Kickstarter Expanding to U.K.
Crowdfunding site to open up to British projects this autumn.
Photo courtesy Craig Grobler
Crowdfunding site Kickstarter is crossing the pond.
Currently, all Kickstarter projects must originate in the U.S.--even though people from all over the world can lend a hand with funding.
But starting this autumn, Britons will be able to launch their own crowdfunding projects, Kickstarter revealed via Twitter yesterday: "People in the UK will be able to launch projects on Kickstarter starting this autumn! More info soon! <3 <3 <3"
Originated as a way to fund artistic projects, the crowdfunding site now has 13 categories, ranging from comics and art to technology and games. Funders have given $250 million in pledges overall since Kickstarter's launch in 2009--$100 million in 2011 alone.
The ousted staff of Good is using Kickstarter to fund a new magazine, Tomorrow, and the site helped start-up watchmaker Pebble raise more than $10 million.
The initial limitation to U.S.-based projects was because of Kickstarter's dependency on Amazon Payments, Giga Om reports--allowing for instant charging and cancellation of pledges when projects either meet goals or fail.
