On Wednesday, we reviewed different crowdfunding sites that we could get involved with. I am very interested in crowdfunding and actively follow projects that are launched on sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, so it is interesting to see how the market has developed over the past few years.
One of the sites we talked about, Kickstarter, was launched from the US in 2009 and has been a great success, so far raising over a billion US dollars for various projects. The site, however, is limited in terms of who can put ideas on it and ask for funding. In the beginning, only US inventors and entrepreneurs could launch campaigns, but the site soon allowed for people from the UK, Australia, Canada, and The Netherlands to launch them as well. Just this summer, the site announced that it was going to open it up to Ireland and to Scandanavia, as seen in the article included below.
Kickstarter Officially Opens to Crowdfunding Campaign Creators in Scandinavia & Ireland
It is a great opportunity for people in these countries to launch campaings. I, however, have a few questions for consideration about the international market for crowdfunding sites as the idea of crowdfunding begins to grow.
First, is what do you think the willingness to contribute to crowdfunding is like in different continents? Is crowdfunding mainly limited to North America and Europe right now or have you seen it expand and reach other markets? Do you think that there are many potential funders in other markets or is crowdfunding mainly a western focused idea right now?
Second, is what do you think competition is like for crowdfunding sites? Is there a large motive to move into international markets and be the first one into those markets? What differentiates one crowdfunding site from another when they are being launched in different countries?
Along with the previous quesiton, my other interest in the development of crowdfunding is the competition in the market. As a contributor, I think it is interesting to look into what makes people go to one crowdfunding site, rather than another. Possible motives for myself to look into different sites would be which has the best reliability in terms of money actually being able to fund products and which site has the most entrepreneurs and inventors contributing to it.
On the other hand, there are different motives for inventors to launch their products on different sites. Some of the reasons can be seen in the article I’ve posted below.
http://crowdfundingdojo.com/articles/kickstarter-vs-indiegogo-choosing-your-crowdfunding-platform
Here is an infographic comparing the success of both sites and the campaigns that they both contribute to (you can click on it to enlarge it).
What parts of sites would help sway you towards one crowdfunding site over another? Would it be different if you were a funder or an inventor? The article below shares a bit of information about the success rates of Indiegogo and Kickstarter, which could sway you as well.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2013/09/09/donation-based-crowdfunding-sites-kickstarter-vs-indiegogo/
Overall, do you think the growth of crowdfunding is a good thing, or would it be just as effective to ask friends for money to help your projects through typical social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, rather than have another platform like Kickstarter or Indiegogo? With these platforms being so new, it will be very interesting to see how they keep developing and expanding into different markets over time.
Sources:
http://pando.com/2013/10/14/infographic-kickstarter-vs-indiegogo/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2013/09/09/donation-based-crowdfunding-sites-kickstarter-vs-indiegogo/
http://crowdfundingdojo.com/articles/kickstarter-vs-indiegogo-choosing-your-crowdfunding-platform
Kickstarter Officially Opens to Crowdfunding Campaign Creators in Scandinavia & Ireland
