Scaling ArtSuite NFT4Good Platform

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Develop the already operational theartsuite.io NFT4GOOD platform to grow highly competitive and consequently scale the positive social, environmental and economic impact.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

NFT platform "The Art Suite", was created Dec 2021 and in a few months time we created a properly working product:

We are successfully onboarding artists, selling NFTs + supporting social impact projects.

Management team of Hotel Ginebra Barcelona, stakepool operator HOTEL.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Our Solution

Upgrade The Art Suite platform, and expand the team to Kickstart the growth of the platform and its users, and have a scalable impact that benefits Cardano, and the Blockchain4Good and NFT4Good ecosystem.

The Art Suite proposal connects to this challenge category on the basis that it aims to continue serving the wider community, at scale, with impact, supported by the Catalyst Cardano Community.

With the support of Catalyst funding we aim to:

1. Customize the software
2. Automate the artist onboarding process to guarantee rapid growth
3. Rebranding of the platform 
4. Market the platform
5. Create new synergies and partnerships
6. Support many new social impact projects around the world. 

We propose to continue with our education, outreach and community projects via our events in ourphysical hotel/venue space as seen below:

We will continue to provide educational resources for onboarding artists, newbies to blockchain and spreading the word of how Cardano is the Blockchain4Good, with NFTs placing Cardano arguably third in total NFT volume (https://twitter.com/jpgstoreNFT/status/1534176126188367874?s=20&t=5-WWgbS5cd0XsklukKu4cg)

Our community led initiatives as found on our social impact page, demonstrates how we have integrated into our model the facility for artists and sales of their work to connect with Cardano community initiatives and support their mission driven causes across the world.

NFT use cases are diverse and through The Art Suite we aim to continue to demonstrate how Cardano’s technology and NFT4Good has the power to change lives.

Why is it important?

NFT art on Cardano has only existed for about one year. Hence there is space and a growing need for the type of platform we wish to develop.

This problem is important because there is space in the Cardano ecosystem for a NFT and art platform that connects art to a global audience, while at the same time raising awareness, providing education and supporting social and environmental missions.

From the experience we have gathered in these first months, we have been able to conclude that we have a successfully working concept. The project has been taken from 0 to 1, now it needs to be taken from 1 to 10. To do so requires financing. It is important to take The Art Suite to the next level for a number of reasons:

1. We are providing artists worldwide with new livelihood opportunities and opening new revenue streams
2. We are introducing artists and art lovers worldwide to Cardano and blockchain in general
3. We are successfully supporting a number of social impact projects around the world with the sale of NFTs
4. Through our events, and social impact projects, we are connecting artists, change agents and stakeholders from other blockchain communities with the Cardano ecosystem, thereby creating and facilitating interoperability

How big is the potential market?

Art is everywhere, in every aspect of life. 

Up to very recently it was only possible to purchase NFTs on The Art Suite with ADA. 

But the technology has become available to make payments with Visa and Mastercard and opening up the potential of the platform to billions of people.

Billions of people need help which we can provide through sponsoring social and environmental impact projects.

Some statistics for context:

According to SKYQuest Technology: 

“The Global Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Market was valued at USD 15.70 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach USD 122.43 Billion by 2028.”

Statistics of current sales and projects can be found at https://opencnft.io/market-overview

Just recently the milestone was reached of 5 million NFTs created on Cardano. 

What the statistics do not account for is the technological advancements that are right now being made in projects built on Cardano which will enable interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems and open Cardano to the same potential that has so far been the private domain of NFT projects on Ethereum, and Ethereum based blockchains, which is a market leader in terms of market share percentage.

What we have already accomplished and how much has been spent out of pocket for example prior to the proposal?

We have accomplished the creation of an NFT portal where now close to 50 artists have signed up, and this number is growing.

We have paid out of pocket to set up the company, hosting events, and paid out of pocket for our own time. 3 people have worked on the platform for several months.

10000 EURO to software development company Crosscheck Solutions https://crosscheck.solutions/ in Bangladesh

5000 euros to NFT marketing company Blue Manakin https://thebluemanakin.com/ for benchmark study and branding and logo proposal

500 euros for educational videos about blockchain and Cardano NFTs in 4 different languages ( https://theartsuite.io/pages/get-listed )

150 euros for voice over on education videos

500 euros for 3 way contracts between NFThubs/The Art Suite, artists and artist agents.

1600 euros for lawyer and admin fees to create shareholder agreement and registration thereof.

Total = 17,750 euros

Opportunity:

Why is the problem solvable?

The problem is solvable because the concept has been proven to work. 

With close to no resources except capital that we have provided ourselves and our own blood, sweat and tears we have created a functioning NFT platform.

What would the world look like if our team solved it?

Artists all over the world will be introduced to a new type of revenue stream.

“All over the world” also means in developing countries. At the same time, with the increased revenue, many social and environmental impact projects can be supported. The emphasis will be put on projects that can scale, become self-sustainable and have a positive social and environmental impact.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

The Challenge brief states success looks like: "Novel and viable applications and products get built on top of Cardano attracting users. Integrations manage to pull in more adoption."

The Art Suite will achieve this with the support of the Catalyst community, and additional funds, to support our efforts to take The Art Suite to the next level, helping us maximize our reach and positive impact for creatives, artists, and positive social and environmental impact projects.

Our solution is addressing an important problem, namely the lack of an NFT platform on Cardano that focuses on mid to high level art, while facilitating and catalyzing a ripple effect of positive social and environmental impact via the sales of NFTs from each Artist on the platform.

Why is it important?

Cardano needs a thriving ecosystem of different Dapps, products and integrations for the community to use that increasingly stand out as better alternatives over current centralized providers.

In terms of NFTs, our platform “The Art Suite” offers a unique combination of offering new digital revenue streams for creators, combined with supporting social impact projects.

This is guaranteed to attract many creators who are now selling their work on platforms on competing blockchains and platforms that lack such an integration, whereby artists and customers can easily see how each NFT purchase contributes to positive social and environmental impact via the social impact projects listed on the website, and the percentage of each sale that goes to such projects.

The more advanced, useful and interesting features any Dapp or product on Cardano offers, the more likely that it will be adopted and integrated by other blockchain ecosystems.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

The main risk of this project is with growing our customer base sufficiently to create enough sales and to run the platform financially sustainably from sales of NFTs. 

In order to accomplish sufficient growth we will contract professional NFT marketing company Blue Manakin from Madrid (https://thebluemanakin.com ), create our own social media NFT marketing team, reach out to art collectors, art brokers and art galleries.

Also very important is that with the development of the technology (think interoperability provided by the Cardano blockchain) we should be able to open our market to other users of other blockchains, furthermore, with the acceptance of payments in Visa and Mastercard which has now been provided by our technological partner NFTMakerPro.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

The Competition

The feasibility of building a successful Cardano NFT artist launch platform does not only depend on our capability to build what we envision, but also on existing comparable platforms.

Currently, as far as we are aware of there are no platforms with a similar formula as The Art Suite. The platforms that exist are NFT market places, which focus on the buying and selling of NFTs, be it as an investment or for collectors. 

Our platform is different in that we aim to bring digital and NFT art to traditional artists all over the world, and combine this with support of positive social and environmental impact projects.

Technical requirements - 

Does the Cardano ecosystem have the right tools, libraries and SDKs for the idea to be feasible? 

The answer is yes. The minting and purchasing technology is provided by our technological partner NFT Maker PRO. This guarantees The Art Suite will always be using the most advanced technology available to any NFT platform in the Cardano ecosystem.

Other technology that is not strictly related to Cardano such as the code of the platform or web design is created in-house.

Also we are in the process of creating a partnership with Cardano-built project Nano Frames https://www.nano-frames.com/ to provide potential buyers with a way to admire their NFT art on their walls.

Roadmap, milestones and deliverables

1. Mid July 2022 . Software company Crosscheck Solutions https://crosscheck.solutions/ is delivering phase 1 of the new automated platform. The customized software which will completely replace Shopify with our own code and automate existing procedures.

2. End of July 2022: Build the new design and branding as provided by NFT marketing company Blue Manakin from Madrid https://thebluemanakin.com/en/

3. August - September 2022: Put the team together to interact with the new platform and start the following activities:

(Office space at Cardano Hotel Ginebra will serve as a provisional headquarters)

• Communicate with artists on the platform on a regular basis to keep them posted of developments and invite them grow their Art Suite portfolio

• Help existing artist agents to start their adventure with The Artist Suite by providing them with Art Suite Agent Manuals

• Find and activate artist agents in as many new destinations as possible with the purpose of onboarding as many artists as possible

• Activate our contacts with artist collectives and art brokers all over the world. Invite them to put out the word to their communities about The Art Suite

• In house marketing on social media channels such as Twitter, Telegram, Instagram, Reddit, Medium and with Google Ads. We are in touch with a Google representative.

• Start up the marketing offensive designed by NFT marketing company Blue Manakin in Madrid (https://thebluemanakin.com/en/). This campaign will mainly target influencers and paid advertisements.

4. Present The Art Suite NFT at CNFTCON on October 8-9 in Las Vegas.

5. Develop high level partnerships.

6 November 2022: Start the next phase of optimizing the platform with any features we will decide are appropriate to take the platform to the next level.

6. February 2022: Build a Dapp of The Art Suite NFT.

Long term vision:

We estimate that in July 2022, we shall automate most processes of the platform which will allow for greater numbers of artists to join our platform. 

Directly after that, the new branding of the platform will be implemented and professional marketing will start.

At the same time this growth will allow us to create many new partnerships, from both within the Cardano community and outside of it.

6 months:

• Between 500 and 5000 artists using the platform
• Between 10 and 15 social projects supported by the sales of NFTs by artists
• Between 20 and 50 agents using the The Art Suite resources to connect artists to the platform

12 months:

Between 10.000 and 50.000 artists using the platform

Between 20 and 40 social projects supported by the sales of NFTs by artists

Between 50 and 100 agents using the The Art Suite resources to connect artists to the platform

Managing workload:

This Fund 9 will be the first time for our Hotel Ginebra and The Art Suite team to propose in Catalyst. We will have multiple proposals submitted to this Fund, across categories. We are also receiving support from Sustainable ADA.

Our team are submitting five proposals, as part of a comprehensive approach of not only further developing the technical side of The Art Suite platform, but also to immediately start up and scale our social impact projects which are designed to help further grow the platform by creating interaction with other blockchain ecosystems and employment with The Art Suite in Africa and Bangladesh.

It is therefor important to realise that our five proposals are stand-alone proposals in different categories.  

We feel we can submit these 5 proposals because The Art Suite is fully operational (!). 

(*A big automation and branding update is schedule around July 15).

Each individual proposal is aimed at fortifying and scaling already existing separate initiatives and activities employed by the platform.

Here are links to the other 4 proposals.  

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417329

The ArtSuite Multi-Chain NFT Events

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417582

HIre ArtSuite Coordinator in Africa

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417628

ArtSuite Cardano Course Bangladesh

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417615

ETH NFT Artists->Cardano workshops

As we have a globally decentralised, experienced, multiskilled and diverse team, working across timezones, and connected to various networks and communities, we can tap into our multiple connections and resources, to ensure we have a sustainable approach to managing our workload if we are to receive funding from Catalyst.

Here is a link explaining how Razali and Sustainable ADA, who are actively working on previously funded proposals and supporting this proposal, shall manage their workload:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SdUYlUODbPxgipIHgZ5uQDO3MoksnIqdONU1MGm5Uvw/edit?usp=sharing

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

WHY THIS AMOUNT?

The total amount that is being requested (TOTAL ASK) is what is needed to employ all activities imaginable for one year and KICKSTART the portal to become a global player in the NFT market and potentially partner up with tens or hundreds of social impact projects around the world, in the true spirit of Cardano.

REQUESTED FUNDING TO SCALE THE ART SUITE OVER A ONE YEAR PERIOD:

1.

One-Time Further Software Development (one time expense):

Ultimation Auction section: 1000 US$

Automate contract section: 1000 US$

Create Multilanguage version: 2000 US$

Implement multi-currency: 2000 US$

TOTAL = 6000 US$ One time expense

2.

Software Continuance

Software upgrades and maintenance: 1000 US$ per month

TOTAL 1000 US$ per month x 12 = 12000 US$ for 1 year

3.

Team Salary:

artist coordinator: 1450 US$ per month

artist agent coordinator: 1450 US$ per month

graphic designer: 1450 US$ per month

sales representative: 1450 US$ per month

social media marketeer: 1450 US$ per month

web designer: 1450 US$ per month

Social projects developer: 1450 US$ per month

TOTAL 10150 per month x 6 = 60900 US$ for a 6 month period

(after 6 months the platform should generate sufficient revenue to pay team salaries)

4.

External Marketing

Blue Manaking NFT Marketing Agency Social Media campaign: 6000 US$ per month

TOTAL 6000 US$ per month x 12 = 72000 US$ for 1 year

Paid Marketing:

Google Ads Campaign: 3000 US$ per month

Blue Manaking NFT Marketing Agency Influencer campaign: 4500 US$ per month

TOTAL 7500 US$ per month x 12 = 90000 US$ for 1 year

Various:

1500 US$ per month for various costs

travel expenses: 500 US$ per month

public relations: 500 US$ per month

office and other supplies: 500 US$ per month

TOTAL 1500 US$ per month x 12 equals 18000 US$ for 1 year

TOTAL ASK = 258900 US$

Other sources of finance secured/being targeted:

Sponsorships for NFT events we are hoping to organise with one of our other Catalyst proposals and future partnerships and synergies.

AUDIT

Numbers will be provided by our accountancy firm every 3 or 6 months.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

https://theartsuite.io/pages/team

Alfred Moesker - Co-Founder & CEO

One of Cardano's renowned OGs is Alfred Moesker. In 2017 his Hotel Ginebra in Barcelona was the first business in the world to accept ADA as payment. www.hotelginebra.com.es

Stakepool operator of ‘HOTEL’, 25 years experience in the tourist business, managing and network skills. Since then he has contributed to the ecosystem with the Cardano Hotel Podcast and the Cardano Artist Corner, created the The Art Suite and recently partnered with Nazmul Biplop to set up charity food programme Thought For Food in Bangladesh. In September 2021 the "Cardano Hotel '' was sponsored by the Cardano Foundation and World Mobile as a venue for Goguen Summit.

https://twitter.com/bigezdaddy2017

https://twitter.com/thecardanohotel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfred-moesker-71159320/

Nazmul Islam Biplob - Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Graduated from Daffodil International University. Enthusiastic about history, finance, sociology & technology. Worked on various startup. In 2020 I met Alfred Moesker. I was introduced to Cardano and I was totally overwhelmed by the philosophy behind the project and the welcoming community. It was through collaborating and the meeting of minds with Alfred which led to the development of the Thought 4 Food Project in Bangladesh. The aim is to create a sustainable Thought 4 Food Project initially in Bangladesh and eventually globally.

https://twitter.com/DeveloperNaz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnazmulislambiplob/

Tom Wilkinson Co-Founder Innovation Director

Tom is in charge of minting technology and new technologies. Tom is a creative soul who in his ten-year career has worked tirelessly on a myriad of projects. These include designing, promoting and setting a variety of products. With a few years of experience under his belt Tom proceeded to set up several successful companies. Tom is originally a graphic designer but when he found his passion in blockchain technology, Tom was able to combine all the numerous skills he has gathered in different fields and apply them to the development of The Art Suite

https://twitter.com/timonies

Anthony Roberts- Communications Director

"You give a man a fish, he can eat for a day, you teach a man to fish and he can not only feed himself and his family, but he can now teach others to do the same!" I am passionate about being a vehicle to share knowledge, understanding, and engagement that can help to inspire, excite and educate others to live life on their own terms. The world needs more passion!! My vision is using blockchain technology to enable others (that may be mad talented, but not able to live off of their passion) to build, and monetise their passion by making it simple for them to leverage blockchain technology. I am excited to have joined the team at The Art Suite as we all share this vision, and have the passion, integrity and skills to manifest it!

https://twitter.com/gtcryptoant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-roberts-491037155/

Natalie Attieh - Artist Coordinator

Hello, my name is Natalie Attieh. I was born in Jordan and moved to Canada at the age of 15. I am currently pursuing a degree in Leadership and Organizational Management with a minor in Psychology. During my spare time, I’m an artist dabbling with multiple mediums to express my passion about the art world. The NFT space is one I’m especially enthusiastic about, because of the endless opportunities it has unlocked for creatives and artists around the world. You can also find me on the agent page for both English language as well as Arabic speaking artists. At the same time I am also one of the presenters of the NFThubs Podcast on YouTube.

https://twitter.com/AttiehNatalie

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieattieh/

Razali Samsudin - Social and Environmental Impact Projects Director

14 years of experience as an interdisciplinary Educator from early years settings to postgraduate level, with a background in social sciences, humanities, and sustainability. Freelance Writer, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain, Sustainability and Impact Measurements Researcher (#Blockchain4Good, #Cardano4Good, #NFT4Good), Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor. 

Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA, Contributor at Cardano AIM, PositiveBlockchain, Cardano4Climate, Catalyst School and Adatruth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin

https://twitter.com/SustainableADA

https://twitter.com/Razlosophy

Elisa Farre - Artist Agent Coordinator

University degree in labor sciences and labor relations, with several master's degrees in business environment, with more than 15 years of experience. Blockchain enthusiast, she entered the Cardano and NFT world with Alfred Moesker. She is an art lover who has found a new way to enjoy this passion in the digital environment, accompanying artists on her digital adventure.

Contributions from stage 0 of the project with the CEO to detect needs to improve the portal, creation of documentation for operation (contracts with artists and agents, questionnaires to resolve doubts). External view of the portal, external point of view as artist/agent/visitor, provide improvements to the structure of the portal. Recruitment, including face-to-face, of artists from the non-digital world (painting, sculpture), answer questions from artists about the blockchain, NFT and Cardano. Wallet advice. Representation of artists physical work and agent in NFT.

https://twitter.com/elisafarre

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisafarre/

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Whether or not The Art Suite will submit a follow up proposal to this particular proposal depends largely on the growth of the platform. The software will definitely require further upgrades and enhancements but we would hope to sustain the brunt of that expense with an increase in sales volume.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

• Number of Artist Agents Activated
• Number of Artists onboarded to The Art Suite Platform
• Number of Sales of NFTs
• Sales of NFTs in $USD
• Number of Social and Environmental Impact Projects onboarded into The Art Suite Platform
• Amount of $USD financing Social and Environmental Impact Projects from sales of NFTs
• Number of Partnerships developed 

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

What does success look like?

• Becoming a globally recognised NFT artist launch platform on Cardano in terms of number of users, numbers of creators, and number of transactions

• Being able to support a steadily increasing number of positive social and environmental projects with spotlighting and financial support directly generated by the sale of NFTs

• We continue to work on achieving success without Catalyst funding, and have an even greater capacity to have a multiplier effect through positive social and environmental initiatives, as supported by the activities of agents, artists and users of The Art Suite platform. 

• Our team have the working capital to support our prior and existing efforts to integrate automation tools and have the capacity to scale our efforts sustainably. This in effect translates into onboarding greater numbers of users in the Cardano ecosystem.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is a new proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

SDG subgoals:

11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

#proposertoolsdg