How did Brancs start, and how did it become a central part of your life? What path has Brancs taken so far?

Gábor first encountered crowdfunding at the start of his entrepreneurial journey with his MyFarm Harta venture, which he aimed to launch via a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo. The campaign didn’t succeed, but the psychology of crowdfunding did, as people trusted him even without a platform. Eventually, campaigns from Hungary on IndieGoGo became impossible, prompting Gábor to create a similar platform in Hungary.

„I’ve started several businesses, from real estate portals to sausage-stuffing team-building events. I’ve seen many ventures and realized the advantages of crowdfunding, which inspired Brancs. Since 2024, for about two and a half years, this has been a major part of my work and personal life; it’s absolutely a part of my life.”

Their target audience is local entrepreneurs who not ready to dream big. „I tell entrepreneurs that Kickstarter might be the next step after Brancs. First, you test and validate your product in a local market, then, with some development, you might go to Kickstarter and gain hundreds of thousands of customers.”

When do you recommend starting a campaign on Brancs in a social setting? What’s the right moment for an entrepreneur to consider this?

Many in his social circle are typically employee-minded, unsuitable for Brancs. If stability and comfort are more important than challenges or freedom, don’t start a Brancs campaign.

„If you have the right team-community, try new categories, sectors, solutions, and validate the product. Sometimes, a product doesn’t work for crowdfunding if trust can’t be established. They’re at a stage where they’re multiplying what works, testing new ideas, teams, business models, and technologies.”

Could you talk about the phases and process of campaign initiation? How long does it take?

It varies. It depends on how mature the idea is. Someone with a fairly ready concept who wants to implement a previously successful model can start a campaign in 1-2 weeks. For those more uncertain, it could take up to a month.

„The campaign usually lasts 40-60 days. Early Adapters come in at the beginning, and you can mobilize your community. Then there’s the tough middle phase where you work for every investor, pushing the campaign to 70-80-90%, followed by the harvesting period when you’re close to success, and more people want to join. We haven’t had a failed campaign yet that reached 50%. Some campaigns have reached 250%. Afterwards, the sky’s the limit.”

Could you share some key lessons or success stories?

There are increasingly more success stories, especially in the field of agricultural culture. Gábor mentioned the straw that detects gin as a huge innovation, not only in Hungary but also globally, addressing a major societal issue. That campaign could have raised over 10 million, but the goal wasn’t to maximize it.

„You need to be active during the campaign. Post something every couple of days, message a few hundred friends directly, email, text, or call some. If you’ve reached 70-80%, make a special video or content. This kind of energy is needed, but if you put in a couple of hours each day for 60 days, you can close a very successful campaign.”

Could you expand on the idea that a campaign’s success ultimately depends on the entrepreneurial spirit of the founder? What qualities should an entrepreneur have?

The first essential trait is perseverance, along with intense curiosity to try new things with different approaches. The third key component is a willingness to take risks. You must be willing to take financial, personal, and labor risks that might lead to nothing.

„The fourth key characteristic is being able to look in the mirror, face your mistakes, and those of your company and its failures. Gábor confirmed that he’s still learning this and experiencing its difficulty firsthand.”

Could you talk about how you chose your co-founders and then how long it took to launch the platform?

He started with a university classmate, Attila, with whom he had run several businesses, and Attila’s colleague, Réka. They found two investors for the startup phase, and it took almost a year to go live. They devised the concept, name, logo, developed the website, and brought in the first projects. Of the first 10 campaigns, 4-5 were successful. They had to accept that it worked, but not as planned. The two co-founders stepped back, remaining involved but not as founders.

How many are in your team now?

Currently, it’s a four-person team. He learned a lot from earlier unsuccessful attempts in this field. Now, many hold up a mirror to him, including the 220 investors he gathered through TokePortal.com. This stable four-person team, three of whom have been together from the start, is sufficient for their basic operations, but for scaling up, they’re looking to find the right people this year.

Where do you see Brancs in 5 years?

„The opportunity for a local crowdfunding platform could be a good alternative in our region, Northern countries, or even the East. I strongly believe we can take this model and software abroad. Of course, more campaigns and perhaps more stable operations and processes are needed, but I’d definitely like to start testing this in a few foreign countries next year. The first step is to address people locally with local solutions, not from a distant country in English, as that’s a significant entry barrier here and in many other countries.”