Last week we announced our next big partnership: we’re working with Arrow to help our entrepreneurs move beyond funding and into market by giving qualifying campaigns access to design tools, engineering experts, prototype services, manufacturing support and even supply chain management – which can be worth up to $500,000. As described by TechCrunch, the “top-tier package” will help Indiegogo entrepreneurs bring their products not just to life, but to stores near you. Also, our new Manager of Film & Creative Outreach, Aaron Hillis, broke the record for fastest employee to get media coverage, since Indiewire just wrote about his move to Indiegogo. A wwwwelcome. World wide web welcome. Best joke I’ve ever made.

Tech News

If you’ve never been good at learning new languages and have instead been forced to master the art of smiling and nodding, you’ll soon be able to feel a lot more in the loop. Pop the Pilot earbuds in and get real-time, simultaneous translation when you talk to people who speak a different language. I’m sure you’ve been in this situation before. I mean, who hasn’t? Never again my friends. As the Verge said, you can now hit on “foreign cuties” with ease, so preorder a pair when they launch on May 25th.

Listening to music is already a spiritual experience for many, and now it is even more so because of Meizu‘s newest speaker. It was created according to a Zen Buddhist’s “missing design” idea, which makes a functional object stand along as art. Even though it looks like it’s levitating, it just looks like it is thanks to a cool invisible block. But feel free to troll your friends. Some might even believe you.

Other Crowdfunding News

I really cannot relate to the idea of eating simply for fuel, but I guess some people live a joyless life in which all they want is to get nutrients as efficiently as possible. Just kidding about the joyless part, sometimes a drinkable meal is exactly what you need. Ample Meal is a non-GMO, whole foods-based meal replacement shake that helps busy people stay healthy when there is no time to cook. And it apparently tastes pretty good.

Everyone in academia is painfully aware that you “publish or perish,” and perishing means you get no monies to fund what matters to you. A physicist and a scientist from Denmark decided to look to Indiegogo for help with solving the theory of everything. That’s right, everything. In the whole universe. Of course the result remains to be seen, but I’m pretty sure that none of the competition helped figure out the secrets of the universe.

Where are they now? Indiegogo Success Story

After running an unsurprisingly successful Indiegogo campaign, the team behind Con Man is getting ready for its second season. This time they won’t be using Indiegogo because Comic Con HQ, a new on-demand platform design to capture the fan community. Basically a match made in heaven.

Feeling inspired? Download the free Indiegogo Field Guide to get started today!