The BackerKit team is back home in San Francisco after spending a week in Las Vegas attending one of the world’s largest tech shows. After four jam-packed days at CES exploring the showroom floors, we were extremely impressed with the overall crowdfunding presence. Kickstarter and Indiegogo had fun and interactive booths within the Eureka Park Marketplace highlighting creators and their projects. We attended a handful of fun and informative panels detailing how crowdfunding can help bring your ideas and communities to life. And we hung out with dozens of crowdfunding creators at their booths, on the showroom floor, and at various after parties. The crowdfunding presence was strong at CES 2018 showing the world how creators have successfully journeyed from concept to market. 
Kickstarter & Indiegogo Booths
For the first time in their nearly 10-year history, Kickstarter had an official booth at CES. Makes sense considering 200+ creators on the showroom floor started on Kickstarter. The main booth within the Eureka Park Marketplace had a wide variety of crowdfunding projects on display with creators such as Joto and Artiphon demoing their products to attendees. And partners Avnet and Dragon Innovation had connecting booths giving advice on how to properly bring projects from concept to mass market. Overall, Kickstarter provided a fun and interactive booth educating creators and providing priceless connections.
Upon entering Eureka Park, it was evident that Indiegogo, in partnership with Engram Micro, went all out showcasing an impressive lineup of creators including our friends at mifold. This booth turned out to be a great meeting hub for crowdfunding creators and enthusiasts. The BackerKit team is definitely thankful for their presence and spent a lot of quality time connecting with various partners and creators within the impressive layout.
Crowdfunding Panels & Talks
Besides having a stellar booth presence, Indiegogo was also involved in a handful of fun and informative talks on the showroom floor of Eureka Park. Our friend Jean Francois, Director of Commerce Development at Ingram Micro, took part in an informative talk about bringing a product to market and all the unexpected challenges. Up next was a talk centering around finding your path to market followed by a fun product pitch contest from up and coming creators. Both discussions included Indiegogo’s Manager of Hardware Outreach Sarah Meister who shared a lot of great insights and tips for crowdfunding creators.
We were also grateful to be invited to an informative Crowdfunding & Technology Cocktail including a wide variety of influencers and creators sharing their experiences with success. At the event, we were happy to see Kickstarter’s Design and Technology Outreach Lead for the West Coast Clarissa Redwine host a 1:1 with Jacob Flood of Mindset about his crowdfunding journey. This was followed by a panel about planning for success which included our friend Emilie Aabakken of Wiral who reached her Kickstarter goal in 4 minutes thanks to some comprehensive pre-planning and follow-through during all stages of her campaign.
So Many Creators!
While the main convention center may have been brimming with new cars, 8K TV’s, and cutting-edge virtual reality headsets, Eureka Park was the place to be for startups and ground-level innovation. And after four straight days of walking up and down the busy aisles, it was most apparent that a lot of these new creators got their start on a crowdfunding platform such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. It was refreshing to see so many influential people talk about the importance of crowdfunding to build community and validate their product on their path to market. The level of passion and enthusiasm was simply contagious and inspirational.
If you’d like to see what some of these creator booths looked like, be sure to check out our CES 2018: Crowdfunding Creator Showcase.
There is no doubt in my mind that the crowdfunding presence at CES is alive, well, and growing more than ever before. Creators and consumers alike are realizing all the benefits crowdfunding can offer when going from concept to market. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2018 and beyond.