Jaguars Support First Ever Crowdfunding Festival One Spark April 17-21

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Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan (known for his mustache) has pledged up to $1 million dollars at the first crowdfunding festival One Spark (photo: sportsrantz.com)

An amazing thing is happening in Jacksonville, Florida April 12-21 2013. The entire downtown part of the city is being transformed into One Spark, the first ever of it’s kind, gigantic crowdfunding festival.

One of the event’s co-founder and Executive Director Elton Rivas told nibletz.com “Imagine taking crowdfunding offline”.  He went onto describe how venues across the downtown area will be set up to showcase the latest in startups, technology, products and crowdfunding goods. At these showcases the creators and founders can show off their wares and encourage people to crowdfund their project right there in person.

While the concept is great in it’s own right, I mean imagine being able to touch the products on Kickstarter, there’s more to OneSpark than that.

On Tuesday night when we first talked to Rivas there was a minimum fund of $250,000 already in place to help crowdfund some of the project that will be showing off at OneSpark. It was revealed on Wednesday that Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has pledged up to $1 million dollars through his investment arm STACHE Investments Corp. to help fund these projects.

“One Spark will attract and celebrate creativity in a variety of fields including science, technology, engineering and the arts, all of which are areas of great personal interest,” said Khan. “Jacksonville is the perfect host for this festival and I believe One Spark has the potential to inspire some really big thinking from the brightest minds in the area and beyond.”

“One Spark started with the belief that game-changers emerge from dorm rooms, garages and small studios – where great ideas develop. One Spark 2013 will be the point when creators of all kinds converge in our community, and when people from far and wide join together to decide on the next big thing(s). The heart of our city will be the place to get involved, be inspired, connect and collaborate,” said Rivas.

Some facts about One Spark:

— Open to all: Anyone can be a creator; One Spark venues can be spaces nearly anywhere in the urban core.

— Grassroots and independent: One Spark is built on the premise that the next great creation will likely come from a garage, small studio or dorm room. Creators will pair up with venues, independently, on the One Spark website. The organization does not select any of the creators or venues that make up the event.

— Empowered public: The $250,000 One Spark fund will be distributed based on public vote; the public can also contribute directly to entrants in any amount.

— Five packed days: During the actual event, there will be creator showcases, speakers, culinary experiences, music and what we like to call “spectacles.”

— Win votes and snag a slice of the $250,000 guaranteed crowd-fund. Crowd-fund monies will be distributed by popular vote. For example, if you receive 10 percent of the vote, you would receive 10 percent of the fund, or $25,000.

— STACHE Investments Corp: Formed by Shad Khan in 2012, the investment company has a component that focuses on entrepreneurial ventures in Northeast Florida and will be on the ground looking for investment opportunities during the five days of One Spark.

For more on OneSpark click here

Now that’s four months of great startup events including the biggest startup conference in the U.S. everywhereelse.co The Startup Conerence next month!