Kickstarter Pledges Top $1bn

Mike Moore,

5.7m people have contributed over a billion dollars to Kickstarter projects since April 2009

Crowdfunding website Kickstarter has announced that it has now raised over $1bn since its launch five years ago.

On a special website announcing the news, the company said that it had passed the symbolic figure earlier today, marking a rapid rise since it was founded in April 2009.

Overall, 5.7 million people have contributed to Kickstarter projects over the years, with more than half of the $1bn total being pledged in the last 12 months thanks to several major recent campaigns which have seen it spread into films and media production. It also enjoyed continued success from projects such as the Pebble smartwatch and Ocuclus Rift gaming system, which helped raise the platform’s profile across the world.

Pot of golden coins © Scanrail - FotoliaWorldwide

Kickstarter says that users from 244 countries across all seven continents have pledged money. The US is the most prodigious donator, having pledged $633m, followed by the UK ($54.5m), Canada ($45m), Australia ($31m), and Germany ($21m).

The company says that 1,689,979 people have backed more than one project, and 15,932 people have backed more than 50 projects.

The $1bn figure includes money pledged across successfully funded projects, projects in progress, and those that have yet to or didn’t meet their final goal, as the site only delivers the money to projects that meet their campaign target goal. Kickstarter says that, of the billion dollars pledged overall, $858m has gone to successfully funded projects.

Wednesday was noted as the most popular day of the week to donate, followed by Thursday and Tuesday, with weekends seeing a much lower level of investment. The 13th was the most popular day of the month to pledge. The findings showed that 13 March 2013 was the most successful day in Kickstarter history, as 54,187 backers pledged $4,029,585.45 to 1,985 projects.

Unsurprisingly, its first ever day recorded much lower figures, with the 28 April 2009 seeing only $1,084 pledged by 40 people to seven projects.

Last month, the company announced that 2013 has been its most successful year to date, raising $480m in 2013, which equates to just over $1.3m pledged each day, or $913 per minute.

Are you a patent expert? Try our quiz!