A New Year is upon us, which not only means that you can breathe a sigh of relief because you don’t need to figure out New Year’s Eve plans, or pretend you had the best time ever. Also, CES just happened. Hopefully everyone has recovered!

Tech Crowdfunding News

Indiegogo’s 2016 CES was all about lifecycle, from pupae to butterfly, or the analogous idea to marketplace. We had products in many different stages of their evolution, starting with companies like CHiP, your latest furry/robot pal, to Skulpt Aim Chisel, which measures your body fat and muscle quality (seems cruel after the season of decadence and lethargy we have just emerged from) and is shipping now, to the famous Axent Wear headphones in Brookstone stores around the country.

We also announced Enterprise Crowdfunding, which is a brand new way for companies like GE and Harman to hear what their customers want, and actually listen to produce amazing new products faster and creating less waste. Let’s hope this is the beginning of an era in which only things that people want get made, says The Next Web, because per the New York Times, it’s time to start listening to the crowd. This is only the beginning of the coverage we got, so in the interest of retaining your attention, see below.

Social Innovation News

Leave it to former surfers to create something that literally sucks the trash and oil out of the ocean so that you can shred the gnar in clean water. Seabin is basically a giant version of what you would find in a fish tank, to be used in the world’s fish tank by using a pump to collect all the gross bits of things that ruin your swim in a now very disgusting mesh bag. It also has never accidentally caught an animal in four years of testing, which I find miraculous. If I were them and also researching in Mallorca, I would drag out testing as long as possible.

Social Cause News

For many kids, being bullied is an inescapable reality of going to school every day. Foster the People’s Mark Foster (who knew there is an actual reason for their name) used to sprint between his classes to avoid being picked on, and he was moved to do something when heard the story of a young Japanese girl who nearly committed suicide because of bullies, now posts encouraging messages online for other kids, and incidentally is in a band because she’s pretty cool. Foster the People started a campaign for the Anti-Bullying Project to bring Nanae and her brother to LA to record a song and raise awareness. Mark is certainly fostering an even bigger fanbase all over the world.

If I may be so bold as to guess, I bet your New Year’s resolution was to finally work on that idea you came up with three years ago, and just keep daydreaming about. And I bet you’re stuck on: “but where will I get the money?” It’s actually not as hard as you think it is. Download our free Indiegogo Crowdfunding Field Guide and get started!