Crowdfunding Picks of the Week

by Startacus Admin

Crowdfunding is a beautiful thing. Whether it's in exchange for equity, or an appropriate reward, crowdfunding has opened up a whole new channel through which people with great (and some not so great) ideas can secure vital funding and tell the whole world about what they are up to.

As such avid supporters, we spend a lot of time browsing through all manner of wonderful, weird, and wacky campaigns; it's just marvelous to think of a world full of so many ordinary people taking steps to bring their ideas to life.

To inspire you, here’s a quick look at some of our favorites happening at the moment.

Grandma’s Project Sharing The World’s Most Delicious Heritage

Nobody spins a yarn, or cooks a meal quite like your granny and this kickstarter project wants to preserve both of these wonderful granny traits for future generations. Grandma’s Project is a global collaborative effort, that will see film-makers from across the world create short films about their own grandmothers. The films will centre around the grandmothers cooking a recipe which reflects their heritage and gives them the opportunity to express its significance to their history and culture; effectively creating a permanent reminder of the world they have experienced.

So far they have raised 45% of their $20K target, which will allow them to bring their web documentary to life.

Jonas Pariente is the guy behind the project, you can learn all about his project on kickstarter.

Imbue - The Magnetic Tea Infusing Vessel

This very simple idea puts forward a pretty good solution for people who like to drink loose leaf tea, but struggle to do so when out-and-about or in the office. Its basically a little glass jar with a bamboo lid, onto which a magnetic leaf tea strainer attaches, allowing people to brew their own tea, any time they have access to hot water. The jar itself then becomes the tea cup and can be used as a water bottle for the rest of the day.

The Imbue is a collaborative effort from students the Industrial Design program at Western Washington University, and has had an early vote of confidence from the Kickstarter community with $86K of its $20K goal already achieved. 

Normally we really are more ‘coffee people’ here at Startacus, but given how simple this is we will make an exception.

Fizzics: Make Your Favorite Beer Better

If you prefer something a little more exciting than tea, Fizzics is worth a look.

Taking a retrospective approach to improving the quality of store bought beers, Fizzics is a tech-heavy beer pouring system which claims to turn store bought beer into a draught quality beverage. If the claims say true, the scientifically precise system will enhance; aroma, carbonation, flavour, texture, and appearance. Well you know what they say, fortune favours the bold!

In 5 Days they have already raised £67K of their £50K target, in no small part I'm sure to their pretty stellar pitch video, in which the passion of the 3 creators really shines through. We have never come across a more detailed and comprehensive crowdfunding campaign; it’s like a definitive guide to pouring the perfect beer. It’s patently obvious that these are just 3 guys, who love beer and are passionate about making it as good as it can be… it's rather inspiring really!

C.H.I.P. the $9 computer

We are all aware of the huge reduction in the cost of basic technology in recent years, but a crowdfunding campaign has just arrived on kickstarter that will see the price of such technology fall to an almost impossibly low level. C.H.I.P is a computer that will cost just $9.

Boasting a simple tagline, this tiny computer will connect to any screen and allow users to create and store documents, surf the web, check emails, and play games

The campaign, which was only launched a few days ago by Oakland tech company, The Next Thing, has already exceeded its kickstarter target of $50K by over half a million dollars! With 25 days left until the end of the campaign, we will be keeping a close eye on this one, as a potentially record breaking crowdfunding success.

Have you seen a really interesting crowdfunding campaign? Comment below to tell us about it, or tweet us @IamStartacus

If you are planning to launch your own crowdfunding campaign, you should check out our free crowdfunding support package!

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Published on: 11th May 2015