If you decided to fund your next car purchase by begging for money on a street corner and promising people that you would get a really sweet ride with the money, you would be treated like the tramp that you are. If you go on Kickstarter/Indiegogo or any other crowdfunded site, you are an entrepreneur who knows how to hustle and you are sticking it to the man (VC/Angel/Rich Uncle Larry).
Well, color us surprise that the deadbeats at Canonical have seen their campaign to develop the Ubuntu Edge Smartphone smash the record for the largest ever amount to be sourced from crowdfunding. The long-standing record, which stood at $10,266,844 and was previously held by the Pebble Watch, was surpassed at around 4am BST August 16, 2013. There are still six days of the campaign to run. This is far short of the stated aim of $32,000,000 but let’s not quibble. $10m is a crapload of money by any stretch.
The Ubuntu Edge Smartphone begging bowl also broke the record for being the fastest to raise $2m (in under eight hours) and raised its first $3m in under 24 hours. Last week also saw the Ubuntu Edge receive its first corporate backer in the shape of Bloomberg, which pledged $80,000 for its “Enterprise 115” package. T
Jane Silber, Canonical’s CEO said: “When we started this campaign three weeks ago, we hoped it would resonate with our community. So, to break the world record for a crowdfunding campaign is absolutely mind-blowing. We felt that innovation had substantially slowed down in the mobile industry, so wanted to address this. We’re still astonished by the generosity of our community and will continue to do all we can to make the Ubuntu Edge a reality.”
Indiegogo gets 4% of that money raised if a project makes it goal and 9% if it is a flex funded project meaning it doesn’t get to its goal but you are taking the money.
Now, bear in mind that on a $10m raise for a target of $32m that could mean anywhere from $400k to $3m would eventually end up in Indiegogo’s pockets. Which begs the question (yes, that is a pun of sorts): who charges 4% to 9% for venture funding with no return, shareholding, or options?
Welcome to the age of start-up welfare. Let’s stick it to the man!
Also, why the heck do you need $32m to develop an Ubuntu smartphone when you could have probably got to the first round of manufacturing for less than $5m seeing as you your argument is that Ubuntu all lah dee dah Open Source and free. Or, go to North Korea. They are making smartphones using left over dirt and jackboots.
None of this makes sense, but the crowdfunding bubble has plenty of room to go before it pops, and it will pop. Of that, I am sure because no one will ever call me out on it if I am wrong.
