Indiegogo & Paypal do not accept Greek credit cards due to capital controls

Yesterday we launched on Indiegogo the Urban Owl sunglasses project.  http://igg.me/p/1365620/twtr/11569560

After a few hours of sharing and communicating with people who loved our project we realized that all the Greeks that tried to contribute in the Indiegogo campaign couldn't pay with their credit cards.

Indiegogo through Paypal does not accept Greek credit cards due to the Greek capital controls! When I realized this I thought that the timing I decided to launch the campaign was not the best!

After a few hours till today and by communicating with Greeks outside Greece and people from other countries I realized that despite the bad timing, our project might have a second chance. The feedback I get outside Greece is enormous and I am confident that people from all over the world will help reach my dreams against all odds!

At this point I would like to look for support among the people who like the project and Urban Owl sunglasses.
#sunglassesforGreece 

Urban Owl sunglasses INDIEGOGO campaign LAUNCH!!!

Finally today we managed to launch the campaign for Urban Owl sunglasses. The feedback from the first minutes is good. Now we have to share it all over the world.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/urban-owl-hd-sunglasses-handcrafted-in-greece/x/11617069#/story

By backing this project you support directly Greece. You can help us prove that there is another way for Greece and this is through Europe.

#sunglassesforGreece

After a difficult day I 'll try to take a rest, because from tomorrow I have to go after my dream!

#sunglassesforGreece

The hashtag #sunglassesforGreece will represent our project in Indiegogo, all the way through. I chose it because it expresses the cause and motivation of Urban Owl.

We want to create a Greek product for:

• Supporting Greek economy in these difficult days by giving jobs to Greek people
• Contribute in charity for children in need, in order to confront the humanitarian crisis in Greece
• Inspire other young Greeks to go after their dreams instead of migrating to other countries for a better future
• Express the common feel for European solidarity in times that Europe has to stay united and overcome todays difficulties. For this reason i have designed an iconic blue patch on the right endtip of the frame, representing solidarity for Greece

Join our effort to give a message for European Unity. #sunglassesforGreece  www.urbanowl.eu

How i came up with Urban Owl sunglasses

I always tried to incorporate classic and retro elements into my everyday life. Retro style accessories felt much more personal and unique almost as if they were custom made. I used to find items like these in antique shops in London and Athens and I was particularly intrigued by sunglasses.

Τhe problem I dealt with, was that while the craftsmanship was excellent, the materials used and especially the lenses where obsolete, compared to the state of the art materials that can be used today.

The solution was clear! I had to find a way to reproduce these iconic timeless sunglasses, modernize them in a sense, without losing the classic-retro flair but with the best materials and craftsmanship.

The most vital part of a pair of sunglasses are the lenses. Having spent most of my life in Greece with at least 300 days of sunshine yearly, I didn’t want to compromise with ordinary lenses that are used by all the popular brands.

After an extensive research in the field of lenses and optics my team developed a new lens combining a special tint with HD Blue Control features. With this new lens we achieve High Definition vision without any color distortion, providing unparalleled sharpness.

At this point i only needed to find a suitable manufacturer to produce prototypes. That was the time i started to be thinking Greek. I wanted to present a Greek product in order to differentiate from the common practice of producing in China.

By producing in Greece I want:

• to leverage the quality of the product 
• to prove that Greeks can achieve high class quality
• to inspire more Greeks to produce in Greece, instead of imigrating
• to support the Greek economy by giving jobs to Greek people

I hope my project of #sunglassesforGreece will inspire not only Greeks but also other European young people to go after their dreams.

Check our new Urban Owl website with the crowdfunding campaign that will start tomorrow. www.urbanowl.eu 

High definition blue light control sunglasses – Urban Owl

Urban Owl is a new brand that aims to reproduce vintage iconic sunglasses using the latest technologies in lenses and materials. The lenses used are of the highest quality featuring unique filters providing high definition vision quality and blue light absorption properties. In combination with a special tint, unparalleled clarity is achieved.

Dimitris Diamantis is the man behind the brand, a young Greek civil engineer lead by his passion for vintage sunglasses. Determined to pursue his vision and produce these sunglasses exclusively in Greece.

The first Urban Owl collection will be launched through Indiegogo, crowdfunding platform, starting on the 29^th of July 2015. The supporters of the campaign will be the first to own these unique sunglasses and at the same time they will help create an outgoing sustainable business model and will support Greek economy by giving jobs to Greek people.

The success of this new Greek venture will inspire young Greek entrepreneurs to go after their dreams and share their creativity using new means, crowdfunding, instead of migrating.

A big part of this project is focused in solidarity for the people in need. For every pair of sunglasses sold through the campaign, 5€ will be given directly to the credible non-profit organization for children in Greece.

Dimitris Diamantis says that “This first collection is dedicated to European solidarity, with hard work and your support we can continue together.”

Every pair of sunglasses from this collection, will have a small blue patch with the Urban Owl logo showing every time you wear it that you have been a part of this movement.

Check at www.urbanowl.eu for more information on our project.