For the first time, the jury of the Humanitech challenge rewarded two tied teams during the final on May 31st: Help Around (mobile application to keep up to date with solidarity actions in the vicinity) and Probonall.
The Humanitech challenge initiated by Telecom ParisTech has the following special features technology and humanitarianism, creativity and freedom. That's what attracted the students. Mailys MEYNIEU, Fatima SAIAD and Stéphanie DANG VAN PHU designers of the Probonall project.
Probonall is a solidarity platform for bringing together project leaders and contributors to develop charitable and economic activities thanks to the participation of all. Probonall is inspired by participatory financing sites but relies more on the human aspect by promoting exchanges of services (lending of premises, equipment, exchanges of skills).
The idea is therefore to create, via a web platform, a space to bring together, on the one hand, underprivileged people who have neither the weapons to fight for their dreams nor the means to make a place for themselves in the field they covet and, on the other hand, those who would sincerely like to change the course of things by getting involved in humanitarian actions but without being able to find the cause that makes them vibrate. So it's all about volunteering 2.0
Why Probonall?
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Here we will use the exact terms of the three students' project description:
"In order to create favourable conditions that would allow everyone to get involved in humanitarian causes and to embark on personal projects that could potentially benefit society as a whole, it is therefore a matter of giving everyone the necessary cards so that they can make their dreams come true and start making them accessible.
Entrepreneurship is often described as a real obstacle course, Probonall would then come to help these budding adventurers. Furthermore, we have noticed that entrepreneurs often say that the hardest moments are undoubtedly those when you feel alone in the world with your project, hence the idea of bringing together all these actors within a community around the pleasure of sharing your passion.
People are more and more afraid to create and being part of a network is indispensable even though ideas are everywhere! So why not offer a platform available to everyone that allows you to create this network yourself? Why deprive society of beautiful projects by slowing down initiatives due to a counter-productive environment so often decried?
Only a small percentage of startups manage to stand out from the crowd and exist on a long-term basis. They are constantly looking for collaborators, a sign that it is not so easy to find them and that it would therefore make sense to find a solution.
Similarly, humanitarian engagement is often described as a time-consuming activity. Hence the idea of facilitating this commitment by combining simplicity, speed and flexibility: where I want, when I want, what I want!
Thinking about it, however, the solution seems simple to change things: favour more contacts, optimise conditions and exchanges to give these actors the means to act rather than reasons to criticise and complain about the system.
Our ambition is therefore to create this framework conducive to the spirit of initiative, Probonall will be the environment and the catalytic space that will make possible the concepts of innovating together and volunteering 2.0 by making concrete means available to the public".
The service
"Probonall sells accompaniment, collaboration, networking, professional and human encounters, all around mutual aid and solidarity. The concept can be seen as an accelerator of projects, meetings, a kind of online incubator.
Two types of actors exist on the platform: project leaders and contributors.
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The objective is to contribute all together to help project leaders by offering them help and support.
Probonall is based on the virtuous circle according to which when we receive help at times when we really need it, we feel the desire to return the favour and in turn help those who will find themselves in the same situation years after us. Everything will therefore be built in such a way that yesterday's project leaders become tomorrow's contributors.
Our service will therefore comprise two main areas: a humanitarian aspect aimed at associations or individuals wishing to defend a solidarity project and a business-oriented aspect (business creation, creative projects) with the common denominator of this same logic of mutual aid and sharing around a passion. Each section will be thought differently and will have its own functioning that we will try to present to you in the following.
The general concept of Probonall is inspired by crowdfunding but here, not everything will revolve around money: it will be a question of participating in the projects posted online through services rendered, material lent or given and also through financing. »
With values such as trust, solidarity, exchanges, accessibility, innovation,... no doubt that Probonall will meet its market and its very varied users: investors, business creators, students but also job seekers. The latter will undoubtedly be " the most motivated to try the Probonall adventure because they find themselves in a situation where they are rejected from a system that does not reach out to them. They will have nothing to lose and will know how to seize the opportunity that Probonall offers them. As a project leader, it is the possibility to make their dream come true and as a contributor, it is the possibility to be seen and known by potential future employers. Probonall gives them the chance to work and control their image. »
Other users :
"Retired people: like students, they have free time, but they also have skills and experience to contribute. They are more likely to be on the contributor's side and will be among the most sought-after profiles.
- Large companies: they will be very curious and interested in finding out about the proposed projects, this would give them access to a wealth of information that they could reuse. For these reasons, these are very dangerous profiles as they are directly competing with the projects proposed on the platform.
- Associations: they will appreciate to see users coming to engage in their projects without any counterpart. They will gain visibility and will use the platform as a springboard to raise awareness of the causes they defend.
- Inhabitants of disadvantaged areas: like the unemployed, they are generally excluded from society and will see in Probonall the opportunity to take their revenge and show their abilities so often underestimated. »
Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing are new global trends explored by the biggest brands and about which we hear a lot, it is around these two concepts that we can situate Probonall. On the other hand, the logic of "DIY (do it yourself)", according to which users are seeking to become more involved in order to no longer be mere spectators, is also gaining momentum and joining the phenomena of crowdfunding and crowdsourcing. Consumers are now gathering around communities of enthusiasts who feel the need to share much more than just monetary resources: knowledge, skills, etc.
It is then the simple pleasure to meet, to work together, to innovate together, to help each other for free between members of the community (totoriels on the internet, MOOC).
For any further information : contact@probonall.com
(Source : Telecom Paristech)
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