I’ve known about Kickstarter for quite some time, but never really delved into it. Kickstarter is a ‘crowdfunding’ service, whereby people can contribute cash to upstart projects with a promise of some arbitrary form of reward if the project succeeds. In my mind, crowdfunding takes venture capital (VC) to the next level. VC is very much a lotto game – you approach venture capitalists, give a presentation, and they decide whether or not to invest into your project. Crowdfunding is very similar, but it’s community based, and any number of people can contribute any amount of funding to the project.
One of my favourites is the LIFX lightbulb, which has been funded to more than an order of magnitude than their goal. The other, which I contributed to yesterday, is Sui Generis, an open-world role playing game (watch the video), which was single handedly written by one of the most talented programmers I have ever seen. The game looks absolutely remarkable, adopting technology well beyond anything I’ve ever come across before in a game. I sincerely hope they reach their goal. Because, if they reach their funding goal, my reward is to meet and have dinner with the developers, visit their studio, and contribute some game content. An awesome reward for the amount I pledged. Another great game under Kickstarter development is Star Citizen. Of course, crowdfunding is for more than just games and lightbulbs – it can be used to finance virtually any kind of novel project.
Crowdfunding is really beginning to take off, and I look forward to seeing what great new projects come of it. Crowdfunding is definitely the future of investment. The days of traditional VC are coming to an end, and it can’t happen soon enough. Crowdfunding democratises VC.
While crowdfunding is not a new concept, it is getting a lot of media attention nowadays. Crowdfunding is evolving and new crowdfunding platforms provide an excellent tool for financing different projects, whether these are art projects, game or hardware/device development or even equity financing. Yet the use of these new platforms and practices needs to comply with the existing regulation, which sometimes causes conflict. This first guest blog looks into the legal issues related to using donation/rewards-based crowdfunding platforms mainly from Finnish perspective, and the second blog addresses the use of equity-based crowdfunding platforms.
While Equity Crowdfunding platforms are waiting for the SEC to put rules in place based on the JOBS Act of 2012, there is currently one site that is offering equity crowdfunding . IPO Village has a game changing concept, they are offering NASDAQ traded IPO’s to market utilizing a crowdfunding platform. The advantage is a “first come, first serve” offer for the average investor to buy in at pre-IPO pricing. Something that is not available to the average investor in the marketplace today. This also includes an average of a 22% cost reduction in the price by bringing these offerings directly to the public, rather than through a syndicate of underwriters and investment bankers. Take a look at IPOVillage.com for more detailed information.
Traditional crowdfunding platforms such as ArtistShare and Kickstarter treat funds as donations, but entrepreneurs and others see crowdfunding as a good way of securing investments.
Traditional crowdfunding platforms such as ArtistShare and Kickstarter treat funds as donations, but entrepreneurs and others see crowdfunding as a good way of securing investments.
Massolution also sees crowdfunding opportunities for development banks and NGOs (perhaps to fund micro-finance), more community-level fundraising (“locavesting”), more “hybrid platforms” (mixing up donations, rewards, lending, equity, and royalties), and more enterprise-crowdfunding, where the point isn’t necessarily to find money, but to assess product demand, and reduce market research costs. So-called “live crowdsourcing”–fundraising linked to an event–is another trending idea, it says.