Amazon has just joined forces with Kickstarter to help promote and sell more than 300 products launched on the crowdfunding site.
The new Kickstarter Collection features as part of Amazon’s Launchpad portal, which showcases products from startups and forms part of a wider program to help small businesses get their products noticed.
Visitors to the new section of Amazon’s massive e-commerce site can browse the selected Kickstarter-funded products by categories that include electronics, home & kitchen, and books. You can also search by theme, among them “inventing the future,” “public benefit,” and “exquisite objects.”
A quick look around the electronics section reveals everything from famous Kickstarter successes like the Oculus Rift and Pebble smartwatch to less well-known products such as Kapture’s audio recording wristband and these interesting laptop desks that can apparently “fit in an envelope.”
Many of the Kickstarter-funded products listed in the new collection have actually been available on Amazon for some time, but this is the first time they’ve been brought together under one roof. It’s certainly a fun place to browse, with a huge range of fascinating creations just a click away.
“Working with Kickstarter is a great way for us to hear directly from customers what products they care about, since they truly hold the power to bring these products to life,” said Amazon VP Jim Adkins, adding, “Our goal is to enable [creators, inventors, and startups] to reach Amazon’s hundreds of millions of customers and to overcome one of the biggest challenges any startup faces – bringing their product to market successfully.”
As for Kickstarter co-founder and CEO Yancey Strickler, he said he was “thrilled” to be collaborating with Amazon as it created “a new path for [Kickstarter] projects to be discovered, experienced, and loved.”
