Crowdfunding The World's First Underwater Hotel

The subtropical coral cay archipelago that are the Florida Keys, home to some of the world's wondrous marine life, could the site for the first ever underwater hotel. Tony Webb, managing director of Planet Ocean Underwater Hotel has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a prototype for the first ever luxury underwater hotel that would herald a new era in ecotourism and support marine restoration and conservation. Through the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo Planet Ocean is looking to raise $325,000 within 60 days offering in return a variety of rewards which include a free/discounted stay in the hotel itself.

Planet Ocean, based in Key West Florida, could be at the forefront of revolutionary tourism (second only to Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space travels) with the creation of the world's first underwater hotel. It has been billed as an affordable luxury hotel with the purpose of providing guests with a unique underwater experience. The hotel, once built, will initially consist of 12 guest rooms, a luxury lounge and dining area that will provide breathtaking panoramic views of marine life. The room rates will vary from $1,500 per night for weekdays, to $3,000 for weekend stays. Planet Ocean however dreams to be more than just a profit making luxury hotelier, and will be supporting global marine conservation and restoration efforts.

After carefully reviewing all the efforts of various marine conservation groups, Tony Webb and the management team of Planet Ocean selected and entered into partnership with the Global Coral Reef Alliance (GCRA). This US based non-profit group provides funds for the efforts of marine ecologists and environmental groups to protect and sustain the management of coral reefs. GCRA has recorded mass devastation of coral reefs due to numerous natural and man made activities, and their deterioration is thought to be the first casualty of global warming. Their work has helped bring the plight of endangered coral reef to the global public attention and even brought about legislative changes to combat the problem. Planet Ocean will work with GCRA to continue supporting these efforts through funding to develop and implement viable solutions and resources to continue the fight for the protection of coral reef vital to the sustenance of marine life.

The funds raised by Planet Ocean through the crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo will pay for the construction of a prototype cylindrical capsule made from steel and thick layered acrylic. Housed in a testing facility in Orlando, Florida the capsule will undergo every type of rigorous structural and durability tests. The capsule will also be used to test an assortment of supporting equipment. The results could then lead to a second round funding initiative. Planet Ocean will offer donors who support the crowdfunding campaign a variety of rewards including limited merchandise, acknowledgements, free tours of the new hotel once it is built as well as discounted or even a free overnight stay in one of the luxury rooms. For more information and make a donation visit the project's IndieGoGo page.

One Direction Member Helps Launch Crowdfunding Project for Local Football Club

Louis Tomlinson, member of boy band One Direction helped launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for Doncaster Rovers football club. The campaign was launched by Tomlinson on 19th June 2014, along with the club's former chairman and businessman John Ryan through the UK platform Crowdfunder looking to raise £2 million believed to be the largest UK crowdfunding campaign to date. Fans of the club and football supporters in general are being asked to pledge their financial support to help reach this ambitious target, which if successful will help with the club's growth and development.

In addition to being a member of one of the most successful UK music acts, Doncaster born Louis Tomlinson of One Direction is also an avid footballer, and plays for the Doncaster Rovers Reserves as a defender. In an effort to better support the club of his hometown Tomlinson has partnered with John Ryan the former club chairman to form the Tomlinson/Ryan trust. The goal of this to trust is to support and develop the club in helping realise its ambitions on the field to achieve Premiership League status,  develop its schools as well as youth and charity programmes, and grow the club's brand and supporter base. The campaign through Crowdfunder will use the money raised to help make all these dreams, plus many more, a reality. 

By setting up the Trust, launching the crowdfunding campaign with crowdfunder.co.uk, and putting our own money in, we are making it clear to Doncaster Rovers supporters, and the general public, that we are planning to give the club the support and resources it needs. As its previous Chairman I am still totally committed to developing an exciting future for the club. The objectives of the trust provide a roadmap to make the club an even greater success. I am very pleased to join forces with Louis to make this happen. It’s an exciting moment for Doncaster Rovers - John Ryan

The Crowdfunder campaign, #FANSUNITED will use the funds raised to help the club achieve all its aims, to grow not only as a nationally recognised Premiership League club but also expand onto the global market. The trust has already pledged a six figure sum to show its commitment to the project and to encourage fans and supporters to pledge. In exchange, donors will receive rewards that include club merchandise and limited edition items as well as varied levels of club membership giving those who pledged a say in the running of the club. The crowdfunding campaign has 30 days to reach its funding targets so to learn more and make a donation click here to visit the Crowdfunder page.

Crowdsourced Service Provider Secures Second Round Funding For Expansion

Textmaster, a leading provider of professional crowdsourced services has announced securing €1 million in a second round of funding for expansion plans. The latest investors which include Alven Capital, eFounders, and Cédric Siré co founder of one the largest digital media groups, Webedia. These latest round of funds will be used to expand Textmaster further into the European and Asian markets.

Founded in 2011, Textmaster has grown into a platform providing professional services which include translation and content writing to proof reading, for a variety of business ranging from SMEs to multinational corporations, including Google, in a variety of industries. These include e-commerce and manufacturing to communication and mobile app developers making up 5000 customers from over 50 countries. Textmaster helps its customer develop their online presence and grow internationally with services that are available through a wife range of formats including an API as well as integration with Microsoft office and Wordpress. 

This new round of funding will enable us to invest in our technology and pursue our international expansion in Germany and Asia. Our shareholders' support and the arrival of Cédric Siré allows us to continue our growth and prepare for a third round of funding before the end of the year. - Thibault Lougnon, CEO TextMaster

The three new investors include big names in Textmaster's key fields of investment, startup support and digital media. 

• Alven Capital is an independent venture capital firm with an extensive portfolio of retail outlets, hoteliers and broadband providers. 
• efounders is a startup studio that helps SMEs and SaaS startups develop their business ideas by acting as co-founders providing advice and resources. 
• Cédric Siré is the co-founder of Webedia, one of Europe's largest digital media groups. Since launching in 2007 Webedia through its variety of news outlets has created a monetized digital business which in 2012 saw it's revenue increase by 80% to €20 million. 

The inclusion of Cédric Siré as an investor should particular be advantageous to Textmaster given that as co-founder of Webedia, Siré helped build a business to such a large scale in the highly competitive and unpredictable digital content market. The success of Webedia through these efforts caught the attention of Fimalac, an international investment group who recently purchased Webedia which will become part of a leading internation group in the fashion and entertainment media.

Image Credit; Simon Cunningham