Software leader ELEKS and socially responsible IT firm, Freewill, launch do-good crowdfunding platform. Spin lets benefactors support young talent and eco-centric organisations across the globe.
Japan birthed the crowdfunding phenomenon which, last year, generated funds of over $17 billion in North America alone. In May 2020, socially responsible Japanese IT firm, Freewill, launched its latest digital offering, Spin — a global funding platform developed by ELEKS. The platform uses cutting-edge blockchain technology which offers complete transparency of a project’s donation and transaction chain, from anywhere in the world. It’s this financial candour that’s made blockchain-enabled crowdfunding increasingly successful in recent years.
Japan has a long heritage of innovative social development drives, and Spin’s creators envisage an international community of “social parents” and mentors — crowdfunders whose investments help to nurture young talent and eco-oriented organisations across the globe. Any entity or individual in need of financial support can benefit from Spin donations. For example, a school in the developing world, or an organisation that works to restore the ocean’s coral reefs. A mentor instigates a project to seek funding and a social parent contributes to a cause — receiving progress updates and direct messages from the initiative’s leader.
The platform currently has three live projects. The One Love Project, which aims to protect cultures threatened by COVID-19; a project that supports children living with physical disabilities in Ukraine; and a conservation initiative for Thailand’s threatened Asian elephants. Freewill also implements its own vision for a ‘Sustainable Eco Society’, by raising awareness, taking actions to preserve the environment and resources, and supporting education.
Myroslav Basarab, Spin’s project manager at ELEKS commented, "The world is evolving rapidly, and not always for the better. The modern challenges we face — COVID-19, large-scale ecological destruction and ever more frequent natural disasters — have many people wondering how we can make the world a better place. The problem is getting the urgent messages out there and giving the wider population the tools to act instantaneously. Freewill and ELEKS will enable society to address the pressing issues, creatively and globally, by combining the seemingly incompatible: Eastern traditionalism and Western entrepreneurship, charity and technology. Spin will get help to those who need it, without the fear of funds being used underhandedly."
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