Kickstarter is probably the most prolific crowd-funding platform out there. They operate on the principal of All or Nothing funding, that is, if the project falls short of its intended goal, no backers are charged and the creators get no money from the campaign. This forces project designers to streamline their product to be as cost effective as possible so they can set a realistic funding goal and offer realistic rewards.

 

Rewards are another key part of Kickstarter, depending on how much a backer funds a project, they could receive different rewards. Big backers could meet the team behind the project, while smaller backers could receive a t-shirt or a USB stick.

 

 

MassChallenge on Kickstarter:

 

Funding Ends 10/18

 

Funding Ends 10/11

 

 

Indiegogo is the oldest crowdfunding platform around. IndieGogo differs from Kickstarter in that they offer flexible funding campaigns, which means that projects still get money even if they don’t reach their intended goal. IndieGoGo has a similar rewards system to Kickstarter as well.

 

 

MassChallenge on IndieGoGo:

 

Funding Ends 10/9

 

Funding Ends 10/12

 

 

 

WeFunder is radically different from IndieGoGo and Kickstarter in that it is more of a crowd-investing platform and not a funding platform. Backers to wefunder projects in fact make a proper investment to the project in question. Unaccredited investors can invest between 5-10% of their income. WeFunder also encourages projects to acquire followers before they start raising money, this way they can immediately engage in funding once the call to action happens. However, the SEC won’t implement the JOBS Act until January 2013, so at this point only accredited investors can fund projects.

 

 

MassChallenge on WeFunder:

 

Funding TBA