Posts
June 29 2012
Crowdfunding has become a big industry, as people are increasingly seeking ways to finance new creative projects and technology ideas. But one crowdfunding startup is focusing more on helping people raise money for personal needs, and is starting to process some serious funding in the meantime.
That startup, called GoFundMe, was actually founded in 2008, long before Kickstarter made it big and around the same time that IndieGoGo first hit the scene.June 28 2012
When it comes to crowdfunding platforms, the biggest (or at least most well known) kid on the block is Kickstarter. So when the company announced last week it would release stats on the projects within its platform, the analyst in me got all excited. Like many, I’ve wanted more granular data on the breakdown of projects as well as which ones do better than others.
June 27 2012
Crowdfunding won’t work for small businesses unless the Securities and Exchange Commission limits the burdens imposed on companies that use this new method of raising capital. That’s what crowdfunding experts told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today during a hearing on the JOBS Act, the new law that aims to make it easier for small businesses to raise capital.
June 27 2012
The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on job creation and the Securities and Exchange Commission's efforts to implement the JOBS Act. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) chaired the hearing. RocketHub's CFO, Alon Hillel-Tuch, was invited to testify on the potential the "crowdfunding for equity" model holds for start-ups, job growth, and the US economy.
June 25 2012
A little extreme? Maybe. And sorry for offending any VCs out there. But have you heard the news from across the pond? Two entrepreneurs + one startup + 70k followers + 14 days = $933,342.00 in funding (600,000 British Pounds). And not a venture capitalist in sight.
Call it “crowdfunding”.
Now please understand I am not knocking the VC racket. (Oops, did I just call it a racket?)
June 22 2012
How well does crowdfunding actually work? Fundraising website Kickstarter is giving a picture of some of its own numbers, including statistics on success rates and dollars pledged. The New York company, through which customers raise money to fund creative projects, has received pledges of $261 million so far, according to data published on the company’s site. Only successfully funded projects — those that reach their pledge goals by their deadlines — collect money; for those that fall short, the pledges are canceled.
June 16 2012
PEBBLE, a watch that displays messages from the wearer’s iPhone, may not be a record-holder for long. The $10.3m raised last month from 68,929 people after Pebble’s inventors posted a pitch on Kickstarter, a “crowdfunding” website, dwarfed the previous high of $3.3m set in March by Double Fine Adventure, a video game (see chart 1). Until February, no project had raised $1m. Now seven have.
June 06 2012
Indiegogo Inc. is going strong. The crowdfunding platform has closed a $15 million Series A round to scale operations and vanquish its large and growing list of competitors. Insight Venture Partners led the Series A round with participation from new investor Khosla Ventures and existing investors Metamorphic Ventures, MHS Capital, ffVenture Capital, and Zynga Inc. co-founder Steve Schoettler.