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Question

I want to start a hardware startup where I have a solution for home water monitoring. The problem is: some investors are already requiring a prototype and most of them are requiring an existing customer base, and a validated market. But how can I validate my product and make a prototype if I can't even get started?

I tried raising cash from the family, but no one has an amount available for me. My other options were selling my car (it is worth only US$ 2k) or saving myself. But I would need to save for at least 2 years and I don't want to wait all that long or I'll lose momentum.

Notice that I am from Brazil, some points to consider:
1) Some states are going thru water shortage crisis. So my solution would come in good time.
2) There are just a few angels here (around 100) and they aren't that open for projects without a customer base.
3) Banks require credit proof that are 150% of the amount that I want to lend. So if I want 50k they require a guarantee of 150k.

angel investing

Raising capital

Capital Raising

Answer

JD Carluccio answered

Here is a list of places you should check to see if you can crowdsource you idea in Brazil:

https://beta.catarse.me/en/projects
http://www.ulule.com
http://ideias.me

Can't tell you if they would take hardware but you should also look into the brazilians accelerators http://startupbrasil.org.br/landing/guide-of-accelerators-startupbrasil.pdf

Hope this can help you get started