Krakow Technology Park, Poland
“Idea Development Camp: crowdfunding edition”
A comprehensive support program to show crowdfunding as an alternative method of financing a startup. It consisted of 4 trainings followed by feedback day, 2 events, Pitching Fight Club and Failure Night, and preparation of written materials constituting a compendium of knowledge on social financing.
Purpose of the Solution
Currently, the role of the consumer is changing, who is more and more willing to participate in the creation of new products and services, many pro-social or pro-ecological solutions that are being developed are beyond the interest of investment funds, and many startups are also looking for alternative ways to finance their activities. The aim of the project was to help the founders of not only technology startups participating in training in supplementing their business competences related to the opportunities offered by crowdfunding, so that they can better design the monetization of their projects and more effectively build a community of patrons and users of their solutions. On the other hand, it was also important for us to stimulate entrepreneurship in the region, especially after the period of stagnation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the epidemic restrictions prevailing at the time, the project was carried out online. It also allowed people from smaller towns to participate in it.
Impact
This edition of Idea Development Camp focused mainly on rewards-based crowdfunding. The series of training sessions was attended by 15 innovators, each of whom individually or in a team developed their idea. It allowed to plan a crowdfunding campaign from A to Z and has been followed by Feedback Day during which each participant had 4 hours of 1:1 consultations with representatives of crowdfunding platforms, marketing agencies, lawyers and startups whose campaigns were successful.
The Pitching Fight Club during which participants have only 3 minutes to present their ideas was attended by 14 competitors. The jury consisted of representatives of the largest Polish crowdfunding platforms, who advised the participants as part of their feedback, whether their project has crowdfunding potential. On the other hand, during Failure Night, 3 startups were presented, whose campaigns did not achieve the expected results. 36 people attended this event to learn from other people mistakes. Publication “The first million from crowdfunding” was downloaded by 106 people. Due to the fact that the creation of a community centered around the project takes time, we have to wait a bit for the effects of the project. However, we do know about 2 campaigns that are in preparation.
What is innovative about it?
Poland lacks programs aimed at using crowdfunding as a business model. In 2021 only 4% of startups in Poland have used crowdfunding to finance their projects. The available knowledge is fragmentary and there is a belief that due to high commissions and the need to hire an agency that will prepare the campaign, this is a very expensive solution.
Crowdfunding is a great tool to validate market and ideas, which is just as important as financing. Thanks to a series of trainings and consultations, participants learned how to plan a crowdfunding campaign step by step, which financing model to choose and how to engage the community to support their solution.
Creating educational materials helped to reach a wider audience. Education in the field of crowdfunding contributes to increasing the use of alternative sources of financing innovative projects. Additionally, the ability to plan campaigns well and fulfill one's obligations increases public trust, which is necessary to boost popularity of social financing. What's more, in a world focused on success, we decided to organize a failure night event to show that one can learn from mistakes.
Who are the main users?
The project was addressed to startups working in ICT or gamedev sectors, but also people developing their innovative products such as furniture or board games. However, the creation of educational materials in the project allowed anyone interested to familiarize themselves with the idea of crowdfunding in a simple way.
Who runs it?
The project was implemented by Technology Incubator Team of Krakow Technology Park with the financial support of the Małopolskie Voivodeship. The originator was the manager of the incubator, Sonia Bazan, an enthusiast of crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, open-data and citizen science, who observed a niche on the market.