Bienvenue à Montréal!
Montréal, nous t’aimons! We landed bright and early, and set off for a whirlwind 24 hours in this cultural capital. Check out some of our favourite discoveries on the streets of Montréal, plus stories of campaigners With This Ring (Film), Skateboards for Hope (Community), Alter Ego: The Water Filtration Bottle with a Mission (Design) and Hexoskin: The first wearable movement, respiration, and heart activity tracker (Technology), and highlights from our meetup at the Indiegogo-powered Notman House!
WITH THIS RING
We started the day with an art-filled walk across Rue Sherbrooke to Concordia, where we met up with Ameesha Joshi. Ameesha is one of the filmmakers behind With This Ring, an independent feature length documentary film that takes you into the ring with the Indian women’s boxing team. Thanks to the $19,172 raised, With This Ring is in the final editing room now- almost ready for the festival circuit!
Why is this important for your community?
I think it’s important to give a voice to these women boxers and share their inspirational stories with my community but also communities far and wide, because it brings awareness to their lives that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Most popular perk?
My mom’s Indian recipes.
What do you love about Montréal?
The lifestyle in Montréal is great, it’s full of cultural activity, great food, and the cost of living is fairly low, so it’s perfect for artists.
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
SKATEBOARDS FOR HOPE
After meeting Ameesha, we headed to Place du Canada for our first Skateboarding lesson! We met with Betty Esperenza, the Godmother of Skate, who just launched her Indiegogo campaign for Skateboards for Hope. The community project that recycles, reuses and revolutionizes skateboards and longboards to youth in communities all over the world by fostering leadership, collaboration and trust. Inspired by their mission to “shred taboos,” Pomp Le Moose did a bit of shredding himself (watch him in action here)
Where were you at before your campaign?
I was using my savings for the last 15 years to pay for the cost of transportation and services. The demands are bigger now and I need more support to get skateboards and programs to more kids. It’s getting too big for me alone. That’s a good thing.
What do you want to share with the world?
Skateboards For Hope is a metaphor for life. It’s hard at times but when we succeed to shred, grind, ollie or flip…it’s exciting and hopeful. Keep moving and trying to live the best way you can. If you fall down, get back up. Never give up on yourself. Reuse, recycle and revolutionize!
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
ALTER EGO
After a quick lunch in Westmount and a maze of driving through Montréal traffic and construction, we made it to Mile End to check out the beautiful AquaOvo boutique. AquaOvo power couple Vincent Purino and Noemi Desrochers launched their campaign for Alter Ego, a beautifully designed water filtration bottle with a mission. After raising nearly $100,000 through two Indiegogo campaign, Alter Ego has a home in their boutique, as well as online.
What’s your campaign / project about?
We designed a portable filtration device that would allow urbanites to filter water on the go: their tap water, water from any fresh water source, and any questionable water source where bacterial or viral contamination may exist. In doing so, we wanted to create a revenue stream from this brand to our chosen water charities. Our end goal is to give access to clean water to as many people as possible.
Most surprising campaign moment?
Waking up on the Saturday before our campaign ended with our email boxes full of Paypal money transfer confirmations…we had hit our goal!
Why did you choose to crowdfund with Indiegogo?
Indiegogo is the perfect platform for an international business to launch a product with a cause. The business model and Indiegogo team support allowed us to successfully launch 2 back-to-back campaigns. No red tape, just lots of support with a platform that would reach out to people around the world.
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
HEXOSKIN
Our last campaigner of the day was Pierre-Alexandre Fournier, CEO and Co-Founder of Hexoskin. Hexoskin a smart shirt that allows you to track your health with a host of: ECG, heart rate, breathing rate and volume, activity level, steps, cadence, and more! If you’re a fitness buff, the Hexoskin. Check out their LIVE campaign here to join the future of fitness tracking!
Why is Hexoskin important for your community?
Hexoskin measures your body metrics and gives you insights about your training, your health, and your life on many levels. Hexoskin was designed in Canada, and is being manufactured in Canada and the US.
Where were you at before your campaign?
Hexoskin was incubated and refined for years, before finally reaching out to the world with an Indiegogo campaign.
Best thing your Indiegogo campaign made happen?
Wrap-up
We closed the day at the Indiegogo-powered Notman House. The Help Build Notman House campaign was launched to help purchase a historic Montréal property, and renovate it into a home for startups. With the support of the community and a big team effort, they blew past their goal, raising over $120,000 to make Notman House la maison du web.
A big thanks to Notman House and The Seeding Factory for hosting us, and snapping the great pics.. check them all out here.
Get involved and follow the journey @IndiegogoCA and #gogoCA
