[dropcap]I[/dropcap]n the wake of the global recession at the end of the nineties, people who wanted to start their own businesses or create new products needed a way to fund their ideas. The April 2009 launch of Kickstarter revolutionised financing for budding ventures in many sectors including the online casino industry, cutting out the middleman of financiers and going straight to the people most vital to any company – the customers.
Kickstarter didn’t invent crowdfunding or even invent the word, but it took the concept of crowdfunding mainstream. Since then, countless entrepreneurs, artists, and inventors have embraced it to make their ideas a reality.
However, it can be a gamble for businesses to rely solely on crowdfunding, given that only about 36% of projects achieve their target amount. One commentator noted in The Long and Short that “investing in crowdfunding resembles putting money into a racehorse syndicate.” Even when projects exceed their targets, there’s no guarantee that the finished product will be delivered to backers. This hasn’t stopped people from pledging $4.2 billion (and counting) into Kickstarter projects over the last decade.
Here are the four Kickstarter campaigns that were most successful.
Biggest Success Story: Oculus Rift
Arguably the most lucrative product funded through Kickstarter, Oculus Rift was a monumental virtual reality (VR) advancement that forever changed the world of tech. With the potential to transport users to a hyperrealistic 3D world, the headset beat many of the tech giants into creating high quality VR technology.
Despite huge corporate interests, Oculus still needed significant financial support to properly develop the technology. Company founder Palmer Luckey caught the attention of big names in the industry by leveraging popular VR forum MTBS3D and exhibiting the headset at gaming conventions.
This funding helped the first generation Oculus Rift become commercially available in 2016. The Oculus Rift’s eventual release ultimately justified both Luckey’s decision to use Kickstarter and the faith of those who invested in it.
Most Funded Campaign: Pebble Time
Pebble smashed expectations when it raised a whopping $10,266,845 in 2012, beating the smartwatch’s initial target of $100,000 by 10,167%. However, when the brand’s second campaign launched in 2015, supporting the second-generation watch Pebble Time, this broke records yet again, achieving its funding goal of $500,000 in just 17 minutes. It went on to receive $1 million in a mere 49 minutes and remains the most funded campaign in Kickstarter’s history.
After turning down $740 million from watchmaker Citizen in 2015, and then $70 million by Intel in 2016, Pebble was acquired by Fitbit for just $23 million in December 2016. The technology was incorporated into Fitbit, but the majority of Pebble employees were laid off including the chief executive, Eric Migicovsky. Pebble watches were phased out and eventually discontinued in 2018.
Most Funded Campaign For a Product Yet To Materialise: Star Citizen
If you’re one of the 2.3 million people who pledged money to finance Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium Games’ “epic space adventure”, you might be getting more than a little impatient.
After its initial Kickstarter page launched in 2012, the game attracted $2.1 million in funding from over 34,000 backers—more than four times its original half-million dollar goal. Seven years on, an additional $46 million has been privately invested while nearly $180 million was raised from another crowdfunding scheme on the game’s own website. However, the finished game is nowhere to be found. Its deadline has been postponed several times since 2014 and the money is currently expanding the game’s scope, which includes developing fictional in-game languages.
Although there have been small parts of the game released to backers, and promises have been made to reward them within the game for their contributions (and their patience), the delays have riled many people. Cloud Imperium has since tightened its crowdfunding refund policy to make it harder for disappointed backers to reclaim their money. Star Citizen‘s failure to materialise has even led to it winning an award, namely Wired Magazine’s Vaporware accolade for having nothing to show for all the hype.
Most Backers For A Single Campaign: Exploding Kittens
Following Cards Against Humanity’s $15.6k success in 2011, another outlandish card game went on to attract the most backers in Kickstarter’s history. Exploding Kittens, a “highly strategic kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette”, launched in 2015 with a funding goal of $10,000. It exceeded expectations and achieved this in just one day. The game went on to raise nearly $8.8 million, thanks to the massive support of over 219,000 backers.
As well as being a fun and straightforward concept, Exploding Kittens’ huge appeal stemmed from the clever way its creators treated the crowdfunding process. Rather than simply asking for money, all efforts went into engaging with the community, effectively turning Kickstarter into a game itself.
Backers were invited to complete amusing tasks, such as posting a photo of ten people wearing cat ears, in exchange for additional rewards, like a limited-edition box which “meowed” when opened. The creators also encouraged backers to share their ideas for improving Exploding Kittens.
This innovative strategy has provided a vital lesson for other hopeful crowdfunding campaigns. As co-creator Elan Lee put it to Vox: “The funding will happen. What you’ve got to do is build the crowd.”
We took some of this research from a blog post on the Insider.
