It’s only been 8 years since crowdfunding went mainstream, with the arrival of major platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

In less than a decade, crowdfunding has become a $34 billion dollar industry — that figure is expected to triple in the next 10 years.

The simple idea of asking hundreds, or thousands, of individuals to contribute a small amount of money, for any early reward of the product or project, has enabled start ups and entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to the world. Once funded, some of these ideas skyrocket inventors from their garages or bedrooms, to heading up multi- million pound companies, and changing the world for the better.

Here are just a few of the incredible ideas that owe their success to crowdfunding.

Non-Toxic Mosquito Repellent

This innovative idea developed by the University of California exceeded its funding goal seven times over on Indiegogo. The ingenious invention is a non-toxic patch which can be attached to clothing to keep mosquitos at bay for up to 48 hours. The patch masks the smell of carbon dioxide, which the insects use to track humans.

Kite — in partnership with Pilgrim Africa — is now working to distribute the patch to Uganda, which is heavily affected by mosquito-borne illnesses.

2. Oculus Virtual Reality Headset

Most of us have probably heard of the Oculus VR headset — the first mainstream virtual reality headset to hit the retail shelves. What you probably didn’t know, was that this world famous technology, was actually created in the founder’s parents garage when he was a teenager.

Palmer Luckey had been working on his VR headset since he was 15 years old and decided to start a kickstarter campaign in 2012. The project smashed the $250,000 goal and raised $2.4million — 2 years later Facebook bought the prototype for $2 billion.

3. SkyBell Video Doorbell

Another one of the greatest crowdfunding success stories is the ‘Sky Bell’- a smart video doorbell that allows homeowners to answer their door, by video, even when they’re not at home.

The invention — which sends live video to homeowners through their smart phone — raised $600,000 on Indigogo. It is now one of the most popular smart home products in the U.S

4. Pebble Smart Watch

The pebble smart watch hit the headlines when it became the highest ever funded idea on Kickstarter.

Now the world’s first commercially successful smart watch — it is connected by Bluetooth to your smart phone, tracks workouts, has a long battery life and is water resistant.

The campaign obliterated its initial goal of $100,000 to raise $10 million, beating to market the highly anticipated Apple watch.

A second campaign to launch the new and improved ‘Pebble time’ doubled its previous record making $20 million. Pebble was acquired by Fitbit in 2016.

5. Stem Cell Medicine

British biotech company Cell Therapy Ltd raised a record £691,000 pounds ($1 million) in 2015 via crowdfunding site Crowdcube to help launch a stem cell-based regenerative medicine for use following heart trauma.

The campaign raised more than three times its original target allowing the company to focus on developing the regenerative medicine — Heartcel.

The funds were used to progress the drug to final stage trials, and Heartcel was licensed to use in Japan in 2016.

6. Goldie Blox: Creating A Generation Of Female Engineers

A construction toy and children’s book series that turns gender stereotypes on their head. The series presents a female protagonist — a little girl called Goldie who loves to build things.

The project raised $285,000 through Kickstarter in 2012.

GoldieBlox is now encouraging young female engineers everywhere, and is available in Toys R Us.

7. Accessible Bee Keeping in Australia

Australia’s Flow Hive successfully raised over $12m to make beekeeping accessible to the masses. This father and son project became the most successful project on Indiegogo, and the 6th most funded project in crowdfunding history.

The first-of-its-kind design allows beekeeping enthusiasts and beginners alike to use a purpose built mechanism to collect the honey in their hive with a simple flip of a switch, and turn of a tap. This clever invention from this beekeeping family has revolutionised backyard beekeeping — making it easier, safer, and less harmful to the bees.

8. The GravityLight: Replacing Kerosene Lamps in Developing Countries

Gravitylight — the revolutionary lamp powered by gravity — raised $400,000, seven times its target in 2014.

The lamp produces 30 minutes of light through a three second lift. It doesn’t require fuel or battery replacement — all that’s needed to charge it is a weight.

It was invented for the purpose of replacing kerosene lamps that are used by an estimated one billion people worldwide in place of electric lighting. Kerosene lamps are dangerous to health contributing to lung cancer, posing a fire and burn risk, and contributing 244 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

An updated version of the lamp raised $400,000 again in 2015 — this time with the purpose of creating more jobs by moving the assembly line to Kenya.

All of these amazing projects are living proof of what can be achieved through crowdfunding…

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