We are delighted and honoured that fairmondo.uk was voted the winner at Open:2017‘s #DigiDen competition.  The dragon’s den style event saw three projects Re-publica radio (daily radio podcasts, supported by Paul Mason), Rhino Charging (community electric vehicle charging stations) and fairmondo.uk.  Each pitcher was questioned by the panel judges: Vivian Woodell from The Phone Coop, Emer Coleman, Disruption and Ed Russell, Co-operative Web.  The final decision was made by conference participants using slido.com app.  Felix Weth (fairmondo eG) and Jack Thorp (fairmondo.uk) both presented sessions on how a cooperatively owned marketplace could provide an alternative to the “extractive platforms” such as Amazon, eBay, etsy etc.

The prize – 4 days of bespoke business advice from The Hive and  £2,000 from The Co-operative Bank – is a shot in the arm for fairmondo.uk during our start up phase.  The business advice will help with our aim to move from a Workers Coop to a Multi-stakeholder coop (MSC) and the knotty legal and insurance issues surrounding online platforms.  The cash prize will be used for platform development work and preparing for our 2017 crowdfund.

Open:2017 in a packed programme brought together people from around the globe who are actively collaborating to build the components of a new economic system built on fairness and sustainability.  The programme over 2 days at Goldsmiths gave builders and practitioners space to present, envision and deliberate on how we might collectively and peacefully transition to a “collaborative economy”.

See also Coders, Commoners and Cooperators for a fuller discussion on #platformcoops and fairmondo in the latest edition of STIR Magazine available to buy now.