The last year has been a thrilling, humbling, and ultimately satisfying ride, and it’s all thanks to you.
Last January, BackerKitten was new to this world—just a wee little fur-ball taking our first baby steps, and trying not to step on our own tail.
Adorable? Definitely. Useful? Perhaps.
But we were not lacking in curiosity. Having run a Kickstarter project ourselves, we couldn’t help but wonder if maybe it was time for the crowdfunding ecosystem to grow up.
We wanted to help eliminate the many frustrations that project creators face as they seek to manage their projects after the fundraising stage.
Our goal was to offer them a more streamlined, more flexible, and more robust way to organize their projects and interact with their backers, saving everyone time and money.
Sounds great—but it’s not so easy, as it turns out. Thus we began our awkward adolescent phase:
Somehow we overcame our angst and got on the phone, reaching out to some very brave project creators. These illustrators, tabletop game makers, artists, and video game developers offered us candid insights into the trials and tribulations of leading a project.
Please, give us something that works better, they said. So we tried; in order to build what they needed, we scrambled like crazy. Think hot tin roof.
In the many months since, we have settled down a bit, but stayed on task, designing a software platform and an ever-expanding suite of tools for project creators.
Now we are full-grown, we’re agile, and we can handle even the largest projects (we’re still working on that occasional hairball).
BackerKit has now been used by over a hundred and seventy crowdfunding projects, and we have reached several important milestones in our first year.
Some quick stats to share:
- Our largest project this year had over 28,000 backers. Our smallest? Just shy of 100 backers.
- Our largest project raised over $1,500,000. Our smallest? Around $5000.
- BackerKit’s total value-add? Over $2,000,000 in additional funds for project creators, and—more importantly—thousands of hours of time saved / hassles prevented.
In other news, we’ve got some new digs. We said goodbye to the dining room table and moved into a new office here in San Francisco.
In between catnaps, we try and get a lot of work done. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, come interrupt us and say hello!
We’ve also had the chance to take field trips. We love to visit project creators, share some pizza, and learn more about the problems that they face as they undertake their own crowdfunding journey.
The photos above are from our trip to see Jason Hui, a talented fabricator, successful crowdfunder, and designer of the Prometheus flashlights and pens. We came, we saw, we stuffed hundreds of envelopes with him.
Project creators like Jason are our greatest inspiration—thank you all for innovating, for making, and for bringing good things into the world.
We believe that crowdfunding is not just a way to raise money––it’s something special. No matter what your project entails, your backers are your most loyal fans and ambassadors; they want to see you succeed. At its heart, BackerKit is designed to help your backers help you.
In the coming year, we’ll continue to do everything we can to give you a simple, powerful platform that lets you keep a hold of the reins, stay organized, and deliver on your promises. Just like that other guy in the big red suit…
Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year!
Love,
All the BackerKats at BackerKit