The Globe and Mail | TAVIA GRANT | March 23, 2014

Canada is going crazy for crowd funding.

Entrepreneurs across the country are flocking to the fast-growing financing model to start businesses in everything from 3-D printers to craft beer.

Crowd-funding website Kickstarter has already tallied 1,400 projects from Canada since it began operating here last September, raising a total of $14-million so far.

View:  Canada 3rd highest contributing country as Kickstarter passes $1 Billion

Canada’s Eric Migicovsky raised $10.3-million in 2012 to make Pebble smartwatches, the single most successful Kickstarter project to date.

Rival site Indiegogo, which operates in almost 190 countries, says Canada is its second-largest market after the United States. Across Canada, the number of crowd-funding portals has jumped to 77 from only 17 in 2012, according to the National Crowdfunding Association of Canada.

Crowd funding refers to raising capital to fund a startup or project from the public, usually through the Internet. These ventures might range from video games and mobile apps to documentaries and books.

Typically, investors don’t receive equity or expect repayment; rather they may get “rewards” such as a product, or just make donations without expecting anything in return.

“It’s a great way to validate the idea, see how it does in the market, gain feedback from audience, go into productio

Three main factors are driving the growth of crowd funding. First, far more Canadians are connected online, giving budding entrepreneurs a global market or audience. Next, a tepid Canadian job market is spurring more self-employment, an area that comprises 15 per cent of the workforce. And dwindling venture and seed capital for startups makes crowd funding a logical alternative.

Related:  Crowdfunding is essential for SME innovation and job creation

“It’s been heartening to see Canadians embrace this new method of bringing something to life,” said Justin Kazmark, spokesman for Brooklyn-based Kickstarter. “There’s an incredible number of innovative, colourful ideas coming from Canada.”

Canadian projects range from quirky to creative. Kickstarter projects include role-playing video games, waterproof toques, an inexpensive 3-D printer and high-end playing cards.

Kickstarter not only provided seed money for Peachy Printer, a $100 3D printer in development, “but also in marketing – to get our name and product seen globally,” said David Boe, the Saskatoon-based co-founder of Rinnovated Design. “We are currently working with teams and people from universities, colleges and other businesses from around the world. This has definitely been one of the most important aspects of running our Kickstarter campaign.”

Innovation is not traditionally Canada’s strong suit. The Conference Board of Canada gives the country a “D” for innovation with particularly low marks for venture capital.

Business formation has been soft too. In a fall speech, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz noted there was almost no net creation of companies between 2008 and 2012.

Crowd funding is “the great equalizer,” where anyone with a good idea can access global backers and a global market, said Ayah Norris, Canadian spokesperson for Indiegogo. She noted that nearly half of the site’s entrepreneurs are women, a higher-than-average proportion, and that this method gives entrepreneurs in more remote communities, such as in the North, a better shot at raising funds.

You may be interested in:  Two equity crowdfunding specific exemptions taking hold in Canada

The benefits go beyond raising the initial capital, she said. n with testing, and do marketing,” she explained.

Indiegogo has been hosting Canadian campaigns since 2009, and says momentum has accelerated in recent years, with money raised in Canada nearly tripling between 2012 and last year.

Canadian campaigns on its site have included bamboo sunglasses and high-tech underwear. In Vancouver, a “friendly little sausage-and-beer parlour” opened last summer after it raised $15,000 on Indigogo. In Toronto, a company making a “brain-sensing” headband raised $267,000 in 2012 and went on to secure financing from other venture capital funds.

Continue to the full article --> here