The fund is seeking to raise $100k in ETH to distribute to our creative community using quadratic voting.
Unnamed Fund is a cooperatively controlled creative ecosystem fund
It seeks to re-imagine existing models for funding creative, artistic, and entrepreneurial projects by sustaining those underserved by traditional funding through the equitable distribution of capital, across multiple impact outcomes. Unnamed Fund is organized by members and alumni of NEW INC, the New Museum's cultural incubator.
What are we up to?
After 6 months of research and refinement, Unnamed Fund is in an experimental phase. We are launching seasonal funding experiments as a means to explore radical community powered funding models. These experiments are being conducted with NEW INC, the New Museum's incubator, and its community of creatives as a test case for the viability of the fund. We have just completed our first experiment - through which we democractically distributed $10K in funding. We are now working on our second experiment, which we plan to launch in early 2023.
Living thesis 1.0
The development of a community-led, cooperatively controlled fund will create a model for funding and sustaining creative ecosystem projects across multiple impact outcomes - ranging from financial return to community return.
A community-first approach to the distribution of capital is an essential step towards diversifying the landscape of creatives and projects who have access to capital. Our thesis is centered around four main tenets:
- Community: A fund can be community led and cooperatively controlled.
- Sustainability: A fund can sustain a creative ecosystem across multiple impact outcomes (financial and social).
- Equity: A fund can serve to highlight projects in the creative ecosystem that are underserved by traditional means of funding.
- Decentralized: A fund can employ decentralized governance principles and economics facilitated by web 3.0 technology, specifically via a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous rganization).
History and current members
Responding to the deficit of available funding resources for creators, in particular those underserved by traditional models, a core group of interested NEW INC community members have organically come together to shape this experiment. United around the principles of distributed governance, and an excitement for community-led solutions, we began to develop ideas for a cooperatively governed fund through slow, and intentional work. Currently the fund is being managed and organized by Alex Darby, Noya Kohavi, Austin Robey and Bhavik Singh.
Participate
Contribute to the fund
Join the conversation
If you're interested in sending references, would like to talk, or want to just keep in touch, you can reach out via social media.
Join the Fund
While we are not currently accepting applications for funders or organizing members, we are taking expressions of interest from the community.
Research
Ahead of lunch the fund is conducting a period of community-sourced, public research led by its founding members which will inform the refinement of our funding thesis. We will be publishing our findings, conversations, and changes to our thesis via our blog.
Applying and voting in experiment #1
Seeking applicants and voters from the community to participate in our first experiment in community grant making
Raising for first funding experiment
After months of research, model development, workshops and conversations, the fund is planning to distribute 3.5 in ETH ($10k) to the NEW INC community through a community-powered quadratic vote.
Re-imagining Creative Ecosystem Funding
What would it look like to develop an experimental, community-led, cooperatively controlled fund for the creative ecosystem?
Colophon – illustrations by Erik Carter, website by Bhavik Singh, and words by Alex Darby all in
collaboration with Unnamed Fund . Thanks for stopping by, we hope to see you again soon.