Free Bread Inc. gluten-free bread for everyone

We paid an interesting visit to Free Bread Inc. this morning. The company, which bakes and sells gluten-free bread, is run by Karen Freer. In 2008 Karen was diagnosed with celiac disease, meaning she could no longer eat anything containing gluten. During her new diet, she realized that New York missed good, crusty gluten-free bread. At home, she started baking her own. A friend told her to start selling it and gave Karen the first fifty dollars to set up her new business.  Karen was driven to realize her company and heard about the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Within three days, she launched her campaign without any preparation to raise $10,500.

The campaign started in 2011 and lasted 100 days. Karen posted a video almost everyday promoting Free Bread Inc. and provided regular updates on Facebook. During the campaign, she developed a business plan and worked on recipes. In Karen’s case, most of the donations she received came from friends and family. She told us that all of the 95 funders received a handwritten thank-you-letter. So next to baking, Karen spent a significant amount of time writing. Other rewards included free hugs (apparently the biggest, goofiest and most ridiculous hug possible), babysit service and a garage clean. The latter was never performed, because who in New York owns a garage? She managed to reach her goal with a final amount of $10,771.

The money raised was sufficient to acquire all the necessary equipment, ingredients, and the rent for a workplace. Free Bread Inc. is now located in the Organic Food Incubator. This facility rents out spaces for startups that aim to sell organic food and drinks. Karen’s gluten-free bread is produced here, together with other products such as organic juices and ice-cream. These different entrepreneurs often work together by providing each other with (parts of) their products.

The atmosphere was great. After a tour of the Organic Food Incubator, we had the chance to try Karen’s amazing Moxy rolls and she was so kind to send us home with an entire loaf of bread! Three years after the campaign, Free Bread Inc. is still up and running and even growing. To see the delicious breads they sell, visit www.freebreadinc.com! 

New Work City, a community coworking center

This morning we visited New Work City, which is a community coworking center on Broadway 412. Tony Bacigalupo decided to professionalise a "jelly group" of entrepreneurs in 2010. When the popularity of his jelly group expanded and outgrew cafés and his living room, a crowdfunding campaign was organised to set up New Work City. By raising $17,911, the group managed to rent a large space that gives access to independents to run their business in an inspiring and friendly work environment.

The perks which were rewarded to donators were of particular interest. Ten dollar awarded a simple name reference on their Thank You page, but $100 made you "Mayor" for a day. An entire day you would be in charge of the work place. The largest donation amount was especially noteworthy. One thousand dollars gave the donator a "personalized karaoke party" by founder Tony. As a result, a total of four people backed the project with a $1000 contribution.

The amount that their Kickstarter campaign raised was sufficient to decorate the space, build a kitchen and provide tables and chairs. Nowadays, a sustainable business model allows them to be independent of further donations. A paid membership is required to profit from the offered services, but in return for volunteering a reduction in this fee can be earned. Around 150 persons are currently member and more than 25 individuals are daily visitors of New Work City. Most people come from the direct neighbourhood, but the place is popular for independents from all around New York.

New Work City is an excellent example how a crowdfunding campaign can kickstart a sustainable business model. Their dynamic work space allows entrepreneurs to network and share ideas, which helps people to kickstart their own ideas too. Visit their website for more information here.

+Pool, a floating filtering pool in the East River

We just returned from our interview with visionary Archie Lee Coates, co-founder of +Pool. The idea is to construct a floating pool in the East River which both serves as a water filter and recreational swimming pool. Highly advanced technology will filter the polluted river's water, and at the same time the citizens of New York can enjoy a swim in the river. 

Archie works for a design company Playlab situated in Brooklyn. In 2010 the idea of the +Pool came to mind. At first the concept was intended as an exercise, but when the idea caught attention of the engineering company Arup and a larger crowd, they took the project more serious. A total of 15 million dollar is needed to execute the different phases of the +Pool. Numerous prototypes have to be build to test the complex filtering systems. At first this amount seemed highly unrealistic. Nevertheless, in 2011 a Kickstarter project with a goal of 25,000 dollar was enacted. Within a mere six days the target was reached. At the end an impressive $46,000 was collected. At this moment they realised their project was popular among a large audience.

Playlab decided to spread the word in the city of New York. A large number of organisations were contacted to ask for support. The idea caught on. Instead of $25,000, they decided to launch a crowdfunding project targeting for 250 thousand dollar. People who donated could write a message on one of the tiles used in the construction of the pool, a concept similar to that of the luchtsingel in Rotterdam. After an intensive campaign they managed to raise an impressive $273,000. 

Although a large amount has been collected, a lot more is necessary to progress in the development. Playlab hopes that companies or the municipality of New York could financially support their project. They have composed a board with professionals to help plan and manage the future of +Pool. Archie aims to have their grand opening in 2016. The idea of a +Pool has already travelled across the world. Playlab has been asked to advise people from around the world with regard to their advanced water filtering methods. 

Archie is convinced many good ideas to improve New York City come from its inhabitants. Crowdfunding is a good method of filtering great ideas from lesser ones. The municipality should especially be aware of projects that managed to successfully complete their crowdfunding targets since this affirms their popularity among a large population. 

In our opinion this is a unique project that is highly relevant in a world where environmental issues increase in importance. We have already purchased a tile to support +Pool's future! For more information, or if you would also like to contribute a tile please visit their website: www.pluspool.org!

Word Up Bookshop

Today we completed our first interview with a crowdfunding project in New York. We had the pleasure to interview the inspiring founder of the Word Up Bookshop in Washington Heights, Veronica Liu. 

In June 2011, Veronica commenced with a one-month program which had the goal to give access to affordable books in the neighbourhood. When it turned out to be a major success she decided to continue the project on the crossing between the Amsterdam Avenue and 165th Street. In order to finance the new location an intensive crowdfunding on Indiegogo was launched. With the help from the neighbourhood, friends, family and many more, an impressive 60,000 dollar was collected.

Veronica's large network and persistent dedication were key factors to Word Up's success story. The volunteers who were active in the initial one-month program played an important role. They all consulted friends and family to donate some of their time or money. Within no-time a large network supported the project. However, after the first few weeks the anticipated "dead period" was experienced. During this time little to no donations were made. But because Veronica had already learnt this in her prior study to crowdfunding, she was prepared. During this dead period extra promotional events and resources were set into action. Status updates of the fundraising were constantly communicated within her network. According to her these reminders are vital to achieve your funding target. A last important factor was the access of people to different methods of donating. A large number of supporters did not donate electronically through Indiegogo, but rather through mail, checks and by phone. 

Currently the bookshop is a thriving and important part of the neighbourhood. Many volunteers cooperate to keep the shop running, and even plans for expansions are suggested. Also we could not resist buying a couple of books from this amazing place!

If you are interested in this project, we highly recommend you to visit their website here.

Arrival in Manhattan

Hello Everyone!

We have arrived in Manhattan in New York City. For those who did not know, we are in New York to investigate civic crowdfunding. We will investigate the factors that lead to success, the sustainability of crowdfunded projects and lastly the trends in crowdfunding. These three pillars will be studied in perspective of the municipality of Rotterdam. Since crowdfunding has already realised great initiatives, we wish to learn how this upcoming fundraising method can be further stimulated in Rotterdam.

With numerous in-depth case studies, mainly through interviews, we wish to gain insight in the relatively unexplored world of civic crowdfunding. We are looking forward to learn from the wide range of interesting crowdfunding projects set up here in New York!

Many thanks to the A.A. van Beek fund to financially support us for this great research opportunity!