SOBA: Crowdfunding Science

Today, crowdfunding offers financial support for everything from movies to video games to independent music to journalism. It also provides an alternative to VC funding for startup companies and, increasingly, new technology. The June issue of Technology Review magazine, for example, identifies the practice as one of the top 10 emerging technologies alongside 3D transistors and nanopore sequencing.

By donating small amounts through online sites such as Kickstarter, crowdfunding has become a way to democratize success. In April, a US ban on offering equity to crowdfunders was lifted. Given the growing potential of this practice, it's no wonder that scientists and citizen scientists (and their supporters) are getting into the act.

Join us at swissnex San Francisco to hear from skilled scientists whose projects have been made possible by crowdfunding, as well as from Jai Ranganthan, one of the organizers of the crowdfunding platform SciFund Challenge.

Dr. Brian Fisher is an expert on African ants and bioinformatics and Curator of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences who successfully funded his research on Petridish.org. Through SciFundChallenge, Greg Goldsmith's project to study cloud forests in Costa Rica exceeded its financial goal. Same for Matt Medeiros, who is discovering the biodiversity of moths on the uninhabited Hawaiian island of Kaho'olawe and getting his students in the Bay Area involved in his research.

Presentations are followed by a panel discussion, audience Q&A, and follow-up conversation at a nearby bar (to be announced at the event). During the discussion portion of the evening, we'll probe the challenges and opportunities of crowdfunded science. Bring your questions!