These investors bought an island to make a new country

Have you ever imagined yourself as the owner of a tropical island? Many people would scoff at the idea, but it became a reality when a group of investors bought Coffee Caye, the world’s first crowdfunded island, off the coast of Belize in the Caribbean Sea. Coral reefs surround the island, which is only a short boat ride from Belize City. It would take around 5 minutes to walk from one end of this 1.2-acre island to the other.

As many as 96 investors had subscribed to the fantasy of owning an island through the ‘Let’s Buy An Island’ crowdfunding effort at the time of writing, and 249 people considered themselves citizens. In the near future, the group hopes to reach 5,000 people.

It is the “home of the world’s first crowdfunded private island,” according to a welcome message on the portal. The first tour group arrived on Coffee Caye in February 2022. It brought together 13 tourists and business owners to publicly introduce the new micro-nation to the rest of the world.

The project began in 2018 with the purpose of raising funds to purchase an island. By 2019, the group had funded more than $250,000 to complete the purchase of Coffee Caye, a 1.2-acre island off Belize’s coast.

A person can also become an owner by spending $3,250, according to the website. Aside from that, the individual will be involved in the decision-making process as the investors turn the island into a profitable venture.

The investors weren’t just buying a piece of Belizean real estate, according to a CNN story. They were also putting money into a nation-building initiative. Coffee Caye, renamed the “Principality of Islandia,” had its own flag, anthem, and administration. It was also the world’s newest “micronation,” a self-governing state that claims independence but isn’t recognized by the international community.

Marshall Mayer, the co-founder of Let’s Buy An Island, was quoted saying, “That feeling of stepping onto an island that you’ve invested in, and own, that’s an amazing feeling.”

When Gareth Johnson, the project’s co-founder, and CEO, bought the domain name ‘letsbuyanisland.com’ after believing that buying an island and founding a micronation may be interesting, he had the concept of crowdfunding an island. Mr. Johnson’s notion of crowdfunding an island was resurrected in 2018 when an island in the Philippines became available for sale.