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Wanting Forward – Indiegogo Weblog
Plenty of ink has been spilled about 2020 — about its rolling disasters and common upheaval. However right here, on this publish, we don’t wish to dwell on the destructive. We wish to speak in regards to the positives that occurred in 2020, and share our pleasure for the 12 months forward. Plenty of superior stuff occurred final 12 months on the planet of crowdfunding. Backers funded modern campaigns, Indiegogo launched sweeping initiatives, and the crowdfunding neighborhood discovered some key classes that we will develop on in 2021.
On this publish, we spherical up final 12 months’s prime campaigns, focus on the takeaways we’re constructing on as we look forward to 2021, and recap the initiatives that Indiegogo set in movement final 12 months.
High 10 Campaigns of 2020
$2.2M raised
12,041 backers
Beijing, China
This smartwatch has a curved display and tracks vitals 24/7, utilizing tech to enhance well being.
9. STRØM CITY W
$2.3M raised
3,291 backers
Copenhagen, Denmark
A trendy eBike made particularly for girls, created within the biking capital of the world.
8. Monster X
$2.3M raised
3,779 backers
Kowloon, Hong Kong
This generator is highly effective sufficient to allow you to arrange a TV or PS4 in your yard.
7. ElecHive
$2.8M raised
2,453 backers
San Diego, United States
The ElecHive’s battery can present a large 2,200W of energy output, identical to a regular wall socket.
6. Stoggles
$3M raised
60,753 backers
Los Angeles, United States
Stoggles provide comparable eye safety to full goggles however with fashion, shielding eyes from soiled fingers and airborne droplets.
5. GPD WIN Max
$3.M raised
4,356 backers
Shenzhen, China
GPD WIN Max combines the portability of a handheld gaming console with the graphics of a gaming laptop computer.
4. Reevo
$3.6M raised
1,777 backeers
Delaware, United States
This hubless design places an emphasis on fashion, making it the right eBike for a discerning rider.
3. Bluetti AC200 Photo voltaic Energy Station
$7.5M raised
7,030 backers
Denver, CO
This energy station makes use of photo voltaic vitality to place out a colossal 2,000 watts of steady energy.
$10.3M raised
3,853 backers
San Francisco, United States
Every Superstrata bike body is 3D-printed with carbon fiber to offer the consumer a customized match.
1. Babymaker
$14.8M raised
8,731 backers
San Diego, CA, United States
This eBike was the runaway (or bike-away?) hit of 2020, because of its smooth, light-weight design.
5 takeaways from 2021
Backers and campaigners are hungry for neighborhood and connection
Neighborhood is what differentiates crowdfunding: It’s the spine of every thing that occurs at Indiegogo. So it was no shock to seek out that, in a 12 months when folks have been feeling remoted, backers selected to not simply fund campaigns — additionally they selected to have interaction with the communities which are constructed amongst a marketing campaign’s supporters. Almost 50,000 backers got here to our Fb Digital Hangouts, attending occasions like an unboxing and Q+A with Chase Reeves from Pakt, and roundtables for feminine entrepreneurs and Indiegogo neighborhood favorites. And a pair of.1 million folks tuned into Instagram takeovers, the place we gave fan favourite campaigners the keys to our Instagram for a couple of days to speak immediately with our social viewers, sharing unique tales and content material. Backers additionally shared suggestions and tips on marketing campaign pages: Productiveness merchandise alone garnered 50,000 feedback as backers mentioned their favourite life hacks and supplied one another encouragement as they superior in direction of their objectives, and backers attended dwell Q+As with creators of productivity-enhancing merchandise like this one with the creators of Midea and this one with Arrow and TimeChi.
Backers are extra taken with inexperienced campaigns
Crowdfunding has all the time been a perfect place for entrepreneurs to boost funds for merchandise that may assist save the planet. And as an increasing number of folks look to make the transition to greener life, assist for inexperienced campaigns grew practically 900% in 2020, as in comparison with the earlier 12 months. Backers are looking for out every thing from plastic-free cleansing merchandise to photo voltaic panels to transportable bidets to assist put the planet first. Photo voltaic-powered batteries have been notably fashionable, with energy stations like Monster X and Bluetti bringing in hundreds of thousands of donations from backers trying to get off the grid and decrease their carbon footprint. In actual fact, inexperienced vitality campaigns raised a complete of $16.7M in 2020. eBikes additionally received a whole lot of love in 2020, as backers appeared to ditch their vehicles and discover greener methods to get round. Electrical bicycles like Reevo, Superstrata, Babymaker and MATE raised a whopping $24M mixed. And, in fact, it wouldn’t be crowdfunding if backers weren’t additionally connecting with the creators of their favourite campaigns. Indiegogo neighborhood members attended occasions like an Instagram Reside with QuenchSea, an Instagram Takeover with One Bottle founder Petrice Jones, and a Digital Hangout on Fb with ETEE.
Crowdfunding helps underrepresented entrepreneurs obtain their desires
2020 was a 12 months of reckoning for a lot of industries, as they struggled to beat their racially homogenous make-up and transfer ahead in direction of a brighter and extra equitable future. Crowdfunding has lengthy been a path for numerous voices to avoid enterprise capital corporations and different conventional funding avenues, which nonetheless give nearly all of their cash to white males. In 2020, Black feminine campaigners launched kids’s books like The Mermaid Princesses, the Parisian idea retailer Little Africa, the eco-conscious fragrance firm Scents and Type, the digital archive of womxn in hip hop The Keeper, and a lot extra.
Backers come to crowdfunding for world connection
Considered one of our favourite issues about crowdfunding is that it lets backers meet and assist entrepreneurs from everywhere in the globe. Final 12 months, Indiegogo expanded its attain to Japan, providing assets to Japanese entrepreneurs and permitting Japanese backers to donate to campaigns utilizing Japanese yen. Our new Made in Japan class is off to an excellent begin, with $6M raised amongst 13,000 backers. And with our new partnership with Makuake, the main pre-order and assist platform in Japan, backers can count on to see much more thrilling issues to come back. In 2020, Indiegogo continued enlargement into China, serving to Chinese language manufacturers attain worldwide audiences by means of crowdfunding.
Video games are having a second
Indie sport creators flock to Indiegogo to show their intricate and artistic ideas into video games that folks can get pleasure from with their buddies in actual life, cube and playing cards and all. And with the pandemic trapping everybody indoors, folks discovered themselves taking part in tabletop video games like by no means earlier than. With their curiosity in gaming piqued, 35,000 backers supported up and coming sport designers in 2020, leading to greater than a 200% enhance in funds raised for tabletop video games in comparison with 2019. One notable standout has been Queeng, a deck of taking part in playing cards designed by a 12-year-old woman that raised over $500ok. Nevertheless it wasn’t simply tabletop video games that had 12 months on Indiegogo: Digital video games additionally had an excellent displaying in 2020. The GPD WIN Max console made the 2020 prime ten, elevating $3.4M and artistic approaches to gaming like Polycade gained a following.
5 Initiatives We Launched in 2020
Dedication to uplifting marginalized and underrepresented teams
We’ve been asking ourselves exhausting questions on how we will do extra to foster a various and inclusive panorama. In 2020, we launched the Indiegogo Fellowship Program, a six-week course that guides campaigners in working a profitable crowdfunding marketing campaign from starting to finish. The Fellowship Program goals to supply steering and assets to creators from communities which are usually marginalized in tech and innovation, and focuses on serving to female-identifying, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. We additionally established Juneteenth as a company-wide vacation final 12 months. Indiegogo has been publishing an annual variety report since 2014 and whereas we nonetheless have tons of labor to do, our 2020 report reveals that our inside initiatives have been progressing variety and inclusion at Indiegogo over the past half a decade.
Native enterprise reduction program
2020 was a turbulent 12 months for small companies, with lockdowns pummeling the native institutions that make up our communities. Final 12 months we launched the Native Enterprise Aid Program, which waived Indiegogo’s platform charges for native companies, like eating places and theaters, that function within the service trade. These companies launched Indiegogo campaigns to boost cash to remain afloat and pay employees till quarantines have been lifted. By means of this program, native companies like Fitdog Doggy Daycare in Santa Monica, Baker’s in Seattle, WA, Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael, CA, and the oldest working bar west of the Mississippi, Taking pictures Star Saloon in Huntsville, Utah, have been capable of elevate further funds to get by means of the pandemic.
International launches
Manufacturers usually face headwinds when increasing into the worldwide market, whether or not it’s a language barrier, shifting client wants, or cultural variations. Final 12 months, Indiegogo expanded the International Quick Monitor program to Japan. This system helps the world’s prime modern merchandise launch in worldwide markets. We partnered with the Japan Exterior Commerce Group (JETRO), and with Makuake, the main pre-order and assist platform in Japan, to offer entrepreneurs extra assist for launching profitable crowdfunding campaigns. Lu Li, the overall supervisor of world technique at Indiegogo, has been spearheading worldwide efforts, serving to entrepreneurs elevate greater than $260 million in funds. Her dedication and experience in world crowdfunding has landed her on the 2021 Forbes 30 Below 30 Record. Our world enlargement wasn’t simply restricted to Japan: We constructed out extra instruments for our International Quick Monitor Program in China like an official WeChat account and informative webinars like our shows with Fb and Shopify.
Help for causes that matter
On Giving Tuesday, Indiegogo launched Ideas for Indiegogo, a characteristic that provides backers the choice so as to add a tip for Indiegogo to their contribution throughout checkout. Indiegogo matches the cash given by means of Ideas and donates to causes which are necessary to the Indiegogo neighborhood. Ideas for Indiegogo are elective, but when you end up in a giving temper, simply search for the “add a tip” call-out on Indiegogo contribution pages! “Neighborhood has the ability to perform some fairly unbelievable issues. We see it day-after-day within the campaigns you assist, the causes you rally behind, and the initiatives you carry to life,” says Andy Yang, Indiegogo CEO. “Now we’ll be capable of amplify the goodwill collectively, and make the world a greater place whereas doing it.”
Partnerships
Entrepreneurs are most profitable after they have some assist alongside the best way. We companion with corporations that assist entrepreneurs launch nice campaigns and ship perks to their backers. These partnerships present every thing from one-on-one help to instructional content material to unique reductions. In 2020, in-person occasions moved on-line, and Arrow, Easyship, and others shared their experience on webinars about every thing from managing provide chains to constructing medical expertise with Analog Units to Digital Hangouts, connecting companions and the campaigns they’ve supported immediately with the backer neighborhood. We helped entrepreneurs in our social neighborhood join with specialists and acquire entry to new data and knowledgeable recommendation by means of articles and Q+As. We additionally welcomed Clearbanc to the Indiegogo household, and their advertising advances helped Reevo and Stoggles make the highest ten checklist final 12 months. Easyship labored with campaigns just like the Philips PicoPix Max and the Stereogum Covers Compilation to ship merchandise around the globe. And as standard, the Arrow Certification Program helped tech entrepreneurs construct viable, working merchandise. The highest 5 Arrow campaigns in 2020 have been:
1. Reevo – $3.6M raised
2. NeoRythm – $1.6M raised
3. Tempest – $1.1M raised
4. SPLACH – $783Okay raised
5. GoSun – $514Okay raised
Discover our Specialists Listing to study extra about our companions.