The member serves as the foundational source of capital by contributing funds to their cooperative through the platform’s secure system. The member’s primary role is exercised through their cooperative’s democratic governance: participating in meetings, electing leadership, and approving the broad investment strategy that guides how their pooled capital is deployed. The member’s success is intrinsically tied to the cooperative’s prudent investment decisions, as the returns generated from SME investments flow back to benefit the collective membership, thereby fulfilling the core cooperative principle of shared ownership and shared reward.