<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"CoContest, a startup that is essentially '99designs for interior (rather than graphic) design', has raised $200,000 in funding with the aims of developing its product, growing its audience and expanding into Latin America.\r\n\r\nCoContest allows users to post 'contests', which designers then respond to with pitches. Any interior design project can be posted. When the contest finishes, the user picks their favorite design and can then pay the winning designer.\r\n\r\nAs with 99designs, we can see there being criticisms from designers who feel they're being encouraged to work for free by completing work that may never be used. However, there are others who see this as a valid way of connecting designers with work.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Italy-based startup's assault on the Latin American market comes due to\u00A0its recent selection\u00A0for the well-regarded Start-Up Chile\u00A0accelerator (see our\u00A0previous coverage). Participation in Start-Up Chile earned CoContest $40,000, while the new investment of $200,000 comes from Italian VC firm\u00A0LVenture. LVenture has also worked in an option to invest a further $100,000 in the future.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0CoContest\r\n\r\nHeader image credit: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/07/23/crowdsourced-interior-design-startup-cocontest-raises-200000-as-it-eyes-latin-america/>