Kickstarter has been used to fund a wide variety of products and ideas and is a great source of alternative business funding. Kickstarter offers potential customers from around the world, and with around 86 per cent of people preferring to buy from companies that give back to society, it’s little wonder that environmentally-conscious and ethical businesses in particular have been so successful. In this piece, we will take a look at four of the most successful ethical businesses that started out on Kickstarter.
Twine
Twine raised over 1,590 per cent of its initial funding request for a very simple idea – connecting your various electronic appliances to one device. This wireless sensor square keeps you connected with your home and environment as you go about your day-to-day business, notifying you when your laundry is complete or telling you if a door or window is open, with the aim of reducing your overall energy consumption and waste.
The Garden Tower
This project had over 1,000 backers and raised over $400,000. The Garden Tower was designed to allow people to grow their own food within small spaces – the tower has space for 50 plants within just 4 square feet of space. This unique system was a hit because it was ideal for people living in small spaces without access to a garden, allowing people in urban environments to grow their own fresh and organic food.
Coolest Cooler
Just a few months after Ryan Grepper’s first Kickstarter campaign failed, he went on to strike gold with his Coolest Cooler. With over 62,000 backers pledging a massive $13,285,226 in total, it went on to become the one of the most popular Kickstarter campaigns to date! The cooler has all kinds of quirky features, ranging from a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, rechargeable blender, and in-built USB ports – along with the usual food and utensil storage that you’d expect from a cooler.
Mighty Wild Acron Crackers
This startup was founded by two sisters and reached its funding goal within just 24 hours. Their offering of additive and preservative-free crackers were packed full of whole grains and were popular with people looking for an alternative to their usual snacks. A percentage of the sales also went into planting trees across the United States to reduce the impact their production on the environment.
If you’re looking to get your small business off the ground, it’s a smart decision to make sure it appeals to the eco-friendly consumer. Not only are you helping the environment, but a business that has strong green credentials is much more likely to succeed, as we’ve seen with these four successful startups. With research indicating that business expenses continue to rise, you should always be on the lookout for new and different sources of funding, such as Kickstarter. Your business doesn’t need to be the next Coolest Cooler or raise millions in funding, but an environmentally friendly business is much more likely to attract potential customers and investment than one that doesn’t take this into account!
