Kickstarter success stories: The fashion edition

Starting a business is never easy. A challenge faced by many start-ups is obtaining that initial moolah. One way to get it: crowdfunding. With an initial goal of as low as $1,000, one can get interested “backers” to fund your project by pledging a sum of money, either with no strings attached or with rewards in return.

And one of the most popular platforms to do so is Kickstarter. Founded in 2009, the American-based company's mission is “to help bring creative projects to life”. As of June 2020, it has raised more than US$5 billion dollars (around S$6.96 billion) for over 183,000 successfully funded projects.

While music start-ups are the most successfully funded (17 per cent), fashion enterprises are a force to watch too, making up 4.85 per cent. Still, it's a competitive world out there, and