Crowdano - Crowdfunding Platform

I propose a crowdfunding platform based on Cardano which implements a staged-funding model to protect backer's investments.

Over 7 years experience in software development with languages including, but not limited to; Python, Solidity, Javascript, HTML, and PHP.

Overview
The platform aims to be a next-generation crowdfunding platform based on the Cardano network. By using the Cardano network the platform can enjoy low fees, fast transactions and a great community whilst increasing network usage and encouraging adoption.
Mainstream crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe have been hugely successful in recent years, however both require a huge amount of trust from investors that their money is going to be used as they expect, and that they will receive the expected reward or benefit associated with the fundraising campaign. This platform aims to reduce the level of trust required by investors through the use of smart contracts as will be explained further in the proposal.

Goals

• Investor Insurance:
  As previously mentioned, the main goal of this platform is to provide a trustworthy, secure way for backers to invest in chosen projects.
• Low fees:
  Investors need to be sure that no matter what time of day or how busy the network is, they are not paying extortionate fees when backing a project. This is why the Cardano network is the ideal solution for this platform.
• Business Launchpad:
  The platform will aim to be the ideal launchpad for businesses and ideas both big and small. Thanks to the scalability of the Cardano blockchain, the platform can enable campaigns from as little as a few hundred ADA to hundreds of thousands of ADA.

Investor Insurance
In order to prevent scams where a product is promised and never delivered, the platform will introduce a staged funding model. In this model campaigns will receive only a small percentage of the campaign funding initially in order to get the project off the ground. The staged funding model is explained in a step-by-step process below;

1. Project owner launches their campaign with a desired target amount and a specified initial payout amount.
2. Backers research the campaign and assess whether they think the project has potential and whether they would like to back the project.
3. If once the campaign deadline passes the project has been successfully funded (i.e. amount raised is greater than the goal) then the initial funding is released to the project owner. If the target amount is not reached then all backers receive a refund of their investment.
4. Once the project owner has reached a milestone in their project and would like to receive the next stage of funding, they can request an amount from the funding pool. This starts a vote in which backers vote on whether they think the milestone has been completed successfully and if the requested amount is acceptable.
5. If this vote passes, the next stage of funding is released to the project owner. If the vote does not pass then backers have the opportunity to wait for more evidence of the milestone being completed or they can start a refund vote. If the refund vote passes with a specific quorum then all backers remaining contributions are refunded.

Project Scope
This project does not aim to create the perfect crowdfunding platform from day one, it aims to use the funding from this proposal to create the first usable version of the platform before growing over time to fix any issues the community has or implement any improvements. In this section I will outline the scope of what will be completed using funds from this proposal.

• Development, testing and auditing of smart contracts required for the project.
• Design and implementation of a front-end website
• Integration of a payment protocol to allow backers to donate to campaigns. At present the project will focus on payments in ADA rather than fiat payments however this may be added in future in order to drive adoption further.
• Ensure a legal framework is in place to protect backers and fundraisers alike and ensure that the platform is operating within the law in various countries.

Future Plans and Sustainability

In the future the platform will be sustained via small fees applied to fundraising campaigns (far less than platforms such as Kickstarter which takes 5%) and will not be applied if a project fails to raise enough funds or to any investments refunded to backers. These fees will be made clear on the platform so that campaigns can accommodate for these when fundraising. These fees will help to pay for web hosting and platform management.

Future plans include the following;

• Allow payments in fiat.
• Allow payments in other cryptocurrencies.

Intellectual Property

I believe that in order to promote community involvement as well as improve security that the smart contracts needed for the project should be open source. As such I will be releasing the contracts on github for anyone to look at, contribute to, and improve upon.

Project Costs

• Smart Contract Audit - $5000
• Website Development - $1000
• Web hosting and domain - $150
• Marketing - $1000
• Wage - $20 an hour, 19 hours a week, 26 weeks (6 months) - $9,880
• Legal council - $5000
  Total - $22,030
  To allow for any delays or unforseen expenses, a safety cushion of $2000 will be added to the requested amount, bringing the total up to $24,030. Should this safety cushion be used and more funding is required, I will divert funds from my wages into the project as it is a project I believe in.

Relevant Experience
I have over 7 years of experience in software development with knowledge of various programming languages such as Python, Java, Javascript, Solidity, HTML, PHP and SQL. With these skills it is possible for me to design the website and program the smart contracts needed for this platform.

Key Performance Indicators and Roadmap
The platform is aimed to be complete in 6 months from the start of development. In the first month a prototype website will be developed while in months 2-3 the smart contracts will be developed. In month 4 the website will be enhanced and made production-ready whilst the smart contracts are audited. The remaining two months will involve rigorous testing of the platform and feedback from the community before launch.
Once deployed, the platform aims to have at least 50 campaigns active in the first 6 months with this number growing rapidly into the future.

Feedback
If you have any feedback regarding this proposal or the project in general, please do not hesitate to ask or suggest anything. I am always open to feedback!

References
[1] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/329995
[2] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2088298&http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2088298