At the end of August 2014, the Coolest Cooler finished its Kickstarter run with more than 13.28 million U.S. dollars in project funding. Up until then, Pebble e-paper watch had held the title for the highest funded project on the crowdfunding website with 10.27 million US dollars. In March 2015, Pebble's second smartwatch project completed its crowdfunding and publicity run with 20.34 billion dollars raised in Kickstarter pre-order funding, becoming the most successful Kickstarter project as of July 2021. In 2022, however, the crowdfunding project Surprise! Four Secret Novels by Brandon Sanderson raised nearly 42 billion U.S. dollars, more than twice as much as Pebble Time.
Kickstarter and crowdfundingFounded in 2009, Kickstarter has turned into one of the most prolific crowdfunding platforms worldwide. The site enables creators to generate funding for their projects, circumventing traditional avenues of investment and opening the market for niche productions. Each project has a deadline and if the pre-set funding goal is not met, no funds are collected. Until October 2012, the website required projects to be based in the United States before opening to the United Kingdom and later Canada in September 2013. Project backers do not have to reside in the United States.
Most popular categories
Kickstarter offers a diverse range of project categories, enticing creative ventures from all walks of life. With an approximate success rate of 40 percent, the platform empowers innovators to transform their dreams into reality. Among these categories, games reign supreme as the most popular, with more than 2 billion U.S. dollars pledged in 2023. Design and technology were also among the more popular categories on the platform.
