# Fund My Vision

> An award-winning hackathon project connecting entrepreneurs with potential investors through opportunity discovery, role-based access, KYC verification, and real-time messaging.

Case study: https://sushandahal.com.np/work/fund-my-vision

Author: Sushan Dahal

Role: Backend Developer

Status: 1st Place — PCPS Hack4Impact

Technologies: Node.js, Express.js, React, SQLite, JavaScript

## Problem

Early-stage entrepreneurs often struggle to reach potential investors, while investors lack a centralized way to discover promising ideas and connect directly with their creators. Fund My Vision aimed to bridge this gap through a platform designed around both sides of the investment process.

## Contribution

Led backend development for the hackathon project, building the Express.js server, database models, session-based authentication, role-based authorization, investor KYC workflows, and real-time messaging infrastructure. Worked as part of a team to integrate the backend with the React frontend.

## Approach

- Designed separate workflows for ideators, investors, and administrators, with role-specific permissions and dashboard access.
- Implemented session-based authentication and middleware to protect routes and enforce user permissions.
- Built an investor KYC submission and administrative review workflow, including approval and rejection states.
- Structured SQLite tables for users, profiles, business ideas, investor interests, conversations, and messages.
- Integrated Socket.IO for real-time communication between investors and ideators, with messages persisted in the database.
- Connected opportunity discovery and investor-interest workflows to direct conversations between users.
- Prioritized end-to-end functionality and backend integration to deliver a working hackathon prototype.

## Decision

Used Express.js with SQLite to minimize infrastructure complexity and accelerate development within the hackathon timeframe. Centralized authentication and authorization through middleware, while using Socket.IO to support real-time conversations without repeatedly polling the server.

## Tradeoff

Prioritized a working end-to-end marketplace over production-scale infrastructure. SQLite and session-based authentication provided a straightforward foundation for the prototype, but a production release would require stronger verification controls, security reviews, and scalability planning.

## Outcome

Won 1st place at PCPS Hack4Impact with Team Aparichit. Delivered a working marketplace prototype featuring separate user roles, investor KYC review, business idea discovery, and real-time messaging. The source code is publicly available on GitHub, although the application is not currently hosted.

## Lessons

Learned how to design and integrate interconnected backend systems under tight deadlines. The experience strengthened my understanding of authentication, authorization, relational data modeling, real-time communication, and coordinating technical priorities within a team.

Interface illustrations on the case-study page explain the concept; they are not project screenshots.

Source: https://github.com/Sushan2589/FundMyVision