Why Indiegogo Is Launching an E-Commerce Platform

The crowdfunding platform Indiegogo has introduced a range of new services aimed at “supporting the entire innovation journey,” including a new e-commerce offering, IndieShop, which allows users to purchase products developed through crowdfunding. An announcement about a partnership to bring “the most successful projects to physical stores” is expected soon.

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The Origins and Purpose of Indiegogo

Indiegogo, founded in 2008 in San Francisco, California, by Slava Rubin, Danae Ringelmann, and Eric Schell, began with the goal of democratizing access to funding. It enables entrepreneurs, creatives, and innovators to raise funds for their projects directly from the public.

Unlike other crowdfunding platforms, Indiegogo offers both flexible funding campaigns, where organizers can keep the funds raised even if they do not reach their goal, and fixed funding campaigns, where funds are returned to backers if the goal is not met.

Diverse Categories and Global Reach

The platform covers a wide range of categories, including technology, film, music, art, and social causes. Over time, Indiegogo has expanded its services by introducing marketing and analytics tools to support project creators throughout the journey from idea to realization. Today, Indiegogo is one of the leading crowdfunding platforms globally, having helped fund thousands of projects worldwide.

In Italy, participants can engage with Indiegogo campaigns both as supporters and innovators. Italian innovators can create campaigns to raise funds for their projects, whether they are technological, artistic, social, or otherwise, and access the platform’s tools and services to promote and manage their campaigns.

How IndieShop Works

IndieShop is now live on Indiegogo’s site, having been launched in beta in May, and currently features over 40 products.

According to The Retail Touchpoints Network, the in-store retail experience will include a curated selection of products with a live unboxing event: for the first time, supporters will be able to try and test Indiegogo campaign products in real life before investing.

Expanding the Crowdfunding Concept

“The new Indiegogo is designed to bring more customers to our campaigns while introducing the concept of crowdfunding to a new audience,” said Becky Center, CEO of Indiegogo.

Watch the Announcement Video

New Services and Lower Fees

The platform has also launched a series of new services to assist both inventors and their supporters. These include customer insights for innovators preparing their crowdfunding requests and a payment installment feature for backers.

To promote its expanded service, Indiegogo is lowering its platform fees to 4% for crowdfunding campaigns until the end of 2024.

Commitment to Innovators

“Over the past 16 years,” added Center, “Indiegogo has helped nearly one million entrepreneurs and businesses build their brands, create go-to-market strategies, engage their communities, and expand their global reach. Since I took the helm of Indiegogo two years ago, my goal has been not only to keep Indiegogo the highest-quality crowdfunding platform but also to expand support for the innovator’s journey beyond the traditional 30-60 day crowdfunding campaign cycle.”

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(Featured image by Bastian Riccardi via Unsplash)

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First published in Economy Up. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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