A campaign that was issued in order to raise enough money to purchase Nikola Tesla’s laboratory that went up for sale at Wardenclyffe has ended with fantastic success. As we originally reported, a non-profit sought to raise $850,000 in order to match a grant of the same amount by the State of New York to secure the $1.6 million property and keep it out of the hands of a potential real estate developer who had put in an offer that might have erased the site and legacy of a genius whose inventions transformed our world.
The Guardian reported that in the first couple days of the campaign issued by well-known comic creator of The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman, that $500,000 had been raised in the effort. The final amount donated surged to $1,370,511 by the end of the 45-day campaign.
The attention that this campaign has generated is nothing short of incredible.
Here is the latest update about the status and plans for the Tesla Museum.
Following this extraordinary success, the campaign creator had this to say about the rapid success experienced right out of the gate:
In 9 days, we managed to raise over 1 million dollars to go towards buying back Tesla’s old laboratory, and with the $850,000 matching grant from NY state this puts us at 1.85 million bucks. At its peak, the campaign was raising $27,000 per hour, crashing Indiegogo, and probably setting some kind of land speed record in awesomeness. Indiegogo put together this infographic showing some interesting data points behind the campaign.
So what happens next? (Source)
The very latest update has been posted to The Oatmeal which shows that including the grant of $850,000 from the state of New York, there is currently a little over $2 million. According to Matthew Inman
The non-profit behind this project is beginning the phases of putting in a bid on the property.
Excellent, yes? YES.
The campaign even attracted the attention of a distant relative of Tesla’s, Dusan Stojanovic who matched donations in the final days. Inman adds:
Mr. Stojanovic is an angel investor who would like people to be inspired by Tesla and be part of innovating for the future by continuing Tesla’s work, particularly towards solving global energy problems . . .
The campaign successfully exceeded its goal. However, as Inman notes, they are still a ways off from having enough to build the museum itself. It appears that donations are still being accepted, with many perks offered, which you can find here on the PERKS AND DONATE PAGE.
Please watch the video below for some recent news coverage, and consider donating if you have it in your budget to help save a very important part of the history of technology, and present a new repository of information for people to learn more about this largely forgotten inventor, his amazing work, and his tragic story as he fell prey to corporate power brokers.
And, as Inman concludes, there is one extra perk:
Plus if you donate you get to forever tell people that you made a
difference in the legacy of Captain AmazeBalls Lightning Pants, aka
Nikola Tesla.
A big thank you to all of those who so generously donated to this endeavor.
