Pledgecamp is a next-generation crowdfunding platform that incorporates blockchain technology for security and accountability. Crowdfunding is a huge, multi-billion dollar industry, however, its biggest proponents - Kickstarter and Indiegogo - have grown stagnant over the years. Pledgecamp realizes that just collecting funds from backers isn’t enough. The crowdfunding platform also has the responsibility to give the project creators all the tools needed to build a working project. One of those tools that Pledgecamp is providing is called the “Market Network.” In this article, we will take a closer look at what the Market Network does and why it is a critical part of the Pledgecamp ecosystem.
CST-01: The world’s thinnest watch that failed to deliver
Back in 2013, the world was buzzing about “CST-01.” It was billed as the world’s thinnest watch and there was so much hype behind it that it managed to raise more than a million dollars on Kickstarter from 7,658 backers. Soon, the company got plagued with production issues. They struggled to find the right kind of technology to get themselves off the ground. After two years of silence, the company announced in 2015 that they had parted ways with their manufacturer and soon the company went bankrupt.
Pledgecamp aims at reducing debacles like this by the integration of the Market Network.
What is the Market Network?
Pledgecamp leverages the blockchain technology to create a decentralized and transparent marketplace called “Market Network” for creators to hire professionals to work for their projects. Since every project is unique, it is essential for the creators to find the proper service providers, aka “vendors” and build a long-term relationship with them. The Market Network will use blockchain’s immutability to store important data about the vendors such as reviews, work history, expertise, etc. By going through the data, the creators will be able to zero in on the vendors that they want to work with for their project.
Once they find a vendor they want to work with, they initiate a smart contract between the two of them. Smart contracts are self-executing, automated contracts based on the blockchain. Now, this is interesting because of several reasons:
- The smart contract locks in the creator and the vendor in a binding contract.
- The smart contract’s transparency will ensure the vendors that they will get paid for their services once the funds have been raised.
- The potential backers of the project can also check out the smart contracts to reassure themselves that the project has hired promising people and that their funds will be used correctly. This increases their trust and confidence in the creator and the project.
The creators pay the vendors with the Pledge Coin token, so cross-border payments will not be an issue.
Conclusion: Everybody wins!
The Market Network aligns the incentives of the three key players of the Pledgecamp ecosystem - creators, backers, and vendors - to create a transparent system which will ultimately be beneficial to everyone.
Creators can use the Market Network to show their potential backers that they have the right people working their project.
The backers will be assured knowing that their funds will be used correctly to build to a working model. Plus, the smart contract is going to enforce the correct distribution of funds automatically.
Vendors will know that their performance, good or bad, is going to be stored permanently on the blockchain as an immutable record. They will want to do the best possible job to get more future business.
