Since its humble beginnings in 2009 as “Kickstartr,” the New York-based crowdfunding platform has exploded into one of the most unique and controversial methods of fundraising in recent history. Today, the company claims nearly $1 million in project pledges each day, and Kickstarter recently made its first step into an international audience when it launched in the UK.
Three years in, has Kickstarter lived up to its promise to disruptentrepreneurship and artistic patronage? We look at some of the top Kickstarter projects from 2012 to find out.
Still, outside the tech-friendly cultural mavens who like to talk about economic and financial disruption, the crowd-funding platform is not without its critics. A CNN report this month found that a 84 percent of Kickstarter’s projects were late to deliver their promised goods or services. The New Republic called the platform a reservoir for “useless” projects, and Gawker decried it for inciting “online panhandling.”
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