Faces in the crowd: WNC crowdfunding initiatives

FIND YOUR TRIBE: Pie Tribe, an Asheville food-truck-to-be, will serve wood-fired, organic pizzas made with local ingredients. "We look forward to creating a small business that not only is sustainable but focuses on helping and supporting other small businesses in the area," says co-owner Jason Broaddus.

Crowdfunding platforms make it possible for individuals and organizations of any size to harness social networks and raise start-up capital for projects that might otherwise fail due to lack of funding. Each week, Xpress highlights notable Western North Carolina crowdsourcing initiatives that may inspire readers to become new faces in the crowd.

Pie Tribe’s launch

Two years after moving from Richmond, Va., to Asheville, Jason Broaddus and his fiancé Kara Haskins are making the transition from service industry employment to food business ownership. “I have always had the dream to start a food truck focusing on local, fresh, organic ingredients,” Broaddus says, calling Asheville the perfect place to launch that venture. “Pie Tribe will serve personal pies with seasonal ingredients, so the menu will be constantly changing.” At 700 degrees, the couple’s wood-fired oven takes roughly 90 seconds to bake Pie Tribe’s from-scratch pizzas, including the vegetarian Market Pizza. It will feature ingredients picked up from a local market that day. “Our home base is going to be at the Asheville Food Park in the River Arts District,” Broaddus says, “but we will be all around the Asheville area.” The two have already purchased and renovated a cargo trailer for the operation, but they aim to raise an additional $5,000 by Tuesday, March 1, to get the trailer professionally wrapped, conduct more product testing, purchase additional equipment and pay various licensing fees.

Logo from Pie Tribe's facebook page
Logo from Pie Tribe’s facebook page

FrogSportsBoards

Scott Williams and Steven White are calling their latest outdoor sports invention “one board for all seasons.” What began as a riverboard prototype has been modified to add safety, comfort and performance features that stand up to rivers, lakes, beaches and snow-covered mountains. Plus, the design puts riders at face level with the terrain, adding exhilaration to each adventure, according to the designers. Boards come in three sizes: the Tadpole for kids, the Frog for average-sized adults and the Bullfrog for larger thrill seekers. With their combined experience in water sports, manufacturing and business management, Williams and White believe their prototypes are ready for production. They aim to raise $162,500 by Friday, March 4, to pay for molds, tooling, business fees and other manufacturing costs.

Send your crowdsourcing campaign news to kmcreynolds@mountainx.com. A limited number of campaigns will be highlighted each week, at Xpress’ discretion. Campaigns must be locally based and should represent a current project with an achievable goal. Conditions are subject to change. Read about more Western North Carolina projects here.

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About Kat McReynolds
Kat studied entrepreneurship and music business at the University of Miami and earned her MBA at Appalachian State University. Follow me @katmAVL

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2 thoughts on “Faces in the crowd: WNC crowdfunding initiatives

  1. boatrocker

    Hmmm.

    Any plans to crowdfund the Asheville homeless (no, not a recent transplant folk band from Brooklyn, a jam band at the Xmas Jam or a sports team- actual homeless people), women in danger of losing access to reproductive services for Cruz control ™, affordable housing, a local livable wage, body cams for the APD, resisting local out of towner gentrification, legal fees to fight Duke Power for dirtying our air/water?

    Oh well, we can always paint a bird on it, or pave the developers’ way with yoga mats.

  2. I’m sure they appreciate the promotion and free advertising for their private sector for-profit business when so many have to pay for that. Good luck with your food truck downtown, and you’re welcome.

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