The crowdfunding platform that has built a reputation for financing film and technological startups is aiming to expand after raising $40m in funding.
Indiegogo, whose most recent exploits include financing the Jamaican bobsleigh team to reach the Sochi Winter Olympics, raised the amount with three rounds of funding.
It smashed the total of $15m raised in 2012, and follows the success of two Indiegogo-backed films at the Sundance film festival.
Both Dear White People and Life Itself were successful and now the company is looking to bring in new staff and expand on a global scale.
Building for the future
Co-founder Slava Rubin has even suggested that crowdsourcing will be seen as the standard place to find funding within the next decade.
The company is one of the leaders in the crowdfunding world, and is set to look to build on the tremendous popularity that the form of finding finance is enjoying.
Since formation in 2008, the company has hosted more than 190,000 campaigns from nearly every country on the planet.
Indiegogo lists the amount of funds raised via crowdfunding as having grown by 1,000% in the last two years and supports five major currencies.
Funding Jamaica
Jamaica’s two-man bobsleigh team recently secured a surprise qualification for Sochi 2014, evoking memories of the famous efforts of the four-man team at Calgary in 1988.
In a move that echoes the scenes of the 1993 hit film Cool Runnings, the latest set of athletes have relied on outside funding, after an international campaign took just two days to raise the money needed.
The Jamaican Olympic Committee has also pledged their support, but it was the efforts of the public that helped three-time Olympian Winston Watts and his fellow athlete Marvin Dixon to fulfill their dreams.
Meanwhile, more than 40 companies at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January were also funded via Indiegogo, according to Mr Rubin.
Why crowdfunding?
Developing a company or project often requires a certain level of finance and that is where crowdfunding comes in.
Investors and members of the public can support certain projects in order to help them get off the ground.
It offers an alternative means of finance and can assist when financial management leaves a company in a precarious position.
As a result, it offers an alternative to prepaid cards, which can be used to ensure that any spending does not go over budget.
A prepaid card could also be used to manage funds once crowdfunding has been secured, providing a simple and effective way for businesses to keep ther finances under control.
The expansion of Indiegogo could potentially increase the number of companies who can benefit from crowdfunding, which could have vast economic benefits in the long-term.
