The market for crowd funding is hot. Thanks in part to the JOBS Act; recent U.S. government legislation that allows for a wider pool of small investors with fewer restrictions combined with the success of companies like Kickstarter. A variety of industry specific crowd funding startups are emerging to take advantage of the opportunities for community organized fund raising.
By far the largest player in the crowd funding space is Kickstarter. Since its launch in 2009, more than two million people have pledged greater than $300 million to projects by individual groups of creators. Kickstarter specifically focuses on “creative projects” from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, games, fashion, food, and publishing. A prime example is Pebble, an infinitely customizable e-paper watch that has raised more then $10 million using Kickstarter’s crowd funding marketplace.
Unlike Kickstarter that focuses solely on creative projects, a new group of up-start companies are attempting to fill the void in funding opportunities within niche market segments. FundersClub allows accredited investors to make early stage investments in curated startups recently raised a $6 million VC round.
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