With fall in full swing, October is full of interesting campaigns to consider for funding. In this installment of Fund This, there were so many good funding campaigns to choose from, I could not decide so I added a few more than usual! Modern acrylic photo cubes, a tiny OLED screen, a program to help women enter the tech industry, cat ear headphones, and gorgeous heirloom dollhouses–there is sure to be something that catches your funding fancy!
Happy Funding!
Cubee: The Illuminating Instagram Photo Cube
I admit that I have a nostalgic thing for photo cubes, which makes me the perfect audience for this campaign. Essentially, it is an acrylic photo cube that illuminates and showcases your photos. You simply connect your Instagram account (or add photos directly from your computer or mobile device) to the Cubee app and they send you perfectly sized copies of your selected photos. The photos are interchangeable and the cube itself is rechargeable. Such a fabulous, modern way to display your favorite images. Admittedly, at first I thought this was completely digital which would have been cool, but then I decided that I would much rather have the physical photos to reframe or reuse in some way when I want to switch them out.
TinyScreen: A color display the size of your thumb!
I work with kids on a daily basis and the one thing I know is that they love tiny things. I also know that adults are not immune to the adorable (and useful) nature of tiny things either. TinyScreen is a teeny color OLED display meant to work with the TinyDuino, which very conveniently stack together like little electronic Lego bricks. I want one. Scratch that, I want 10. Then I will have to order extra for all the kids I work with as well as the mentors who will want them too. As a bonus, they have loaded some default programs onto the TinyScreen so you can play without programming. They have also teamed up with Codebender to simplify projects for beginners. Great new product from a great company.
MotherCoders: A giant hack for moms who want in
In the last Fund This, I featured a documentary campaign to address the glaring gender disparity in the tech workforce. It is well documented that, on average, women make up less than 30% of the tech workforce, yet we are not able to fill all the jobs available or that are projected in the next decade. MotherCoders is a fantastic organization that is focusing on preparing and educating women to take the leap, providing onsite childcare while teaching women basic programming, networking, and an orientation to the tech environment. I was one of the founders of Mothership Hackermoms, which provides childcare while parents are able to focus on their passions, and I have seen firsthand what women can accomplish when they have community, support, and their children are included in the process. Motherhood makes us powerful, and it is magic watching women build confidence and direction. This takes that idea one step further in a very practical, useful way. It allows more women to enter the workforce, gives them economic security, and helps drive us towards the much needed balance in the tech industry. It gives mothers a new choice, and offers the tech industry a necessary new voice.
This campaign has already doubled its goal, but I could not resist making sure you had the chance to see it. I believe these might be the most adorable headphones in the world. Also, they are headphones and speakers. Purr.
Twig Studio Kids Handcrafted Dollhouses
Finally, I bring you the most gorgeous dollhouses I have ever seen. I can say this with some authority, as my daughter loves dollhouses and has several. We actually own one of these, bought a few years ago when I had the foresight to order early and barely got one before they sold out. I wanted a Waldorf-style dollhouse, but so many of them are so plain and boring. This one is certainly not, and begs for modern family play as much as a setting for fairytale re-enactment. These dollhouses are versatile, easy to put together and take apart yet really sturdy, and they are heirloom quality beautiful. While these houses won’t be deliverable by the holidays this year, they would make the perfect birthday gift next year, or even for the holidays if you want to plan ahead.
