![\"\"](\"https:\/\/hub.pfind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Crowdfunding.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe donation-based\ntype is where the creators only ask for funds from the people on the platform,\nwithout offering anything in return. Most crowdfunding projects of this type of\ncrowdfunding to raise money for charitable or medical purposes. It is a relatively\ncommon type of crowdfunding, with GoFundMe relying on the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reward-based\ntype is where the creator offers tiered rewards to people who fund their\nprojects. Even though there is actually a reward being offered to the funders,\nit is considered to be a subset of donation based crowdfunding, as there is\nlittle to no financial gain. This form of crowdfunding is the most famous kind,\nwith Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and Patreon relying on the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last and the\nleast famous, kind of crowdfunding is the equity based crowdfunding. On\nplatform working on this kind of crowdfunding, creators of projects offer\nequity or shares in their company in exchange for the investor\u2019s funds. This is\nvery similar to traditional investment methods, with the only difference being\nthat investors visit the platform looking for projects and companies to fund,\ninstead of the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here we will\ntake a look at crowdfunding in detail and understand the industry completely.\nWe will look at popular platforms and their financial statistics. Then we will\nlook at some incredibly weird crowdfunded projects!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quick facts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you have a\npotentially fantastic idea that you would like to crowdfund and are only\nlooking at this article to understand if the process of crowdfunding is\nappropriate for you, then look no further than this section. Let\u2019s take a swift\nlook at some basic facts about crowdfunding in general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- The average successful\ncrowdfunding campaign is worth around $7,000<\/strong>.<\/li>
- The average crowdfunding\ncampaign donation is $88.<\/strong><\/li>
- 42% <\/strong>of funds are raised in the first<\/strong> and last three<\/strong> days\nof a crowdfunding campaign.<\/li>
- 78%<\/strong> of crowdfunding campaigns exceed their goal.<\/li>
- There have been 10.94\nmillion<\/strong> total campaigns across all the crowdfunding platforms. <\/li>
- Around 56,000<\/strong> projects\non Kickstarter got 0%<\/strong> funding. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The Crowdfunding Industry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now that we have\nlearned about the various platforms on which crowdfunding occurs let’s take a\nlook into the overall industry itself. Understanding the crowdfunding industry,\nin general, will involve looking at both, the financial facts, and the\nstatistics regarding the campaigns themselves. Let\u2019s begin with what the future\nof crowdfunding can look like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. The\ncrowdfunding industry is projected to grow to nearly $30 billion by 2025: <\/strong>The crowdfunding industry is growing rapidly, with the amount of\nmoney being earned by the top platforms climbing quickly to nearly $8 billion.\nThe industry will continue to grow at a CAGR of almost 16% to steeply climb to\na $30 billion industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Crowd Expert)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. The\ncrowdfunding industry was worth nearly $8.537 billion in 2019: <\/strong>As the funds being raised for crowdfunding projects grow larger and\nlarger, the amount of money that is made by crowdfunding platforms and the\ngeneral industry rises as well. Most platforms take a small cut form both, the\ntotal funds raised by the project, and from the transactions between the donors\nand the creators. The amount of money that the platforms have earned is more\nthan eight and a half-billion dollars. The amount increases with around 16%\nCAGR, and the industry is expected to have a robust future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Valuates)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Since the\ncreation of crowdfunding, there have been $34 billion total funds raised on\nvarious platforms and independently: <\/strong>The\ncrowdfunding industry has because a major platform for startups to find their\nfooting. Owning to the large internet community, a large number of projects can\nraise huge amounts of money. According to some industry experts and the public\nrecords of crowdfunding companies, crowdfunding has raised nearly $34 billion\nsince 2012, with the top four platforms raising nearly 78% of all the raised\nfunds. The amount raised is expected to rise sharply, with the growing\npopularity of crowdfunding and the internet. Industry forecasts state that the\namount raised might rise to nearly $50 billion in the coming five years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Startup)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. The\nbiggest classification of businesses being crowdfunded is Business and\nEntrepreneurship, holding 41.4% of the market: <\/strong>Crowdfunding\naffects all kinds of business and projects, from the technological innovations\nto an artist\u2019s work. According to a study by massolution, the biggest market\nfor crowdfunding to be raised in the business and entrepreneur sector. This\nsector covers all new technological innovations and any new kind of business,\nwhich can be about anything, from a new service, or selling art. Hence any all\nprojects under the \u201cProfits\u201d section of projects count under this sector.\nTherefore, it is no surprise that this sector counts for as much as 41.1% of\nall the funds raised on crowdfunding platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Massolution)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. There has\nbeen nearly $25 billion spent on peer to peer lending platforms: <\/strong>Peer to peer lending refers to the practice of lending or borrowing\nmoney between two individuals without any financial institutions ratifying the\nsame. This refers to almost all of the most popular crowdfunding platform.\nThese platforms take a small cut of the transactions occurring on the platform,\nand the money is transferred directly between the users. The creator of the project\nreturns the money in the form of rewards and perks. Hence they count as peer to\npeer lending, with the money flowing in this way has reached $25 billion. The\nother money has been raised through financial institutions and donation based\ncrowdfunding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Fundly)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Only\naround half of all crowdfunded projects are get completely funded: <\/strong>As we have seen, millions of campaigns have been successfully funded\nthrough crowdfunding. Now considering the fact that this only states the number\nof successful campaigns, the number of unsuccessful campaigns may surprise anyone.\nThe success rate for crowdfunding projects on the top platforms of the world,\nit has been shown that as many as half of all crowdfunding projects fail to\nreach their goal. Which means any given project only has a 50 \u2013 50 chance of\nsuccess. While this may seem like a terrifying prospect for anybody looking to\nstart a crowdfunding project, keep in mind that a lot of the failed products\nmanage to reach a significant part of their goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Massolution)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most Successful Crowdfunded\nCompanies <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Given the\nsuccess of crowdfunding platforms and the adoption of crowdfunding in startup\nculture, it is not surprising that a large number of companies started their\nlife as a crowdfunded project. Here we will look at some popular companies that\ngot their start as a publicly crowdfunded project. Keep in mind, we will only\nmention the projects that started off as a crowdfunded project, and not an\nalready existing product\/company raising extra money via crowdfunding. This\nlist will also explore top-rated companies that started as crowdfunded projects\nbut have grown immensely since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. The\nhighest amount of funds raised was for the game Star Citizen:<\/strong> Star Citizen is an upcoming space-based Massively Multiplayer\nOnline Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) being developed by Roberts Space Industry.\nThe company was founded by two video game developing veterans who had\npreviously worked on the popular space game Wing Commander 2. The decision to\nmake an MMORPG inspired by the wing commander universe. This led to the\ncreation of Star Citizen. The game claimed to be a seamless blend between an\nFPS shooter and an Eve Online like space sim. The trailer video was released on\nKickstarter and their own website. This then led to the most successful\ncrowdfunded endeavor of all time, with their independent and kickstarted funds\nto date being around $215 million. They also have taken an investment from a\nprivate individual. The game is set to release in late 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Star Citizen, EuroGamer)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. The most\nsuccessful Kickstarted project to date was the smartwatch Pebble:<\/strong> Smartwatches have started to become very ubiquitous in modern\nsociety. The market has been taken over by companies like Apple and Samsung.\nHowever, the first mass-produced smartwatch was actually created by the company\nPebble. The Pebble 1 and 2 were a smartwatch whose display looked like paper,\nmuch like the Kindle. The Pebble 1 was revealed on Kickstarter, and being the\nfirst proper smartwatch, the Pebble gathered a lot of attention online. The\nKickstarter raised almost 30.6 million dollars, and the watch got produced. The\nwatch was soon followed by another being designed, and also got crowdfunded.\nHowever, the small company couldn\u2019t match the features being offered by Apple\nand Samsung and wasn\u2019t able to keep its market share intact. The company was\nacquired by Fitbit in 2019 and stopped honoring old warrantees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. One of the\nmost popular projects was for the creation of a new type of honeycomb Flow Hive:<\/strong> Traditional beekeeping methods involve steps that can severely hurt\nor even kill a lot of bees. This meant that extracting any honey from these\nhives could potentially damage the very bees that live in the hives could die.\nThis was a point of contention for the creators of the Flow hive. Therefore,\nthey decided to create a hive that could harvest honey safely, without damaging\nany bees. These hives were designed and then put on IndieGoGo. Beekeepers\naround the world loved the idea and dubbed the design as being the next default\nhive. The project raised nearly 14.95 million dollars, and successfully\nlaunched the Flow Hive 1 and then the follow-up Flow hive 2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Flow, IndieGoGo)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. Seeking\nparty animals, Coolest Cooler was put on Kickstarter and managed to raise\nmillions:<\/strong> Some companies don’t exist to fill a\nneed, but just exists to provide a crazy product for crazy needs. This is\nexactly the principle that the creators of the Coolest Cooler. This is a drinks\ncooler that can keep a lot of ice and drinks cool. It also features an ice\nblender to create margaritas and sangrias. The cooler even has a completely\nwaterproof Bluetooth speaker and also features a waterproof USB charger outlet.\nSome more features that they packed into the cooler are LED lights, rolling\nwheels, a bottle opener, and even storage for Plates and Knives. The project\nwas widely loved by people who love to party and managed to raise nearly 13.38\nmillion dollars. The company now offers a large range of products related to\ncoolers and their accessories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Coolest)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11. Annoyed\nwith all the issues related to travel, creators of BauBax made the travel\njacket: <\/strong>Two graduates who were dating each other\nfound the annoyances of long-distance travel to meet each other decided to\ncreate a jacket that would aid all small niggles of travel. This resulted in\nthem coming up with the BauBax jacket series, which were named after\nthemselves. They realized the potential of what they had created and released\nit on Kickstarter, where the jacket ended up raising almost 9.12 million\ndollars. Currently, the company makes a large number of travel products,\nincluding multiple styles of jackets, sleeping masks, neck pillows, and even\nfootrests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: BauBax, Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12. The\nhighest amount of money raised by any board game was by Exploding kittens:<\/strong> Do you like kittens? Do you like the thought of impending death via\nexplosions? Do you like goats and lasers? Then you would definitely love the\ncard game Exploding Kitten. This game features a deck of cards, and the\nobjective of the game is to avoid being blown up by the cats playing with\nexplosive devices. The game was created by the creators when they were playing\na game that involved the person who draws a joker from the pile losing the\ngame. This game was then refined, and with the help of illustrator, the game of\nExploding Kittens was created. A Kickstarter campaign was launched for the same,\nwhich got incredible popularity over Reddit. The campaign ended with nearly 8.8\nmillion dollars being raised for the same. Exploding Kitten now has 2 expansion\npacks, and the company offers two more card games as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Exploding Kittens)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13. One of\nthe first companies to raise money via crowdfunding was Dwarven Forge:<\/strong> When crowdfunding was still in its early stages, campaigns raising\nover one million dollars were rare. This was when the independent company\nDwarven Forge released its kickstart campaign. This company was created by an\nartist who specialized in creating miniatures. These miniatures were hand-painted\nand part of a modular set, which allowed them to be used for the creation of a\nvariety of medieval fantasy structures. The company had 3 separate campaigns to\nfund the creation of different styles of pieces. In total, Dwarven Forge raised\nnearly 8.4 million dollars, making it a multi-million dollar enterprise with\ncustomers all around the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Dwarven Forge, Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14. Bragi, a\ncompany that revolutionized the wearable technology, was born on IndieGoGo:<\/strong> Wireless headphones and earphones have become the norm in the\nwearable department. More companies are offering fully wireless earphones and\nheadphones than companies offering wired earphones. One of the companies that\nhave revolutionized this market has been Bragi, who created an operating system\nfor exclusive use on wireless earphones and headphones. This allows users to\ninstall apps directly onto the headphones and also control them using head\ngestures. The initial campaign on IndieGoGo was for the Bragi Earphones, which\nwere proprietary earphones that were the first device to run the Bragi OS. The\ncampaign managed to raise over 3.4 million dollars, allowing Bragi to become a\nsoftware-focused company, which develops smart earphones and headphones in\ncollaboration with other companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Bragi)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
15. The most\npopular company that was kickstarted was the Virtual Reality company Oculus: <\/strong>The name Oculus has become synonymous with Virtual Reality\ntechnology. This is the most well-known crowdfunded project of all time, even\nthough it raised only 2.4 million dollars. The Oculus Rift was posted on\nKickstarter and exploded into popularity online. This came at a time when the\nvirtual reality technology was just in its infancy. Oculus Rift was properly\nfunded and was sent to the people who pre-ordered them. It got amazing reviews\nby all the early adopters, and the valuation of the company Oculus grew nearly\novernight. The company was eventually purchased by Facebook for almost two\nbillion dollars and now offers three different VR headsets and a lot of other\naccessories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter, Oculus)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
16. The only\nother brand to be sold out of every Apple Store also started as a crowdfunded\nventure:<\/strong> If you own any Apple product, the chances\nare high that you are acquainted with Elevation Labs. This company only creates\ndocks and chargers for Apple products. They started off by creating a dock for\nthe Apple iPhone 4 and was placed on Kickstarter. The dock raised nearly 1.6\nmillion dollars. The product was shipped out, and Apple quickly realized that a\nlot of their customers were buying this product. Soon Elevation Labs also\nstarted to sell docks and wireless chargers for nearly all Apple mobile\nproducts. Soon Apple announced an official partnership and started selling\nElevation Labs products in all of their store, the first, and the only brand to\never be given this distinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Elevation Labs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unusual Crowd Funded Projects<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
As we have seen\nin this article, crowdfunding has some fantastic potential for funding\ninnovative technological marvels. It has given excellent opportunities for\nmillions of people who otherwise wouldn\u2019t have been able to secure funding for\ntheir ideas. Crowdfunding has allowed the financing of cutting edge technology\nand even to support charitable or artistic endeavors. It has led to the rise of\nsome companies worth millions today. However, it has also been used to finance\nsome projects and products that some might deem unusual or even bizarre. Let\u2019s\ntake a look at some of the most exciting and unique projects that have been\nsuccessfully funded on various crowdfunding platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
17. The\n$55,492 Potato Salad whose maker didn\u2019t even know what to make: <\/strong>In quite possibly the weirdest display of internet solidarity and\nsupport, everyone on the internet decided to fund this project. In 2014, the\nsoon to be internet legend, Zack Brown got hungry and decided to make himself a\npotato salad. However, upon finding himself lacking the necessary funds to do\nthe same, he decided to Kickstart his mixture. He requested the internet to\ngive him $10 for a potato salad, about which Zack said, \u201cI don’t even know what\nkind to make.\u201d The salad and its Kickstarter went famous over the internet and\nthe news. Soon donations started to pour in for the potato salad, and a bite of\nthe same, and they Kickstarter managed to earn $55,492 in the end! This goal\nwas stretched multiple times to feature a bigger and bigger event. In the end,\nZack threw a giant Potato Salad party, attended by hundreds of people. They all\nmade and partook in Potato Salad of every kind, also feeding the homeless\naround the city. The rest of the money, and the food from the event, was\ndonated to different charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
18. Saving\nHermien the Dutch cow from slaughter by crowdfunding: <\/strong>A close contender for the weirdest reason for the internet to band\ntogether was the case of the escaped cow in the Netherlands. Hermien, the Dutch\ncow, was being loaded onto a truck to be taken to the slaughter-house. Hermien\nmanaged to fool her captors and escape, with the owners not able to find her\nfor a week. Subsequently, when the news broke, someone on the internet decided\nto create a Kickstarter to save Hermien and keep her alive. The Kickstarter got\nincredibly famous, with Pieter van Vollenhoven, the former Queen Beatrice\u2019 son\n\u2013 in \u2013 law, urging people to save Hermien. The cow raised nearly $60,000. Upon\nher eventual capture, she was handed to a farm named \u2018De Leemweg,\u2019 in the Zandhuizen\nregion of Netherlands. This is a retirement home for cows, where unwanted cows\ncan live out the rest of their lives in peace. The farm is totally dependent on\ndonations and hence was very grateful for the $60,000 that was donated for the\ncare of Hermien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Daily Mail)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19. The\ndiabolical birthday card getting funded on the internet: <\/strong>Have you ever heard a really poorly tuned musical card? It is\nhonestly one of the most annoying things in the world. This thought also\noccurred to the creators of one of the most diabolical pieces of technology\never created. When brothers Travis and Nick Peterson were discussing exactly\nhow annoying a musical birthday card they got was, they hit upon the idea of\nthe perfect birthday card. They invented a card whose speaker was nearly\nindestructible, and also waterproof. Once the card is triggered, the speaker\ncontinually plays the birthday song for three hours! This speaker does not\nswitch off until the battery runs out, or the speaker is destroyed. The speaker\nis capable of playing after being dipped in water, and even after being crushed\nwith a variety of furniture. They also offer Christmas cards and will even put\nthe song of your choice on a custom card. They put their project on Kickstarter\nand raised $92,073!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20. A giant\nreplica of Lionel Richie’s head worth <\/strong>\u00a38,000 debuted at a giant party: <\/strong>Lionel\nRichie is a famous American songwriter who is perhaps the most well-known for\nhis song Hello, from which a line \u201cHello, is it me you\u2019re looking for?\u201d has\nbeen turned into a well-shared meme. He is hugely revered and respected for his\nmusic and has many die-hard fans. One of these fans, Hungry Castle, a Spanish\nartist, decided to create a giant sculpture of his head. He created a\nKickstarter and almost overnight more than tripled his goal. His initial goal\nof creating a clay model seemed too small after that point, so he created a\ngiant nylon head that was kept inflated with giant turbines and was weighed\ndown by sandbags. It was debuted at the Bestival 2013, where it was very\nbeloved. People could go inside the nylon head, alone, find a ringing phone,\nwhich they could pick up and listening to Lionel Richie\u2019s line \u201cHello, is it me\nlooking for?\u201d. The head was then rented out to couples for $1000 per night, for\nspending a night in the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
21. Break the\nrecord for the largest jockstrap using crowdfunding: <\/strong>Some projects are just too weird to even try and explain. The other\nprojects on this list hole at least some appeal for the backers involved, be it\nfor the internet memes and charity, as in the potato salad, or for helping to\nbaffle people, like the skywriting project. There are projects that give people\na cool product, like the salt shooting shotgun, or the chance to put a\nfictional vehicle in space. However, there is absolutely no way to explain this\nparticular project in any conceivable way. Artist Michael Barret decided,\nseemingly out of nowhere, to break the record for the largest jockstrap in the\nworld. He needed $750 for the same and asked the people of the internet to help\nhim out. The internet community came together and funded the project for a\ngrand total of $854, allowing the artist to create the largest jockstrap of all\ntime. The answer to the question of why he wanted to do it is still up for\ngrabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
22. Write\ndumb things in the sky for $6800: <\/strong>Skywriting is the\npractice of using airplanes to create smoke\/fog symbols and writing in the sky,\ninvented by British navy pilots. This is often used for benign purposes like\nfor airshows and for festivals. However, one person, Kurt Braunohler, saw the\nopportunity to write some stupid things in the sky. He created a Kickstarter\npage and requested people to give him money to write things like \u201cHow do I\nland?\u201d, \u201cClouds 4 EVA\u201d, \u201cOMG I\u2019m flying!\u201d, \u201cTweet me, bro!\u201d \u201cGod\u2019s Fartin\u2019!\u201d in\nthe sky above Los Angeles. People loved this idea so much that they decided to\nthrow nearly $6800 at him, which enabled him to rent an airplane and fulfill\nhis dream of utterly baffling the residents of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23. Putting an\nactual TARDIS, with a camera and a hard drive and other sensors, in space: <\/strong>The Time And Relative Dimensions in Space (TARDIS) is the famous\nspacecraft from the British TV show Doctor Who. The TARDIS allows The Doctor to\ntravel across space and time, and even across dimensions! However,\nunfortunately, the TARDIS is just a fictional craft, and so its fans cannot see\nit fly gracefully. Until, a group of fans created a Kickstarter page to raise\nthe capital to send an actual TARDIS replica (built on a 1:100 scale) to space\non the back of a SpaceX rocket, to celebrate the 50th<\/sup>-anniversary\nspecial. Unfortunately, the project, despite raising almost $89,000, was\nunsuccessful, and the TARDIS never flew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24. Flinging\nPOOP at each other for fun with crowdfunding: <\/strong>POOP\njokes are always funny. Yes, they are, don’t try to deny it. The creator of\nPOOP, the game also thinks so. POOP the game is a parody of the UNO game, having\nthe same goal. A player must discard all their cards or \u201cpoop\u201d into the table\ncard, or the \u201ctoilet.\u201d There are skip cards and reverse cards and even wild\ncards. The wild cards require the player to perform a particular action, like\nmiming pooping and acting like a particular player farted. The game is full of\nsuch juvenile humor, but it got funded very well when the game creator Blaise\nSewell put it on IndieGoGo, and the game raised nearly $34,000. This allowed\nBlaise to mass-produce the game and is now available from major toy retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Board Game Geek)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25. Creating\na crystal tribute to the best kind of meat of all, bacon: <\/strong>Bacon is inarguably the best tasting kind of meat on the market. The\nbacon fandom is vast and far-reaching, including one particular jeweler. This\njeweler, Greg Kiesow, created a Kickstarter project to create crystal replicas\nof bacon. This includes earrings, lockets, and even bracelets, all made out of\ncrystal. This project raised $2,786, all by people who love eating bacon! Each\npiece looks like strips of cooked bacon, complete with streaks of colored\ncrystal to simulate strips of fat and muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
26. Eating a\nchicken burrito while skydiving: <\/strong>Burritos are\namazing. Chicken Burritos are even more amazing. Chipotle makes a great chicken\nburrito. These are just some common facts. However, Noboru Nitoy wanted to\nprove this fact to the rest of the internet by eating and delivering a review\nof a chicken burrito. In classic internet fashion, people jumped on board the\nidea, and they funded the idea very quickly. The goal was met, and the video\nwas created. However, the internet wanted more, and so a stretch goal of $1000\nwas made, which, if met, Noboru would review the chicken burrito while diving\nfrom an airplane! Even this video was created, and still exists online, where\nNoboru jumps out of a plane with a chicken burrito in hand and eats it while\nfalling from thousands of feet in the sky. He then rated the burrito after\nlanding safely. He created another stretch goal of $6,000 to eat the burrito\nwhile in a Zero-G plane! Unfortunately, this idea wasn\u2019t funded, and the sky\ndiving burrito man faded into internet anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
27. Bug A \u2013\nSalt created a shotgun that could shoot shells filled with table salt, which could\nany and all bugs: <\/strong>Bugs are the scourge of the\nexistence of many people. They are present everywhere and every kind. Sometimes\nkilling a bug with bug spray just doesn\u2019t feel satisfying. Another, more\nsatisfying, way of killing bugs is by smacking them with a bug swatter.\nHowever, forget all about that, because the most satisfying way of killing a\nbug has been invented. Please welcome the Bug A \u2013 Salt shotgun, a gun that can\nshoot ordinary table salt in a shotgun shell-like spread. The salt gets blasted\nout at a high enough velocity to kill almost any common bug but be essentially\nharmless to humans. This shotgun was first created as a project on IndieGoGo\nand became nearly instantly internet famous, getting overfunded within days. It\nis now a company that sells a large range of assault weapons and shotguns that\nshoot salt to kill any bugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: IndieGoGo, Bug-A-Salt)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
28. The\neye-mask that lets its user live out the movie Inception: <\/strong>The movie Inception revolves around the concept of lucid dreaming,\nwhich allows dreamers to control their dreams. Lucid dreaming is classically\nachieved by people who train themselves to continuously perform reality checks,\nwhich enable them to realize the fact they are dreaming. After they realize\nthat they are dreaming, the dreamers can control the dream. The Reme\u00e9 eye mask enables them to easily get around the process of\nperforming reality checks, by flashing a series of red lights at times of REM\nsleep as REM sleep is when a person dreams the most complex dreams. The mask\nwas posted on Kickstarter and earned more than half a billion dollars. Reme\u00e9 is\nnow a successful company that sells a range of well-designed eye masks to help\nusers sleep and dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter, Reme\u00e9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29. The pillow\nthat makes you look like an ostrich who has buried their head into the sand: <\/strong>Ostriches are very known for burying their head in the sand, though\nit has been consistently proven to be false. The identity of ostriches has been\nclosely tied with this misinformation. The fact being false didn\u2019t stop the\ncreators of the ostrich pillow from adopting the adage into their innovation,\nthe Ostrich Pillow. The pillow is designed to fit over the wearer\u2019s head\ncompletely, leaving the mouth and nose open for breathing. The pillow even has\ntwo smaller openings for the wearer\u2019s hands. It can be used to nap anywhere\nwith ease, on tables, in public transports, or even in an office. The pillow\u2019s\ncampaign on IndieGoGo was quickly funded by its supporters and is now a\nsuccessful company selling three major products, all related to sleep aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Ostrich Pillow)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
30. Have your\nhands smell like bacon after washing them with the Bacon Scented Soap: <\/strong>Would you like your hands to smell like freshly cooked bacon? Well,\nyou\u2019re in luck! The meat soap promises to do just that, make your hands smell\nlike fresh bacon after you wash using the soap. The soap even looks like cooked\nbacon! There is nothing to not like about this product. Its Kickstarter page\nraised its $1,500 goal within just 12 days and currently stands at $1,905. The creator of this soap also promises to\nbring along the scent of other famous meats as well, including steak, briskets,\nand smokey sausages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: Kickstarter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Popular platforms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The success of\nany crowdfunding project depends very heavily upon the number of eyeballs that\nit draws. This is because the higher the number of people that view a project,\nthe higher the chance a creator has of it getting fully funded. Hence, most\nplans are drawn to the most popular crowdfunding websites that allow millions\nof people to be aware of any project. So, let’s take a look at some of the most\npopular crowdfunding platforms, and see some statistics and facts related to\nthem. We will also take a look at the exact way that they earn money or the\nperks that some platforms have over another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. GoFundMe: <\/strong>GoFundMe is by far the largest crowdfunding platform on the internet. It is mainly used for non-profit projects like charities, medical care, education, or even for personal trips and the purchase of a house or a car. People can upload their projects on the platform, along with anything they deem important, including videos, images, documents, audio clips, etc. GoFundMe has raised more than $5 billion for the projects on its platform, with nearly 50 million supporters using the platform. The platform doesn\u2019t take any money from the total funds raised for any project, making it the ideal place for people to raise money for their personal reasons. The platform earns money via charging a 2.9% fee on all the donations that are made on the platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Kickstarter: <\/strong>Kickstarter is one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms. It allows people to create projects depicting their products or services for which they need to raise funds. These projects need to be accompanied by a video explaining their products and also create a set of documents explaining the same. These are just guidelines the Kickstarter provides to create a project, and often successful campaigns have all of these factors. The platform has raised over $3 billion for various projects, with nearly 15 million supporters visiting the platform. Kickstarter also lets creators offer the people who support their projects some sort of a small token, like an early version of the product or something smaller, like a t-shirt. The platform collects 5% of the entire fund collected for every successful project, as well as charging a 3% fee for all transactions on their platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. IndieGoGo: <\/strong>IndieGoGo is a crowdfunding platform that focuses mainly on technology and hardware product launches. The platform is unique in the way that unlike other platforms, it offers creators a way to withdraw donated funds even if their projects weren\u2019t funded fully. This lets individuals who aren\u2019t completely confident about their idea\u2019s public appeal bring the project to the platform and ensure that they at least get the support of some people, and not just if they fill their goals. IndieGoGo has as of yet managed to raise $1.5 billion over the years, with more than 10 million supporters. IndieGoGo takes a 5% cut of the total funds raised, or 9% cut in the case of withdrawing funding without the target goal being reached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Patreon: <\/strong>Patreon is different from most other crowdfunding platforms, as it doesn\u2019t operate on a lumpsum donation model. It works on a subscription model, which allows the so-called \u201cPatrons\u201d to pay a monthly subscription fee to content creators. These content creators are usually artists or channels on popular public platforms like YouTube or Spotify. These creators often give their Patrons special services or content. For example, gaming YouTubers may allow their Patrons to join lobbies to play with the content creators, or a musician could ask their patrons to weigh in on their next songs. As of 2019, creators have earned over $1 billion on the platform, with over 4 million Patrons who support one or more content creators over a period of many months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sources: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
- Crowd Expert<\/a><\/li>
- Valuates<\/a><\/li>
- Startup<\/a><\/li>
- Massolution<\/a><\/li>
- Fundly<\/a><\/li>
- Massolution<\/a><\/li>
- Star Citizen<\/a>, EuroGamer<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Flow<\/a>, IndieGoGo<\/a><\/li>
- Coolest<\/a><\/li>
- BauBax<\/a>, Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Exploding Kittens<\/a><\/li>
- Dwarven Forge<\/a>, Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Bragi<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a>, Oculus<\/a><\/li>
- Elevation Labs<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Daily\nMail<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Board Game\nGeek<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li>
- IndieGoGo<\/a>, Bug-A-Salt<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a>, Reme\u00e9<\/a><\/li>
- Ostrich\nPillow<\/a><\/li>
- Kickstarter<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
- Valuates<\/a><\/li>
- The average crowdfunding\ncampaign donation is $88.<\/strong><\/li>