These Montrealers want your money

We browsed crowdfunding site Kickstarter for Montreal-related projects. We found a mug, a T-shirt line and more.


The vertiGOmug in action

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard of Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website that allows aspiring entrepreneurs to solicit backing for projects of all stripes. For the uninitiated, you create a profile, set a fundraising goal for your endeavour — be it a magazine, board game, homebrewed beer brand, Christian cartoon, record, series of paintings, whatever — and post some information about what you’d like to do, including a video, to the site. From there, you watch as the Internet does what it does and the money trickles in. Then you actually make whatever it is you promised you would.

As somewhat keen (though largely critical) observers of the local scene, we occasionally browse Kickstarter for items of interest to Montrealers. Here’s what we found the other day.

The Farm of the Future
What it is: The Valhalla movement, a group “hell-bent on making sustainable communal living mainstream,” wants to create a 33-foot dome that will serve as a low-maintenance greenhouse. It will apparently be built using earthship principles, and in it many, many things, most of them presumably good for you, will grow.
Fundraising goal: $10,000
End date: April 13
Money raised at press time: $10,876
In a nutshell: “We live in a time of extremes. Technology has enabled us to either cause great harm or make tremendous strides.”

24 Hour Life
What it is: A history book, in both English and French, focusing on 24 hours in the lives of notable individuals, among them Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Céline Dion.
Fundraising goal: £20,000
End date: March 31
Money raised at press time: £2,247
In a nutshell: “By mapping out the primary events of a lifetime over one day, we can not only see Mozart’s life appear before our eyes, but we can also compare it to Bach’s, Beethoven’s or even yours!”

vertiGOmug
What it is: A mug with two levels — one to keep your coffee warm, the other, on top, to drink it from. The idea is to pump about two sips to the upper level so you won’t risk spilling your coffee as you raise the mug to your mouth.
Fundraising goal: £10,000
End date: April 23
Money raised at press time: £3,662
In a nutshell: “Now you can truly enjoy every sip of your favourite beverage. Mmmm. That is so perfect.”

RaveNectar
What it is: A line of T-shirts featuring all-over prints designed by “independent artists,” who are slated to collect a cool 20 per cent of the profits. A heavy dose of psychedelic imagery.
Fundraising goal: $42,000
End date: April 16
Money raised at press time: $1,020
In a nutshell: “To appeal to humans’ sense of wonder through insane, obnoxious, vibrant, crazy clothing.”

 

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