Kupper Mounts Appoints Jason Morris as New Vice President of Sales to Manage Business Development Opportunities in the United States and International Markets

Kupper Bike Rack Mounts are one of the most affordable, portable, secure, convenient & quick-to-install bike racking systems in the world. They will fit any car, truck or SUV, regardless of country.

Raleigh, North Carolina – Kupper Mounts (https://kuppermounts.com), a next generation bicycle carrier manufacturer, announced today the company has appointed a new Vice President of Sales, Jason Morris, to grow the company’s bicycle accessories sales by signing up  bicycle shops and bike resellers in the United States and international distributors and/or exporters/importers that will sell Kupper Mounts into over 30 global marketplaces.

Kupper Mounts are a next generation bike rack that have very powerful suction cups that make it easy to install a bike carrier on any car, truck, van or SUV in less than two minutes. Kupper Mounts do not require a luggage rack or a trailer hitch for installation, a feature that is very popular with today’s mobile millennial cyclists.

Kupper Bike Rack Mounts are one of the most affordable, portable, secure, convenient & quick-to-install bike racking systems in the world.

Kupper Mounts also store easily in checked-bags for airline travel and solve the common problem of trying to find a bike rack that can be mounted on any rental car or SUV while on biking vacations and adventures. Kupper’s mounts work well with all types of road bikes, mountain bikes, triathlon bikes, cyclo-cross and commuter bikes.

Kupper Mounts Competitive Chart of Bike Racks and Bike Carriers

“After a very successful crowdfunding campaign we were struggling to keep up with the demand from customers who are searching for bike shops and independent bike dealers (IBD) in their local cities and towns that sell our Kupper Mounts,” said Andrew Jarrard, Kupper Mounts CEO and Founder. “As a 25-year-plus retail management veteran, sales rep and regional sales manager for various companies such as Accell Group (Raleigh, Diamondback), Dean, Janus Cycle Group, Merlin and Velosport Imports, Morris brings our team invaluable experience in setting up new independent bike dealer accounts as well as streamlining the operations of our rapidly growing sales & distribution networks.”

“I am very excited to accept my new role in setting up an independent dealer network in the United States for Kupper Mounts and look forward to expanding Kupper’s reach into international markets in Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America,” said Jason Morris, Kupper Mounts’ Vice President of Sales.

Morris continued, “In addition to being an excellent bike carrier, the great thing about Kupper Mounts bike racks is that they can be used as a great marketing tool; an effective Point of Purchase (POP) sales product that will bring more customers inside a bike shop; and, increase sales ticket totals by being able to show a new, high-end, easy to use, high-margin bike accessory that can increase accessory sales by $200 or more for every bike sold. The Kupper Mount’s Bike Rack system can also be used to hang bikes in various locations inside and outside the bike shop increasing display space.

Independent Bike Sales Reps

Kupper Mounts is now signing up new independent sales representatives with experience selling into bike shops and independent bike dealer networks.

Social Media Marketing Promotion

The company is also seeking to sign up social media marketers, influencers and brand advocates that have a special knack for promoting and selling products through social media networks.

Kupper Mounts Sales
Interested parties should call Jason Morris at (813) 616-0702 or send him an email at jason.morris@kuppermounts.com.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding” to see why Mr. Hoskins is considered one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding experts that has amassed a huge social media following, which is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns.

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India’s Leading Crowdfunding Platform Has Announced the Launch of a New Initiative Called the ‘Doctors for Good’ Program

ImpactGuru.com’s volunteer doctors impact thousands of lives with their practice by examining patients and conducting clinical evaluations

By Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR

Mumbai, India – ImpactGuru.com, India’s leading crowdfunding platform has announced the launch of a new initiative called the, ‘Doctors For Good’ program on National Doctors’ Day. As a part of this program, Impact Guru will honor the role of doctors in our community, whose daily efforts save the lives of millions of people struggling with illnesses, diseases and injuries.

ImpactGuru.com, India’s leading crowdfunding platform has announced the launch of a new initiative called the, ‘Doctors for Good’ Program

The initiative coined by ImpactGuru.com will educate doctors regarding the benefits of crowdfunding for patients who require funds to treat serious illnesses, diseases or injuries like cancer, organ failure, etc. Surgeries coupled with post-surgical care and treatments, have resulted in many families incurring costs of over tens of lakhs of rupees. Patients and their families have traditionally resorted to taking loans or borrowed the funds required at high interest rates from private lenders or family. With the introduction of crowdfunding platforms, many families have been able to successfully raise sufficient funds for such medical treatments.

With this initiative, ImpactGuru.com invites doctors, hospitals, and clinicians as they conduct training sessions in the form of webinars or workshops. These workshops will educate them about how crowdfunding can help patients access and afford quality and reliable medical services from trusted practitioners. The ‘Doctors For Good’ program, will also help provide quick financial assistance to anyone with a medical cause. This program aims to help thousands of lesser privileged patients, access proper and quality treatment without being burdened by the expenses through the enrolled doctors.

Additionally, the doctors that volunteer for this program will also help verify cases and medical reports, as they impact thousands of lives with their practice by examining patients and cases by conducting clinical evaluations. They will impart medical advice to campaigners raising funds through ImpactGuru.com, while sharing their expert opinions on various medical topics via the platform’s website and other communication channels.

Speaking about the program, Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and chief executive officer of ImpactGuru.com said, “Over the past six months we have seen a surge in medical fundraisers. In the last two months itself, we were able to raise around 75 lakhs for many patients on our platform. Most campaigners are not aware of their potential to raise funds to help treat their family members and friends. They approach us with low expectations and are left overwhelmed by the massive response they receive. Through this initiative, we want to multiply the impact by involving more doctors to help us reach more patients and save more lives. We understand running a fundraiser while taking care of an ill family member is not easy, which is why we have a fully equipped team that provides 24×7 support to each campaigner, and we wish to render these services for those in need.”

Dr. Sasmita Panda – Medical officer Shri HN Reliance Hospital said, “I’ve had many patients come to me looking for advice on how to arrange for funds to get the treatment done immediately. In most cases, the surgery has to take place immediately, but is delayed only because of lack of funds. There are times when the patient’s life is lost while waiting for funds. I’ve recommended crowdfunding to many, who have managed to raise 50% to 100% of funds in a week and gotten the required treatment. I think in the time of a rising number of cancer cases, crowdfunding can be a life-saver. It is a great alternative to the hassle faced, after approaching insurance companies or banks.”

Impact Guru offers a complete crowdfunding solution that combines social or donation crowdfunding, rewards crowdfunding for medical or personal causes, nonprofits, and social enterprises for all their fundraising needs – be it small or large. The company was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program in USA in 2014. Impact Guru has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and San Francisco.

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding PR” to see why Mr. Hoskins runs one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing agencies that has amassed a huge social media following and is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

OurCrowd and LetsVenture Announce Collaboration on Setting Up New ‘India Investment Fund’ to Begin Investing in Indian and Israeli Entrepreneurs and Startups

OurCrowd will offer curated deals to Indian investor syndicates managed by LetsVenture, as well as showcase Indian startups on OurCrowd’s platform

By Robert Hoskins, Crowdfunding PR

Bengaluru, India – OurCrowd, one of the landing equity crowdfunding in Israel, announced that it has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with LetsVenture, one of India’s largest angel investment syndicates for seed stage and venture capital for startups and growing businesses. As part of this partnership, OurCrowd will offer curated deals to Indian investor syndicates managed by LetsVenture, as well as showcase Indian startups on OurCrowd’s platform, giving selected Indian startups access to accredited investors globally and to business development opportunities.

OurCrowd will offer curated deals to Indian investor syndicates managed by LetsVenture, as well as showcase Indian startups on OurCrowd’s platform

OurCrowd and LetsVenture will be also be collaborating on an ‘India Fund’ to invest in Israeli, Indian and global startups. The investment into this fund would primarily be from family funds and high net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in India and OurCrowd’s global network of accredited investors.

Leveraging LetsVenture’s domestic network, OurCrowd will offer Indian corporates access to the Israeli innovation ecosystem.

“Having made startup funding easy, our vision is to make angel investing easy with a focus on portfolio management (startup reporting, portfolio diversification and exits). The partnership with OurCrowd aligns with our vision of offering our investors access to some of the best startups across geographies including Israel, along with giving LetsVenture portfolio companies access to global investors for their next round of funding. In this partnership with one of the largest equity crowdfunding platforms globally, we do believe this is a win-win for both of us,” said Shanti Mohan, Co-Founder & CEO, LetsVenture.

In addition to this, LetsVenture will facilitate ‘Take to Market’ activities for OurCrowd’s portfolio companies to access the Indian market, the activities of which are under development by LetsVenture and are targeted to commence in 2018.

Commenting on the announcement, Jon Medved, OurCrowd CEO, said, “India is a critical growth market for our business with a huge number of very exciting startup investment opportunities in a range of sectors. Israel and India have a great joint heritage sharing many of the same entrepreneurial qualities that are the backbone of our economies. I am excited to be entering into this collaboration with LetsVenture, which I believe will deliver great value to our investors.”

Elias Ghosalkar, Director of Corporate Development at OurCrowd, added, “OurCrowd, with its strong global presence and established industry leadership is well poised to support the Indian startup eco-system and its stakeholders via its strategic collaboration with LetsVenture. This strategic collaboration helps build much needed bridges between the Israeli and Indian startup ecosystems, and opens the doors to tapping into high growth potential synergies. Indian investors, startups and corporates gain access to global expertise, know-how and innovation via the OurCrowd network, which will truly help put the ‘Startup India initiative’ on a fast track and further strengthen the economic linkages between Israel and India.”

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Robert Hoskins
(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

On a regular basis, Mr. Hoskins consults with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Google search “Robert Hoskins Crowdfunding PR” to see why Mr. Hoskins runs one of the industry’s foremost crowdfunding PR, social media and marketing agencies that has amassed a huge social media following and is dedicated to supporting a wide variety of donation, rewards and equity crowdfunding campaigns.

China, India and the US to Dominate the Global Digital Fintech Platform Economy; Much of Europe Lags Behind

Majority of Businesses and Economies Are Not Ready for Digital Platforms, Accenture Research Shows

By Robert Hoskins

New York, New York – Research released by Accenture (NYSE:ACN) reveals that despite the potential for small and traditional businesses to become successful digital fintech platform companies, as few as 10 percent of new start-ups focused on digital platform business models will become profitable independent entities in the coming years. The analysis also reveals that China, India and the U.S. will dominate the platform economy by 2020, and that the gulf between countries will increase. To help bridge this gap, the report outlines five critical steps businesses and governments can take to succeed.

Five Factors for a Successful Digital Fintech Platform Ecosystem

Accenture’s report Five Ways to Win with Digital Platforms, published in collaboration with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, assesses the ability of 16 G20 economies to support the flourishing of digital platforms. It shows that the UK and Germany join China, India and the U.S. at the top of the Accenture Platform Readiness Index, but other emerging markets and European economies are predicted to lag behind, lacking sufficient business and socio-economic enabling conditions.

“When you think of digital platforms, think of China and India as much as the U.S. These economies are using the power of platforms to create large scale markets very rapidly,” said Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s Chief Technology Officer. “Many European economies are in danger of missing out in the platform economy. Multi-stakeholder cooperation is required to address the fragmented digital markets and to support the greater levels of digital enterprise and consumption that successful platform businesses need.”

Accenture’s analysis shows $20bn was invested in digital platforms between 2010 and 2015 in 1,053 publicly announced deals. More than half of this investment took place between 2014 and 2015. It also shows that rankings on the Platform Readiness Index strongly correlate to the levels of digital platform activity and investment in G20 countries.

The report recommends that governments engage with businesses leaders to advance a range of policies that can create a rich enabling environment for digital platforms including the following actions:

1.			Prioritize data protection standards and rules: Drive the harmonization of data privacy and data security legislation. Smooth cross-border data transfers.
2.			Design regulations with digital platforms in mind: Experiment with regulations alongside new technologies and business models. For instance, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority’s “regulatory sandbox” allows start-ups to test ideas without immediately incurring all the normal regulatory consequences.
3.			Encourage cross-border electronic trade. Harmonize taxes and standards, consumer protection, contract laws and logistics infrastructure. The eWorld Trade Platform (eWTP), initiated by B20 China, aims to accelerate international policy collaboration to support SMEs.1
4.			Invest in digital infrastructure: For example, the E.U.’s Payment Services Directive (PSD2) will empower start-ups to expand customer reach and encourage innovative business models.
5.			Think small, act big: Educate SMEs on alternative funding, such as crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending; and on data privacy and consumer protection. Support SMEs with digital economic zones to support e-commerce.

Five ways to succeed

Accenture notes that only 15 percent of Fortune 100 companies have developed digital platform business models to date Successful digital platforms will proliferate as small businesses and traditional industries follow the lead set by digital-born platform companies. Accenture identifies five factors critical to sustaining critical mass in digital platforms, which use new technologies to create large scale markets of customers and service providers:

1.			Proposition: Create differentiated platform services that extend beyond the point of transaction; and that support both customers on the demand side and service providers on the supply side.
2.			Personalization: Target customers through tailored experiences across all channels, using customer data to anticipate needs and offer bespoke experiences.
3.			Price: Apply new pricing models, such as pay-as-you-go, ‘freemiums’, and subscription pricing to respond to peak demand.
4.			Protection: Embed trust at the heart of the platform, using both prevention and compensation techniques to attract customers and differentiate the platform.
5.			Partners: Scale the platform rapidly by identifying digital partners – such as app developers and payment service providers – who can enrich the platform experience and fulfill customer needs.

“Digital platforms are not just the preserve of digital born companies, like Airbnb and Alibaba, but are now becoming a default business model in most industry sectors, both B2B and B2C,” said Francis Hintermann, managing director, Accenture Research. “To enjoy efficiencies and high rates of growth, companies will need to transform everything from the way they co-create goods and services with third parties, tailor their offerings to customers, and price them dynamically. Crucially, they will only sustain critical mass by working with digital partners who can deliver the range of functional services that complete the customer experience.”

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(512) 627-6622
@Crowdfunding_PR

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Mr. Robert Hoskins is a seasoned marketing veteran with a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses as well as Fortune 500 corporations launch successful marketing communications campaigns to gain market traction for a wide variety of products and services.

Mr. Hoskins consults on a regular basis with crowdfunding campaign managers as well as crowdfunding sites, portals and platforms to deliver successful crowdfunding marketing campaigns.

Mr. Hoskins is one of the crowdfunding industry’s foremost crowdfunding advocates and has amassed a huge social media following that is dedicated to supporting donation-, rewards- and equity-based crowdfunding campaigns. Due to the overwhelming demand from the general public for crowdfunding information, he empowers entrepreneurs with some of the internet’s most affordable ($20) online crowdfunding training classes, which provide insight to startups around the world on a 24 x 7 basis.

Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites Increase by an Average of 524% based on the United States Fastest Growing Internet Traffic Research Report

Over the past 12 months the top 10 crowdfunding sites have experienced exponential growth. Click here to research their website statistics to see what type of advertising, content marketing, email marketing, geographic locations, mobile wireless apps,  search engine results (SEO), social media, and referral partners are driving the world’s fastest growing crowdfunding rewards and equity investment websites

The Top 10 Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites in the United States Increase Internet Traffic by an Average of 524%

By Robert Hoskins

Austin, Texas – Want to know who the Top 100 Fastest Growing Crowdfunding sites  in the world are? The graph above shows the top 10 crowdfunding sites based on their website’s internet traffic. From a competitive analysis standpoint it might make you wonder how these companies are growing at such a phenomenal rate.

What type of marketing campaigns are they running to achieve this success?  Advertising? Email Marketing? Affiliate Marketing? Referral Partners? Direct Traffic?  Search Engine Results?  Alexa provides a little bit of information, Compete has even less, but SimilarWeb is building a great business by providing a ton of competitive information that up and coming crowdfunding sites and crowdfunding campaign managers can use to improve their marketing efforts.

Want to see the competitive analysis marketing report for each of the sites below? Simply click the % link for each one and you’ll be able to see what type of marketing campaigns are driving these sites’ traffic, where that traffic is coming from, where their visitors are going next, plus a whole lot more.

For examples, scroll down to the bottom of this page to see what types of marketing programs are driving the top 10 crowdfunding site’s rapid acceleration of website traffic.

If you would like to receive an Excel Spreadsheet that has last year’s statistics, this year’s stats, as well as the list of the Top 100 Crowdfunding Sites sorted by overall global ranking, fastest growing and biggest losses in website traffic, then follow these instructions to receive a free copy:

     1st – Follow @Crowdfunding PR, click here to send a Connect Request via Linkedin, or do both.

     2nd – Tweet us a message that says, “Please send me a copy of the #Top100CrowdfundingSites”

     3rd – We’ll follow you back and send a Direct Message for your email address

    4th – Want to improve your crowdfunding site’s results/ranking? Call us at (512) 627-6622. Front Page PR will put together an aggressive marketing program to improve your competitive position!

Overall Rank	Top 10 Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Websites	Past 12 Months
#5	FundingCircle	1946%
#3	Angel List	760%
#8	YouCaring	597%
#4	LendingClub	440%
#13	Crowdrise	429%
#2	GoFundMe	360%
#10	GiveForward	355%
#7	Quirky	222%
#9	JustGiving	82%
#12	Kiva	52%

 

1st Place = FundingCircle

FundingCircle makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

2nd Place = Angel List

Angel List makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

3rd Place = YouCaring

YouCaring makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

4th Place = LendingClub

LendingClub makes Top 10 List of the Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

5th Place = Crowdrise

Crowdrise makes Top 10 List of the Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

6th Place = GoFundMe

GoFundMe makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

7th Place = GiveForward

GiveForward makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

8th Place = Quirky

Quirky makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites Worldwide

9th Place = JustGiving

JustGiving makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites

10th Place = Kiva

Kiva makes Top 10 List of Fastest Growing Crowdfunding Sites Worldwide

 

Crowdfunding Gathers Business Mentors, Financial Advisors and Investors in India

By Deepti Chaudhary

LiveMint – Crowdfunding, a practice that takes advantage of the collective effort of individuals who pool money mostly through the Internet to support start-ups, appears to be gathering momentum in India with at least four such initiatives being introduced in the past one year.

Crowdfunding platforms gather momentum in India

Referred to as crowdfunding platforms in investment circles, they have created a new asset class with shared risks that promises start-ups not just funding but also mentoring and advisory services.

Take the case of India’s first crowdfunding portal, Pik A Venture, launched by an MBA student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Ruchi Dana, in July. Besides funding, the portal also provides advice on legal and company registration issues and offers consulting and guidance on campaigns.

Pik A Venture targets creative minds, budding artists, technical brains, student entrepreneurs and innovators, according to Dana. “We are currently mentoring 12 business ideas and are putting their campaigns online. We don’t want start-ups to just come on our website and fail,” she said.

Pik A Venture will not take any equity stake but charge a percentage of the funding. It will do a soft launch of the platform in the middle of May.

In India, these platforms seem to prefer the creative arts such as films and social causes for raising capital from the general public.

For instance, filmmaker Abhay Kumar raised around Rs.5 lakh over the last 20 days for his documentary Placebo; Onir’s I Am raised around Rs.1 crore over six-nine months, while Kannada film Lucia by filmmaker Pawan Kumar raised more than Rs.50 lakh over 30 days.

Starting Blocks Media Ventures Pvt. Ltd is launching its crowdfunding platform, Catapooolt, to focus on creative projects such as films, music, performing arts and books in mid-April.

“In case of crowdfunding for films and music, the copyright of the project lies with the producer or the one who posts the project on the site,” said Satish Kataria, managing director, Catapooolt, adding the site is the first ever official crowd-funding platform for the Hong Kong Film Festival 2013.

Experts say while crowdfunding takes time, as much as 8-10 months for a deal, it increases the pool of available capital.

Start-ups can use crowdfunding to make a pitch that can be accessed by investors subscribing to the service. The investors range from professional ones to business people. The minimum investment could be as low as Rs.1,000 with no upper limit.

The pitch includes details such as the background of the entrepreneurs, the business offering and plans, financials and funding requirements.

Once a pool of investors shows interest in backing the start-up, the funds raised are directed to the company through the platform. The platform could have a member of its team on the board of the venture. Investors will have complete access to the company’s financial plans and performance on a monthly basis. The platform typically takes a percentage of the fund raised through it.

Varun Sheth and film star Kunal Kapoor launched Ketto on 15 August to build an online network focusing on philanthropy in India. It connects non-profits and other companies aiming for social impact with the public.

There is a large opportunity in crowdfunding as it resolves the problem of lack of funding, according to Sheth, who added that at least half a dozen more crowdfunding platforms would start by the year end.

“Crowdfunding is a big disruption for financial services industry, it cuts the middlemen away. Social media and Internet growth has increased the awareness and viability of such platforms,” said Sheth. Ketto is right now raising Rs.1 crore for itself and expects to close the fund raising in about 45 days.

Sheth said facilitating donations is an interesting space for a crowdfunding platform as there is a lot of disposable income in India and increasingly more people are looking at giving back to society.

“The mandatory 2% CSR (corporate social responsibility) would also increase pools for crowdfunding platforms,” he said, referring to the new companies Act that mandates such spending. The Act is yet to be passed by Parliament.

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