Interviews

Interview with Crowdfund NFT: Raising the Internet Computer

We interviewed Crowdfund NFT, a crowdfunding platform that helps all kinds of companies to raise funds for their projects.

We interviewed Luke, the CEO of Crowdfund NFT, a crowdfunding platform that helps all kinds of companies to raise funds for their projects.

Please tell us about you, your name, your position in the project, your credentials, etc., so that we can introduce you.

My name is Luke Dugdale - I am the CEO of Crowdfund NFT - I have a BA and MSc from Durham University and University College London - I sold a startup in 2021 called “Lean App”, which was an app that used Open Banking to help users cancel their wasteful subscriptions

2. What attracted you initially to Blockchain?

My professional background is in payments. I used to work at American Express in payment operations. For anyone in the field, decentralized transactions are an obvious field to study and analyze. I quickly realized that blockchain will be the future of global payments, but I did not realize that it could be much more than that.

3. Of all the platforms you could have chosen, why did you decide to build on the Internet Computer?

The Internet Computer is not a coin on the internet, but rather an internet on a coin. It became a fascinating platform to me just after Genesis in 2021. There are some very real benefits for CrowdFund NFT on the IC. First, it is 100% on chain, with all of our canisters communicating with each other in an automated way - this applies to both our internal canisters and external integrations.

A seamless, fully automated service. Second, the platform allows for our escrow management smart contract to run as a “black hole” canister, which allows us to be a fully transparent and trustworthy crowdfunding service. The IC also runs on a reverse gas model, which means that transactions and extremely cheap. This allows us to integrate reimbursements into our service, which is critical to a functioning crowdfunding platform.

4. How long has your company been established?

We have been live since March 2022.

5. What makes your company marketable, and what will ensure its long-term success?

We are a crowdfunding platform that helps all kinds of companies to raise funds for their projects. We are marketable for the following reasons:

We allow backers in crowdfunding rounds to receive NFTs in exchange for participation in the crowdfunding round. They can trade and monetize these NFTs, which creates financial incentives for participants in crowdfunding rounds - something that is not available on traditional Web2 platforms.
We use blockchain payments to enable global crowdfunding. On Kickstarter, Gofundme, and more - you can only raise in fiat currencies, which limits a crowdfunding round to a geographical location. On CrowdFund NFT, there are no restrictions on who can participate in a crowdfunding round, meaning that a global audience of backers is available.
We are trustworthy and transparent because our fund's collection and disbursement systems are run on a black hole or controller-less escrow canister. Users can be sure where their funds are going, and what would trigger the release of the funds to project creators or reimbursement to backers. They can also verify all transactions on the public ledger.

6. What challenges have you faced while building your company?

The biggest challenge was to build our escrow management canister. A system that will appropriately manage funds collection and disbursement in a fully automated, transparent, and reliable way.

7. What overall vision do you have? Do you have a roadmap? If so, what does it involve?

Our roadmap is a three-step plan:

Become the crowdfunding platform of the IC. Enable IC-based companies to crowdfund for their projects.
Use BTC integration to expand our reach into the wider web3 ecosystem. Enabling all kinds of web3 companies to crowdfund with us.
Use Fiat on-ramps to become the global standard of crowdfunding, for non-web3-based companies/projects.

8. What advantages do you believe you have over other competitors?

We are global, we create financial incentives for backers, we are more trustworthy and transparent and we are cheaper.

9. Tell us about the team

Our team is composed of 4 people. Luke Dugdale, CEO - who has successfully exited a FinTech company. Clement Mayer, COO, serial entrepreneur who specializes in community building. Artur Jurgenson, CTO, who was also part of the Lean App exit, and Mazen Zibara, a software development specialist.

10. What advice do you have for anyone working in the same space as you?

System architecture is the most important part of a good web3 company. Execution means everything, and the benefits of the IC will come in long term, so don’t get too caught up in short-term affairs.

11. What other projects building on the Internet Computer are you most excited about?

Kinic is an amazing product that opens up visibility amongst Web3 / IC-based products.
I am also very excited about gaming. It will take 1 hit game to get the IC to explode.

12. Do you have any plans to collaborate or partner with other projects building on the Internet Computer?

We collaborate with most if not all projects on the IC in some way shape or form

13. Do you have any token sales planned for the future? If so, when? Can you give details?

No token sale plans. We do not want to create a CrowdFund NFT token for the time being.

14. What are your short and long-term achievements and targets?

Our goal was to launch 34 crowdfunding rounds in 2022. We have done 32. Of those, 11 have been successfully funded.
Our goal is to increase the number of crowdfunding projects by 550% per year.

15. Please provide all your social media handles and websites:
Sure- See below :)