Modern Crowdfunding, as it is today, began in 1976. Since then, there have been many crowdfunding products which are released in the market. Some are a huge success, while others fail miserably. While some other crowdfunding products are the average ones which get succeeded in their campaign. Amongst all these, the products which were a really huge success, are worth mentioning. Some crowdfunding products became so successful, that it became hard to believe. They broke the myth that crowdfunding cannot raise huge amounts. Here are some of the crowdfunding products which created history.
#Star Citizen by Cloud Imperium Games.
Star Citizen is a space simulation video game which will be launched by the end of 2016. It is developed by Cloud Imperium Games and uses the Oculus Rift’s virtual reality capabilities.
It is worth mentioning in this article because it has been the biggest hit in crowdfunding till now. This project holds a record for raising the largest amount of money for a single product. The company started the campaign in October 2012 with Kickstarter and ended it in November 2012 while closing with $4.2 million. Thus making it the biggest hit till date.
#Reading Rainbow
Reading Rainbow was formerly a TV-series which was aired on PBS. It aired from 1983 till 2006. It was an educational tool for children which emphasized on early reading.
In 2014, former executive producer of the show, LeVar Burton started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. It aimed at making Reading Rainbow accessible online. LeVar Burton started it with a goal of $1 million. But it ended up raising $5.4 million. It further received a donation of $1 million from comedian Seth MacFarlane. Thus, it is regarded as one of the biggest success of crowdfunding products.
#Soylent by Rosa Labs
Soylent is a meal replacement which is available in liquid and powdered forms. It claims to meet all the nutritional requirements of an average adult. Thus, it is advertised as ‘Staple Food‘.
Rob Rhinehart, a software engineer developed this product. He was the same person who decided to crowdfund it. The crowdfunding of this product started in 2013 and raised a whopping $3 million with pre-orders. This one of the crowdfunding products is regarded as the biggest success for crowdfunding of a food product.
#Smartwatches by Pebble Technology
The pebble smart watches were designed by Eric Migicovsky. Initially, they decided to fund the project with the help of some big funders. They were even successful in raising a large amount this way. But still, the required target was not reached. That is when they decided to get it crowdfunded. And subsequently, they released a campaign on Kickstarter in April 2012.
Within a month, the project was able to raise $10.3 million. The company then launched its next generation smart watches: Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel. They were a bigger hit than the previous models. Pebble Time raised $20.3 million in a span of 30-days owing to pre-orders. It is a huge success of crowdfunding products by a company which was brand new.
Many crowdfunding products have witnessed immense success. The key to all of them is just, efficient use of Crowdfunding.
