Last week, Indiegogo earned a place on Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” list. Generosity was included in the Social Good category because unlike many similar websites, it’s platform fee-free. We were actually the only major crowdfunding platform featured at all, which we’re very proud of since the platform is just a year old.
Tech Crowdfunding
It sounds like a robot-frog hybrid (classic dad joke material), but the Robit is a home helper that rolls around doing things that your smart phone can do. Its brain is a Raspberry Pi computer, and it can record videos, play with your kids with a nerf missile, or be a traveling alarm clock. Hopefully it can’t use the missile function for evil, but it’s so cute it doesn’t look like it could ever hurt anyone.
Gaming Crowdfunding News
Last year Retro Computers resurrected the Spectrum Computer gaming system, with a microcontroller that plugs directly into your TV. Spectrum was invented by Sir Clive Sinclair (he really was knighted, I checked) in the 1980s and as part of this wave of nostalgia, Retro Computers is raising funds for a handheld console. Sir Clive Sinclair was not part of the first venture, but has endorsed this campaign. Honestly, my video game knowledge stops at Mario Kart but the internet tells me people are pretty stoked about this one.
Social Impact News
Even though this campaign ended in 2014, the problem it was created to solve is still important. In the face of quickly diminishing marine wildlife around the world, the small island nation of Palau (well, not the nation itself) started a campaign to create the world’s first national marine sanctuary. They wanted to protect the incredible biodiversity that is being threatened by industrial fishing. They have been relatively successful in preserving the ocean surrounding them, but enforcing their regulations is very difficult. With very minimal resources, the country is charged with policing a piece of ocean that roughly equates to the size of France, and if a sneaky boat poaches their fish and moves into international waters before they are caught, things get murky in more ways than one.
Other Crowdfunding News
Remember when you were a kid and you would run down the hall, fall to your knees, and slide until you reached the end? Maybe even while playing the air guitar? Now there is an actual accessory to help you do it in the snow, where there is much more space for your flailing adult arms. Sled Legs are – you guessed it – on your legs! You’re already weighed down by those bulky layers of snow clothes, so why add a sled? Trek with ease to the best sled spot and slide, slide, slide to your little heart’s content.
Where are they now? Indiegogo Success Story
This is probably the 8th or so time I’ve written about Miles Ahead, but it’s just such a good story, I can’t help myself. Don Cheadle spent almost a decade trying to finance Miles Ahead because he could not find anyone in Hollywood who wanted to make the movie the way he wanted to make it – especially without a white co-star. He turned to Indiegogo so that he wouldn’t have to compromise his vision, though he eventually did add a white co-star with future international distribution in mind. This further underscores the importance of open platforms like ours to increase diversity in entrepreneurship and filmmaking, because the world is better when ideas from everyone are given the opportunity to become a reality. Miles Ahead is going to be in theaters on April 1, and will also play at SXSW in March. Take that, Hollywood.
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