It’s already proven to be a huge hit across the Atlantic – and now crowdfunding festival One Spark is coming to Berlin for its first appearance outside the US. First held in Jacksonville, Florida in April 2013, the event will head over to Europe this autumn where it will feature around 200 creator projects.
The idea behind One Spark is to foster creativity and innovation by showcasing artists and entrepreneurs from around the world over the course of five days. Creators are given a platform to showcase their ideas in the cause of raising funding.
The inaugural One Spark saw 130,000 attendees check out some 406 projects in fields including art, innovation, music, science and technology, with a $250,000 (€181,400) pot of funding shared out according to popular vote. Six of the projects, meanwhile, attracted over $1 million in private investment from Shad Khan – owner of local NFL team the Jacksonville Jaguars – on top of individual contributions from attendees.
Jacksonville will host the second running of One Spark next month, with organisers expecting a 56 percent increase in the number of participating projects, $310,000 in guaranteed crowdfunding and awards and a more-than tripled potential private investment of $3.25m.
And Berlin is set to prove the ideal European location for the next One Spark later this year. Elton Rivas, a co-founder of the festival, said: “One Spark is a global platform for doers that has the potential to empower ideas anywhere, and One Spark Berlin adds a critical market validation component to everything we’ve built in Jacksonville.”
“This news certainly adds a dynamic element as we work to produce an expanded event for 2014 creators in Jacksonville,” said Joe Sampson, the event’s executive director. “One Spark provides a real-time crowdfunding platform for creators to truly connect with their backers, and now five creators from One Spark Jacksonville will receive the opportunity to engage a major international market.”
Those five will consist of the winners of the upcoming event in Florida receiving the $10,000 juried awards, who will also earn themselves a plane ticket to Berlin and entrance to the European event.