Crowdsourcing has become increasingly popular in recent years, and passionate divers have taken the plunge. While PADI’s favorite non-profit is Project AWARE, we wanted to report on some of the crowd-sourcing projects that are out there – perhaps one of you reading this post will be inspired to create the next dive innovation!
Bluebuddy is a wireless scuba diving data recorder. This project exceeded its $20,000 goal and was successfully funded in 2013. The product is now available for sale and works with “most” smartphones.
Rainbow Reef is a Kickstarter campaign currently running (as of 16 Apr 2014). Riding with the Whales Productions is looking for a total of $400,000 from Kickstarter backers to produce a TV sitcom about a dive shop owner in Florida.
Bring Sharks 4 Kids to Canada is looking for support to bring 3 amazing marine biologists to share the importance of ocean conservation and sharks to thousands of students in our landlocked city of Guelph. The organizer, sixth grade teacher Joe Grabowski you may know for his students’ letters to the Premier of Western Australia and Canadian Prime Minister which received international news coverage.
Have you ever supported a crowdfunding campaign or started one yourself? Let us know in the comments.