A lively discussion about funding issues for academic scientists and so-called 'crowdfunding' whereby researchers campaign for money for their projects. One such program, #scifund, was represented by Jai Ranganathan (@jranganathan) in this chat, and he explained that the money is never meant to replace government funding and helps scientists learn to communicate with the public. Questions about the amount of money that can be feasibly raised from the public were raised, with the conclusion that the funding model is similar to early stage biotech companies. Researchers are intrigued, but shy, and also discussed that life science companies could provide reagents and grants to help them as well. A list of life science company grants and programs we've found is at the end of the Storify. The #scifund websites are given at the top for your reference.