Top 10 Most-Funded Kickstarter Campaigns
Thanks to the internet consumers have been exposed to a world of revolutionary ideas, exciting new products, and brand new services that have never been seen before. Within the last five years one idea in particular has achieved widespread popularity and changed the foundation for how investments are delivered: crowdfunding. Years ago, an inventor with a novel idea would seek out private investors (such as ABC hit, “Shark Tank”) which proved to be quite difficult. However, with modern technology, inventors can take their idea or prototype directly to the consumer and attain their funding by those who would be interested in the product.
Crowdfunding is the backbone of Kickstarter, which was launched in 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler. On Kickstarter, when inventors and entrepreneurs pitch their ideas, they also set financial goals for their product or service which allows the public to make pledges in return for incentives; if the goals are met the inventor receives the funds pending a promise to deliver the product as well as the promised incentives: sounds pretty easy, right?
Since its formation Kickstarter has earned over $1.5 billion in pledges from the public and is now the largest crowdfunding site today. Ironically, Kickstarter itself was not a crowdfunded venture: go figure! But which products have been the biggest hits in Kickstarter history? We identified 10 of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns that earned their inventors over $3 million each. Let’s start the list with an idea that allows you to print objects from the comfort of your own home.
#10 – The Micro ($3.4 Million)
One of the latest trends in technology that is sweeping the world is 3D printing. For a while, 3D printing was only possible with an enormous contraption that you essentially needed a laboratory to house. The Micro provided a practical solution to 3D printing; which allowed people to effortlessly print small objects directly from their home computer. It’s a great idea, as people have always wanted to print figures and other items without the need for expensive customization.
The original goal of the Micro 3D Printer was to raise only $50,000. It didn’t take long to reach their goal as people donated massive amounts to the project to the tune of $3.4 million. There was one investor that even donated more than $5,000 alone, who received a custom branded 3D printer with five filament rolls: They probably could have printed their own custom decals, but who cares? A great cause was funded that brought 3D printing to households worldwide.
#9 – Reaper Miniature Bones ($3.43 Million)
Bones is a game that is played with miniature action figures, much like Dungeons and Dragons or Heroclix. When the game gained traction with its diehard fans, the company needed money to create higher inventory to meet demand as well as to develop higher quality figures to bring the game to new heights. This is when Reaper took to Kickstarter to ask fans if these higher quality figures were something they wanted, and if they could generate the funding needed to execute the ideas.
Reaper’s original goal was set at $30,000, but soon discovered they had quite a bit more fans than originally thought. The goal was met more than 100 times with many levels of incentives for contributors. The top contributors pledged more than $2,500; these three lucky people received a VIP pass to attend ReaperCon: a convention where fans gathered to play the Bones game.
#8 – Mighty No. 9 ($3.8 Million)
There are a lot of fans of the “Mega Man” video game series but not enough to pull off another big one in the franchise itself. When “Mega Man Legends 3” was cancelled, some of the developers were distraught and wanted to set out on their own path. That’s when Comcept created the idea for “Mighty No. 9.”
Mighty No. 9 is a video game very similar to the “Mega Man” series on the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita. Comcept believed they needed $900,000 to properly develop the game and ship it to the public. Fortunately enough, fans believed that even more funding would help the cause, and contributed more than $3.8 million. Four pledges of $10,000 were made to Mighty No. 9, which included: the incentives of dinner with the creators of the “Mega Man” series, the ability to design an enemy in the game, and to have their face included in the final product.
#7 – Project Eternity ($3.99 Million)
Obsidian Entertainment is responsible for some very popular video games, with their biggest hits including “Fallout: New Vegas” and “South Park: The Stick of Truth.” Obsidian had another idea for a computer game called “Pillars of Eternity,” with the hopes of it becoming the newest isometric role playing game through the company. Instead of trying to get private funding, Obsidian opted to gain public funding, a strategy that ended up working perfectly.
Obsidian asked for $1.1 million to get their video game up and running in 2012 and fans of the studio’s previous projects were eager to see the game to fruition, pledging almost $4 million. The biggest backers, at $10,000 each, were able to attend the anticipated launch party in 2015. The game will be released to the public on March 26th, 2015: perfect timing for our list. At the time of funding, it was the highest video game fund in Kickstarter history.
#6 – Torment: Tides of Numenera ($4.19 Million)
We return to the world of video games to meet “Torment: Tides of Numenera.” Like our previous game, Tides of Numenera is a role playing game, with this one developed by inXile Entertainment. While inXile hasn’t made as many hits as Obsidian, the company has a large following; and because of the fan base, they wanted to develop a sequel to 1999‘s “Planescape: Torment.” If you haven’t noticed by now, roleplaying games end up getting big followings.
It only took six hours for Tides of Numenera to reach its goal of $900,000 but fans did not stop there. The campaign raised nearly $4.2 million in crowdfunding. One of the big reasons that people continued to donate was for a better art team and a longer story in the game. Three backers pledged more than $10,000; which included an invite to the launch party, a personalized plaque and even a credit at the beginning of the game.
#5 – Reading Rainbow ($5.4 Million)
“Reading Rainbow” was a popular kid’s show that aired from 1983 to 2004 through the PBS Networks. LeVar Burton of “Star Trek” fame was the host for “Reading Rainbow,” which helped connect a lot of young children with books who might not otherwise have an interest. With a large following that loved the show, it was a surprise to see it go off of the air in 2004. However, PBS was having problems with funding and the end was inevitable.
LeVar Burton wanted the show to keep going and decided to take to crowdfunding since PBS wasn’t able to contribute much. Burton set the goal at $1 million, but nostalgic young people who were now parents of their own contributed $5.4 million to the re-launch of the show. Even “Family Guy” creator Seth Macfarlane threw in $1 million of his own to match the funding. “Reading Rainbow” is now an app for the Android and iOS markets.
#4 – Veronica Mars ($5.7 Million)
“Veronica Mars” had the same problem as “Reading Rainbow.” Both shows had a large and loyal following, but the networks that aired the shows didn’t have the money to keep pouring into the series. Fans of “Veronica Mars” were left without closure and as a result, creator Rob Thomas wanted to wrap the series up with a feature film. Without a studio to back such a large project, Thomas and the “Mars” crew went to Kickstarter for funding.
$2 million was needed for the budget (especially after Kristen Bell became a widely popular actress) and more than 90,000 people contributed over $5.7 million to see the film. The movie opened up in limited release in 291 theaters. Despite its limited release, the film was still the 11th highest grossing movie of the weekend. All in all, “Veronica Mars” earned more than $3.3 million at the box office and was then released on-demand in March of 2014.
#3 – Pono ($6.2 Million)
The PonoMusic Company is the brainchild of popular musician Neil Young, and is the basis of the project that was designed to allow people to hear digital music the way it was intended to be heard. Pono plays music in high resolution as it is heard in the studio where it is recorded. Pono is also the Hawaiian word for ‘righteousness’, which was a solid name for the project and holds a catalog with all of the major singing acts.
Young and the Pono team needed $800,000 to reach their goal but music fans were eager to hear music at the best possible resolution and, because of their excitement, contributed more than $6.2 million. Those that contributed $5,000 or more were able to attend a VIP dinner with Neil Young himself in Chicago and receive a signature series PonoPlayer. That alone was enough to get 96 people to contribute the $5,000 pledge.
#2 – Ouya ($8.5 Million)
We all know the major gaming consoles: the XBox One, the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Wii U. Julie Uhrman of Quya, Inc. used the Android operating system to make an alternative to the bigger consoles at a $99 price tag. Many of the games for the Ouya were intended to be smaller games from independent studios and, as a result, there were not a lot of major releases.
Ouya needed $950,000 to get off of the ground, but people were interested in the cheaper alternative and pledged more than $8.5 million in total in 2012. It was the 8th Kickstarter project to earn over $1 million and was the largest on the website at the time. Overall, the Ouya has been a bit of a disappointment, as it doesn’t appear people got what they thought they would since many of the games are apps that you can download on an Android phone.
#1 – Pebble ($10.27 Million)
The Pebble Technology Corporation came up with the idea of a smartwatch that sold for less than $200 and featured a lot of bells and whistles. The Pebble Smartwatch comes with Bluetooth and GPS that can track how far you have walked or ran in a given day and an LCD screen. The Pebble is a do-everything watch that comes with over 1,000 apps available and can even access the Android and iOS markets.
The Pebble is the most popular Kickstarter campaign of all-time, smashing the goal set at $100,000. With over $10 million donated, the watch was able to get into all of the biggest markets and has since sold more than 1 million units. The Pebble has not been a disappointment and three generations of the watch have been released to date. This is one of the rare cases of people getting exactly what they want from the Kickstarter campaign.
#9 – Reaper Miniature Bones ($3.43 Million)
Bones is a game that is played with miniature action figures, much like Dungeons and Dragons or Heroclix. When the game gained traction with its diehard fans, the company needed money to create higher inventory to meet demand as well as to develop higher quality figures to bring the game to new heights. This is when Reaper took to Kickstarter to ask fans if these higher quality figures were something they wanted, and if they could generate the funding needed to execute the ideas.
Reaper’s original goal was set at $30,000, but soon discovered they had quite a bit more fans than originally thought. The goal was met more than 100 times with many levels of incentives for contributors. The top contributors pledged more than $2,500; these three lucky people received a VIP pass to attend ReaperCon: a convention where fans gathered to play the Bones game.
#8 – Mighty No. 9 ($3.8 Million)
There are a lot of fans of the “Mega Man” video game series but not enough to pull off another big one in the franchise itself. When “Mega Man Legends 3” was cancelled, some of the developers were distraught and wanted to set out on their own path. That’s when Comcept created the idea for “Mighty No. 9.”
Mighty No. 9 is a video game very similar to the “Mega Man” series on the Nintendo 3DS and Playstation Vita. Comcept believed they needed $900,000 to properly develop the game and ship it to the public. Fortunately enough, fans believed that even more funding would help the cause, and contributed more than $3.8 million. Four pledges of $10,000 were made to Mighty No. 9, which included: the incentives of dinner with the creators of the “Mega Man” series, the ability to design an enemy in the game, and to have their face included in the final product.
#7 – Project Eternity ($3.99 Million)
Obsidian Entertainment is responsible for some very popular video games, with their biggest hits including “Fallout: New Vegas” and “South Park: The Stick of Truth.” Obsidian had another idea for a computer game called “Pillars of Eternity,” with the hopes of it becoming the newest isometric role playing game through the company. Instead of trying to get private funding, Obsidian opted to gain public funding, a strategy that ended up working perfectly.
Obsidian asked for $1.1 million to get their video game up and running in 2012 and fans of the studio’s previous projects were eager to see the game to fruition, pledging almost $4 million. The biggest backers, at $10,000 each, were able to attend the anticipated launch party in 2015. The game will be released to the public on March 26th, 2015: perfect timing for our list. At the time of funding, it was the highest video game fund in Kickstarter history.
#6 – Torment: Tides of Numenera ($4.19 Million)
We return to the world of video games to meet “Torment: Tides of Numenera.” Like our previous game, Tides of Numenera is a role playing game, with this one developed by inXile Entertainment. While inXile hasn’t made as many hits as Obsidian, the company has a large following; and because of the fan base, they wanted to develop a sequel to 1999‘s “Planescape: Torment.” If you haven’t noticed by now, roleplaying games end up getting big followings.
It only took six hours for Tides of Numenera to reach its goal of $900,000 but fans did not stop there. The campaign raised nearly $4.2 million in crowdfunding. One of the big reasons that people continued to donate was for a better art team and a longer story in the game. Three backers pledged more than $10,000; which included an invite to the launch party, a personalized plaque and even a credit at the beginning of the game.
#5 – Reading Rainbow ($5.4 Million)
“Reading Rainbow” was a popular kid’s show that aired from 1983 to 2004 through the PBS Networks. LeVar Burton of “Star Trek” fame was the host for “Reading Rainbow,” which helped connect a lot of young children with books who might not otherwise have an interest. With a large following that loved the show, it was a surprise to see it go off of the air in 2004. However, PBS was having problems with funding and the end was inevitable.
LeVar Burton wanted the show to keep going and decided to take to crowdfunding since PBS wasn’t able to contribute much. Burton set the goal at $1 million, but nostalgic young people who were now parents of their own contributed $5.4 million to the re-launch of the show. Even “Family Guy” creator Seth Macfarlane threw in $1 million of his own to match the funding. “Reading Rainbow” is now an app for the Android and iOS markets.
#4 – Veronica Mars ($5.7 Million)
“Veronica Mars” had the same problem as “Reading Rainbow.” Both shows had a large and loyal following, but the networks that aired the shows didn’t have the money to keep pouring into the series. Fans of “Veronica Mars” were left without closure and as a result, creator Rob Thomas wanted to wrap the series up with a feature film. Without a studio to back such a large project, Thomas and the “Mars” crew went to Kickstarter for funding.
$2 million was needed for the budget (especially after Kristen Bell became a widely popular actress) and more than 90,000 people contributed over $5.7 million to see the film. The movie opened up in limited release in 291 theaters. Despite its limited release, the film was still the 11th highest grossing movie of the weekend. All in all, “Veronica Mars” earned more than $3.3 million at the box office and was then released on-demand in March of 2014.
#3 – Pono ($6.2 Million)
The PonoMusic Company is the brainchild of popular musician Neil Young, and is the basis of the project that was designed to allow people to hear digital music the way it was intended to be heard. Pono plays music in high resolution as it is heard in the studio where it is recorded. Pono is also the Hawaiian word for ‘righteousness’, which was a solid name for the project and holds a catalog with all of the major singing acts.
Young and the Pono team needed $800,000 to reach their goal but music fans were eager to hear music at the best possible resolution and, because of their excitement, contributed more than $6.2 million. Those that contributed $5,000 or more were able to attend a VIP dinner with Neil Young himself in Chicago and receive a signature series PonoPlayer. That alone was enough to get 96 people to contribute the $5,000 pledge.
#2 – Ouya ($8.5 Million)
We all know the major gaming consoles: the XBox One, the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Wii U. Julie Uhrman of Quya, Inc. used the Android operating system to make an alternative to the bigger consoles at a $99 price tag. Many of the games for the Ouya were intended to be smaller games from independent studios and, as a result, there were not a lot of major releases.
Ouya needed $950,000 to get off of the ground, but people were interested in the cheaper alternative and pledged more than $8.5 million in total in 2012. It was the 8th Kickstarter project to earn over $1 million and was the largest on the website at the time. Overall, the Ouya has been a bit of a disappointment, as it doesn’t appear people got what they thought they would since many of the games are apps that you can download on an Android phone.
#1 – Pebble ($10.27 Million)
The Pebble Technology Corporation came up with the idea of a smartwatch that sold for less than $200 and featured a lot of bells and whistles. The Pebble Smartwatch comes with Bluetooth and GPS that can track how far you have walked or ran in a given day and an LCD screen. The Pebble is a do-everything watch that comes with over 1,000 apps available and can even access the Android and iOS markets.
The Pebble is the most popular Kickstarter campaign of all-time, smashing the goal set at $100,000. With over $10 million donated, the watch was able to get into all of the biggest markets and has since sold more than 1 million units. The Pebble has not been a disappointment and three generations of the watch have been released to date. This is one of the rare cases of people getting exactly what they want from the Kickstarter campaign.
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