crowdfunding
(15)
Genuio Took the Logo Tax Off Italian Shoes - Then Korean Feet Rewrote the Product
A former Italy-based fashion employee spent six months hearing no from factories, then raised roughly KRW 2.08 billion on two sneaker campaigns. The useful trick was not merely cutting out middlemen - it was letting Korean customers correct an Italian product.
The Wedding Registry for Shelter Pets Is Run by an NFL Referee
John Hussey officiated Super Bowl XLV. His day job is a Seal Beach platform that has routed more than $100 million to 4,600 animal rescues - by selling them dog food instead of taking a cut of their donations.
Ohsnap Broke Its First Hit - Then Built the Hardware Playbook Founders Should Copy
A $466,820 Kickstarter win nearly became a global returns nightmare. Ohsnap paid for the lesson, rebuilt the grip and turned obsessive iteration into a phone-accessory business - and a second act in mobile gaming.
The Doorbell That Rang Before Ring
It crowdfunded $600K, out-patented its rivals, and put two million cameras on America's doorframes - then Amazon bought Ring and everything about the doorbell wars got louder.
The Company That Sold Apple's Missing Ports Back to Apple's Fans
When Apple stripped the ports off the MacBook Pro, 30,000 people paid HYPER more than $3 million to put them back. That was the whole business plan - and it worked.
MAAK Built Gear for the Front Line. Then 568 Backers Took It Outdoors.
A Santa Barbara hardware team took its frontline power system to Kickstarter, raised 20 times its goal, and learned that the real product was not a battery. It was everything the battery could connect to.
The Printer Jammed. So They Ripped Off the Nozzle and Started a Company.
A jammed 3D printer, a $30,000 Kickstarter ask, and $2.3 million later - how three toymakers turned a mistake into the pen that draws in mid-air.
DonorsChoose
A Bronx history teacher wanted books his students couldn't afford. Twenty-five years later, the website he built has moved more than $1.6 billion into America's classrooms - one crayon, microscope and field trip at a time.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter made the crowd a gatekeeper for creative work. Now it is trying to solve the less romantic part of the bargain - everything that happens before the campaign opens and after the funding meter turns green.
Kitabisa
Kitabisa is Indonesia's largest donation-based crowdfunding platform, founded in 2013 to 'connect kindness.' Through its website and mobile app, individuals, NGOs, and companies raise money transparently for medical bills, disaster relief, social causes, and religious giving such as zakat and wakaf. Beyond fundraising, Kitabisa has expanded into mutual-aid protection with Saling Jaga and a licensed insurance arm, positioning itself as a broad social-finance ecosystem for more than 250 million Indonesians.
Stake
Stake is a Dubai-based digital real estate investment platform that lets people buy fractions of income-generating property from as little as AED 500. Investors earn passive rental income and capital appreciation while Stake handles sourcing, acquisition, management and exit. Regulated by the DFSA in the UAE and the CMA in Saudi Arabia, the platform serves more than two million users across 181 countries and has expanded from Dubai into Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and US industrial real estate.
VentureCrowd
VentureCrowd is one of Australia's original equity crowdfunding platforms, launched in Sydney in 2013 out of alternative investment manager Artesian. It lets everyday and wholesale investors put money - from as little as A$250 - into early-stage startups, property developments and impact-focused ventures that were once the preserve of institutional venture capital. Led by co-founder and CEO Steve Maarbani, a former PwC partner and corporate lawyer, the platform has channelled over A$300 million into private companies, construction projects and sidecar funds, positioning itself as a bridge between the Australian 'crowd' and high-growth private markets.
AngeLink
AngeLink is a women-led social crowdfunding platform based in Naples, Florida, that bills itself as the first fintech fundraising site powered by women. It pairs a zero-platform-fee model with an AI tool called AI-Wizard that helps people write more compelling fundraiser stories, plus fraud review and mobile-first design. Positioned as a GoFundMe alternative, it targets the reality that most crowdfunding donors and organizers are women, and aims to raise money for medical bills, emergencies, small businesses, and community causes.
Tirios
Tirios is an Austin-based proptech platform that lets everyday investors buy fractional shares of single-family rental homes for as little as $100. It uses AI to source and underwrite properties, records ownership on blockchain via tokenization, and manages the homes end-to-end - collecting rent, paying expenses, and distributing quarterly dividends. Founded in 2021 by former Icahn Enterprises executive Sachin Latawa, Tirios is SEC-qualified under Regulation A+ and pitches itself as a vertically integrated, low-fee way to make real estate investing accessible to millennials and first-time investors.
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is the world's largest social fundraising platform, where individuals, communities, and nonprofits raise money for everything from medical bills and tuition to disaster relief. Founded in 2010, it has helped people raise over $40 billion through nearly 200 million donations.