23 Multi-Million Dollar Crowdfunding Raises and What
Made Them So Successful
In recent years, Crowdfunding has become wildly popular and successful.
An estimated $34 Billion will be raised via Crowdfunding this year
Business and entrepreneurship” is the most
popular crowdfunding category, representing 41.3%
percent of total volume
Social causes ($3 billion), films and performing arts ($2
billion), real estate ($1 billion), and music and recording arts ($736 million) round out the
top five categories
Click hereto learn more
Need Help with Your Crowdfunding Raise?
To help you see how others have succeeded in Crowdfunding, we have gathered some of the most successful
(and interesting) crowdfunding campaigns across several platforms including Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Tilt,
Angels Den and Crowdfunder
Pebble Watch
Pebble Watch is an affordable, e-paper, smartwatch
• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $500,000• Amount Raised- $20,338,986• Key Campaign Component-
Crowdfunders became one of the first to own a Pebble watch, one of the first affordable smart watches on the market
An Hour of Code for Every Student
This project’s goal is to introduce 100 million students worldwide to one hour of computer
science education
• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $5 million• Amount Raised- $5,023,779• Key Campaign component- Backed
by Mark Zuckerberg and every dollar is matched
Stone Brewing Company
This craft brewery launched Stone Groundbreaking Collaborations, a series of fine, rare concoctions made in collaboration with top
brewers
• Platform- Indiegogo
• Campaign Target- $1 million
• Amount Raised- $2,532,180
• Key Campaign Component-
Contributors received free beer
Digitzs
Digitzs is a platform and mobile app where merchants get paid next day and choose their
Visa or MasterCard fees
• Platform- Crowdfunder
• Campaign Target- $2.2 million
• Amount Raised- $2,556,561
• Key Campaign Component- investors with a minimum of $10,000 get an early stage equity stake in Digitzs and the opportunity to participate in an advice session with Kevin Harrington
Soylent
A meal replacement product, Soylent is the most successful crowdfunding campaign for a
food product to date
• Platform- Tilt.com• Campaign Target- $100,000• Amount Raised- $3,000,000+• Key Campaign Component- Founder
made several media appearances, which helped bolster brand/campaign awareness
Rooster Teeth Lazer Team
This is a sci-fi film focusing on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $650,000• Amount Raised- $2,480,334• Key Campaign Component- Contributors
get exclusive perks (such as a signed copy of the script) based on level of contribution
Ethereum
Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed
without downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference
• Platform- Bitcoin/Independent• Campaign Target- None• Amount Raised- $18,439,086• Key Campaign Component- The campaign
attracted software developers and financial entities looking to develop Ethereum-based applications as well as from buyers betting on future demand for the tokens
Skully
The Skully smart motorcycle helmet features a heads-up display, rear-view mirror, and GPS
navigation
• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $250,000• Amount Raised- $2,446,824• Key Campaign Component-
Contributors get exclusive access to the Skully helmet before it hits the mass market
Star Citizen
Star Citizen is a space simulation game for Microsoft Windows and Linux, using Oculus
Rift’s virtual reality capabilities
• Platform- Kickstarter
• Campaign Target- $500,000• Amount Raised- $2,134,374 (after Kickstarter,
Star Citizen continued crowdfunding on its own website and raised a total of $15 million)
• Key Campaign Component- For $30 or more, you get exclusive access to the game. The game's campaign will feature the likes of Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, and Gillian Anderson
Parcel Genie
Parcel Genie is the world’s first Instant Gift Messaging Service which enables customers to send
real gifts without the need for a delivery address
• Platform- Angels Den
• Campaign Target- $1 million
• Amount Raised- $2,600,000
• Key Campaign Component- The company
was able to pitch at the London
SpeedFunding event, allowing them one
on one time with real investors
Coolest Cooler
A multipurpose, durable, and waterproof cooler that doubles as a bluetooth speaker, blender, dish rack, USB charger, light source
and bottle opener
• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $50,000• Amount Raised- $13,285,226• Key Campaign Component-The $485 cooler
was available to supporters for as little as $200 and before it hit mass markets
Flow Hive
Flow Hive is a newly designed beehive box that allows bee keepers to harvest honey without
disturbing the bees
• Platform- Indiegogo• Campaign Target- $70,000• Amount Raised- $12,485,747• Key Campaign Component- Many subject
matter experts backed the product as it was a “gamechanger” in the way honey is harvested. The inventor team also launched a YouTube video (over 1 million views) prior to their launch on Indiegogo to garner interest
Pono Music
Pono Music is a music download service and physical music player that provides ultra high-
quality sound, with more than 2 million titles, and 30 times more sound data than typical MP3 files
• Platform- Kickstarter• Campaign Target- $800,000• Amount Raised- $6,225,354• Key Campaign Component- Backed by Neil
Young and has many celebrities endorsements in the music industry like Bruce Springsteen and prominent people in the technology world, including Oculus COO Laird Malamed and Amazon CTO Werner Vogels
Exploding Kittens
Exploding Kittens is a whimsical card game involving kittens, laser beams, explosions and possibly goats
• Platform- Kickstarter
• Campaign Target- $10,000
• Amount Raised- $8,782,571
• Key Campaign Component- The first demonstration of the game was played by the hosts of Smosh Games on YouTube. Smosh Games’ YouTube channel has more than 6 million subscribers, most of which are game addicts
Jibo Family Robot
The Jibo Family Robot can recognize faces, give schedule reminders, take pictures, respond to
touch and tell bedtime stories
• Platform- Indiegogo
• Campaign Target- $100,000
• Amount Raised- $3,711,958
• Key Campaign Component- Contributors get exclusive access to the robot before it hits the mass market
Ouya
Ouya is an open-source game console
• Platform- Kickstarter
• Campaign Target- $950,000
• Amount Raised- $8,596,474
• Key Campaign Component- Affordable ($99) gaming console and ability to get it before it hits the market
Solar Roadways
Solar Roadways is developing solar powered road panels to form a smart highway
• Platform- Indiegogo
• Campaign Target- $1 million
• Amount Raised- $2,263,382
• Key Campaign Component- Launched a very successful viral video campaign (21 million views on YouTube).
Bluesmart
Bluesmart is the world's first smart, connected carry-on luggage featuring location tracking,
remote lock and battery charger
• Platform- Indiegogo
• Campaign Target- $50,000
• Amount Raised- $2,206,160
• Key Campaign Component- 50,000 referrals, tens of thousands of social media shares and almost 600,000 YouTube views
FAB Financial Inc.
FAB Financial helps artists manage their finances and helps them make, market and monetize their
creative work
• Platform- Crowdfunder
• Campaign Target- $3 million
• Amount Raised- $4,185,000
• Key Campaign Component- Founded by musician Dave Stewart and former CEO of Credit Suisse EMEA, Michael Philipp
The Dash
The Dash is the world’s first wireless smart in-ear headphone
• Platform- Kickstarter
• Campaign Target- $260,000
• Amount Raised- $3,390,551
• Key Campaign Component- Early bird contributors received the earphones at a discounted price
SU Labs
The SU Labs Startup Accelerator helps startups develop synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and robotics
technologies to address education, energy, environment, food, health, poverty, security, space and water
challenges
• Platform- Crowdfunder
• Campaign Target- $2.5 million
• Amount Raised- $4,712,466
• Key Campaign Component- Built a great network of partners to give it credibility and media reach
Oculus Rift
The Rift is a PC based, virtual reality headset with many gaming and media applications
• Platform- Kickstarter
• Campaign Target- $250,000
• Amount Raised- $2,437,429
• Key Campaign Component- Garnered a ton of media attention
Ubuntu Edge
The Ubuntu Edge is the next generation of personal computing: smartphone and desktop PC
in one state-of-the-art device
• Platform- Indiegogo
• Campaign Target- $32 million
• Amount Raised- $12,814,216
• Key Campaign Component- Lots of media attention, product NOT available to buy at launch; only available to those who contributed
1. Contributors received product at a substantial price discount
2. Contributors received product early (before mass market introduction)
3. Exclusive/insider perks to contributors
4. Celebrity endorsements
5. Viral sharing via social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) to spread the word about the product
6. Significant PR/buzz achieved
7. Products all have unique value propositions and/or “first to market” concepts
These were the most common elements we saw amongst these ultra-successful
Crowdfunding campaigns:
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