Funding Scheme "Equal Contribution – Priority Access"

The "Equal Contribution – Priority Access" Pure Funding Scheme

Essence:

    All strategic partners, regardless of their entry stage, ultimately contribute an equal total sum to the project. Their contributions serve as an advance payment for the future product.

    An individual partner's contribution amount is significantly lower (by a factor of N) compared to what it would cost if the partner attempted to independently develop and implement this product within their own company. This amount depends on the total number of strategic partners across all stages.

Stage Details

Goal of each stage: To fund development. The later the stage, the closer the product is to completion and the higher the entry price for new partners. However, the final total contribution of a partner who joined at stage 1, 3, or 4 does not change. For all strategic partners, the final contribution to the project is identical.

    First Stage: Spending of partner funds does not commence until the required number of strategic partners is secured and the total funding pool reaches the necessary sum.

    Once the target sum is reached, the expenditure phase begins with full, transparent reporting on where and how much funds were spent.

    Funds can be transferred every 4 months by each partner to a separate, shared funding account. This further breaks down the funding stages, allowing a strategic partner to decide to exit and cease funding at any such sub-stage.

    This also protects partners from fraud scenarios where funds are collected in one lump sum and then disappear.

    However, such concerns will also be mitigated during the pool formation stage through introductions to the developers/project founder, pitches, and conferences held to attract strategic partners.

The primary objective of this strategy is to secure funding for the early development stages when demonstrating a working version is difficult due to the product's complexity and the need for significant foundational work before visible results appear.

It is also worth mentioning that the software product has already been in development for several years. However, to achieve a substantial acceleration in development, it is necessary to attract funds for compensating additional specialists.

Upon completion of a stage, if a partner believes development is not progressing effectively, they may withdraw from further funding.

At each subsequent stage, the number of strategic partners may increase. However, even after the first development stage, the project will appear more attractive to new strategic partners.

A community of the first business users forms around the project. If they wish, they can meet each other, discuss the project, and submit proposals and requests for features they would like to see prioritized.

It is also possible to hire additional specialists through a strategic partner. If a partner requires specific functionality or content preparation tailored to their business/industry by the time of the product's release, and if it becomes clear to the partner that the product will survive to the market launch stage, such arrangements can be made.

Stage | Conditions for 1st-Stage Partners | Conditions for New Partners | Stage Goal (Example)

1. Start | Contribution: $10,000 | Contribution: $10,000 | Create a working prototype ($300k)

2. Development | Contribution: $10,000 (Total: $20k) | Contribution: $20,000 | Add core features ($600k)

3. Finalization | Contribution: $10,000 (Total: $30k) | Contribution: $30,000 | Polishing and release ($900k)

Result: By the end of the 3rd stage, each partner, regardless of when they joined, has invested exactly $30,000 in the project.

What Strategic Partners Receive (Their Benefit)

1. Financial Savings (Primary Benefit)

    If they were not partners, they would have to purchase a finished license at the full market price. Upon successful completion, if an annual license hypothetically costs $30,000 and three stages were required, strategic partners gain access to the product at half the cost. This means their product is already paid for two years in advance. Alternatively, they receive the first 10% of user subscription revenue (equal to $30,000), which is considered the amount they contributed during development.

2. Exclusive and Priority Access

    They gain access to alpha and beta versions much earlier than anyone else.

    This provides a strategic advantage: they can start using the product and integrating it into their processes while competitors are still considering a purchase.

3. Simplicity and Transparency

    All partners are on equal footing regarding final costs.

    There are no complex conditions regarding equity or governance. They are not investors, but advance-paying clients.

Conclusion: For a partner, this is a win-win situation.

    If the product is successfully created: The partner obtained the product cheaper (the word "free" is inappropriate as the partner already paid during development) and earlier than anyone else.

    If the product is not created: The partner loses only the contribution amount ($10k, $20k, $30k). They gain experience in implementing a digital twin within their business. The risk is limited and understood.

It is important to understand that with each funding stage, the risk decreases, as a more refined, working version of the product emerges, making it much easier to demonstrate the feasibility of completing the development.