AlumniFunder has launched a crowdfunding platform for the university community. Alumni, and other interested parties, may fund projects initiated by students on a university campus. As described on their site;
AlumniFunder exists to bolster a deeper relationship between students, alumni, and other alumni, by providing a platform to fund creative, innovative, and idealistically disruptive projects within the established university community. Whether it be a project to enhance the student experience on campus, raising capital to build a new science lab, or funding consumer development of a bleeding-edge robotics product, AlumniFunder seeks to facilitate access to crowdfunded capital for worthy endeavors.
AlumniFunder was founded by S. Ryan Meyer and Charlotte Crivelli. Meyer, Georgetown University Alumni, spent nearly a decade working for Dai Nippon Printing and Crivelli has worked in PR / Marketing for more than 11 years partnering with some of the worlds largest brands such as Bloomberg, Intel and Adobe. The two have created a “manifesto” for their site,
AlumniFunder exists to build a marketplace for disruptive initiatives, where youthfully minded doers can seek biased capital and advice from a “crowd” with shared intellectual and collegiate experiences.
Crowdfunding, however, is not a panacea. It is simply a technological tool for pooling resources.
AlumniFunder aims to use this technology to facilitate access to capital for smart, hungry, foolish yet capable dreamers. People who are willing to put their ideas and ultimately themselves in front of their alumni community in the hope of executing on their projects and ultimately, their companies.
AlumniFunder strives to create an alternative path to creative, social, charitable, and business success, one that fosters a diverse ecosystem of entrepreneurship in all its myriad forms within established alumni networks, extending the mission of the university beyond its physical walls.
Currently there are 23 listed projects on their site from two universities, Georgetown and Princetown. AlumniFunder presently has no formal affiliation with these universities.