Crowdfunding is the ideal alternative way for entrepreneurs to fund a venture without accumulating debt. Aside from raising capital to launch a new venture, crowdfunding is the ideal way for any entrepreneur to validate a business idea and gauge the size of a potential audience before launching a new product to the market. Done right, it’s also great PR.
Taking a new product from concept to market can be time consuming and expensive. However, by leveraging the power of crowdfunding properly it’s possible to gain feedback and valuable market insights from interested customers that can be used to refine, hone and improve on ideas while they’re still in the early stages of concept or even production.
The result allows savvy entrepreneurs to ensure their launch strategies are strengthened so the eventual product release has a much bigger impact overall. Creating a crowdfunding campaign also provides a highly effective way to build awareness of the company and the impending product launch.
Of course, choosing the right crowdfunding platform also makes a difference as to how an entrepreneur is able to access any funds raised for the project. For example, platforms such as Kickstarter only release fund after the campaign has reached its funding goal, while IndieGoGo allows the campaign creator to choose between receiving funding as its received or waiting until the target funding amount is reached.
The team at RPRNmag and The Scope Weekly proudly follows a number or well-deserving crowdfunding campaigns from various innovative companies. Below is a quick look at some of our favorites, from highly successful completed campaigns, to projects still in progress, and new campaigns still in pre-launch and due to be launched in the near future.
Home Improvement
Caia Caia – Successfully Completed Campaign
The Caia 2.0 is a smart robot designed to fill your home with sunshine. The robot’s portable design provides a cost-effective way to increase the amount of natural lighting that comes into your home. Simply point the device in whichever direction you want more natural light and Caia’s solar-powered design complies by moving natural sunlight from where it’s wasted to whatever area you desire.
Based in San Diego, CA, Solenica CEO Diva Tommei launched an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of raising the required capital to fund production of the innovative natural lighting robot.
By October 27, 2016, the campaign had raised an impressive $523,266 USD, a massive 642% of the initial amount the company hoped to achieve. Throughout the course of the campaign, 2, 441 people backed the project, many of whom left positive comments and feedback about the prototype’s design appeal.
Fitness Gear
9/11/17 RETRACTION – RPRNMAG no longer endorses PigaOne for not fulfilling its contracts and for deceiving business practices.
Active – PigaOne – We do not recommend PigaOne
PigaOne
Home Automation
Upcoming – MirroCool – Due for launch end of June 2017
MirroCool is a smart mirror that acts as a personal assistant and home security device all in one. The innovative design used Facial Gesture Recognition (FGR) technology built into a mirror that allows you to access the personal assistant apps on your smartphone completely hands-free and without the need to have your phone on you.
MirroCool CEO, Wojtek Kaszycki recognized a niche in the market while holding his toothbrush in one hand and trying to check his calendar on his smartphone in the other. The initial inconvenience sparked an idea to design a mirror that allows you to access the helpful apps and tools on your smartphone without the need to touch or speak to the device.
Instead, MirroCool recognizes your face and immediately syncs to your iPhone or Android device to display your daily reminders, updates, events, headlines, weather, news, or ticker information to ensure you’re up to date from the moment your mirror activates.
The technology also allows you to take a selfie by activating the camera function within the mirror with the blink of an eye – literally. Users are able to navigate the menu and various apps using eye movement and facial gestures to activate certain features.
MirroCool is launching a KickStarter crowdfunding campaign that is due to be launched at the end of June 2017. The company hopes to raise $50,000 USD to help fund production of the smart mirror.
If you’re interested in being one of the first people to access MirroCool when it becomes available, become a backer on the company’s Kickstarter campaign. Backers qualify for discounted prices and early access to the device, plus a variety of other perks besides.
While this article focuses primarily on campaigns launched via Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, there are plenty of other interesting funding options available for business owners and entrepreneurs who are keen to see a new business or product idea launched. One interesting funding option is known as Peer-to-Peer lending, or marketplace lending.
“The fastest growing marketplace platforms are not really peer-to-peer but institutional investors partnering with tech platforms to cherry-pick borrowers, often with offline marketing,” says Smittipon Srethapramote, who covers the North American payments industry at Morgan Stanley.
Across the U.S., the size of marketplace loan origination has doubled with each year since 2010, reaching $12 billion globally by 2014. Industry experts estimate that future increases in global crowdfunding for startup business ideas could exceed $96 billion by 2020. When the figures for real estate crowdfunding activity are incorporated into estimates, such lending could command $150 billion to $490 billion by 2020.
With so many alternative funding options available, it’s becoming easier than ever before for savvy entrepreneurs to access.
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