Singapore — Kickstarter, the world’s largest funding community for creative projects, launches in Asia today, officially extending its service to creators in both Singapore and Hong Kong for the first time. Kickstarter introduced crowd funding to a new generation of creators – from filmmakers, musicians, and authors, to artists, designers, game developers, and beyond, who use it to fund and build communities of support around projects across the creative universe.
“Kickstarter has empowered millions of people to be part of the development and production of new creative works. As one of the most exciting regions for emerging creative culture and innovation, we’re thrilled to begin to support creators in Asia,” says CEO and co-founder, Yancey Strickler.
Residents of Singapore and Hong Kong have been an active and generous part of the Kickstarter community for years. More than 100,000 people from both countries have made more than 600,000 pledges to creative projects. And there have been a number of inspired projects by creators from both countries over the past few years. Creators in Singapore have been able to launch Kickstarter projects in the past – the likes of AICO Technologies’ Smart Egg and Witching Hour Studios’ Masquerada: Songs and Shadows. But the barriers to entry have been much higher — creators have had to set up companies or work with collaborators outside of Singapore to launch their projects. Opening in Singapore will make the process easier and more accessible to everyone with a local bank account and a verified identification. With this level of involvement from Singapore and Hong Kong, Kickstarter aims to reduce the barriers to entry for the creative communities to bring their creative projects to life.
Since Kickstarter’s launch in Brooklyn, New York City, in 2009, 11 million people have pledged more than US$2.5 billion to bring more than 110,000 creative ideas to life. Kickstarter creators enjoy complete creative control over their projects, and access to a global network of generous backers from more than 220 countries and territories. Every Kickstarter creator sets their project’s funding goal and deadline, and backers pledge money to help bring it to life, and receive rewards in return. Funding on Kickstarter is all or-nothing — if a project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers are charged at the project’s deadline. If the project falls short of its funding goal, no money changes hands.
Creators in Singapore and Hong Kong can now join individuals in countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, all of whom have easy access to launch projects.
