The Local Crowd (TLC) Monadnock, a community-based crowdfunding program serving the entire Monadnock region, has been selected to become one of four pilot study sites for a National Science Foundation (NSF) research project.

This NSF project is designed to identify and support the needs of fourth sector enterprises, also known as social enterprises, which are mission-driven organizations that use business principles to make the world a better place.

TLC Monadnock will test and evaluate a new educational/crowdfunding platform developed by The Local Crowd, LLC (TLC) a Laramie, Wyoming based firm. TLC received a $225,000 NSF grant to conduct this research, which has the ultimate goal of increasing community awareness and support for social enterprises.

"The National Science Foundation supports startups and small businesses with the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to become great commercial successes and make huge societal impacts," said Graciela Narcho, Acting Director of Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. "We hope that seed funding will spark solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time across all areas of science and technology."

"This project will support existing triple bottom line businesses in our region while encouraging new enterprises to explore this sector of our economy," said Jen Risley, TLC Monadnock Program Manager.  "We couldn't be more thrilled to take TLC Monadnock to this next level."

For more information, visit tlcmonadnock.com or contact Jen Risley at marketing@monadnockfood.coop or 603-283-5401.

In addition to TLC Monadnock, the communities of Goshen, Indiana; Laramie, Wyoming; and Omniworks™ Business Incubator, Los Angeles, CA, will also serve as pilot sites. This research project will be conducted through 2019.

About The Local Crowd

The Local Crowd's crowdfunding/education platform is designed to solve social problems and make the world a better place by catalyzing community support for social enterprises.

About The Local Crowd Monadnock

The Local Crowd Monadnock is a community-based crowdfunding program helping start-up ventures, early-growth stage companies, and community-focused projects find access to capital.  Since TLC Monadnock launched in March 2017, fourteen crowdfunding campaigns have collectively raised over $90,000 from 700 individuals.
    

About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs 

America's Seed Fund, powered by NSF, awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.5 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America's Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $7.8 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.