Hi, this is Matthew, one of the cofounders at New Story (YC S15). We're the nonprofit developing this 3D printed home. I'd like to share why we decided to invest in an innovation like this and where we're headed. For context, in 3 years, we've built over 1,000 homes in 11 communities around the world through local partners.
The challenge we face is monumental; there are more than a billion people across the globe living without safe shelter. To make a dent in that number, our ability to scale up has to change.
Steady, linear improvements will never reach the total addressable market of families in need.
We believe R&D and product innovation is essential with a problem of this magnitude. We have to take big swings with forward-thinking technology to achieve a quantum leap in speed, affordability, and quality.
Our goal is to help power anyone building homes for the poor — governments and non-profits alike — to do their best work. As we make these strides, it means more families around the world will have safe shelter and can better actualize their potential.
We’re looking at a one billion person deficit of a basic human need. We believe maintaining the status quo is irresponsible — it’s terrifying to us — as it’ll never tackle this deficit. Our hypothesis today is that this breakthrough to reach more families can be achieved through robotics and 3D home printing.
A year ago, the technology we needed didn’t exist. That’s when we began working with ICON to create a solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem. The exciting result is “the Vulcan,” a 3D Home Printer designed to print a home for less than $4,000 in less than 24 hours. This robotic breakthrough delivers:
* Cost decrease (from $6,500/home to ~$4,000 and even lower future cost)
* Speed increase (from ~15 days to 12–24hrs to build one home)
* Improved quality and customization of the home unit for families
Our mission to show donors EXACT what their money goes to funding (by showing a home breakdown costs) and EXACT who they help by showing donors a video of the family in their new home - here's an example http://newstorycharity.org/maria-rose
coldcode, we're New Story (YC S15 nonprofit) focused on crowd funding houses for homeless families living in danger around the world - http://newstorycharity.org
We show each and ever donor a breakdown the home cost and then a video of the EXACT family you help - here's an example - http://newstorycharity.org/maria-rose
New Story's other co-founder here, Matthew. Here's an example of video proof of impact that we show to EVERY single donor - http://newstorycharity.org/maria-rose
Re: Issue with land property: The Haitian government has issued this land for this purpose (home building). So the families will own the land as well as the physical structures. Our mission is to build as many self sustaining communities around the world and this is something that we are very proud of.
The Haitian government supports this project and has issued the land for this purpose (home building) so the families will not only own the physical structures, but the land as well :)
We work with local partners that have been on the ground, know the area, and are excellent at what they do (aka their bread and butter - building homes). The real cool thing is that the homes are built using local labor so it's a win-win benefiting the local economy.
In the future, we'll scale using other local partners around the world. One thing in particular that we've implemented in Haiti to improve the process is turning their paper process to digital - HUGE difference in reporting and increasing efficiency.
Hi John! I'm new to HN as well. I think the reason the comments are positive is because the concept is pretty cool - showing donor with video the impact they are having. No other charity does that.
The challenge we face is monumental; there are more than a billion people across the globe living without safe shelter. To make a dent in that number, our ability to scale up has to change.
Steady, linear improvements will never reach the total addressable market of families in need.
We believe R&D and product innovation is essential with a problem of this magnitude. We have to take big swings with forward-thinking technology to achieve a quantum leap in speed, affordability, and quality.
Our goal is to help power anyone building homes for the poor — governments and non-profits alike — to do their best work. As we make these strides, it means more families around the world will have safe shelter and can better actualize their potential.
We’re looking at a one billion person deficit of a basic human need. We believe maintaining the status quo is irresponsible — it’s terrifying to us — as it’ll never tackle this deficit. Our hypothesis today is that this breakthrough to reach more families can be achieved through robotics and 3D home printing.
A year ago, the technology we needed didn’t exist. That’s when we began working with ICON to create a solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem. The exciting result is “the Vulcan,” a 3D Home Printer designed to print a home for less than $4,000 in less than 24 hours. This robotic breakthrough delivers:
* Cost decrease (from $6,500/home to ~$4,000 and even lower future cost) * Speed increase (from ~15 days to 12–24hrs to build one home) * Improved quality and customization of the home unit for families
More here -> newstorycharity.org/3d-home
We'd love to answer any and all questions.