Pebble have achieved the biggest Kickstarter fund raising in the service’s history with a $14 million fundraising for its latest smartwatch.
Over at competing crowdfunding service Indiegogo Flow Hives, a Tasmanian beekeeping invention, has raised nearly five million dollars for its innovative beehives that put honey on tap.
Crowdfunding is fast becoming the way for smaller manufacturers to secure preorders from the market and secure scarce capital for the business.
Pebble and Flow follow the success of Ninja Blocks who have had two successful crowdfunding ventures and their CEO Daniel Friedman spoke to Decoding The New Economy last year about raising money for hardware projects.
Not every hardware crowdfunding project works out well though as Mark Pesce described in relating his experience with the failed Moore’s Cloud fundraising. Mark said he’d “rather eat a bullet” than engage in another crowdsourcing campaign given the pressures upon manufacturers to deliver.
As Moore’s Cloud shows there are risks and complexities in looking to the crowd to raise project capital. Even a successful campaign faces potential problems in completing the project and delivering a product that meets the expectations of those who’ve contributed.
Crowdfunding has opened a new way for artists and entrepreneurs to raise funds for their projects, like all tools though it does have it’s risks and isn’t for everyone.