Introducing LabCap

Crowdsourcing for your research.

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Intro

Intro

-> LabCap allows research institutes or individual researchers to crowdsource funds to do their research.
-> It’s primary audience is underfunded research institutes.
-> It helps excel and progress scientific research forward and removes the barrier of budgets from scientific discoveries.


Problem Statement

  • Limited Funding -> A low amount of funding for researchers, results in them fighting for funds to do basic science. Decline in funding quantity and pressure to publish drives conflicts of interest and overhyping of results.
    -> Strains research quality, undermines objectivity, and influences researchers to prioritize quantity over substance.

  • Lack of discoverability: -> There is a general lack of visibility for the type of researches that happen in each institute or done by an individual researcher.
    -> This leads to no to limited collaboration and less impactful research.
    -> Funders don’t have visibility too, leading to low funding in certain areas.

Market

Market

A look into Market Opportunities, Competitor Analysis.

Market Challenges & Opportunities

There’s no other service out there is trying to make science funding more streamlined and bringing science out of the research institutes and into the world.

There will certainly be rise in the number of researches being done and also a rise in per capita incomes of people that are also well literate in science and want to support it.

There have been a lot of funding cuts to science (in many cases necessary as the money is diverted elsewhere important) but science should never be stopped if we want to keep on improving the planet and lives of humans on that planet.
Competitor Analysis

Experiment.com

Market
US and UK

Funding Model
Either all or nothing.

Cost
Charges 11-13% in fees (8% platform fees & 3-5% payment processing)
Unique Selling Proposition (USPs)

The beauty is more in the backend

-> A place where researches can be funded.

-> A place where people contribute towards science.

-> A place where science becomes more liberated and democratized.
Target Audience Insights

Target Audience 1: Researchers

-> Belong to a research university or individual researcher.
-> Want funding for their research.
-> Want to showcase and share their work with colleagues from different universities, or countries.

Target Audience 2: Funders

-> A science enthusiast.
-> Has extra money to spend.
-> Couldn’t find a streamlined way to fund scientific endeavours.

Personas

Personas



Let’s define some user personas that are primary targets for this app:

Research Institute

“Our goal is to conduct high-impact research, generating new knowledge, and disseminating this knowledge through publications in top journals and conferences.”

Goals:
-> Secure Funding: Primary goal is to secure funding for ongoing and upcoming research projects.
-> Visibility: Increase visibility for their research projects and initiatives.
-> Collaboration: Find potential collaborators and partners for joint research efforts.
-> Streamlined Process: Simplify the funding application and management process for efficiency.

Frustrations:
-> Limited Funding Options: Difficulty in finding diverse funding sources.
-> Lack of Visibility: Struggle to showcase the institute's research projects to a broader audience.
-> Tedious Application Process: Cumbersome and time-consuming funding application procedures.

Need:
Research institute is trying to access a broader pool of funders and want more visibility to increase collaborations. They also want efficiency in funding processes.

Individual Researcher - Rohan

“I want to be ‘the’ inventor and help people with my inventions.”

Goals:
-> Financial Support: Secure funding for their research projects.
-> Networking: Build a professional network for potential collaborations.
-> Visibility: Increase visibility for their research work and achievements.

Frustrations:
-> Limited Funding Opportunities: Struggle to find suitable funding sources for their research.
-> Isolation: Difficulty in connecting with other researchers or institutions for collaboration.
-> No such platform exists to help with this.

Need:
Access to a variety of funding sources resulting in financial support for research endeavors. Build a network of collaborators and mentors for ongoing and future research projects. Easily manage and track funding activities, allowing more time for actual research.

Individual Researcher - Rohan

“I want to fund scientific endeavours out of my extra cash and help out individuals perform their research effectively.”

Goals:
-> Impactful Giving: Contribute to research projects aligned with personal interests or social impact.
-> Transparency: Ensure transparency in how funds are utilized by researchers or institutions.
-> Discoverability: Easily discover and support innovative research initiatives.

Frustrations:
-> Lack of Information: Difficulty in finding detailed and credible information about research projects.
-> Limited Options: Limited visibility into a diverse range of research projects to support.
-> Complex Processes: Frustration with convoluted donation processes.

Need:
Support research projects that align with their interests and values. Discover a wide range of research initiatives, contributing to a more informed decision-making process. Experience a user-friendly and transparent platform for supporting research, fostering a sense of satisfaction in their philanthropic endeavors.

Prob-Sol

Problem-Solution

Let's find a solution for the problems of our users.

Ideation

Problem

Solution

Limited Funding

Platform to crowdsource funds for a research

No Streamlining of funds

Platform that streamlines funding processes making it simple to gain funds

Limited Discoverability

Platform that allows researchers to showcase their research problems on a page where potential collaborators or sponsorer can see it.


User Journey



Wireframes





High Fidelity Prototype

Development

Development

A plan to get the MVP developed as quickly as possible.

MVP Features

Feature

Reach

Impact

Confidence

Effort

RICE score

Sign Up and Login Flows

High

High

Medium

Low to Medium

20.5

Researcher - Verification process

Medium

High

High

Medium to High

5

Researcher - Adding a research with all details

High

High

High

High

4.5

Researcher - Managing all their research projects

High

High

Medium

High

4.5

Researcher - Getting funds in their bank accounts

High

High

High

Medium to High

7.5

Funder - Page Feed to view research as per their interests

Medium to High

High

High

Medium to High

10

Funder - Search functionality to search for research, researchers, institutes

Medium to High

High

High

Medium to High

10

Funder - Page to pledge money to the research

Medium to High

High

High

Medium to High

10

Funder - Page to make final payment (payment integration)

Medium to High

High

High

Medium to High

10
Technology required

Tech Stack for Development

Frontend
Flutter: quick to develop and implement android apps as well as iOS apps. A lot of modules available to help speed up the process of app development.

Backend
Node.js: Node.js will be flexible for this project to use to set up the backend. Other alternatives are Flask, Django, etc. that can be used by developers not that procifienct with JavaScript.

Database
MySQL or PostGres: Both provide good relational database functionality for the type of user data we will store.

Cloud Infra
AWS: AWS provides a lot of flexibility while scaling as well as AWS has a lot of applications for cloud that will help us better deploy our services. From security to APIs to ML processing to storage everything can to handled by AWS.

GTM

Go To Market Strategy

Let's find a solution for the problems of our users.

Marketing and User Acquisition Strategy

-> Social Media sharing.
> Researchers can share their research funding round news on social media.

-> Social Media ads for marketing:
> Running appropriate ads to get the platform out in the market.

-> Tie-ups with research institutes
> Research institutes should be contacted to make them add their researches on the platform so that they get more visibility and funding.

Monetization

Premium version and other ways

-> Cost of operation.
> Charge researchers after successful funding round. Small fee. 0.5% of their funding.

-> Visibility boost.
> Make researches more visible with paid version.




Soon Available on a App Store near you.

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