Four crowdfunding success stories to inspire you

Over the past two decades crowdfunding has become a powerhouse in the efforts of individuals and businesses looking to raise capital, whether to establish a business, support its expansion or to raise funds for a cause, project or event.

In the last year alone 6,455,080 crowdfunding campaigns were run, and this number is expected to nearly double in the next four years. With estimates stating that the crowdfunding industry will be worth an astounding $300 billion by 2030*, companies across the globe are looking to this platform to raise funds for projects.

Although crowdfunding has quickly become a viable way for businesses to raise necessary funds, due to its relatively cutting-edge concept, many businesses are apprehensive when it comes to starting their own campaign. Of course, there are risks associated with this type of funding, but there are also countless crowdfunding success stories. Below we take a look at just a few of those:

Marillion

Pioneers of the crowdfunded project, UK rock band Marillion utilised the power of fan support in 1997 when they launched the first ever successful crowdfunding campaign to finance a North American tour. Fans of the band were able to raise a grand total of $60,000 (£39,000), allowing the band to carry out their tour.

This was not the last crowdfunded project that the band took part in. In 2001, following tensions between the band and its label, they asked their fans to pre-order their next album 12 months in advance, effectively financing the project independently as a result of 12,000 signees.

Monzo

Breaking crowdfunding records, prior to its launch, mobile-first bank Monzo offered investors a 3.33% equity share. The campaign itself was held on Crowdcube in 2016, and resulted in a staggering £1 million investment in just 96 seconds.

The bank once again took this approach in late 2018, when current account holders were offered the chance to purchase shares in the business. With a target of £20 million, the crowdfunding experts raised this in just 163 minutes.

Veronica Mars

True TV buffs will be familiar with the Veronica Mars series. Following many calls for a film adaption of the programme by fans, creator Rob Thomas and leading actress Kristen Bell launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Offering donors incentives if they donated more than $10, in just the first two hours its $2 million goal was reached.

The campaign continued to break records, successfully achieving the title of fastest Kickstarter project to reach $1 million and $2 million targets, and then named the campaign with the most backers for a single project (91,585 investors). In total the film was provided with a $5,702,153 investment.

Gary Usher

Following the success of his Chester based restaurant, Sticky Walnut, chef and restaurateur Gary Usher wanted to build upon his empire but struggled to find investment from the banking world. Instead he turned to Kickstarter, launching a campaign with plans to open a new restaurant on the Wirral, named Burnt Truffle. He offered donors free Sunday lunches at the restaurant, or private parties for those giving more than £5,000. 891 people donated to this first crowdfunder, raising £103,000 and providing ample funding for the new restaurant to open in 2015.

Usher funded subsequent restaurants in a similar way. He opened Hispi in Didsbury with £60,000 pledged, Wreckfish in Liverpool with £200,000, received an amazing £50,000 in less than an hour to open Prescot based Pinion, and most recently he opened Kala, which became the fasted funded restaurant project in the world after it raised £100,000 in just 11 hours.

Have you found your crowdfunding inspiration? Whether you’re new to this type of funding or an experienced crowdfunder, we’d love to hear your stories. Get in touch on Twitter.

* Source – Fundera