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Microryza（YC W13）赌的是大众会为科学拨款盲区买单
面向经审核研究者的众筹平台（全有或全无模式，收取5%手续费），2012年推出，起因是联合创始人Cindy Wu发现本科生拿不到科研经费。
Microryza
做的是什么生意
Microryza was a crowdfunding platform for scientific research, described as a "Kickstarter" for science: researchers at universities such as Washington, USC and UC Santa Cruz post proposals, donors give what they want, funds release only if the full ask is met, and Microryza keeps a 5 percent transaction fee.
启动资金：Funding from Y Combinator, the Start Fund and 500 Startups (amounts not disclosed in the source).
起因
Cindy Wu, then an undergraduate at the University of Washington, had worked in the lab behind the Foldit protein-folding game; one summer, players produced 87 enzyme mutants, and one appeared able to treat anthrax infections after the lab won an MIT-based synthetic biology competition. Her professor doubted an undergrad could win NIH or NSF funding but let her pitch at a lab meeting and funneled money from an existing grant into the work. "I was so lucky. But I realized there are so many other undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members that would never be able to get funding," she said. After talking to 100 scientists and finding that all had high-risk ideas they never wrote up because they did not think proposals would go through, she and co-founder Denny Luan launched Microryza in 2012.
经过
Microryza worked with five or six universities and vetted every researcher on three tests: identity, whether the proposal was fundamentally new research, and whether the researcher could carry it out. Because results can take years, the pair built an information platform where researchers share images, videos and data in real time; Luan described it as researchers "creating a custom-made journal article for their project backers," with open-access results. Projects ranged from cannibalism in giant tyrannosaurs and viral causes of lung cancer to a Triceratops dig that rewarded backers with Dino Day. Like Kickstarter, researchers received funds only if the entire ask was met, and Microryza took a 5 percent fee, with profiles of donors published unless they chose anonymity.
还没有结局，它还在跑。
背景
Microryza始于一位本科生的经费障碍：Cindy Wu曾在华盛顿大学实验室工作，该实验室开发了Foldit蛋白质折叠游戏，玩家们产生了87种酶突变体，其中一种似乎能治疗炭疽——但她的教授说本科生无法获得NIH或NSF的资助，只能用实验室另一笔经费来支持这个项目。与100位科学家交流后，她发现了一个普遍现象：每个人都有高风险的想法，但因为觉得申请不会通过，所以没人写申请书。
她与联合创始人Denny Luan于2012年推出了Microryza，一个科学研究众筹平台。网站与五六所大学合作——包括华盛顿大学、南加州大学和加州大学圣克鲁兹分校——并对每位研究者进行审核，考察身份、研究的新颖性以及完成能力。由于科学不像Kickstarter回报那样能提供海报或DVD，两人搭建了一个更新平台，研究者可以实时发布图片、视频和数据，Luan称这相当于研究者为支持者“定制一篇期刊文章”，并开放获取结果。
项目范围从霸王龙同类相食到肺癌病毒病因，再到三角龙挖掘项目，支持者可获得“恐龙日”体验；研究者只有在筹款达到目标后才有资金，Microryza从中抽取5%作为佣金。截至2013年2月25日TechCrunch报道，平台已完成十余个项目，捐赠金额最高达5000-6000美元，并获得了Y Combinator、Start Fund和500 Startups的投资——当时有三位全职员工。
这件事要成立，得有什么
- 拨款制度恰恰排除那些想法最异想天开的人：Wu发现科学家甚至不会为高风险研究写申请书，因为他们预计会被拒绝。
- 大学合作关系解决了信任问题：与五六家机构合作并对每位研究者进行审核，让捐赠者有理由相信此人和项目都是真实的。
- 平台用研究过程代替实物回报：实时图片、视频和数据让资助一个实验室感觉像是在关注某位特定的科学家，而不是购买一件商品。
可借鉴之处
源于资金缺口的市场需要建立信任：对研究者进行审核，向支持者展示实时进展，因为科学不像众筹那样能提供海报或DVD作为回报。
后续进展
截至2013年2月25日，Microryza仍在运营，已完成约十几个项目，个人捐款可达5000至6000美元，共有三位全职员工。它获得了Y Combinator、Start Fund和500 Startups的投资，并与包括华盛顿大学、南加州大学和加州大学圣克鲁兹分校在内的五六所大学合作。故事到此为止，后面没有更多进展。
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