Kickstarter’s lasting effect on consumer tech is on full display at CES 2018

By Ed Oswald January 10, 2018

Crowdfunding site Kickstarter has been around for the better part of a decade, but you could argue that CES 2018 is its breakout year when it comes to lasting effects on the industry. No less than 250 of the companies exhibiting on the show floor began as Kickstarter projects, and 2018 marks the first year Kickstarter has an actual booth.

Julip Terra, director of technology and design for Kickstarter, stopped by the Digital Trends booth at CES in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon to provide some details on what Kickstarter is up to, as well as to explain why after nine years the company finally decided to have a physical presence at the show.

forTerra says that having the booth helps illustrate how his company is moving beyond just funding, and toward a comprehensive solution g bringing products from concept to prototype and then mass market release. At any given time, Kickstarter hosts nearly 1,000 design and tech gadgets looking for funding, he said, and all Kickstarter projects must have working prototypes.

This in theory should prevent the biggest potential problem with any crowdfunding effort: a project that’s funded and never makes it to market, leaving supporters high and dry. It still happens — DigitalTrends has covered quite a few of these fails in the past — but this at least gives backers some comfort in knowing that Kickstarter itself is working to keep scams and dubious projects off the service.

For those that pass muster, Kickstarter doesn’t merely help them raise money. One effort called Hardware Studio helps startups get products to market through education on the manufacturing process and connections to hardware providers.

Another effort — currently in “private beta” — is called Drip. You can think of the service as kind of a Patreon for tech innovators. Instead of supporting a particular Kickstarter, backers here would be able to “subscribe” to creators, and support their efforts through a monthly contribution.

Terra admitted that even Kickstarter isn’t exactly sure yet how Drip will actually work, but did point to it as an exciting new way to spur innovation in the technology sector. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Emerging Tech

Contributor

For fifteen years, Ed has written about the latest and greatest in gadgets and technology trends. At Digital Trends, he's…

Emerging Tech

The SureFly two-person drone taxi will make its maiden flight at CES 2018

surefly drone ces flight 11

Ohio-based company Workhorse has announced that its innovative SureFly octocopter, essentially a human-sized drone for up to two people, is set to make its manned maiden voyage on January 8 in Las Vegas, prior to next year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

“CES is the perfect venue to show the SureFly,” Mike Dektas, a media spokesperson for Workhorse, told Digital Trends. “It is the premiere tech show in the world, and SureFly is a great example of how tech has entered the VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) world.”

Emerging Tech

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Home steam cleaning, futuristic pianos, e-skin

awesome tech you cant buy yet e skin all controller atycby 08 04 17 tersa

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a visual stroll through the best new Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects, and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there -- alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week’s most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don’t grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail -- even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.
Tersa -- home steam-cleaning system

There are few things more mundanely embarrassing than a wrinkled shirt. Imagine getting up in front of the executives at work to deliver a presentation, only to notice them snickering. You look down and realize your shirt has the texture of a human brain. The shame! Normally, you should iron your clothes, but this can be time-consuming, and there’s always the chance you might burn your threads. The creators of the Tersa aim to eliminate the stress of ironing with a fully-automated steam-cleaning system.

Emerging Tech

Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Life-seeking telescopes, scuba arms, and more

ATYCBY 4-23-2017

At any given moment, there are approximately a zillion crowdfunding campaigns on the web. Take a stroll through Kickstarter or Indiegogo and you’ll find no shortage of weird, useless, and downright stupid projects out there -- alongside some real gems. In this column, we cut through all the worthless wearables and Oculus Rift ripoffs to round up the week's most unusual, ambitious, and exciting projects. But don't grab your wallet just yet. Keep in mind that any crowdfunded project can fail -- even the most well-intentioned. Do your homework before cutting a check for the gadget of your dreams.
PLANETS Telescope -- exoplanet observation telescope

The PLANETS Foundation believes that we can find life outside of the solar system within a decade. How? By closely examining exoplanets orbiting nearby stars. The problem is we don't currently have the observation technologies necessary to begin the search -- but that might soon change.