When we decided to experiment with crowdfunding, we were very conservative in our expectations. We set a goal of $60k because we knew Veriglif wasn't the usual type of company seen on crowdfunding platforms: 

1. We are a B-to-B business: we empower consumers through our network but don't own the relationship. 

2. We are a SaaS company: we don't create tangible products but rather are a cloud-based solution. 

3. Our positioning is somewhat complex: Veriglif solves big problems and helps reshape the personal data economy, but we do it in a variety of ways that isn't always simple to communicate.

What we were more interested in was building buzz and engagement and testing our ability to communicate our value proposition to a wide audience of potential investors, and doing that in a scalable way. We saw this as an interim step before chasing traditional investment strategies. Of course, the money raised was important and would help fund the development of the company, but we were thinking it would likely only give us a few months of runway. 

We accomplished all of that for sure, but boy were we wrong on that last part! This raise far exceeded our expectations and gives us close to a year of funding under current projections, or gives us flexibility to decide to expand resources to accelerate our timeline. That kind of confidence is vital energy to a start-up and the support of over 158 investors just adds to the sense of empowerment. 

Now we intend to engage with traditional investors, but we have a real story to tell thanks to all of you. We have tech in operation, a team to meet our future milestones, money in the bank and a large group of advocates who believe in what we are doing. That is a powerful set of assets to work with. 

So thank you for your trust, your enthusiasm, and your vision. We're going to keep on working hard to earn them over and over again, and together we're going to change the world!