Nodo +58
A Co-working space in Venezuela to produce ideas that will culminate in real use case products for the public.
Focusing on the Hispanic community, where financial products are needed due to a lack in the economic system. In Venezuela and Argentina there is a big problem with the local currency, it is controlled and cannot be changed easily. In addition, Mexico and other Latin American countries have a large financial volume in remittances. There is a need for financial product / service solutions and the first use of blockchain technology is in finance.
Pillars
The focus and impact of the Node +58 team can be broken down into the following categories and activities:
- Co-Working Space
The first use case of Node +58 is as a co-working focused on Web 3 development, but opened to any tech workers, freelancers and researchers from the Fundación La Salle.
The objective is to have a place where the best minds can meet to inspire and support each other. We want to have a place where people can focus, that is conducive to people’s best work. Think clean, minimalist, modern style with fast broadband.
Due to the conditions in Venezuela, this place will attract technology professionals who suffer from lack of services as internet in their homes or offices, which work will be directed to collaborative work in the NEAR ecosystem.
- Education
Nodo +58 is a place for personal and professional growth. We want it to be a welcoming space for any creative problem solvers and ambitious minds, even if they have little to no experience.
This place will include entrepreneurs from different areas that will work together for the growth of the NEAR community, especially in Venezuela where financial tools are needed.
Members will dictate courses related with NEAR, practical classes for trading, smart contracts, dapps, and more.
- Core Objectives:
- Increase the number of Rust developers
- Increase the number of AssemblyScript developers
- Create new value in the NEAR ecosystem with ideas, new projects and collaboration.
- Key Resources:
- The Rust Programming Language - The Rust Programming Language
- Getting Started | NEAR Documentation
- Internet Service with 10Mb/s symetric bandwidth (It sounds little but it is a lot in Venezuela)
- Other Objectives:
- Create paths for people to upskill and develop on any career path collaborating with the NEAR community.
- Becoming an example in the NEAR HISPANO community to replicate in other countries.
- Create opportunities for high skill but low-income professionals in developing countries.
- Organize educational events for businessmen and entrepreneurs where they can understand the advantages and uses of blockchain technology and we can receive feedback on market needs
- Events
We want the hub to be the centre of cool events, both hosted internally and available for third parties to host. Some of the initiatives we would like to see include:
- Crypto Mondays: Get together the best minds in crypto, welcome and onboard anyone interest, networking over drinks. Frequency: weekly or bi-weekly.
Purpose: Get together the best minds in crypto, welcome onboard anyone interested like entrepreneurs or business owners, networking over drinks (Crypto Birras), and tackle problems of the traditional industry that can be solved with Blockchain.
Frequency: weekly or bi-weekly.
- Hackathons
- External: Encourage the participation of Venezuelan teams. Giving a forum to Venezuelans to share their life experience and worldview, knowledge transfer.
- Internal: Topic or theme to solve a specific local problem to benefit the local community.
- Marketing
We want Nodo 58 to be a source of consistent media coverage and a distribution channel for Near and other affiliated entities. The core mission is to magnify the message: Inspire, Motivate, Act. Coverage across all mediums:
- What We Do;
- How We Do It;
- Why we do it, and;
- How to get involved
- Revenue Stream (Sources of Funding)
It is vital that we create a sustainable business model that is able to invest strategically in the local community to create a multiplier effect.
Direct revenue that can be generated from the activities above:
- Co-working space membership (cover basic operational costs of running the space).
- Reward for each fully trained developer we bring into ecosystem.
- Talent sourcing: there are possibilities to operate as a dev agency or even a recruitment agency, helping the Nodo 58 students transition into paid work, bringing more money into the local ecosystem and earning us a placement fee.
- Create alliances with local universities where our members can teach about cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, dapps, and NEAR development languages as Rust or AssemblyScript.
- Sponsorship for events (Near, open to others)
Indirect ways that can generate revenue:
- Cross-pollination of businesses operating from the Fundación la Salle buildings: there is an Artisanal Cafe with locally sourced, organic produce and a Craft Brewery.
- Increase in the price of Near through Marketing efforts that lead to increased adoption and new projects developing on Near
- The Ask (Costs)
We would like to ask for funding to cover the cost of setting up Nodo +58 (rehabilitating the space, furnishing, etc.) and six months of operational expenses to provide a strong base to seek more sponsors and to prove our impact and reach.
Estimate: $13918 USD
Renting: Free for 3 years
Remodeling: $5944 USD
- DEMOLITION ON FLOOR 82m2 → $656
- PLACE CERAMICS 82m2 → $1804
- DEBRIS REMOVAL → $170
- FRIEZE ON ELEVATOR WALLS → $1100
- DRYWALL CONTRUSCTION → $680
- ROOF LEVELING → $738
- LAMPS INSTALLATION → $300
- SANITARY FACILITIES REPAIR → $100
- SPLIT AIR CONDITIONING INSTALLATION → $220
- PAINT APPLICATION IN ELEVATOR HALL → $176
Equipment: $7974
- (3) PC 16GM RAM 1TB SSD EVGA 750W GTX1080ti + KIT Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse → $4454
- Executive chairs (7) → $630
- Projection screen → $150
- Video Beam Epson → $890
- Conference table → $720
- Modular desks → $930
- Chairs (4) → $200
Advance
We are working right now in the remodeling of a 70m2 space
- To do list
- Establish working relationship with NEAR HISPANO and OWS guilds (DONE)
- Submit Proposal on Creatives (DONE)
- Recruit Team in Caracas (In Progress)
- Promote the Near Hispanic course through the Universidad Metropolitana (Pending)
- Submit formal proposal to Fundación La Salle (DONE)
- Submit Proposal to Near Governance Forum (Waiting for guidance)
- Start renovation of the space (In Progress)
//
Similar Grants: Arroz Studios in Portugal
Connection to Natural Sciences, La Salle Foundation mandate
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