Crowdfunding meets the cultural and creative industries
Together with the Competence team of the cultural and creative industries of the state capital Munich The IHK Crowdfunding Night event series attracted over 100 guests to the whiteBOXIHK crowdfunding expert Linette Heimrich and Jürgen Enninger, head of the competence team, hosted the evening.
A colorful mix of crowdfunding projects from the cultural and creative scene
Starting with the innovative media format “The Context”, about the Debut album by musician Stefan Noelle From the modular design of the YOUMO socket, the selection of crowdfunded projects on this evening was as diverse as Munich's creative and cultural scene itself. The moderator duo elicited some of the secrets of success from the crowdfunders on stage, as well as the hurdles one has to contend with when crowdfunding.
It's no secret, and everyone on stage agreed, how much work and time goes into every crowdfunding campaign. Nothing comes from nothing.
“Crowdfunding is a full-time job,”
so Bernhard Scholz, founder of the media project “Der Kontext”.
“Good preparation is incredibly important; you have to make sure that you create free resources here,”
emphasizes co-founder Julia Köberlein. That's why, with a wink, she advises all prospective crowdfunders to book a vacation in good time so they can take a breather after the stressful time.
There is no breathing room when it comes to crowdfunding
Breathing deeply is Cornelius Schneider and Carsten Fichtel from YOUMO not yet to be thought of.
“2000 supporters, all of whom are now waiting for their return, create a certain amount of pressure, but it is also incredibly motivating,”
so Cornelius SchneiderThere's still a lot of work to be done before the finished sockets can be shipped worldwide, but the two founders are optimistic that they'll succeed.
"Crowdfunding ultimately helped us prove that our idea works. This is also a good sign for partners and potential investors,"
explained Carsten Fichtel.
The third guest of the evening, chanson writer and percussionist Stefan Noelle, has fulfilled a personal dream by financing his debut album through crowdfunding. He launched his campaign as a truly low-budget project and raised approximately 7,000 euros for "Meinetwegen im Regen" via the Startnext platform.
"Crowdfunding is a good process for continually reflecting on your own project and engaging with yourself and your goals. This is very beneficial for your own progress."
Despite the funding success, he would do a few things differently next time: It would be interesting to try to leverage funding from Initiative Musik through a successful crowdfunding campaign. However, this would require a much larger target amount. It's certainly an ambitious goal for Stefan Noelle's next crowdfunding campaign. The concert concluded with a musical interlude from the passionate musician and wordsmith.
Lively exchange at the Crowdfunding Night: Long live the network!
In summary, the central message of the evening was: The most important thing is networking. Get your idea out there, talk about it, and involve as many people as possible to make it even better. The guests were able to put this crowdfunding tip into practice during the subsequent networking session.
There were several opportunities to engage in conversation: In the open space of the IHK Crowdfunding Night, current, exciting crowdfunding campaigns were presented. On display were the environmentally friendly disposable tableware from Leaf-Republic, the journalistic project Crowdspondents, the 3D printer Hanni from the CMB 3D Ideenschmiede 4.0 and the Bavarian-Indian Bollywood musical UDAAN. Contacts from the Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the competence team for the cultural and creative industries, and the Kickstarter platform were also available to answer guests' questions. Serial crowdfunder Sven Rens from Munich startup Mr. Beam and tax consultant Ingo Frank from Bavaria Trust were happy to share their knowledge from their own crowdfunding experience.
All photos of the evening as well as the live stream of the event can be found here.
