Here are some Highlights:
- A+ advisors including Randi Zuckerberg, Ripple (XRP) Executive, more
- Strategic partnership signed with BitForex exchange
- Platform UX/UI by MetaLab, who designed Coinbase, Slack
- Launch Q4 2019: prototype available
In January 2018, we set out to restore trust to crowdfunding and permanently disrupt competitors such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Now, we‘re excited to highlight the incredible progress we’ve made.
Take a brief tour through why 2019 is our year to shake up the industry:
- Who’s behind Pledgecamp?
- Why is Pledgecamp so disruptive?
- Explaining the Token Economy
- Market Potential for 2019 and beyond
1. Who’s Behind Pledgecamp?
Pledgecamp’s advisors include some of the world’s most influential people in technology, business, and blockchain. Many need no introduction, and are clearly influential enough to be motivated by passion rather than a paycheck.
These highly selective advisors are passionate about Pledgecamp’s mission to help millions of future entrepreneurs around the world. They promote Pledgecamp despite busy schedules, such as when our advisor Randi Zuckerberg (former head of marketing at Facebook) appeared on national television with our president to explain the platform:
Further notable advisors include:
Matt Curcio — VP of Data at Ripple (XRP).
Keith Teare — Founding Shareholder of TechCrunch.
Prince Abdullah — His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is a member of the Saudi Royal Family.
Ryan Scott — Founder of ICO Impact Group.
Hwang Sung Jae , PhD — Founder of FoundationX (blockchain accelerator).
(View the full list)
Not only are Pledgecamp’s advisors world-class, the team is extremely experienced and at the top of the crowdfunding industry as well.
According to stats published at www.kickstarter.com/help/stats, the amount raised by the team in past crowdfunding campaigns (> $2.3MM after four campaigns) puts them in the top 1% most-funded among Kickstarter creators ever.
As seen above, the Pledgecamp team combines industry success with A-list advisors to bring superior product and execution to market. In addition to that, the partners we have enlisted are world-famous as well:
MetaLab (https://metalab.co) is a UX/UI design firm located in Victoria, Canada. You are familiar with their designs if you have ever used Coinbase or Slack. Their clients also include Google, AirBnb, Facebook, Expensify, Disney, CBS, and other Fortune 500 businesses.
BitForex (www.bitforex.com) is a global cryptocurrency exchange and financial services platform which has made a strategic investment into the Pledgecamp platform. Further details can be found here.
Top Investors: LD Capital, Foundation X, Du Capital, Link VC, the Saudi Royal Family (through Prince Abdullah), and more.
Laudato Si’ Challenge (https://lsc18.org/) is a startup accelerator with a partnership to launch new portfolio companies as creators on Pledgecamp. The esteemed accelerator receives the support of the Vatican in Rome, Italy to incubate for-profit companies aiming to solve humanity’s biggest challenges.
2. Why is Pledgecamp so disruptive?
Crowdfunding is a huge, multi-billion dollar market with stagnant competitors (Kickstarter, Indiegogo) that have changed little in over 10 years.
The industry is ripe for disruption due to high failure rates, misaligned incentives, a lack of accountability, and its huge size.
Pledgecamp represents the next generation of crowdfunding, restoring trust, transparency, and accountability to the model.
The Pledgecamp Ecosystem combines Crowdfunding 2.0, the Market Network, and the Knowledge Center
Backer Insurance is an escrow model whereby funds raised are held within a smart contract, to be released to creators only after promised milestones are met. The financial backers themselves are 100% in control of this escrow wallet via majority vote, giving them for the first time ever a way to verify the proper usage of their money. Smart contracts enable the formation and execution of this escrow feature for each project without involving lawyers, dispute mediators, or a centralized custodian of funds. Unless Kickstarter completely changed their business to a decentralized model, the risks and costs of being a mediator or custodian prohibits them from offering escrow services in a centralized manner.
The Smart Crowd is our term for an empowered user base that can participate in the ecosystem and earn for their participation and efforts. An economy using tokens enables the platform to be truly global and inclusive, and tokens can reward users for doing everything from sharing projects through word of mouth, to answering technical or creative questions to help entrepreneurs, or even translate or market the projects. On Kickstarter, users are expected to simply contribute money and do nothing else but wait. On Pledgecamp, the real value is in the community and crowd to help projects with more than just funds.
The Market Network and Knowledge Center are key resources for entrepreneurs that know getting help and right answers can be just as important for success as money. Smart contracts can ensure payment is taken from campaign funds, and backers will be able to easily track the flow of funds to contractors hired on the Market Network. The Knowledge Center also serves as a place for the community to consolidate their knowledge for creators, and even get rewarded with tokens by creators for doing so.
(A description of these and other exclusive features can be found in the Pledgecamp Whitepaper: https://pledgecamp.com/whitepaper)
3. Explaining the Token Economy
The Pledgecamp Token Economy is about two priorities: aligning incentives and distributing value.
In this two-token economy, Pledge Coin (PLG) are utility tokens used as a medium of exchange and reward, while Camp Share (CS) pays user governance work via platform listing fees.
As seen above, Backer Insurance is a powerful example of how tokens in a smart contract can align incentives. With Backer Insurance, creators must prioritize an on-time delivery more than focusing on just marketing campaigns. Creators are motivated to promise more realistic timelines, use funds responsibly, and deliver as promised. Backers and creators are invested together.
Pledge Coin are used to back campaigns and power the escrow wallet smart contracts. They are also used to pay platform listing fees by creators. The more creators are willing to devote to Backer Insurance, the lower the listing fee required.
Camp Shares are acquired by eligible users (after KYC) by staking PLG tokens. The user can then become a Moderator. Moderators curate the platform and remove harmful violations of the Terms of Service. For their work, A Moderator can earn a portion of the listing fees generated, in proportion to the quantity of their PLG staked.
By following the steps, a reader can see that the earning potential of a Moderator is directly linked with the growth of the platform. It is also tied to the size of a Moderator’s stake. Thus, an eligible user might take a long-term view of the platform by acquiring Camp Shares through a Pledge Coin stake.
4. Market Potential for 2019 and beyond
“We estimate crowdfunding could address a $1.2 trillion opportunity over time.” — Goldman Sachs Research; The Future of Finance (2015)
To summarize, the following are why Pledgecamp is optimally poised to disrupt the market in 2019:
- An incredible roster of advisors and experienced team
- Huge, slow-moving industry
- Benefits of blockchain to correct incentives and restore trust to crowdfunding on a global scale
- A token economy that links platform growth to token adoption
- A+ product development with MetaLab
- A current prototype and Q4 planned launch
Public interest in Pledgecamp’s mission has already reached mainstream news publications and bloggers. The following quote on the industry is from an article on Pledgecamp published by Forbes.com:
Crowdfunding is a multi-billion dollar industry that is on a collision course with the emerging technology of blockchains. -Source
Ratings sites have analyzed Pledgecamp as well. ICOBench gives Pledgecamp a 4.3, compared to their average rating of 3.5.
Pledgecamp has a bright future in 2019 and beyond, and we are beyond excited to offer our community a chance to take part in our journey. Thank you for reading this post, and we will be publishing a deeper dive into each component part in subsequent posts. Stay tuned!
Further Research
Important Information to Review:
Overview Video: “Pledgecamp Introduction Trailer”
Whitepaper v2.1: Pledgecamp: The Next Generation of Crowdfunding
One-Pager: Pledgecamp One-Pager
Updated Website: Homepage
Select Posts:
- Introduction Blog Post
- Meet the People Building Pledgecamp
- Meet the Advisors and Sponsors Supporting Pledgecamp
- Introducing the Pledgecamp Ecosystem
- A Guide to The Different Parties Involved in a Pledgecamp Crowdfunding Campaign
- Read more: Pledgecamp Blog
- Frequently Asked Questions: Pledgecamp FAQ
Community Engagement and Resources
- Pledgecamp Community Guidelines + Resources
- Pledgecamp Airdrop Community Program
- Pledgecamp Bounty Program
- Pledgecamp BitcoinTalk ANN/ Bounty Thread
Extended Interviews / Podcasts:
- YouTube: Randi Zuckerberg Introduces Pledgecamp on Live Television (Fox Business)
- Podcast: Podcast #47 — Decentralized Crowdfunding Platform (48 minutes)
- Podcast: Bad Crypto Podcast — Crypto Spotlight: Pledgecamp (51 minutes)
- Podcast: CryptoPulse — The Next Generation of Crowdfunding — An Interview with Eddie Lee from Pledgecamp (26 minutes)
- Podcast: The Zuckerberg Institute’s Bitcoin, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency 101 Podcast, sponsored by Pledgecamp (120 minutes)
- Join our channel on Telegram
- Follow us on Twitter
- Read our Whitepaper
- Find us on Facebook
- Subscribe to our subreddit
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