Plans to launch a rocket, expose the reality of graduate unemployment and create the next generation of web coders are all being unveiled this week as part of a new crowdfunding venture designed specifically for universities by a Warwick graduate.

Called Crowdfund Campus, the venture will enable students, staff and alumni at the University to offer their projects for crowdfunding in return for rewards. These might be discounts, event tickets – or the opportunity to send something into space.

The company was set up by entrepreneur and Warwick graduate, Henry Jinman, and is designed to offer not just a platform through which projects can be offered for crowdfunding, but also advice and support to guide each project to a successful conclusion. Henry explained:

We work directly with project leaders, rather than just providing the platform and expecting universities themselves to provide the expertise to get projects up and running. Crowdfunding is still in its infancy, but it’s a model that will be really beneficial within universities, where there is so much creativity and where the communities are already really well networked."

Crowdfund Campus is the first company to be launched at the University’s new Software Incubator, set up to support fledgling software companies by the University’s technology transfer company, Warwick Ventures Ltd.

The launch event will be held in the Avon Building (Westwood campus) on Thursday 23 October 2014, at 6pm. At the event, the company’s first project leaders will be invited to pitch their ideas. These will include Warwick Rockets – an initiative to send a rocket into space using an environmentally friendly rocket fuel; Warwick Coding – a society which aims to introduce students to the secrets behind the World Wide Web; and Jobless Documentary – a project to get behind government statistics and show how British graduates are really faring in today’s job markets.

Initially, Crowdfund Campus projects will be initiated by our Warwick community, but Henry is already talking to other universities about adopting it on a subscription basis and implementing it to help boost student entrepreneurship, satisfaction and employability in their institutions.

The Crowdfund Campus Launch is a free event: please visit EventBrite to register if you would like to attend.

Crowdfund Campus website