). He also co-founded 888 Co-operative Causeway and the (now closed) Co-op Incubator.
Links
- Website: bonds.coop
See also
History
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2018-01-01
Founded by Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain, and Paul SaekiFounding of the organisation
Sourcing: High
Co-operative Bonds was formed in 2018 with a simple but powerful idea
The site's own About page confirms the 2018 founding and describes the founders as "a group of community enterprise developers" but doesn't name them individually — Antony McMullen, Clare Fountain and Paul Saeki per prior research.
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2026-07-30
Published a case study on the Castlemaine Hub's $2 million community debenture campaignCase study on a notable community-ownership financing model
Sourcing: High
When the ‘Hub’, a beautiful heritage building in Castlemaine, faced the risk of being sold to unsympathetic developers, the community feared it would disrupt the small enterprises and community organisations it was home to. But they needed $1.95 million to secure the building.
Educational case study (by co-founder Antony McMullen) explaining member-debenture financing via the Castlemaine Community Investment Co-operative's real 2025 campaign, which raised $2 million to buy the heritage Hub building out of the speculative property market — not a claim that Co-operative Bonds ran the campaign itself.
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