Online crowd-sourcing site offers new funding model for green start-ups
Green funding news - by Beth Glanvill
1st November 2011
Green and social entrepreneurs have a new source of funding – a newly launched crowd-sourcing online community backed by celebrity chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Peoplefund.it is a new
social enterprise platform that enables people to support
small businesses and entrepreneurs that are trying to solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. It has been developed by
KEO digital, the digital arm of KEO films, which produces
Fearnley-Whittingstall's
River Cottage TV series.
The crowd-sourcing community provides direct funding to projects and businesses and offers other benefits and discounted services to socially motivated and eco-friendly projects. It carries the additional bonus of exposing projects and businesses to 1.2 million contacts through affiliate campaigning sites including Fish Fight, energyshare and Landshare.
"The success of our Fish Fight, Landshare, and energyshare campaigns have shown that solutions often come from grass roots collective action, and have the power to affect more remarkable change than we really ever imagined. Peoplefund.it builds on that momentum, and gives people the means to take their ideas forward," Fearnley-Whittingstall, said.
Peoplefund.it projectsProjects that have already launched on Peoplefund.it include Foodcycle, a community café that closes the loop on
waste by cooking up surplus
food and turning it into healthy meals for those in need; Industrius, a new make do and mend learning space opening in the London borough of Newham; and Bicycle Academy, which offers people the skills to build a bike that is then given to an individual in Africa. Bicycle Academy has already raised £19,040 through crowd-sourcing.
"Peoplefund.it is a unique and innovative solution that taps into the philanthropic potential offered by the digital world," Nick Underhill, managing director of KEO digital, said. "Community is no longer defined by location or limited to industry sectors; the open platform offered by the site’s crowd-sourcing model means that anyone can support a scheme or project."
Keo Digital has developed Peoplefund.it in partnership with Forum for the Future, the not-for-profit organisation helping businesses and government create a sustainable future, and UK innovation body NESTA.
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