Kickstarter is an American-based private for-profit company founded in 2009 that provides tools to raise funds for creative projects via crowd funding through its website 

Kickstarter has funded a diverse array of endeavors, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, and food-related projects. People cannot invest in Kickstarter projects to make money. They can only back projects in exchange for a tangible reward or one-of-a-kind experience, like a personal note of thanks, custom T-shirts, dinner with an author, or initial production run of a new product. 
 

History

Kickstarter launched on April 28, 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler. The New York Times called Kickstarter "the people's NEA" and Time named it one of the "Best Inventions of 2010" and "Best Websites of 2011". Kickstarter reportedly raised $10 million funding from backers including NYC-based venture firm Union Square Ventures and angel investors such as Jack Dorsey,Zach Klein and Caterina Fake. The company is based in Manhattan's Lower East Side. 
 

Andy Baio served as the site's CTO until November 2010, when he joined E pert Labs. Lance Ivy has been Lead Developer since the website launched. On February 14, 2013, Kickstarter released an iOSapp called Kickstarter for iPhone. The app is aimed at users who create and back projects and is the first time Kickstarter has had an official mobile presence. 
 

Model

Kickstarter is one of a number of crowd funding platforms for gathering money from the public, which circumvents traditional avenues of investment. Project creators choose a deadline and a minimum funding goal. If the goal is not met by the deadline, no funds are collected, a provision point mechanism. Money pledged by donors is collected using Amazon Payments. The platform is open to backers from anywhere in the world and to creators from the US or the UK. 
 

Kickstarter takes 5% of the funds raised. Amazon charges an additional 3–5%. Unlike many forums for fundraising or investment, Kickstarter claims no ownership over the projects and the work they produce. The web pages of projects launched on the site are permanently archived and accessible to the public. After funding is completed, projects and uploaded media cannot be edited or removed from the site. 
 

There is no guarantee that people that post projects on Kickstarter will deliver on their projects, use the money to implement their projects, or that the completed projects will meet backers' expectations. Contributors have no way of receiving confirmation unless they directly ask the original owners and Kickstarter itself has been accused of providing little quality control. Kickstarter advises sponsors to use their own judgment on supporting a project. They also warn project leaders that they could be liable for legal damages from sponsors for failure to deliver on promises. Projects can also fail even after a successful fund raise when creators underestimate the total costs required or technical difficulties to be overcome. 
 

Projects

On June 21, 2012, Kickstarter began publishing statistics on its projects. As of October 10, 2012, there were 73,620 launched projects (3,426 in progress), with a success rate of 43.85%. The total number of dollars pledged was $381 million. 
 

The business has grown quickly in its early years. In the year 2010, Kickstarter had 3,910 successful projects, $27,638,318 pledged, and a project success rate of 43%. In 2011, the corresponding figures were 11,836, $99,344,381 and 46%. 
 

February 9, 2012 saw a number of milestones set by Kickstarter. A dock made for the iPhone designed by Casey Hopkins became the first Kickstarter project to break a million dollars pledged. A few hours later, a project by computer game developers Double Fine Productions to fund a new adventure game reached the same figure, having been launched less than 24 hours earlier, and finished with over $3 million pledged. This was also the first time Kickstarter raised over a million dollars in pledges in a single day. On May 18, 2012, The Pebble E-Paper Watch raised $10,266,845 to become the most funded project in Kickstarter history. 
 

In July 2012, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick and Jeanne Pi conducted research into what contributes to a project’s success or failure on Kickstarter. Some key findings from the analysis were that increasing goal size is negatively associated with success, projects that are featured[clarification needed] have a 89% chance of being successful, compared to 30% without, and that for an average $10,000 project, a 30-day project has a 35% chance of success, while a 60-day project has a 29% chance of success, all other things being constant. 
 

The ten largest Kickstarter projects by funds raised are listed below. Among successful projects, most raise between $1,000 and $9,999. These dollar amounts drop to less than half in the Design, Games, and Technology categories. However, the median amount raised for the latter two categories remains in the four-figure range. There is substantial variation in the success rate of projects falling under different categories. Over two thirds of completed dance projects have been successful. In contrast, fewer than 30% of completed fashion projects have reached their goal. Most failing projects fail to achieve 20% of their goals and this trend applies across all categories. Indeed over 80% of projects that pass the 20% mark reach their goal. 
 

Categories

Creators categorize their projects into one of 13 categories and 36 subcategories. They are: Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film and Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology and Theater. Of these categories, Film & Video and Music are the largest categories and have raised the most amount of money. These two categories alone account for more than half of Kickstarter projects. These categories, along with Games, account for over half the money raised. 
 

Guidelines

To maintain its focus as a funding platform for creative projects, Kickstarter has outlined three guidelines for all project creators to follow: creators can fund projects only; projects must fit within one of the site's 13 creative categories; and creators must abide by the site's prohibited uses, including charity and awareness campaigns. Kickstarter has additional requirements for hardware and product design projects. These include 
 

• Banning the use of photorealistic renderings and simulations demonstrating a product

• Limiting awards to single items or a "sensible set" of items relevant to the project (e.g. multiple light bulbs for a house)

• Requiring a physical prototype

• Requiring a manufacturing plan
 

The guidelines are designed to reinforce Kickstarter’s position that people are backing projects, not placing orders for a product. To underscore the notion that Kickstarter is a place in which creators and audiences make things together, creators across all categories are asked to describe the risks and challenges a project faces in producing it. This educates the public about the project goals and encourages contributions to the community. 
 

Notable projects and creators

Several creative works have gone on to receive critical acclaim and accolades after being funded on Kickstarter. The documentary short "Sun Come Up" and documentary short "Incident in New Baghdad" were each nominated for an Academy Award; contemporary art projects "EyeWriter" and "Hip-Hop Word Count" were both chosen to exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art in 2011; filmmaker Matt Porterfield was selected to screen his film Putty Hill at the Whitney Biennial In 2012; author Rob Walker's Hypothetical Futures project exhibited at the 13th International Venice Architecture Biennale; musician Amanda Palmer's album "Theatre is Evil" debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200; designer Scott Wilson won a National Design Award from Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum following the success of his TikTok + LunaTik project; and approximately 10% of the films accepted into the Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca Film Festivals are projects funded on Kickstarter. 
 

Numerous well-known creators have used Kickstarter to produce their work, including: musicians Amanda Palmer, Daniel Johnston, Stuart Murdoch and Tom Rush; filmmakers and actors Bret Easton Ellis, Colin Hanks, Ed Begley, Jr., Gary Hustwit, Hal Hartley, Jennie Livingston, Mark Duplass, Matthew Modine, Paul Schrader, Ricki Lake, Whoopi Goldberg and Zana Briski; authors and writers Dan Harmon, Kevin Kelly, Neal Stephenson, and Seth Godin; photographers Spencer Tunick and Gerd Ludwig; game developers Tim Schafer and Brian Fargo; designer Stefan Sagmeister; animator John Kricfalusi; Star Trek actor John de Lancie and comedian Eugene Mirman. 

Top projects by funds raised

Ten largest successfully completed Kickstarter projects by total funds pledged (only closed fundings are listed)
Rank	Total USD	Project name	Creator	Category	% funded	Backers	Closing date
1	10,266,845	Pebble: E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android	Pebble Technology	Design	10,266	68,928	2012-05-18
2	8,596,474	Ouya: A New Kind of Video Game Console	Ouya Inc.	Video Games	905	63,416	2012-08-09
3	5,702,153	The Veronica Mars Movie Project	Rob Thomas	Film & Video	285	91,585	2013-04-12
4	4,188,927	Torment: Tides of Numenera	InXile Entertainment	Video Games	465	74,405	2013-04-05
5	3,986,929	Project Eternity	Obsidian Entertainment	Video Games	362	73,986	2012-10-16
6	3,429,235	Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures	Reaper Miniatures	Games	11,430	17,744	2012-08-25
7	3,336,371	Double Fine Adventure	Double Fine and 2 Player Productions	Video Games	834	87,142	2012-03-13
8	2,945,885	FORM 1: An affordable, professional 3D printer	Formlabs	Technology	2,945	2,068	2012-10-26
9	2,933,252	Wasteland 2	InXile Entertainment	Video Games	325	61,290	2012-04-17
10	2,485,506	Homestuck Adventure Game	MS Paint Adventures	Video Games	355	24,346	2012-10-04

Project cancellations

Both Kickstarter and project creators have cancelled projects that appeared to have been fraudulent. Questions were raised about the projects in internet communities related to the fields of the projects. The concerns raised were: apparent copying of graphics from other sources; unrealistic performance or price claims; and failure of project sponsors to deliver on prior Kickstarter projects.

 

A small list of cancelled projects include:

• Eye3 camera drone helicopter for unrealistic performance promises, photos copied from other commercial products, and failure of creators to deliver on an earlier Kickstarter project.

• Mythic: The Story of Gods and Men adventure game for copying graphics from other games and unrealistic performance promises; the creator had raised $4,739 on an $80,000 goal before canceling the project.

• Tech-Sync Power System for failing to provide photos of the prototype and sudden departure of project creator.

• Tentacle Bento, a card game intended to satirize Japanese school girl tentacle rape comics, after being criticized in the online media for having inappropriate content.

 

In addition, over 15 projects have been completely removed in lieu of public cancellation.[81] Kickstarter appears to reserve project removal for egregious claims of copyright or other severe breaches of policy.

 

Scams and other controversies

In May 2011, a New York University film student, Matias Shimada, raised $1,726 to make a film, but plagiarized another film instead. He later publicly apologized.[84]

In April 2013, film maker Zach Braff used a Kickstarter campaign to fund the follow up to his 2004 film Garden State and raised $2,000,000 in three days. Some have criticized Braff for using the site, saying celebrity use of the site will draw attention away from film makers and other creatives who don't have celebrity name recognition.

 

Patent disputes

• On September 30, 2011, Kickstarter filed a request for declaratory judgment against ArtistShare’s U.S. patent US 7885887, "Methods and apparatuses for financing and marketing a creative work". Kickstarter asked that the patent be invalidated, or, at the very least, that the court find that Kickstarter is not liable of infringement. In February 2012, ArtistShare and Fan Funded responded to Kickstarter's complaint by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. They asserted that patent infringement litigation was never threatened, that "ArtistShare merely approached Kickstarter about licensing their platform, including patent rights", and that "rather than responding to ArtistShare's request for a counter-proposal, Kickstarter filed this lawsuit." The judge has ruled, however, that the case can go forward. ArtistShare has since responded by filing a counterclaim alleging that Kickstarter is indeed infringing its patent.

 

• On November 21, 2012, 3D Systems filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Formlabs and Kickstarter for infringing its 3D printer patent US 5,597,520, ”Simultaneous multiple layer curing in stereolithography.” Formlabs had raised $2.9 million in a Kickstarter campaign to fund its own competitive printer. The company said that Kickstarter caused "irreparable injury and damage" to its business by promoting the Form 1 printer, and taking a 5% cut of donations.