“…superfast broadband has enabled us to invest in cutting edge technology and high calibre people.” – Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder is the UK’s Number One crowdfunding platform, based in Newquay in Cornwall.

With a mission to connect the projects that matter with supporters who care, they have helped thousands of projects to raise more than £50m for communities across the UK, activating solutions to significant problems faced by society along the way.

With the belief that communities should be empowered to turn their ideas into reality, Crowdfunder harnesses the latest digital technology to support and enable these communities to unlock a brighter and more sustainable future.

Head of Content Hannah Rutland says: “Quite simply, we could not run our online platform effectively without superfast connectivity. Because superfast broadband is now available to us in Cornwall, we can run a world class digital business here and all enjoy the benefits of living and working in such a beautiful and inspirational county.”

Hannah continued: “We are a fast growing business and superfast broadband has enabled us to invest in cutting edge technology and high calibre people. Our crowdfunding projects have a massive reach from Newquay, across the UK and beyond.”

Superfast broadband helps Hannah, as Head of Content, to be more productive. “As a digital business, we need to be able to send and receive large files, branding documents and film edits as well as upload videos instantly.  All of this simply would not be possible without a superfast broadband connection. Tasks that would otherwise take hours can now be completed in minutes.”

Video streaming is also a crucial part of their media mix, requiring excellent connectivity. “Crowdfunder has launched thousands of projects across the UK and use of online video has been a large part of its success,” says Hannah. “We encourage projects to share videos on our platform in order to connect with their own communities and audiences. Again, this would not be possible if we did not have superfast broadband.”

Superfast has also changed the way the teams work and reduced travel costs. Hannah says: “Now we have superfast broadband, we regularly use Google Hangouts for video conferencing with colleagues and clients rather than travel to meetings. We use Google Hangouts to connect staff in our two office locations as well as stay in face-to-face contact with staff who are out on the road visiting projects. Because of superfast broadband we can also have secure access to all the office systems when we are working from home or remotely, improving our business productivity.

“Training and education is a vital part of our work” adds Hannah. “We run regular online workshops on YouTube Live and offer a range of videos through our online Help Centre. Videos can now be uploaded in seconds and all of this is made possible by superfast broadband. We also use Google Hangouts to provide coaching for project teams. In a nutshell, superfast connectivity enables us to have instant face to face contact with our customers, which means we can make sure everyone is fully up to speed and there are no gaps in education and knowledge about crowdfunding.  This means we can work more effectively with project teams to deliver positive change.”

Hannah adds: Superfast broadband is now at the heart of the way we work. It is pivotal to our business model and it is helping us deliver transformational projects across the UK and beyond.”