Crowdfunding Start-Up Spotlight: Crowdtilt
Have a project that is too small scale, or maybe just more personal, for Kicktarter or Indiegogo? Check out Crowdtilt, in beta for the last couple of months, and now taking on projects as part of its official launch. It takes the idea of all or nothing crowdfunding and focuses it on smaller projects between friends and other smaller social circles. Examples: funding a partybus, beach house, birthday party, group dinner, etc.
In other words, Crowdtilt is looking to help more people realize their dreams, but on a smaller scale. They are operating in the "group funding niche".
The trumpeted slogan of "group fund anything" is a bold proposition, and Crowdtilt's creators are banking on their smaller project focus. As a recent infographic shows, Kickstarter, which favors "projects with a creative purpose" and does not accept charity or private projects, can be quite strict in some cases. This means that certain types of deserving projects have trouble, and have no way of getting funded.
Crowdtilt founders James Beshara and Khaled Hussein originally wanted to focus the site on helping charities fundraise, but changed the site's mission during its beta-phase when they saw that they would benefit more from tailoring the site to smaller, private requests for funding instead of solely filling in Kickstarter's gap by supporting charity work.
The result is an interesting and sharp looking platform where you can crowdfund anything from a baby gift to a wedding grill.
One lesson they have learned is that it's alot easier to get funds from people you know than strangers, so if you plan to host a more public campaign, they ask that you really know how you will raise the money from your "personal and extended networks".
Is there a crowdfunding startup that has caught your attention? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , and we may feature it during Crowdfunding Month.