It’s already June! A lot happened in the last months. A lot yet not enough 🙂
Transparency is important to us, and it is even more because we have the support from many of you, so we will try to keep you posted here on our blog with the latest updates about us!
On the highlights, we’ve been busy traveling and connecting to other makerspaces and fablabs in the region. We have been working to launch our “professional services”: 3D printing (we 3D model and 3d print for you), prototyping (we prototype your idea for you) and fabsourcing (we buy for you what you need). More about this soon, as we update our website with what we plan to offer!
The renovation of the space is well underway, although delayed by a few weeks. We could afford to renovate the full space thanks to the money from 3 investors. We are technically taking a loan that we will reimburse starting from next year based on the money we make (that is called Revenue Based Finance). Sustainability is one of the key challenge for fablabs, so we have taken the path to develop Fablab Saigon as a social business. We tried to be realistic about how much we could borrow and will be using crowdfunding for bigger projects and activities, such as the participation to the FAN2 conference. Our challenge is to create enough value that is worth paying for, and use the money we make to fulfill our purpose: empower a vibrant community of makers in Saigon in an accessible, diverse and sustainable way.
Coming next is our soft launch in July and official launch (some time in August). Also we look forward to connect with fablabs all over the world at the Fab11 conference thanks to Lam, from Fablab Hanoi. We’ll be working too with PAP Electronic and Everest Education on their Summer camp.
If you want to help us: we are actively looking for a Fab Cafe manager! We also need the following equipment: PCs for 3D modeling, fridge and freezer, desk and chairs for the co-working space. Donations or second hand, any suggestion is more than welcome!
