When Eric, Danae, and I started Indiegogo in 2008, the crowdfunding industry did not exist. Inspired by our own frustrations attempting to raise money for things we cared about, we decided to launch a business that would give anyone, anywhere a fair shot at bringing any idea to life. Our core belief was that the platform we created had to be open – a platform without judgment or gatekeepers – that celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit and empowered innovation.
Six years later, Indiegogo has seen a crowdfunded New York Times ad activate support for a revolution in Turkey, a loving family welcome the first crowdfunded baby, a first-time filmmaker earn mainstream distribution after being turned down by studios, the first medical tricorder (think Star Trek) developed and brought to market, and thousands of people rally together to give a bullied bus monitor the chance at a new life.
Our open philosophy has recently inspired a healthy debate about the role you want us to play in protecting the platform from potential abuse, specifically in the case of the Healbe campaign. We embrace the opportunity to address your concerns and highlight the significant investments we have made toward enhanced security.
Regarding Healbe and the broader discussion about our approach, we see this as two separate topics: the issue of a campaigner who intends to deceive and the issue of the feasibility or deliverability of a campaign.
To date, the Healbe team has been responsive and cooperative with our inquiries. Their campaign continues to follow our trust guidelines and they have voluntarily offered refunds upon request. For more information on refunds or our policies, please email support@indiegogo.com.
Specific to the first issue, our anti-fraud program employs a three-pronged approach:
- Algorithms – we monitor data for patterns and look for outliers or those angling to take advantage of the system
- Personnel – to supplement the data, we have built a sophisticated team of experts dedicated to ensuring the integrity of our platform. Our in-house Trust & Safety team reviews the data closely, and in many cases, investigates further.
- You, the crowd – we welcome comments, emails, and other notifications from the community. This information is aggregated and supports our investigations.
As to the second issue about the feasibility or quality of delivery, we know that potential contributors are best served when they get educated, know the facts and can therefore make informed decisions. That’s why open dialogue has always been encouraged on the platform.
Finally, we continue to look for ways to improve and evolve our product through scalable solutions that better facilitate communication, transparency and education. Feedback like yours – past, present and future – helps us create a better experience for all.
At Indiegogo, nurturing a trusted open platform is our top priority.
Slava Rubin
CEO and Co-Founder
Indiegogo
zaptip campaign was a 350.000 fraud, what would indiegogo do about this?
be-maker-kit-plus-free-lessons-on-electronics-from-zero-to-internet-of-things has all the looks of a scam on which 250k$ has gone without any perks being send.
I have just reported a potential fraudulent campaign. A quick search appears there are 3 or 4 related that have been going on all year by the same person.
I would suggest as they all have the same pattern, the initial verification by Indiegogo is not adequate and there are fundamental problem that allow this to occur.
Underlying this is only only individual but how many other could have us this purely for fraud is not known.
Dear mr. Rubin
I want to let you know that I’am very disappointed in the projects i funded at Indiegogo. They all turn out to be scams or cannot deliver their promises. I don’t think my Sigmo translator or the full BE MAKER kit will ever make it to Holland, and also Sambilight can’t deliver in time. All the projects are paid for, but i’am still waiting for the first one to deliver. So it looks more like scam funding.
With regard to BE Maker, Indiegogo took their share of the money and did nothing to prevent fraud or give an honest account of what went wrong. They are completely irriesponsible in this regard.
Indiegogo is yet again allowing fraud to be openly committed, take a look at the soap campaign who is currently running a third campaign, despite having both creators declare backruptcy after collecting funds from kickstarter and themselves. Indiegogo cares only for their commission, this is the campaign that proves this statement https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/control-your-home-network-devices-from-your-phone/x/8129939#comments
Slava,
There is truth in your statement:
At Indiegogo, nurturing a trusted open platform is our top priority
Note that the priority is for a TRUSTed PLATFORM, and not at all for a fraud-free, safe ecosystem. The first is a customer perception, the latter, a consumer protection.
Indiegogo has amply demonstrated that it does not have effective mechanisms to prevent fraud, to protect its community against con artists or to provide relief when its trust guidelines are violated. It takes its money off the top and – when fraud happens – leaves its contributors without recourse or leverage.
Just look at the evidence trail in the projects mentioned below and tell us exactly where these vaunted algorithms and personnel stepped in and made their presence known…
All your blather about “trust guidelines” is just that – all talk, no teeth. When fraud happens, the only thing that these guidelines do is to protect Indiegogo; for the rest of us at the bottom, not so much.
In my book, trust is earned when bad things happen and the advantaged party steps in and makes things good again. When will you start earning my trust back?
-John
Indiegogo is allowing, if not encouraging fraud! Just look at the BE MAKER campaign! Don’t give them a single cent!!!
Dear Sir,
Indiegogo’s behavior in the case of the BE MAKER and BE SHIELD campaigns, where ~5000 people have lost more than 250’000 USD contradicts all the statements above – Wake up to the fraud done by H. Timmis and D. Albino/Smartmaker you still accept as sponsors for campaign although they do no longer exist (try to contact smartmaker)
Great idea
I agree about no gatekeepers and applaud your principled approach. It does sicken me when I see people whom I believe are being dishonest and taking advantage of crowdfunding, but I’m reminded of the familiar phrase “that’s the price you pay for democracy.”
Thank you for making the process to launch on Indiegogo so easy and with so much support. I did feel nurtured and respected