Some Wildly Successful Crowdfunded Start-ups that Had Us Surprised

A successful crowdfunding campaign can take your business to reach the next level and some start-ups whose crowdfunding campaigns managed to do just that.

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From virtual reality headsets to card games and television shows, crowdfunding is a lucrative way to get business ideas fly off the ground. Crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter can get the money needed by you to expand your business. Successful crowdfunding campaigns reveal that the average campaign raises $7,000. Some crowdfunding campaigns are destined to go viral in the process. The wildly successful businesses and products that started with crowdfunding:

Oculus

Get this one-tech tool that your start-up really needs, for free. Compass, a single app management system, enables access of all business apps, with a single password, enabling review of key metrics from each apps, on one screen. No searching for passwords, ensures more time for your business. Oculus, the popular VR headset, was bought over by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. Oculus earlier launched a Kickstarter campaign, seeking $250,000 to make the Oculus Rift headset real. Within four hours, they reached the target, eventually raising $2.4 million.

Glowforge

Having raised $27.9 million within a month, Pebble’s crowdfunding record, was history. This high-tech, 3D laser printer enables printing on leather to plastic to make neat products. The printer was offered at a substantial discount during the crowdfunding campaign and in 2018, $10 million more was raised from other investors.

Veronica Mars

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Success in crowdfunding campaigns isn’t only for cutting-edge products. Viral campaigns revived their nostalgia project as the TV show “Veronica Mars”, was made into a movie, seven years after going off the air.  Fans raised $5 million for the film, premiering in 2014, and grossed $3.4 million.

Tile

With enough forgetful people everywhere, Tile is a Bluetooth-connected device, for locating misplaced items. The toggle, strapped to a key ring or a phone case, connects with the app and a beacon reaches your hidden item. Kickstarter was successful, achieving the $200,000 goal within 24 hours of page-launch, and secured over $2.5 million.

The Coolest Cooler

The Coolest Cooler fundraiser mixes a success story with some caution. The cooler has an inbuilt ice-crushing blender, a USB charging port, a Bluetooth speaker, and more features, raised over $13 million on their campaign on Kickstarter. But demand soon outpaced their capacity to deliver. The company raised an additional $15 million to fulfil orders from the crowdfunding effort.

BauBax

A versatile comprehensive travel jacket BauBax has had two great back-to-back crowdfunding campaigns. The first raised $9.2 million on Kickstarter, and followed by a $2.3 million funding with Indiegogo. Like Coolest Cooler above, they faced challenges when demand outstripped production capacity.

Fidget Cube

This tiny desk toy aptly called a baby toy for adults, secured $6.4 million on Kickstarter. The product was copied by umpteen knock-offs, inspired by its simple design, which retains popularity among hyper-energetic misfit adults in an office working environment.

Flow

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Flow Hive produces a beehive box for your home enabling easy honey extraction from hives without disturbing the bees. In 2015, Flow Hive’s campaign on Indiegogo sought $70,000 to bring their product to market. After going viral, Flow Hive raised $250,000 on pre-orders, smashing many Indiegogo records to become the fastest campaign securing $2 million and ended up with over $13 million.