Biased Crowd Funding: “Invest in a Younger You”

AlumniFunder is a new crowd funding startup based out of Los Angeles. They connect alumni at top universities like Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, MIT with entrepreneurs and innovators who are still in school. They are building a marketplace for disruptive initiatives, where young entrepreneurs can find capital and advice from a “crowd” of alumni. Companies like KickStarter have […]

Written by Micah Cohen

Feb 11, 2013


AlumniFunder is a new crowd funding startup based out of Los Angeles. They connect alumni at top universities like Harvard, Princeton, Georgetown, MIT with entrepreneurs and innovators who are still in school. They are building a marketplace for disruptive initiatives, where young entrepreneurs can find capital and advice from a “crowd” of alumni.

Companies like KickStarter have paved the path for crowd funding creative teams working on innovative ideas. However, there are still a large amount of people who have yet to contribute to a project. Biased crowd funding is a new term being coined by companies who understand that investing in projects requires a deeper connection to the innovators (rather than just the idea). When VCs and accelerators like Y Combinator or Launchpad evaluate new companies, they always consider both the idea and the team; why shouldn’t crowd funding be the same?

 

AlumniFunder doesn’t view crowd funding as an end; rather, it is a technological tool for pooling resources. AlumniFunder aims to use this technology to facilitate access to capital for smart, hungry, foolish yet capable dreamers. People who are willing to put their ideas and ultimately themselves in front of their alumni community in the hope of executing on their projects and ultimately, their companies.

The next generation of crowd funding tools will likely adapt a model of biased capital so that investors can feel a connection to the team (as well as the idea). What do you think the future of crowd funding is? Tweet with your thoughts.

About Author

About Author

Micah Cohen

Micah Cohen is a Tech Cocktail writer interested in startups, innovation and growth strategies. Currently, Micah is a Director at the fast-growing social dining LA startup, Grubwithus, and previously worked on user acquisition at LivingSocial.Micah is passionate about using technology to re-imagine our world across industries, social classes, and countries. He loves playing soccer, painting, and biking.

You may also like

Crowdfunding For Causes Does More Than Raise Money

Crowdfunding For Causes Does More Than Raise Money

The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe recently announced it had broken the $30 billion barrier for the total amount of money people have raised on it. We are all quite aware of the multitude of individuals who have asked for donations to help pay medical bills, education...

How To Predict Crowdfunding Success Through Data Analysis

How To Predict Crowdfunding Success Through Data Analysis

Predicting crowdfunding success is a rapidly evolving field, and analysis of big data from various sources is becoming increasingly powerful for this purpose. An academic study concluded that the success of crowdfunding projects can be predicted by measuring and...

Speak Your Mind

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.