Fondomat was an

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

crowd funding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

platform founded in 2011 by Joe Wakeford and Conrad Watts, originally launched in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

before relocating to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

Fondomat was the first crowd-funding website in the

and at the time the only one to accept transactions in

Czech Koruna The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro currenc ...

. It subsequently relocated to England. The company was dissolved in January 2015 with the founders moving on to run companies established using the crowdfunding methods originally employed by Fondomat.

Operating model

The website handled the administration of charitable donations and the funding of individual projects, using online fundraising tools to promote projects via

social networks A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for a ...

while enabling the electronic collection of

donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as b ...

. The site supported funding in

Pound Sterling Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and ...

(£) and Euros (€).

Project owner In project management, an executive or project executive is a person who has ultimate responsibility for a project, and is a role defined in the recognized project management framework PRINCE2. It is appointed by the customer during the start of t ...

s chose a timeframe deadline and a funding target, and could add a description, videos and photos to their project page, or offer non-monetary rewards. Unlike some forums for fundraising or investment, the company did not claim any ownership over projects funded via its site, but took a 4% fee for fund-raising campaigns. The project owner was able to keep the funds collected whether or not the target was met by the deadline, unlike similar US site Kickstarter. The money raised was sent directly to the project owner, to protect them in case the platform collapsed.

References

{{Crowdfunding platforms Czech fundraising websites Defunct crowdfunding platforms of the United Kingdom Microfinance Online companies of the Czech Republic Internet properties established in 2011 Defunct companies based in London

History

Operating model

See also

References