Accion Chicago Hosts Launch Party to Kick Off Ninth Fundraising Campaign
on Seed Chicago’s Curated Kickstarter Page
Accion Chicago in partnership with Kickstarter and MillerCoors will celebrate some pretty cool new local ventures that are looking to raise capital when they host a party next week to celebrate their latest fundraising campaigns that will help local small businesses.
Some of the projects that are involved include:
Shawn Smith, ReSketch Mini – Resketch books are open-ended idea books made of high-quality reclaimed paper sourced in and around Chicago, perfect for making drawings, working through product ideas, writing poetry, and other creative endeavors.
Katy Osborn, Amelia Street Studio – Fair Hair to All is a documentary about the natural hair industry and the challenges women facing hair loss encounter when trying to acquire it. ‘
Tony Rubin, Epicurean Concierge Mobile App – Creating a mobile app for travelers in cities all over the world to assist with finding the best places to eat/stay/tour.
Philip Fairweather, Invention Intention 3rd Dimension – Building a 3D printing lab for at-risk youth in Chicago.
Seed Chicago Launch Party
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
4:30-7:30 PM
MillerCoors Pub
250 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
Seed Chicago is Accion Chicago’s curated Kickstarter page. Piloted in 2013, and funded through a grant from MillerCoors, Seed Chicago uses Kickstarter’s online crowdfunding platform to highlight local, impactful small business and community development projects that create jobs and economic growth in Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Since its inception in 2013, Seed Chicago has featured 32 successful projects across eight rounds, raising $383,969 from 5,279 backers, creating 96-160 jobs or workforce training opportunities in Chicago.
The goal of this program is to provide financial services to underserved communities by providing small business owners and community development organizations access to capital, while also providing them with high-touch technical assistance. Seed Chicago provides small surges of capital that small business owners do not need to pay back and serves as an avenue for entrepreneurs to train in project development, marketing, social media, financial literacy and crowdfunding.
Seed Chicago is a direct result of the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, developed by World Business Chicago (WBC) at the request of Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2012 in order to accelerate Chicago’s economic growth. A central plan strategy is to nurture neighborhoods and foster continuous development of local talent, business and real estate assets. Seed Chicago is one of the tools the City of Chicago and WBC uses for financing businesses and organizations within Chicago neighborhoods.