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Voters, elected officials, candidates and other political players will soon have a new way of talking about politics as Freagle, a Baton Rouge-based political startup company, kicks off the crowdfunding campaign for its virtual town square political intelligence and social platform. “When you mention politics, lots of people disengage,” Niki Papazoglakis, founder of Freagle, said. “It’s become a dirty word because there is so much negativity and divisiveness associated with our current system. We want to help make political debate substantive and civil once again.” Freagle is designed to provide a non-partisan political intelligence and social platform to streamline political engagement by connecting politicians and the public through powerful tools, data and smart analytics. Freagle uses the latest smart solutions to restore representation and achieve the vision of our Founding Fathers, adapted for the Digital Age. “It’s taken more than 200 years for our political system to become as broken as it is today,” Papazoglakis said. “Political debate has devolved into 15-second sound bites and 30-second attack ads. This isn’t the system that our Founders intended.” The Freagle platform will provide a line of communication between citizens, elected officials, politicians and other government and political actors, and facilitate a back-and-forth dialogue between the people and their representatives. The service also provides real-time, non-biased political intelligence and research using ‘Big Data’ technology. “On the Federal level, we have 535 people representing a population of 315 million,” Papazoglakis said. “It’s next to impossible to truly represent that many constituents unless you have the tools to reach them. Freagle can provide those tools.” Freagle kicks off its crowdfunding campaign on the fundraising website Indiegogo on July 7. As the most democratic method of raising funds, crowdfunding is a natural fit for Freagle. “One of the things we’ve found is that some of the traditional investors like being able to write big checks and have an influence on the process,” Papazoglakis said. “They’re also less interested in ideas that would take some of the political power away from them. With the crowdfunding approach, if people like our idea, they have the opportunity to contribute, and be a part of making our platform a success.” Freagle plans to launch early next year. “We’ll participate in select races,” Papazoglakis said. “If we are able to have a meaningful impact on the political process, we’ll be in a position to roll out nationally in late 2015 or early 2016, in time for the next Presidential race,” Freagle’s crowdfunding campaign launches July 7 on Indiegogo, and will run for 45 days. Those interested in contributing will be able to access the campaign through Freagle’s website, .
Niki Papazoglakis is a Louisiana native with experience in the worlds of business and politics. Niki has been a voter, a candidate for office, an advocate, an entrepreneur, a lobbyist and a government contractor. “It is clear that people are yearning for something new in politics. The Tea Party, the Occupy movement, the candidacies of various politicians not affiliated with either party – while made up of people from different ends of the ideological spectrum – all speak to the frustrations and disappointments of everyday Americans with the way our political system is working. As an entrepreneur, my focus was on finding a solution outside of government. I believe that solution is Freagle.”
Date Recorded:7/8/2014
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