CrowdfundU

What was CrowdfundU?

The mission of CrowdfundU was to help crowdfunding succeed on a university scale.

After taking an interest in crowdfunding (which was exploding in popularity at the time as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and equity crowdfunding became mainstream), I wanted to find my own niche within the space. Being in a university setting, and especially within Greek life, you are intimately aware of how much fundraising happens everywhere you look. Also, being close to the LaunchPad at the University of Miami, I was also aware of how many people wanted to kickstart their business using crowdfunding. So me and my cofounder built a website, found partners, recruited a team and got going!

How did it work?

Me and my team provided free consulting for anyone associated with the university. Each person on my team had a specialty that they brought to the table whether that be a statistics background or experience in producing professional quality videos. Using our own rigorous research, we were able to assist a variety of different clients. From people wanting to crowdfund for a charitable cause (we could recommend platforms that have close to 0% fees, thus netting them an additional 5% raise with no added effort) to those trying to launch a product or business (campaigns with a video on their crowdfunding page raise on average 80% more than those without one.)

What was really neat about this idea on a university level is that there is an incredible talent pool of eager students at your fingertips. Need someone to help with graphic design? We can put you in touch with someone wanting to build out their portfolio. Need to make a high-quality video? We have access to film majors trying to break through. Don’t know how to do social media marketing? We have experts that know how to get traction. Need models to help show off your product? You get the idea… This self-fulfilling ecosystem gave crowdfunders the assistance they required and gave students a chance to build their skillsets in a professional setting.

What did you accomplish?

Me and my team had the opportunity to consult a variety of different crowdfunding projects run by fellow students, alumni, and friends of the university. We also got an official club set up at the school, which enabled us to take advantage of additional resources. One of the cooler things we were able to accomplish was hosting a live panel on African American Entrepreneurship featuring successful entrepreneurs such as Brian Brackeen, Travis Montague, James Andrews, and others!

Did you really have a 3 letter domain name?

Yup! The online home for CrowdfundU used to be CFU.io, which is about as short of a domain as you can find!