Project financing site, Crowdfunder, has announced a new partnership with the The Design Council’s Spark 2018 initiative to support and encourage UK businesses to design innovative new products and get them to market.
As part of the partnership the Design Council will provide additional support to Crowdfunder’s many design projects, and the Crowdfunder.co.uk platform will help take products working with the Design Council to market.
Crowdfunder has to date worked with over 80,000 projects to help them raise money from crowd to make their ideas happen, including the world’s soon-to-be-fastest car Bloodhound, swimwear accessory Halto and #VOOM winner What A Melon.
Spark finalists receive £15,000 investment to develop their product idea and join a 16-week programme led by design experts.
Ellie Runcie, Design Council director of growth and innovation, said: “The advice and guidance that Crowdfunder UK provides to Spark finalists plays a key role in their planning process not only for product validation, but increasingly it is the main platform for their market entry and promotional strategy.”
Crowdfunder founder Rob Love, said: “The partnership with the Design Council is particularly exciting because Crowdfunder and Spark links the steps in the journey to successfully get a product to market.
“Many project owners who come to Crowdfunder are very passionate about their idea, but they don’t have much experience. One of their challenges is that, even if the crowd likes their idea and supports it, they have no real manufacturing expertise.
“There are a number of different steps to create a successful new product and get it to market – Crowdfunder and Spark will help support that journey.”
