The Secrets of Crowdfunding Success

23 Multi-Million Dollar Crowdfunding Raises and What

Made Them So Successful

In recent years, Crowdfunding has become wildly popular and successful.

An estimated $34 Billion will be raised via Crowdfunding this year

Business and entrepreneurship” is the most

popular crowdfunding category, representing 41.3%

percent of total volume

Social causes ($3 billion), films and performing arts ($2

billion), real estate ($1 billion), and music and recording arts ($736 million) round out the

top five categories

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To help you see how others have succeeded in Crowdfunding, we have gathered some of the most successful

(and interesting) crowdfunding campaigns across several platforms including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Tilt,

Angels Den and Crowdfunder

Pebble Watch

Pebble Watch is an affordable, e-paper, smartwatch

• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $500,000• Amount Raised- $20,338,986• Key Campaign Component-

Crowdfunders became one of the first to own a Pebble watch, one of the first affordable smart watches on the market

An Hour of Code for Every Student

This project’s goal is to introduce 100 million students worldwide to one hour of computer

science education

• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $5 million• Amount Raised- $5,023,779• Key Campaign component- Backed

by Mark Zuckerberg and every dollar is matched

Stone Brewing Company

This craft brewery launched Stone Groundbreaking Collaborations, a series of fine, rare concoctions made in collaboration with top

brewers

• Platform- Indiegogo

• Campaign Target- $1 million

• Amount Raised- $2,532,180

• Key Campaign Component-

Contributors received free beer

Digitzs

Digitzs is a platform and mobile app where merchants get paid next day and choose their

Visa or MasterCard fees

• Platform- Crowdfunder

• Campaign Target- $2.2 million


• Key Campaign Component- investors with a minimum of $10,000 get an early stage equity stake in Digitzs and the opportunity to participate in an advice session with Kevin Harrington

Soylent

A meal replacement product, Soylent is the most successful crowdfunding campaign for a

food product to date

• Platform- Tilt.com• Campaign Target- $100,000• Amount Raised- $3,000,000+• Key Campaign Component- Founder

made several media appearances, which helped bolster brand/campaign awareness

Rooster Teeth Lazer Team

This is a sci-fi film focusing on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence

• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $650,000• Amount Raised- $2,480,334• Key Campaign Component- Contributors

get exclusive perks (such as a signed copy of the script) based on level of contribution

Ethereum

Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed

without downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference

• Platform- Bitcoin/Independent• Campaign Target- None• Amount Raised- $18,439,086• Key Campaign Component- The campaign

attracted software developers and financial entities looking to develop Ethereum-based applications as well as from buyers betting on future demand for the tokens

Skully

The Skully smart motorcycle helmet features a heads-up display, rear-view mirror, and GPS

navigation

• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $250,000• Amount Raised- $2,446,824• Key Campaign Component-

Contributors get exclusive access to the Skully helmet before it hits the mass market

Star Citizen

Star Citizen is a space simulation game for Microsoft Windows and Linux, using Oculus

Rift’s virtual reality capabilities

• Platform- Kickstarter

• Campaign Target- $500,000• Amount Raised- $2,134,374 (after Kickstarter,

Star Citizen continued crowdfunding on its own website and raised a total of $15 million)

• Key Campaign Component- For $30 or more, you get exclusive access to the game. The game's campaign will feature the likes of Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, and Gillian Anderson

Parcel Genie

Parcel Genie is the world’s first Instant Gift Messaging Service which enables customers to send

real gifts without the need for a delivery address

• Platform- Angels Den



• Key Campaign Component- The company

was able to pitch at the London

SpeedFunding event, allowing them one

on one time with real investors

Coolest Cooler

A multipurpose, durable, and waterproof cooler that doubles as a bluetooth speaker, blender, dish rack, USB charger, light source

and bottle opener

• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $50,000• Amount Raised- $13,285,226• Key Campaign Component-The $485 cooler

was available to supporters for as little as $200 and before it hit mass markets

Flow Hive

Flow Hive is a newly designed beehive box that allows bee keepers to harvest honey without

disturbing the bees

• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $70,000• Amount Raised- $12,485,747• Key Campaign Component- Many subject

matter experts backed the product as it was a “gamechanger” in the way honey is harvested. The inventor team also launched a YouTube video (over 1 million views) prior to their launch on Indiegogo to garner interest

Pono Music

Pono Music is a music download service and physical music player that provides ultra high-

quality sound, with more than 2 million titles, and 30 times more sound data than typical MP3 files

• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $800,000• Amount Raised- $6,225,354• Key Campaign Component- Backed by Neil

Young and has many celebrities endorsements in the music industry like Bruce Springsteen and prominent people in the technology world, including Oculus COO Laird Malamed and Amazon CTO Werner Vogels

Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens is a whimsical card game involving kittens, laser beams, explosions and possibly goats


• Campaign Target- $10,000


• Key Campaign Component- The first demonstration of the game was played by the hosts of Smosh Games on YouTube. Smosh Games’ YouTube channel has more than 6 million subscribers, most of which are game addicts

Jibo Family Robot

The Jibo Family Robot can recognize faces, give schedule reminders, take pictures, respond to

touch and tell bedtime stories




• Key Campaign Component- Contributors get exclusive access to the robot before it hits the mass market

Ouya is an open-source game console




• Key Campaign Component- Affordable ($99) gaming console and ability to get it before it hits the market

Solar Roadways

Solar Roadways is developing solar powered road panels to form a smart highway




• Key Campaign Component- Launched a very successful viral video campaign (21 million views on YouTube).

Bluesmart

Bluesmart is the world's first smart, connected carry-on luggage featuring location tracking,

remote lock and battery charger




• Key Campaign Component- 50,000 referrals, tens of thousands of social media shares and almost 600,000 YouTube views

FAB Financial Inc.

FAB Financial helps artists manage their finances and helps them make, market and monetize their

creative work




• Key Campaign Component- Founded by musician Dave Stewart and former CEO of Credit Suisse EMEA, Michael Philipp

The Dash

The Dash is the world’s first wireless smart in-ear headphone




• Key Campaign Component- Early bird contributors received the earphones at a discounted price

SU Labs

The SU Labs Startup Accelerator helps startups develop synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and robotics

technologies to address education, energy, environment, food, health, poverty, security, space and water

challenges


• Campaign Target- $2.5 million


• Key Campaign Component- Built a great network of partners to give it credibility and media reach

Oculus Rift

The Rift is a PC based, virtual reality headset with many gaming and media applications




• Key Campaign Component- Garnered a ton of media attention

Ubuntu Edge

The Ubuntu Edge is the next generation of personal computing: smartphone and desktop PC

in one state-of-the-art device




• Key Campaign Component- Lots of media attention, product NOT available to buy at launch; only available to those who contributed

1. Contributors received product at a substantial price discount

2. Contributors received product early (before mass market introduction)

3. Exclusive/insider perks to contributors

4. Celebrity endorsements

5. Viral sharing via social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) to spread the word about the product

6. Significant PR/buzz achieved

7. Products all have unique value propositions and/or “first to market” concepts

These were the most common elements we saw amongst these ultra-successful

Crowdfunding campaigns:

The Secrets of Crowdfunding Success

Business

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