Makerversity & Kickstarter Residency 2023: Apply now!

Makerversity & Kickstarter are very excited to work together in 2023 on a new residency for creative businesses to launch a new project with the support from both teams. Kicking off in April 2023, the residency will run for six months and support each launch and campaign. We’ll be supporting 3 individuals or teams to assist with branding, marketing and costs to create their projects.

Each successful applicant will receive:

• £800 at the start of the residency
• 24/7 access to Makerversity’s facilities & community, including free workshop training
• 3 mentoring sessions by the Kickstarter team to support your campaign
• Free Working lunches from Accountants, IP specialists & HR/Employment Law

Deadline Friday 1st March 2023

Over the past 9 years, Makerversity has been home to some incredible maker businesses who’ve launched hugely successful products via Kickstarter. From Beasts of Balance, Bento Lab, Beeline, Densters, Wingback, Soapstone to Mayku – the beautiful, desktop vacuum former that lets you make anywhere your factory. In one year alone we saw £5 million raised by our members through crowdfunding.

Soapstone

So – as such a natural fit for so many of our new members for whom crowdfunding is the most practical way of pushing their latest projects out into the world, this new partnership will see the launch of a Kickstarter sponsored residency at Makerversity.

The Mayku Formbox

The Residency:

The Kickstarter residency at Makerversity will support 3 chosen individuals or businesses through six months of free membership at our Somerset House space.

As part of this exciting new membership opportunity, our Kickstarter residents will be part of a like-minded, dynamic and self-starting community of 300 members – many of whom have enjoyed huge success launching some amazing projects on Kickstarter.

Wingback

Open Day

Join us on Thursday 23rd February 2pm-5pm for an Open Day at Makerversity.

This will be a chance to explore the Makerversity space and what is offered in the residency. Meet alumni Makerversity members who supported their exciting ideas through Kickstarter, exploring the do’s and don’t’s. The Kickstarter & Makerversity team will be here to answer any questions.

See our Events page to book in.

The offer includes:

• Six month residency at Makerversity from April – October 2023
• 24/7 co–working on site, and unlimited access to clean and messy workshops and making facilities
• Unlimited access to use of a huge range of tools and machinery across 5 workshops: fashion, digital manufacturing, engineering, 3D printing and woodwork and use of photography equipment
• Inductions on all equipment and machines
• Access to Makerversity private members bar and cafe
• Programme of talks, skill shares and community events
• Somerset House and local services discounts
• A central London postal address
• Hands on mentoring and support from the Kickstarter and Makerversity teams

Eligibility:

This opportunity is open to all designer makers at any point in their career – and open to international applicants. The nature of this particular membership offer means it is anticipated that the successful applicant will have already formulated an idea and sense of timeline for the project before taking up the residency in early April – and should ideally be expecting to launch their Kickstarter campaigns by the end of the residency period.

Both new projects and projects in development but not yet completed are totally eligible. At Makerversity and Kickstarter, we’ll be putting our heads together, combining our joint knowledge of product design and crowdfunding trends to handpick the successful applicants. We will select based on the strength of the project and a demonstration that the residency will be beneficial.

Timeline:

1st February: Applications Open
23rd February: Residency Open Day at Makerversity
1st March: Applications Close
Late March: Panel selection review of applications and shortlist
1st April: Residency awarded and Resident’s participation announced
24th April: Residency begins

Apply here – good luck!

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