A Bengaluru-based crowd-funding platform, FuelADream, is trying to help founders with brilliant ideas to raise funds and also scale up their business. Many companies from across the country such as Spero Bikes, a Coimbatore-based electric bike manufacturer, Tiffy Template, a Bengaluru-based trust that makes devices for blind people to identify currency, Suryoday Family, a Maharashtra-based NGO that helps build canals in drought hit regions have raised funds using the platform.

The platform, which started last year has seen a huge success because along with helping organisations and individuals raise funds, FuelADream also supports them for marketing and book keeping, which most founders fail in as they are of technical background. The company has raised $250,000 in an initial round of funding over the last 8 months from a clutch of individual investors from the corporate world. It is trying to position itself as the kickstarter of India, but with more value addition.

The platform handles marketing and other needs for almost 70 per cent of its customers depending on the needs of the customers.

According to FuelADream, the global market size for crowdfunding increased to $34 billion in 2015 from $ 6.1 billion in 2013.The ideas and charities segment is estimated to be around a third or $10 billion.

The extent of reach of the platform can gauged by the fact that Spero Bikes, an electric bike manufacturer who has a campaign running on the platform currently, got enquiries from 10 different countries for the bikes. The company raised Rs 37 lakh and will roll out the first set of 107 bikes by September 15.

“We raised money as per expectations and much quicker. This is very important for a product based company like me. Also, another important thing is we have a lot of feedback through the platform. We have people giving suggestions as well as ideas on what more we could do with the bike. This acts like a validation,” said Manikandan, Co-Founder of Spero Bikes.

While crowd-funding platforms like FuelADream, are famous for hosting product based startups, one of the initiatives that got a record funding was actually a project to build a canal in the drought hit Horti village in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

Source: Business Standard