1. How to apply for funding
If you have an idea for a great online startup, or have already started work on one, and are look-
ing for seed funding, please consider applying for Crowdfund finance.
The Crowdfund is a seed fund, funded by South African individuals who have pooled their
money to capitalise online startups at their initial development stage. The strength of the fund
is not just in the money it has available to invest in startups: it also provides valuable mentor-
ship, facilities and services where applicable.
As you can imagine, we attract quite a lot of business ideas, and we want to ensure we give
each a fair chance. It is therefore very important that you read and follow the instructions
below, so that we can assess your venture and make an investment decision as soon as pos-
sible.
Our approach is unconventional, and you might be surprised by some of the things we insist
on, and some of the things we ask. But please play along.
1. We are not interested in seeing your business plan. Nor are we interested in seeing your
financial projections.
2. We are more interested in your idea, and much more interested in your team.
3. We would like to hear what you think your business model should be (ie how are you go-
ing to make money) and what your target market is.
4. We also want to know about your competition: your response will show us how well you
understand the playing field of your chosen focus.
5. Be brief. We need to know the key points, and we’d like to know that you recognise those
key points.
Please copy the questions below into a text editor, and answer appropriately. Then email the
document to ideas@crowdfunding.co.za. There is no need to get fancy, do not include graph-
ics unless absolutely essential, and include links where appropriate. The better we get to know
you, the better your application will most likely fare.
We will acknowledge receipt of your application, and will be in contact shortly thereafter.
We do not sign NDA’s, but we try to avoid disclosing your plans to potential competitors. We
do not discuss these applications with anyone not at the board table.
www.crowdfunding.co.za

2. Questions:
(Please cut and paste into a text editor, and email to ideas@crowdfunding.co.za.
If you cannot cut and paste from this .pdf, there is an online version available here:
http://www.crowdfunding.co.za/?page_id=199)
• Your startup’s name
• Your name
• What’s your great idea?
• Why is it the next big thing?
• Who is the target market?
• How will it improve people’s lives, or save them time or money?
• How will it make money?
• Does it have local or global potential?
• How much work has been put into the idea? Has any code been written? How far from a
working prototype are you? (It’s more than OK if you are just at the idea stage)
• Is there a legal entity for your startup? Do you have a bank account in the startups name?
• Who is your biggest competition, and how are you going to win the game?
• Details of all your team members. (Repeat for each team member, and include yourself )
• Name
• Email
• Age
• Highest qualification
• Personal URL (if applicable)
• Employer (if any)
• Role at the start up
• Current location
• Two sentences on what qualifies this person to work on/with your startup
• Past entrepreneurial and/or online successes
• Past entrepreneurial and/or online failures (yes, they are good!)
www.crowdfunding.co.za