In a sea of dismal news, it’s always nice when something good happens. This is one good thing, and so is our amazing campaign for the IRC. Newegg created a dedicated landing page for Indiegogo products to give them the attention they deserve, and Arrow decided to do $75,000 of flash funding for certified campaigners. Talk about making someone’s day.
Small Business
I mentioned this campaign last week, but it’s really inspiring and we need all of the inspiration we can get. After the Bronx’s only bookstore (Barnes and Noble) closed, Bronx native Noelle Santos decided to do something about it. Not only is she opening a bookstore, she is opening a bookstore that sells wine, because even if people don’t want books they will always want wine. Santos won some money in a competition, but she came to Indiegogo because she wanted “support from the community” instead of finding “investors… who were not in the Bronx, and give away equity,” so that “it wouldn’t be [theirs] anymore.” For her, this is bigger than just a bookstore. It’s her way of confronting gentrification, and making sure that Bronx residents get “a seat at the table” so that their neighborhoods remain theirs. The Lit.Bar is definitely going to be lit.
Where are they now?
The lack of diversity in television and movies is pretty troubling, and largely tied to biases in funding. A team including Issa Rae of HBO’s “Insecure” wanted to change that, so they created “Giants“. In their words, it “speaks on a variety of current and important topics from police brutality as it pertains to people of color in this country, to manic depression, to homophobia … All of which are topics that are often overlooked or swept under the rug … The characters you’ll meet in Giants face these issues head on. We don’t often see these type of characters or story lines in mainstream media, which is why it’s important that diverse filmmakers tell their stories.” These stories will be told through a six-episode digital series, and you can begin your binge here.
We also had two major raises for former Indiegogo campaigners, Bluesmart and Eight. You can hear more about how Eight refined their first sleep tracker (basically a wearable but for your bed)with help from their Indiegogo backers here, and their persistence has clearly paid off with $5M in Series A. For the sleepy and confused, Eight can be a real energy-saver.
Even before the $12M in Series A that Bluesmart just raised, they were opening offices around the world, partnering with Uber, and selling their products in MoMa stores. Because who likes losing their luggage or putting their suitcases on a scale whenever an article of clothing gets added?
Want to become one of our success stories? Learn how to get started here.
