Year in review: Good year for crowdfunding
This year's top record holder was Cashila, a Slovenian start-up company, which managed to attract 10.5 million US dollars in a crowd-funding campaign for its Iconomi platform enabling simple investments into cryptocurrencies.
MAG-LEV Audio, a maker of electronic devices, placed second with its turntable that levitates records to prevent them from getting scratched while being played. In the full 40 days of the campaign, more than 700 supporters pledged more than US$550,000.
Goat Story, the team behind the 2014 Kickstarter hit, Goat Mug, a horn-formed to-go mug, delighted coffee lovers once again with a campaign for a smart coffee machine which combines the classic method of coffee making with the latest technology. The team raised US$501,000, exceeding its initial target ten times.
After Slovenian start-up SipaBoards rose to fame for creating the world's first self-inflating and jet-propelled stand-up paddle (SUP) board, it launched SipaBoards Air, a series of smart SUP boards. The company was able to raise more than US$170,000 for the new SUP board series, significantly exceeding their goal of US$100,000.