<div><strong>Reach us here</strong>
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<div><a href="https://monasgem.com/pages/who-are-we" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Website</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mona.gems/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://monasgem.com/pages/contact-us" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Email</a> 
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<div><strong>Short Version:</strong>
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<div>Hello, we are Mia and Mecca, and we are the founders of Mo.Na. -- a biodegradable, bioplastic accessories brand with the aim of decreasing plastic waste in the fashion industry. Our bioplastic earrings look and feel like plastic earrings, but are 100% biodegradable!<br /><br />POC are often disenfranchised. Many of them don’t go on to start business because they don’t have the know-how, network, or support system to get them very far on the journey. It’s very hard for POC to get VC funding initially. Which is why we started our GoFundMe. We are also a multidisciplinary duo with the perfect tools to build our business. Mecca has a background in economics and visual arts, and Mia has a background in chemical engineering and visual arts. 
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<div>Mo.Na. has been growing rapidly on social media, which has increased demand in our products. Manufacturing is our biggest pit-fall. We are not able to keep up with demand currently, as Mia is making all of our products by hand. Since we have such a limited production capacity we're not able to move on to better designs or offer more products. Our business is growing very quickly and we want to keep up with this momentum. We need to rent a space, hire interns, and get better equipment. <strong><em>Please help us expand, every dollar counts! We appreciate your help.</em></strong>
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<div><strong>Long Version:</strong>
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<div>We want to encourage the fashion world to be more eco-friendly while being modern, cute, and fun.Mo.Na. is a passion project that started during the 2020 Pandemic before our senior year at Johns Hopkins University, after Mecca noticed the resin trend taking off on Tik Tok. She knew the environmental implications of such a trend would be very negative and wondered if there was a more eco-conscious alternative. That’s when the idea for Mo.Na. was born and she reached out to Mia to see if she wanted to work on this with her. We began researching biodegradable, bioplastic formulas that could serve as an alternative to resin.
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<div>A bioplastic is a plastic that will degrade when exposed to microorganisms. <strong><em>Our product is 100% stable and has great mechanical properties similar to that of traditional plastic, but will decompose when discarded the way mother nature intended. </em></strong>
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<div>We began prototyping in the summer of 2020 and there were lots of failures in the beginning.
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631565843255870_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<div>But after 7 months of countless trials, we finally had a breakthrough and created something we were excited to share with the world!
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_163156613087999_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<div>We decided to work on Mo.Na. full time after graduating because we believe that our product can change the world in a positive way but we can’t do it without your help. We have experienced a lot of growth in the past few months since working on Mo.Na. almost every day. <strong><em>We now have a combined following of over 120,000 and a reach of over four million across Tik Tok and Instagram. </em></strong>With this growth, we have seen an increase in demand for our products. Currently, our products are being handmade in Mia’s kitchen. In order to keep up with demand and expand, we need to build an in-house production facility and grow our team.
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<div>We have big dreams for where we imagine Mo.Na. to be in the next five years and this is just a small step to getting us there. <strong><em>We want Mo.Na. to be the Nike of sustainability.</em></strong> This is a pivotal time for us and we need your help to scale production if we want to continue on this journey of revolutionizing the fashion industry.
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<div>Here's our budget breakdown:
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631567878673978_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<div><em>$25,000 </em>will go towards rent for the year. Rent means a pilot facility for production and an in house photo studio.
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<div><em>$20,000 </em>will be used for wages to grow our team.
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<div><em>$5,000</em> will be used for research and development. This includes improving our product and further documenting its biodegradability.
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<div><em>$5,000 </em>will be used for custom molds so we can offer better designs and attract a wider audience.
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<div>Here’s our research. You can <a href="https://monasgem.com/pages/about-our-products" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">read more here</a> as well.
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631566246826746_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631566264821072_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_163156629011355_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631566306935360_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<img src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/59931793_1631566323200231_r." alt="" width="100%" media_type="3" />
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<div>Thank you for your support! Even if you can't donate, just sharing it means a lot.
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<div><em>With love, Mecca &amp; Mia</em>
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Brenda Dunn

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Mo.Na. Scaling Production and Expansion Fund

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