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Pay It Forward R&D

MEGALab is built on a pay-it-forward open source business model!

Instead of locking everything behind licenses and paywalls, we work much more like the open source world — not just sharing source code, but sharing knowledge, training, technology, and hard-won lessons from the field.

We see MEGALab as a bazaar of talent.

In the spirit of the free software movement and the ideas explored in The Cathedral and the Bazaar, we don't operate as a closed cathedral where a few people design everything behind high walls. We operate like a bazaar: messy, alive, collaborative — where many minds, tools, and experiments interact in the open, and each new project stands on the shoulders of the last.

People who benefit from the work contribute back what they can afford, so we can keep building for the next wave of makers, farmers, founders, and problem-solvers.

MEGALab only continues to prototype new technologies because of donations from people like you. Your support is what keeps the printers running, lasers burning, the AI Edge NOC clusters online, the sensors reporting, and the code shipping.

We are a different kind of company.

We don't just build products. We build the tools, infrastructure, and edge AI technologies that make your projects possible — and then we invite you to help make the next person's project possible too.

If MEGALab helped you:

  • Launch a new product or brand

  • Prototype and test edge AI or automation in the real world

  • Connect hardware, software, and AI into something that actually works and returns ROI

…then you're already part of the chain.

Your project exists, in part, because others before you chose to pay it forward.

Now you have the chance to do the same.

Why Your Donation Matters

MEGALab exists because people like you believe that:

  • Edge AI belongs to the people and should live where the real work happens – on farms, in factories, in greenhouses, in shops, in homes.

  • Prototyping shouldn't stop at "good enough," but push until the solution is simple, reliable, and profitable.

  • The tools we build today can make tomorrow's problems easier, faster, and cheaper to solve.

  • Every donation is a vote of confidence that this kind of skunk-works engineering should continue to exist.

MEGALab only continues to prototype new technologies because of donations from people like you.

Pay What You Can Afford, So Others Can Too

There is no fixed price to "work with" MEGALab R&D.

We Simply Ask:

If MEGALab helped you build something valuable — a product, a process, a business, or even just a working prototype — especially if it was a unique problem that couldn't be solved with off-the-shelf software or hardware — would you consider paying it forward in a way that fits your reality?

You choose the amount, based on:

  • The value our tools, technology, or support created for you

  • The stage you're at (idea, prototype, production, scale)

  • What you can realistically afford while still taking care of your own life and work

Donation Types

Think of donations the same way you think about how your solution runs in the real world:

1. One-Time Donation – One-Time Solution

If MEGALab helped you solve a one-time problem or launch a specific project — something where the heavy lift was up front — consider making a one-time donation.

2. Monthly or Yearly Donation – Ongoing Value

If MEGALab supports something that runs every day — monitoring, maintenance, automation, or ongoing development that your project or business depends on — consider a monthly or yearly donation that reflects that ongoing value.

Some people can give a little. Some can give a lot. All of it matters.

There's no pressure and no required amount — only an open invitation to contribute what you can afford and help keep the chain going for the next idea or invention.

Where Your Donation Goes

  • Every dollar donated is invested directly back into building the future of edge AI:

  • Expanding our technology stack new frameworks, better data pipelines, improved dev tooling, and more robust hardware platforms for edge AI compute.

  • Growing our suite of software and AI models Training, fine-tuning, and deploying models specialized for real-world tasks — from decision support to vision, control, and automation at the edge.

  • Prototyping new products and brands Turning rough ideas into tested prototypes, and prototypes into working systems that solve real problems and deliver real ROI.

  • Strengthening the edge AI infrastructure Building and improving the hardware, networks, and services required to run powerful AI systems as close to the real world as possible.

We Thank You

To everyone who has already donated: Thank you.

Your generosity is the reason MEGALab exists as more than just an idea. You've helped turn experiments into working systems, sketches into hardware, and "what if" conversations into real-world edge AI deployments. Every contribution — large or small, one-time or ongoing — has helped keep this Lab alive and moving forward.

To those considering a donation: Thank you as well.

Even taking a moment to ask, "Should I support this?" means you understand what MEGALab is trying to do — build a place where hard problems, strange ideas, and unconventional solutions are not just welcomed, but expected.

You are all part of our story.

Because of you, someone else down the line will be able to say:

"Our My project exists because people I will never meet chose to pay it forward."

Thank you for supporting MEGALab IO LLC and helping us keep building the future of edge AI compute, one project at a time.

Shawn