I think we can officially stop saying “before the holidays” and start accepting that we are actually in the holidays. You’ve been waiting until great ideas to strike until you get gifts for your most difficult loved ones, but your time has run out. If all else fails, get the :M Watch. 1Face gives some of its profit to great charities depending on the color. They are actually doubling the number of donations from their last campaign. Even your grumpiest relative will have no choice but to like it. And if your family keeps bugging you about what you want, maybe ask for help with those student loans. But socks are practical too I guess.

Enterprise Crowdfunding News

The crowd has picked a winner for Hasbro’s next big game. Irresponsibility: The Mr. Toast Card Game has been given $10,000 for the next time you get wine drunk with your family and need something more PG than Cards Against Humanity. Either help Mr. Toast be responsible, or make bad decisions and have fun. Read more about the winner of Hasbro’s Next Great Game Challenge.

Tech Crowdfunding News

Remember how in high school teachers would tow around carts with 12 laptops, only 5 of which ever worked? Well think of schools in rural areas all over the world that only have one power outlet, and no fancy IT department to fix the broken wifi. Because of their frustration, One Education has developed a modular laptop that can be customized for any classroom environment or learning need, and can be easily upgraded by even the most unsavvy users. As privileged volunteers who set up programs around the world, we often don’t understand what those classrooms actually need so the point is to “not lock people into our idea of the world.” What’s more, kids can take apart the Infinity Laptop, explore its guts, and put it back together. AND it will even work after the tinkering.

Social Innovation News

We all know we’re supposed to compost, and it’s pretty silly that the reason that some of us don’t is that our roommates don’t close the lid and thus begins a cloud of fruit flies. Instead of inventing some complex trap with vinegar and sugar water that seems to make the problem worse, Austin residents can pay just $4 a week for volunteers on bikes to take your food scraps to local farms and gardens. Compost Pedallers started an Indiegogo campaign to buy ebikes that will let them expand into one new neighborhood for every $10k they raise. Austin will stay as clean as it is weird.

Where are they now? The Embrace Smart Watch

We know without any doubt that crowdfunding is the ultimate market research, and it’s about 100 times easier than setting up any focus group. Misfit did big things ($260 million acquisition big) after proving on Indiegogo that there was a market for the Shine.  The Empatica Embrace watch was originally created to better understand the emotions of people with autism, but during the research and development of the watch, the founder realized it could also be used to detect signs of seizures in those with epilepsy. Even  though medical-grade wearables can be instrumental in spurring early intervention at the first sign of physical stress, that pesky (I’m being polite) FDA always seems to gets in the way. The Empatica team is looking to improve the watch and expand its applications with the $2M in seed funding they raised after Indiegogo, may the force be with them, as they do battle with the FDA.

Are you the next scientist slash doctor who is going to study and stop seizures? Download the free Indiegogo Field Guide and learn everything you need to know about running a crowdfunding campaign.