Crowdfunding giant Kickstarter launches today in Hong Kong, making it easier for start-ups in the city to fund their projects. Launching in the city makes sense: Hong Kong ranks as one of the top backers of its projects in the world, with pledges by Hongkongers on the platform averaging US$575. The figure says a lot about the city’s strong entrepreneurial spirit.
“Hong Kong is one of the most exciting regions for creative culture and innovation in Asia and we’re excited to work with emerging creators from this community,” chief executive and co-founder Yancey Strickler says from Kickstarter’s headquarters in New York.
Hongkongers have pledged more than US$10 million to more than 17,000 projects since the firm launched in the United States in 2009.
In 2015, US$34 billion was raised worldwide through crowdfunding efforts, with more than US$10 billion coming from Asia.
Given such figures it’s easy to see why Kickstarter is eager to have a presence in the region (it also launches today in Singapore).
“We chose Hong Kong and Singapore because they are passionate Kickstarter communities that have developed without us there,” says Strickler. “We’ve seen inspired projects launch from Hong Kong and Singapore, and we’ve seen tens of millions of dollars pledged to projects by backers from there, too.”