Antrocket.com finances 6 projects in 4 months
Antrocket.com recently introduced a full Spanish language version of its website, which will allow its mainly Hispanic user base to easily interact with the platform, as well as attract more Spanish-speaking users.
By Laura Rentas
Special to News is my Business
After raising more than $45,000 through a network of more than 1,060 registered users and successfully financing six projects during its first four months of operations, Puerto Rican crowdfunding site Antrocket.com is ready to aggressively expand its reach to Latin America, the company announced Wednesday.
“Four months of operation in Puerto Rico have served us to validate that the collective financing model known as crowdfunding has a strong following, and there are six success stories as proof. Also, we’ve been able to capture feedback from our users and integrate functionalities to Antrocket.com that prepare us to make a strong entrance into the Latin American market,” said Javier Torres, chief operations officer at Antrocket.com.
In fact, Antrocket.com recently introduced a full Spanish language version of its website, which will allow its mainly Hispanic user base to easily interact with the platform, as well as attract more Spanish-speaking users.
“There are more than 400 million native Spanish speakers in the world. We are joined by a common mother tongue and culture and we want them to know Antrocket.com speaks their language,” said Guifre Tort, founder of Antrocket.
Also, based on user feedback, the platform is now equipped with a function that allows project proponents to push their deadlines forward by 10 extra days if they reach at least 80 percent of their fundraising objective upon deadline.
“We believe that projects that get really close to their goals deserve a chance to reach them. We’ve designed this function for them, to give them the time and motivation they need to make that final push for their goals,” said Torres.
Improved FAQ, nonprofit category
Antrocket also deployed an improved FAQ, designed for better navigation and for increased agility in the process of answering user questions and providing guidance.
Furthermore, Antrocket.com created a special category for nonprofit organizations duly incorporated as 501(c)(3) in Puerto Rico and the United States. These organizations will be able to receive the entirety of funds raised, regardless of whether they reach their funding goal or not, and donations to said organizations will be 100 percent tax deductible.
“With these new functions and a series of partnerships that we are establishing with cultural, educational and governmental entities in and outside Puerto Rico, we will be aggressively mobilizing efforts to make Antrocket known within the Latin community in the United States and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America,” said Tort. “We set out to help redesign society as we know it, one idea at a time, and we are confident that we’re well on our way there.”
Antrocket.com is a website where individuals or groups can present their ideas to request monetary contributions from the community. Project creators present their ideas through a video and define rewards for those who support them with cash contributions.
To this day, the following projects launched through Antrocket.com have successfully reached their funding goals: juvenile Judo athlete Adrian Gandía raised $2,061 for his training, organic farming company Bensol raised $6,500 for its agricultural project, OhLatino! raised $5,800 for a film production, a group of students from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez raised $2,000 to participate in national competitions, art collective Tas.Art raised $1,500 to attend the SWAB festival in Barcelona, and the producers of Alive & Kicking, a documentary about the life of salsa singer Chamaco Ramirez, raised $12,900.
