Crowdfunding is gradually being accepted by people and businesses as a means of raising money and there have been successful stories which can be seen from the different campaign platforms. They are also crowdfunding stories that are a failure while trying to promote various projects. We will be looking at both the success stories and failed stories as stated here.
Five Famous Successful stories
1. Peak Design: Travel Tripod
The Travel Tripod is a new innovation that is a redesign of the traditional tripod which is difficult to carry in the field. The new Travel Tripod is easy to carry anywhere, that is intuitive and will be a delight to use. The Peak design travel tripod maximizes space and has portable easy deplorable legs that have instant camera connection.
Peak Design was able to raise $8,082,462 with an initial fundraising goal of $500,000 having a few days left to the end of the campaign and far exceeded their expectation. This was a very successful campaign on Kickstarter crowdfunding platform as they were able to raise more than the fundraising goal from 18, 335 backers before the expiration of the campaign.
2. Ryan Stout: Arsenal, the intelligent camera assistant
Arsenal, the intelligent camera assistant tends to unlock the potential of your DSLR or mirrorless camera and capture amazing images in any condition. Your smartphone can be used to capture amazing images in any condition and get control of your DSLR or mirrorless camera. Arsenal is the world’s first intelligent assistant for DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Ultralight hardware lets you wirelessly control your camera with intuitive iOS or Android app and advanced machine learning algorithms help you get perfect shot every time. This is an innovative device that was very successful using the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform.
Ryan Stout was able to raise $3,338,026 from 19,236 backers while campaigning on the Indiegogo platform.
3. Unistellar: eVscope
Unistellar eVscope is 100 times more powerful than normal telescopes that enable you to discover objects not noticed before in compact telescope and you can conveniently watch the universe from downtown. This is another successful campaign using the Indiegogo platform.
Unistellar was able to raise $3,091,044 from 2,672 backers while making use of Indiegogo campaign platform.
4. Stashbee: Storage Space Platform
Stashbee made a booking of storage space easy, convenient and affordable for everyone and everywhere. This platform connects individuals and businesses who have spare spaces with those in need of spare spaces. Stashbee was able to raise £2,223,418 with an initial funding goal of £1,600,019 from Seedrs crowdfunding platform and it was a success.
5. Commuter Club
Commuter Club is a unique tech platform that helps commuters purchase the right ticket online at a low cost with a convenient monthly payment plan. There were able to raise £2,150,360 with an initial funding goal of £1,850,000 from 612 investors using the Seedrs crowdfunding platform and it was a success.
Is it all good?
Through crowdfunding platform does recognize successes that have helped people in the process of raising funds for a specific purpose. Some people were not so fortunate using the crowdfunding platform which led to failures due to many reasons such as project failures, poor planning, inconsistencies in projects and it is stated here.
Two Failed Crowdfunding Stories
1. Mark Shuttleworth: Canonical Ubuntu Edge
Ubuntu Edge is a personal computing device that contains a smartphone and desktop PC in one device. Mark Shuttleworth was able to raise $12,733,521 with an initial funding goal of $32,000,000 from 27,633 backers using the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform. It started as a success as it was able to break crowdfunding records in addition to being the fastest project to hit $2 million in 7hrs 59 mins and the highest of $3.45 million within a total period of 24 hours but never reached its funding goal. The project was discontinued due to issues such as not able to meet with the timeline for delivery and people who contributed funds for the project on the crowdfunding platform were refunded the amount they individually contributed.
2. Crystal Wash 2.0: Clean Laundry with no detergent
Crystal wash is a proven technology that can last for 1000 loads of clean laundry without detergents, chemicals or perfumes. It makes use of Bio Ceramics from the earth that can clean your clothes naturally like laundry detergents. Crystal wash was able to raise $268,368 with an initial funding goal of $100,000 from 3,608 backers using the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. It was a success as they exceeded the project’s funding goal. This project became a failure when they were not able to complete the intended project as expected and a refund had to be made to the backers as demanded by them upon receipt of the project’s update that they will not be able to meet up.
Conclusion
The nature of the project determines the type of crowdfunding platform to be chosen and innovative products should be properly tested before any crowdfunding campaign. The use of crowdfunding platforms to make money for the various projects can be a success or a failure depending on the campaign.
