Startup Hub Notman House Turns to Indiegogo to Fill Funding Gap

Built in 1854, Notman House is a historic landmark property located at the intersection of Montreal’s downtown core and creative Plateau neighborhood. In more recent times, it has become a beacon to entrepreneurship, open collaboration and peer-to-peer learning.

Currently, Notman House offers short-term office space for early stage technology startups, office space for venture investors and entrepreneurial support organizations, a co-working space for freelancers, and an event space for Startup and tech community events. But in order for Notman to remain the soul of Montreal’s startup scene, it must be purchased by the OSMO Foundation – and funding has fallen short.

So the organization has taken to Indiegogo to crowdfund the gap. It needs $100,000 to seal the deal.

“The OSMO Foundation was able to leverage the level of activity to successfully raise the profile of the Notman House project, leading to a combined $1.7 million in grants from the municipal, provincial, and federal government. In addition a $4.3 million loan has been committed by Investissement Quebec and the BDC,” explains the campaign. “However, to access these grants we need to raise $1.1 million in private contributions. $1 million of this is being pledged by corporate entities … We are looking to the community to help close the gap currently faced in the funding process.”

 

 

This way, OSMO can fully purchase the property. It will also renovate the building, doubling the amount of office space for startups, as well as dramatically boosting event capacity and opening a public cafe.

The campaign has been open for less than a day and already has raised more than $14,000, or over 14%, of its goal. The biggest contributor so far has pledged a remarkable $5,000. The campaign ends in 20 days.