A new crowdfunding platform is prepping to launch in Australia. OzCrowd, founded by Nick Karolidis, has targeted an official launch date of this coming July 1, 2014. The new site is dedicated to raising the profile of Australian individual projects rather than international offers. The site indicates they intend to directly support some projects by contributing up to 5% of total funds raised (capped at $5000).
Founder Nick Karolidis, a lawyer and entrepreneur, states that
“up until now, whilst CrowdFunding platforms allow individuals to fundraise their personal campaigns across the world, most either only allow or primarily feature individuals from the US or the UK. As such, Australians with worthy personal fundraising campaigns do not get the opportunity to stand out or get the attention they deserve.”
Melbourne born and raised Karolidis describes the industry as an “enormous opportunity for Aussies with great ideas or earnest personal causes to raise funds from the generous Australian community in a non- confronting way”. The new platform operates similar to other crowdfunding sites: users simply provide a short description of their campaign, post a photo or video and hopefully gather plenty of momentum through social media.