Thiago Fontes, Movere.me : Crowdfunding platform for Brazilian Creative Industry

movere.me is a crowdfunding platform focused on re-inventing the Brazilian creative economy through collaboration and empathy.

movere.me is the brainchild of Thiago Fontes, Bruno Pereira and Enzo Motta, 3 friends from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who wanted to make a difference to the way in which the Brazilian creative economy operates.

Bruno Pereira, co-founder and CEO, has a wealth of expertise in management and a background in Psychology and an MBA from FGV. He oversees the operation and makes sure the current operations run smoothly. Thiago Fontes, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer is an innovation consultant, with over 5 years experience in both Brazil and the UK. He focuses on movere.me’s innovation pipeline and forging strategic partnerships. Enzo Motta, is the CTO and also co-founder. He is the brains behind the technology, overseeing development and design. Thiago talks to YourStory about this corowdfunding platform.

Do you plan to offer the platform in English?

There are plans to offer the service in both English and Spanish, allowing people from all over the world to contribute to the blossoming creative environment that is Brazil. We believe Brazil is a cellar of creative thinking and we want to show the world all the beautiful, creative and innovative thinking that comes from this breathtaking country.

There are other crowdfunding platforms similar to this, what makes Movere different?

Crowdfunding has become a very popular model for providing financial incentive to independent projects of various areas, and the model has begun to pickup speed in Brazil. There are currently over 10 platforms in Brazil and counting. However, movere.me is more than simply a website. We believe that independent projects need a lot more than just financial help, so we provide thorough consultancy to all projects wishing to join the movement by helping them to clarify their goals and tap into their communities and beyond. Every project is unique, and at movere.me we believe that the way in which we help each of our authors should unique as well.

How did this come about?

movere.me appeared because of our needs as authors. At the time, Bruno Pereira (co-founder and CEO) wanted to start a publishing company, different from other mainstream publishers, where consumers would decide if they wanted to see the books published or not. That was in 2009. He began to research business models and got to know crowdfunding that way. At the time, there were no Brazilian crowdfunding platforms that he could use to get the incentive to launch his idea, and putting the project in a foreign crowdfunding platform would limit his reach in the Brazilian market. While having a conversation with Thiago Fontes (co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer), the question came up: “why don’t you make a platform? It can be a huge opportunity in Brazil”. The next day they both invited Enzo Motta to head the technology aspect of the business and he jumped right in.

Some of the projects that have been funded on your platform

The platform has only been operating for a couple of weeks, so no project has been fully funded yet. We believe in diversity and our projects (current and upcoming) reflect that. At the moment we have 3 projects on the platform, with more coming the next couple of weeks, ranging from an ipad app to a music video. Others including food, social projects, film, technology and so on are coming soon. We believe that diversity pushes our society forward. With diversity comes new thinking, collaboration and evolution. We believe the projects we host should carry that way of thinking.

How does your business model work ?

The model is very simple. If a project is succesful (receives at least 100% of what they asked for) we take 5% of the total received for the platform and 7% to cover financial transactions. However, if the project does not achieve the goal, the backers receive their money back and the project owner gets nothing (and neither do we).

How do you plan to scale up or diversify your offerings ?

We are currently working with a number of organizations from various fields to diversify our offerings. We expect to have a full range by the end of the year.

Check out Movere here : http://www.movere.me/