Type of site Crowdfunding Founder(s) Chris Gourlay | Headquarters London, United Kingdom Website www.spacehive.com | |
Launched February 1, 2012; 5 years ago (2012-02-01) | ||
Spacehive is the only United Kingdom-based crowdfunding platform solely for projects aimed at improving local civic and community spaces.
Contents
Overview
Spacehive was launched in March 2012 and has funded over £6.1 million of projects including a giant water slide down a high street in Bristol, the revival of Peckham Lido in London, and a community centre in the deprived ex-mining town of Glyncoch, Wales. According to the company's website, its mission is to "empower people to create & fund projects that make local places better". As of November 2016, 245 projects have been successfully funded on the platform, raising £6.1 million.
Spacehive was founded in 2011 by Chris Gourlay, a former Sunday Times journalist who specialised in architecture and planning stories.
Supported by the Big Lottery Fund and a mix of private and social investors, the social business maximises sources of funding for projects by allowing cash raised through crowdfunding to be combined with grant funding streams available for civic projects. Backers of projects are only charged if the funding target is reached.
Project creators can apply for grants via the platform at the same time as crowdfunding and can use a tool to request volunteers to help with fundraising and project delivery via an integration with the online volunteering services Do-it and Team London. They can also request in-kind contributions towards the cost of the project.
Each project is verified by partner organisation Locality to ensure its viability before it starts funding. According to the company, the average success rate for projects on Spacehive is 49%, whilst projects that secure just 10% of their funding target have a 79% success rate.
In addition to its core service for project creators, Spacehive provides specialised software and support services to help councils, companies, and foundations that it partners with to attract and fund multiple projects and to measure their social impact. Spacehive's partners include the Mayor of London, Manchester City Council, 15 London Boroughs, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, GLL, Veolia, BT, and UnLtd. Spacehive projects have attracted significant press coverage in the UK and internationally. Notable supporters of Spacehive projects include the broadcaster Kevin McCloud, the comedian Stephen Fry, the actor James Norton, and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
Rewards
Unlike other crowdfunding sites that offer material rewards to incentivise backers, most Spacehive projects simply offer delivery of the project itself.