'It Doesn't Produce Anxiety': Meet Are.na, a Social Network Created by Artists -
Certain popular social networks have origin stories that, from the outside, can feel a bit like techno-libertarian fantasies or misanthro...
From
849 investors
Raised $270,206 from 849 investors on May 26, 2018
Closed on . Information may not be up-to-date. Campaign closed on . Information displayed may not be up-to-date.
The Problem
Productivity apps provide structure, but they let notifications, tasks, and information overload get in the way of creative thinking. Social media has valuable information, but it’s noisy and distracting. Most networks are designed to hijack our attention and show us more ads — not to help us find what we need.
Creative thinkers need a tool and a space where they can organize their ideas and make new things together.
The Solution
On Are.na, there are no ads, likes, or recommendations to get in your way. It’s a more mindful space where you can work through any project over time.
The Product
Save and organize images, documents, video, quotes, links, and more.
Arrange ideas visually in a distraction-free space
Connect other users’ content to your own collections
Share collections privately or build public collections with everyone
How it works
Traction
Quarterly connections made on Are.na:
We measure usage by the number of connections our members make. A connection is any new piece of content a user adds to the platform or links from one channel to another.
What people are saying
Business Model
Are.na relies on a freemium membership model. Free accounts are limited to 100 private pieces of content. More privacy for professional projects requires an upgrade:
Are.na Premium ($5 / month or $45 / year):
Over 6% of active users currently pay for Premium, translating to $10,000 of revenue in Q1 2018. Premium memberships already more than cover the cost of all site infrastructure.
Growth in Premium memberships is on track to generate over $40,000 in Q4 2018 . We project that revenue will grow to cover all current expenses and salaries by Q4 2018. A new business product launching in Q2 2018 will help us get there.
Market
A growing cohort of freelancers needs more effective ideation tools and wants more genuine interactions online. These are creative thinkers who require a lightweight tool for personal knowledge management.
Are.na is the only social network that connects you to other people without taking over your life. Engagement on Are.na means connecting information, not mindlessly “liking.” Are.na members spend 10 minutes per session on the platform — compared to 9.6 minutes for Reddit, 5.8 for Tumblr, 5 for Facebook, and 3 for Twitter according to Statista.
Total addressable market
15 million workers at the core of the U.S. “creative class” are our beta audience, and unlocking that group means we can address a global market of 230 million knowledge workers who don’t have the ideation tools they need.
Used by professionals at:
Used by students and educators at:
What's next
Are.na is launching a team product in Q2 2018 for small businesses and enterprise clients. Think Slack for your team’s ideas.
Business pricing and support will likely generate immediate revenue from those teams and facilitate sales to larger clients. There’s a built-in demand for team features among our members: 200+ accounts already use Are.na with other members of an organization.
Product roadmap:
Mission
As a mission-driven business, we’re choosing to crowdfund Are.na’s future so that we can grow in a way that lines up with our values. We won’t accept investments that will force us to compromise on our core beliefs, and we will never abuse the trust of our members by selling ads or personal data.
We believe that our members and like-minded people should be stakeholders in Are.na’s future. Equity crowdfunding will allow us to scale at a sustainable pace while making an ownership stake available to anyone who shares our vision.
Founders
We're building a new kind of platform for a more curious and collaborative Internet. Invest now to own an equity stake in Are.na.
$5,000,000
The maximum valuation at which your investment converts
into equity shares or cash.
Learn more.
20%
If a trigger event for Are.na occurs, the discount provision
gives investors equity shares (or equal value in cash) at a reduced price.
Learn more.
Crowd SAFE
·
Learn more
A SAFE is a Simple Agreement for Future Equity. An investor makes a cash investment in a company, but gets company stock at a later date, in connection with a specific event. The Crowd SAFE is a modified SAFE that is better suited for crowdfunding.
$50,000 – $1,070,000
Are.na
needs to raise
$50K
before the deadline.
The maximum amount
Are.na
is willing to raise is
$1.07M.
Learn more
Are.na needs to reach their minimum funding goal before the deadline
().
If they don’t, all investments will be refunded.
Learn more
Are.na feels like what the internet should have been.
As a psychologist and sometimes inventor, I find your concept both exciting, challenging and well worth $100 to see how well it works.
Having a well designed platform focused on creativity, research and collaboration without the distractions of ads and other egregious intrusions seems so intuitive. I'm excited about the promise of Are.na!
Are.na’s next hires will be a full-time developer, a business development and sales coordinator, and another designer. We’re conscious that Are.na is currently an all-male and primarily white team. As we build a community that represents a wide range of identities and perspectives, growing into a more diverse company is our first priority.
We built Are.na as a passion project in 2011 and maintained it as a small community for several years. Thanks to a small investment, we started working on Are.na as a full-time business in June 2017. Are.na’s pace of growth and product development reflects our level of engagement as a team: slow and steady expansion until last summer, exponential growth once it became a full-time endeavor.
Are.na addresses a more fundamental need than any task management or file organization tool. It doesn’t just neaten your digital life. As an environment for visual ideation and collaborative knowledge management, Are.na helps people actually learn, think, and create.
Are.na Premium members are primarily designers, developers, artists, students, and entrepreneurs. They use Are.na to conduct professional research, manage ideas and content, collaborate with teams, keep track of cultural trends, and connect with the community for leisure. 74% of Premium members use Are.na daily and over half use it to collaborate with others.
It’s understandable to worry about the future of a member-supported tool. But Are.na has already existed for seven years and we strive to build our company to exist for the long-term. Today it has enough paying members to ensure its stability and cover infrastructure costs long into the future. Unlike at any time in the past, more and more people are looking for the kind of refuge from predatory tech that Are.na provides.
An exchange token for Are.na’s ecosystem could work, but we’re committed to building a high quality product and a genuine community rather than a speculative marketplace. Our current focus is entirely on making the platform better for collaboration, so having an ICO wouldn’t be a serious option.
Yes. You'll receive a convertible note that can turn into shares in the future. This is a common instrument for investments in early stage companies.
Earn the most Notes and win cool prizes like
iPhone or AirPods. Plus, receive a shout-out in our
newsletter and more Notes
Win a brand-new Apple iPhone 11 Pro with 256 GB of storage. In addition, winner will be featured in our newsletter, get 100 Notes, and a Republic swag pack.
Win a brand-new Apple Watch 5 Space Gray Aluminum Case with Sport Band. In addition, winner will be featured in our newsletter, get 50 Notes, and a Republic swag pack.
Win a brand new set of Apple AirPods. In addition, winner will be featured in our newsletter, get 30 Notes, and a Republic swag pack.
All runners up will get 5 Notes and a swag pack featuring their choice of a Republic t-shirt or hoodie, a pin and a sticker pack.
What other rules should I be aware of?
(Obviously) no cheating.
Fraudulent actions towards earning Notes will result in immediate disqualification.
This site (the "Site") is owned and maintained by OpenDeal Inc., which is not a registered broker-dealer. OpenDeal Inc. does not give investment advice, endorsement, analysis or recommendations with respect to any securities. All securities listed here are being offered by, and all information included on this Site is the responsibility of, the applicable issuer of such securities.
All broker-dealer related securities activity is conducted by OpenDeal Broker LLC, an affiliate of OpenDeal Inc., and a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SiPC, located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10105, please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck . OpenDeal Broker does not make investment recommendations and no communication, through this Site or in any other medium should be construed as a recommendation for any security offered on or off this investment platform. Investment opportunities posted on this Site are private placements of securities that are not publicly traded, involve a high degree of risk, may lose value, are subject to holding period requirements and are intended for investors who do not need a liquid investment. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire investment. Only qualified investors, which may be restricted to only Accredited Investors or non-U.S. persons, may invest in offerings hosted by OpenDeal Broker.
Neither OpenDeal Inc. nor OpenDeal Broker LLC, nor any of their officers, directors, agents and employees makes any warranty, express or implied, of any kind whatsoever related to the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information on this Site or the use of information on this site. Offers to sell securities can only be made through official offering documents that contain important information about the investment and the issuers, including risks. Investors should carefully read the offering documents. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and are encouraged to consult with their tax, legal and financial advisors.
By accessing the Site and any pages thereof, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Please also see the Business Continuity Plan and Additional Risk Disclosures .
Investors should verify any issuer information they consider important before making an investment.
All securities-related activity is conducted by OpenDeal Portal LLC doing business as Republic, a funding portal which is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a funding portal (Portal) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Republic is owned by OpenDeal.
Investments in private companies are particularly risky and may result in total loss of invested capital. Past performance of a security or a company does not guarantee future results or returns. Only investors who understand the risks of early stage investment and who meet the Republic's investment criteria may invest.
Republic does not verify information provided by companies on this Portal and makes no assurance as to the completeness or accuracy of any such information. Additional information about companies fundraising on the Portal can be found by searching the EDGAR database.