CFS Guest Speaker: Neo ruralism: How Valleponci Funds a Regenerative Farm Through Community Ownership

​Valleponci is a young, community-owned agritourism and vineyard set in a quiet Ligurian valley just above Finale Ligure. Our mission is to renew socio-ecological relationships through farming, food, hospitality, and landscape stewardship—using the farm itself as a learning and meeting place. 

​In this 60-minute talk we’ll share how we moved from vision to operation: discovering the site in 2021, incorporating Valleponci AG (Switzerland) and Valleponci Società Agricola S.r.l. (Italy), completing the purchase in early 2024, and opening our first season that May—now with ~70 shareholders supporting the project. We’ll unpack our financing model and “partner shares” including two participation options that combine user vouchers and modest fixed dividends, plus group participation and donation pathways. We’ll close with lessons learned on governance, place-based revenue (wine, rooms, kitchen), and what we’d copy—or change—if you want to replicate the model. Last we will showcase some of our future projects in the pipeline.