The Karena Crowdfunding project started about six months ago with friends. “In this crisis situation, dozens of projects are stalling on the idea that they do not have subsidies to get ahead, and we wanted to solve that problem,” says Ekain Martínez, co-founder of the project.

Self-financing platform

The Karen website consists of two sections. Under crowdfunding (self-financing), projects that need money can be subsidised through the voluntary offer of users. “We want to give priority to those projects that promote the Basque Country and have a social perspective, but other projects can also take place,” says Unai Martínez Lizardui.

Anyone wishing to publish a project in Karena must complete the registration form. The Administration will be responsible for receiving the form, providing advice and deciding whether or not to accept it. On the contrary, the project has a deadline for the website to develop the audiovisual information it will submit to users. Once the project has been published on the website, you will have 40 days to receive the necessary funding. They will decide on the amount requested and the prize to be awarded to the citizen on the basis of the amount given. “Prizes don’t have to be material. The group that asks for money to record a record, for example, can give an entry for a concert to whom it has given money.”

With the birth of Txita they wanted to symbolize the funding phase of the projects: when the project still has little funding, the egg carena (placenta) will be small. The economic supply will increase as it increases, until a chick is born within 40 days. If the project fails to achieve the funding requested within that period, a fried egg will appear and the total amount will be returned to the people who have offered the money.

Get to know Auzolan's projects

From the beginning it was attempted that the process of creating Karen was participatory. Thus, different agents were asked to make proposals with the aim of creating a tool that was as effective as possible. In Auzolan, they were asked to add a tool that would help them give a boost to the projects, and they thought it was a good idea. “On the web, in addition to the crowdfunding platform, there is also the Oilstrategy section. It contains a map with the geolocation and information of many auzolan projects in the Basque Country. The visitors of the website will know the projects of auzolan here and all the initiatives of auzolan will be able to develop relations between them, permitting synergies”.

In the candidate subsection, those in Karena want to help make one of the auzolanic projects that have been registered earn money. “People who have financed projects from the crowdfunding section will have the opportunity to vote on the favorite auzolan project on the map. By the end of the year, the highest voter will receive 1% of the funding obtained from all the projects of the year.”