Since its inception more than 10 years ago, crowdfunding has jumpstarted numerous projects spearheaded by people from all walks of life – from fledgling startups to celebrities testing their entrepreneurial mettle. Kickstarter, a very popular crowdfunding website, has helped artists, tech geeks, writers, musicians, and filmmakers fund their projects and bring their work to fruition. Let’s take a look back at some of the fastest and successful projects the website has launched.
Pebble Time
Pebble Time currently holds the record for being the most funded Kickstarter in history, as well as the fastest project to raise a million dollars – it did so in less than an hour (50 minutes, to be precise). Since its launch at the end of February, 78,471 backers have pledged a staggering $20.3 million. Pebble Time officially closed its funding just last month. Soon, backers will receive their coveted Pebble Time smartwatch, which boasts a color e-paper display and an average battery life of seven days on a single charge.
Coolest Cooler
The Coolest Cooler has captured the attention of many backers as it’s a multi-functional cooler. It comes with a blender, waterproof wireless speakers, USB charger, and storage for drinks and outdoor utensils. Coolest Cooler, which launched its 52-day campaign last year, used to hold the honor of being the most successful Kickstarter campaign until Pebble Time claimed the spotlight.
The Veronica Mars Movie Project
What do you get from a beloved cult TV series with a huge following? A campaign for a movie adaptation, maybe, and that’s exactly what the fans of Veronica Mars did back in 2013. The Marshmallows, as these die-hard fans are known, set the goal at $200,000 (which was met in 10 hours) and managed to raise $5,702,153. End result? The Marshmallows got what they wanted and the movie was released on March 14, 2014.
Wow, I’m glad I am the first to comment on this. It’s really impressive the fact that people look into this because as you can see it’s going to be successful and it’s one of the things to look forward to if you’re interested in that particular topic, like me.
It’s certainly a great idea for the more unconventional projects which would struggle to secure funding using the traditional banking route. Whether I would invest in such a project though remains to be seen. Whilst this is undoubtedly a great idea, there’s still a massive element of risk so I think I’d need to be completely sold on something for me to want to help.
Now imagine if something like Kickstarter was available in 3rd world countries across the world. The possibilities are infinite….. over there people are very nifty. I can see the hunger for inventions that fit a specific need that people have. It makes me think like maybe I can think up something myself that I can kickstart.
Technology is becoming more and more available around the world. I think in the next few decades we will begin to see more and more startups out of Africa and Asia. I hope that people will continue to use Kickstarter, I’m worried as they do not offer an incentive to the user donating.
Absolutely, you’re right!
Really glad Veronica Mars actually got the necessary funds to pull it out. I personally enjoyed the movie. I even donated myself 5 dollars for the cause, I knew the community was so devoted, but not $5,702,153 in 10 hours devoted, haha. Mind-blowing!
Amazing what can be accomplished from a simple website. I’ve seen some astonishing projects on Kickstarter. I’m actually a little surprised these are the most funded (or the most fastest-funded), because I’ve seen projects that without a doubt will have tons of backers.
It’s quite amazing what Kickstarter has done. But do they get anything in return or are they a non-profit organisation? I saw the “Coolest Cooler” before like early last year or last year. I’m looking forward to “Pebble Time” and hopefully they can add some more innovative features. I’m not quite sure about the Mars Project.
I’m really glad I read this. I know of kickstarter, but have never known of anything that was successful from it…so don’t mind me while I go google Pebble Time. Also, I had no idea about the Veronica Mars Movie Project. Now all of us chicks need to go kickstart a Gilmore Girls revival! Great read, thanks for opening my mind. 🙂
I wish I had some unconventional and or innovative ideas for a kickstarter campaign.I would love to see some charitable use on a more global scale. The potential to reach and help millions is there if it can be tapped into by somebody creative enough.
No other industry has been impacted by crowdfunding so much as the video game industry. Some of the titans of yesterday are crowdfunding games more in line with their roots, while indie developers are finding the necessary cash flow to get a game out to the masses on the consoles everyone plays.
It’s a revolution, in all senses of the word. Taking the pocketbook out of the publisher’s hands has given all developers a chance to make a crap-ton of money, and unlike traditional funding methods fans get some say in how the games are developed just by how much money they donate.
Of course, the implications for other industries like homebrew electronics are just as big, but video games are the early success story of crowdfunding and a lot of attention should be paid in the next few years as the first successful titles roll out to shelves.
I’ve not really backed any Kickstarter projects, while many of them feature great concepts often they might not come to fruition. Some games on Kickstarter e.g. Planetary Annihilation ended up going back on some of the promises that they made to backers, with features that were promised being missing in the finished game. There’s always a risk to backing any project, I’d rather be 100% sure on what exactly I am buying.
I am really impressed with how far all of these projects got. I honestly would have contributed something to the pebble watch. I would have support the veronica mars one but I never seen it. But I understand why someone would want to support it. The rewards must have been nice for them to keep supporting it after they reached the goal. I think that is the most important part in success on Kickstarter. Other than just supporting something, the rewards have to be good.
I think that it’s great that this type of support is actually a thing, there’s a lot of amazing ideas that can actually change how we live, but they’re not a reality mostly because of the lack of money, even if is not completely sure that you will get founded there is still a chance.
I really liked the coolest cooler idea, I can definitely see why did it had so much attention. 😛