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WeTransfer offers $10,000 grants to ex-SoundCloud employees

By | Published on Thursday 27 July 2017

SoundCloud

WeTransfer President Damian Bradfield is offering $10,000 grants to the 173 SoundCloud employees who found themselves laid off when the company downsized earlier this month.

“Hidden at the core of this crazy notion is a very serious idea”, he writes in a post on Medium. “We need to keep innovating. Everyone –  the folks at SoundCloud included  –  would love to see these former employees go on to develop great things. $10,000 isn’t enough to build an entirely new company, but it is enough to get an idea going, to design something, or have it designed. It’s enough to get an iOS developer friend to build an MVP that we could introduce or shine a spotlight on. That is, after all, how WeTransfer started”.

The funding comes with a few caveats and in a more detailed document some ground rules are laid out. Recipients of the grant must have been employed by SoundCloud up to July this year and must not have already accepted a new job. They will also have to prove that they intend to spend the money on innovation in music and have a plan to do so.

“We want people to create”, says Bradfield. “What could be better? We want to see amazing proposals. Start something –  that’s what we’re saying. We’ll do whatever we can to help, but we aren’t VC’s. This isn’t an investment. It’s not a loan. It’s an opportunity. We aren’t trying to compete and don’t want to own anything. It’s a chance to have some fun”.

The deadline for applications is 21 Aug.



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