Since its launch in 2009, Kickstarter has been the place to fund your next business idea.
On Tuesday, the company announced it was rolling out the service and offering new features, including an in-house marketing team to help users maximize the funds they raise, in addition to the option to keep the doors open to more supporters even after the campaign ends.
“Here’s what we know: It takes more than money to bring an idea to life,” Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor said Tuesday. announcement. “To reach and grow your audience, you need solid marketing, a good understanding of fulfillment logistics, constant communication with sponsors, and reliable connections to distributors and manufacturers.”
Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter. Photo: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
One extremely effective feature, Late Pledges, allows creators to receive more funding even after the campaign has officially ended.
The previous Kickstarter model didn’t allow the campaign to proceed indefinitely, so firms they were moving competitors like Indiegogo to proceed projects.
Kickstarter began testing the feature last month and found that it helped one user raise 35% greater than their original goal in two weeks.
Starting Tuesday, Late Pledges is available to all Kickstarter creators worldwide.
Another improvement the company announced Tuesday is an improvement to its existing survey tool so firms can get a higher idea of how much it would cost to fulfill an order in advance.
Kickstarter has also added an internal marketing team to help creators promote their campaigns. In early testing, the company noted, the team helped raise nearly $1 million in donations to a select group of projects.
According to Kickstarter, more creators will have access to the service “when it is ready.”
Kickstarter has been around for 15 years; over 23 million donors have contributed over $8 billion to creative projects through the site, at the time.
According to the company, over a quarter of a million projects have been successfully funded or goals set by creators have been successfully funded through this service.
The platform has helped entrepreneurs launch multi-million dollar campaigns to fund their ideas, corresponding to AnkerMake M5 3D printerWhich lifted up almost $9 million in 2022.