We knew that crowdsourced projects gained serious traction in 2012 but exactly how successful they really were remained a mystery until now. According to recently released statistics from Kickstarter, more than 2.2 million people opened their wallets in 2012 to help fund more than 18,000 different campaigns.
All together, Kickstarter backers pledged nearly $320 million over the last 12 months – that’s good for a 221 percent increase from 2011. As you know, however, money from backers is only collected if a campaign reaches its goal. To that end, project creators collected just over $274 million in 2012, an increase of 238 percent over the previous year.
On an individual level, Kickstarter tells us that 17 different projects managed to raise $1 million or more in 2012. These include the LIFX light bulb at $1.3 million, Double Fine’s adventure game with $3.3 million, the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset at $2.4 million and the OUYA video game console with a staggering $8.5 million haul.
Music was the most funded category as 5,067 projects were given the green light. In terms of financial support, games had the most money pledged at $83 million. Art, film, music, publishing and theater each had more than 1,000 funded projects.
Support poured in from all over the world, according to Kickstarter. People in 177 countries pledged support in 2012 – that figure represents 90 percent of the countries in the world. More than half a million people backed two or more projects while some 50,000 people pledged support for 10 or more projects.
2013 certainly has the potential to top these numbers but with competitors like Christie Street indiegogo gaining popularity, it’ll take a lot of work to best 2012.
