Acorn Collective has launched an Initial Coin Offering ‘pre-sale’ to develop its global ‘free’ crowdfunding platform.
The Bristol-based founders, of what they says is first global blockchain based crowdfunding platform, the Acorn Collective - hitting many fintech keywords - have launched an Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
The Acorn Collective is seeking to raise “up to $50m” to develop a new platform that “will make crowdfunding globally accessible and free to all start-up projects around the world.”
The new crowdfunding platform, the Acorn Hub, will also support social enterprises by enabling campaign founders to list their projects on the platform, without being subjected to fees.
By funding through an ICO, and utilising the Ethereum Blockchain, the Acorn Collective says it will eradicate the “traditional” 3-5 per cent transaction fees and 5 per cent platforms fees “normally associated” with other crowdfunding platforms.
“As a result of this business model, there will be no shareholders seeking a return from successful projects and token holders are rewarded by the growth of the ACO ecosystem,” it said in a press release.
It says it has already received requests for projects to be listed on the new platform including farmers wanting to expand stock, research into the future of ‘meal worm protein’ through to a single mother that wants to launch a home cooked meals business.
Moritz Kurtz, Co-Founder and CEO at The Acorn Collective, said: “We are seeking to crowdfund crowdfunding with the ICO and launch of the Acorn Hub. For too long projects in developing countries and social enterprises have been subject to high transaction and platform fees on other crowdfunding platforms, and that is dependent on whether their project has been deemed worthwhile enough to be listed in the first place by the shareholders that also want their slice of the funds.
“We want to remove these barriers to entry and democratise crowdfunding. Everyone, anywhere in the world or whatever their project, should have the same opportunities to crowdfund and develop their business. In today’s society, there are many social enterprises and entrepreneurs that have great ideas and just need the right platform to gain the investment they are seeking to make their idea a reality. We want to support these individuals and develop a community that enables innovative projects to flourish.”
The pre-sale will run from the 29th January to 19th February 2018. The main ICO is scheduled for the end of February.
