Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform founded in 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler, and Charles Adler. Its central model is “all or nothing”: creators set a funding goal and deadline, and supporters’ payment cards are charged only if the project reaches or exceeds that goal. A project that falls short does not receive the pledged money. Kickstarter takes a 5% fee from successfully funded projects, while payment processing fees are charged separately.

The idea originated with Chen’s earlier attempt to organize a concert in New Orleans. Unable to afford the event’s costs upfront, he imagined a system in which people could commit money before the event existed, allowing it to happen only if enough supporters participated. Kickstarter launched publicly in April 2009 and initially concentrated on creative projects, including films, music, publishing, theater, games, art, comics, design, and technology. It does not function as an investment marketplace: backers generally receive rewards, products, or experiences rather than equity in the creator’s company.

Several prominent campaigns demonstrate the platform’s cultural impact. In 2012, the Pebble smartwatch raised more than $10 million, becoming one of Kickstarter’s early landmark technology campaigns. That same year, the film project for *Veronica Mars* raised more than $5.7 million from fans, helping establish crowdfunding as a route for reviving a discontinued television property. The card game *Exploding Kittens* raised nearly $8.8 million in 2015. In 2019, Critical Role’s animated-special campaign raised more than $11 million; the resulting project developed into the animated series *The Legend of Vox Machina*. In 2022, author Brandon Sanderson’s campaign for four surprise novels raised more than $41 million, setting a Kickstarter funding record at the time.

Kickstarter has also been associated with debates about responsibility toward backers. In 2012, Oculus VR raised about $2.4 million on Kickstarter for its Oculus Rift headset, then was acquired by Facebook in 2014. The acquisition prompted criticism from some backers who felt crowdfunding supporters had helped establish the company without receiving investment returns. Kickstarter’s structure, however, had never offered backers ownership.

The company became a Public Benefit Corporation in 2015, formally incorporating a public-benefit purpose alongside its business operations. In 2022, Kickstarter announced that it would develop a protocol based on blockchain technology through an independent organization, Kickstarter PBC, though the proposal generated criticism from creators concerned about environmental effects and the practical value of blockchain systems. Kickstarter later stated that its core site would not move to blockchain.