IdeaBlob cultivates projects

Ideablob has a collection of projects that users of their system have submitted to a user response contest to win funding.

Here is a quote from their About Us page:

ideablob.com is where entrepreneurs and small business owners can share and grow their business ideas – and have a chance to win $10,000 towards fulfilling them.

Great ideas are generated every day by people all across the country, and now these ideas have a place to live and grow. Eligible individuals can submit their business ideas to ideablob.com, and based on votes from the ideablob.com online community – which includes other innovators as well as friends, family, colleagues, associates, teachers and mentors -one idea every month will win $10,000.

As individuals take part in ideablob.com’s growth, their business has the potential to grow right along with it.

Why ideablob.com? Advanta began in 1951 with an idea, less than $100 in seed money, and big dreams. Today, as a respected company with close to 1,000 employees and well over one million small business customers nationwide, we empathize with entrepreneurs and small businesses and support their growth.

Design Green Now is one of the current featured projects. Their video is above.

The DGN panels will take place in 3 NYC universities. The design jam, is lead by SmartDesignWorldwide.com The panelists will uncover the challenges they face and the methods they have embraced to succeed in designing for sustainability.

Seven Rivers Water has an idea for providing drinking water in public:

When people want water in public, they are faced with tough choices. They can either buy an expensive bottle of water and risk adding to the 100 million water bottles thrown away each day OR they can drink from water fountains, which offer “free” hydration at the risk of exposure to germs and/or poor taste and quality. Seven Rivers will offer a superior, healthy alternative. We will develop a water vending machine that will purify and dispense water into customers’ reusable bottles or our own eco-friendly cups. Our water will be more affordable than bottled water and will eliminate plastic bottle waste. We will install our machines in places such as colleges, high schools, and hospitals.

Coffee Connections is interested in creating a better funding model for coffee growers.

We will provide rural income generation opportunities to coffee farmers, discourage negative urbanization, and encourage the completion of education of farmers’ children: by improving crop yields, further developing the coffee value chain and connecting farmers directly with international markets.

The Ideas section has several pages of proposals for funding. Members of the site vote up their favorites and each month the winner gets $10,000.

You may remember the recent article on Slicemodeler, which also has an entry:

Sliceform modelling for schools

SliceModeler is provided as a tool for educational institutions to create physical models of the 3D objects they design with Google SketchUp.

1) Use the SliceModeler plugin for Google SketchUp to design a sliceform model.
2) Build it from from material like cardboard, wood, stone, metal, concreet.
3) Place it in your environment.
4) Put documentation of it online.

Thanks Amy!

So how about taking a look through the entries with your Maker eye? What do you see that should be funded? Users can only vote for a project once, but we can create buzz around a project and increase its’ funding chances. Tell us what you think in the comments.