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Top 10 Crowdfunding Agencies for Hardware Startups
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Table Of Contents
Assessing your Product for Specialized Crowdfunding Expertise
Crowdfunding agencies don’t all offer the same services. Each have their own specialized expertise depending on a client’s unique product development needs. Hardware products have challenges on their own that differ from software and services, and some can take advantage of crowdfunding to the product development process. Some factors to consider when researching crowdfunding agencies are:
Complexity of product design and engineering
Not all crowdfunding agencies offer consulting regarding the prototyping and design stage of your product. Crowdfunding campaigns sometimes fail due to hardware products that are launched too early with little design revision on a product. Additionally, not all crowdfunding agencies come with an all-in-one package that can assist you in the early product development stage such as prototyping, patenting, and design.
Manufacturing and supply chain resource
It is critical to maintain clear communication with a manufacturer that best suits your needs, as missteps can delay production and output defective products. There are also complexities to overseas manufacturing, such as time zone differences, language barriers, shipping, and quality assurance. Most crowdfunding agencies do not offer manufacturing, product design, and supply chain expertise. They focus on the marketing and funding, so the option is to have a product design and manufacturing partner such as Design 1st that can secure and handle all of the product design process prior to campaign launch, as well as the large-scale development and manufacturing for the consumers after funding has been met through the crowdfunding agency.
Regulations, compliance, and certification
Hardware products require compliance with electrical, safety, or environmental regulations before they can enter a market. Some crowdfunding agencies can help navigate certifications such as CE, FCC, or RoHS, to efficiently market your product and ensure they are safe for public consumer use.
Initial investment and budget management
Crowdfunding agencies have different fee setups, and it is important to assess how much funds you must secure up front for processes such as product manufacturing or digital marketing. Some agencies also offer no fee upfront, but with interest depending on how well your product campaign goes. Crowdfunding consulting can help plan realistic funding goals, hidden costs, and budgeting.
Marketing to consumer, and demand analysis
A lot of crowdfunded campaigns fail due to poor digital and ecommerce marketing, or a lack of demand for your product in the market. Some crowdfunding agencies specialize in digital marketing, with some even owning their own professional studio for video and photo content. When researching an agency, assess whether your product needs additional marketing consulting for a successful crowdfunding campaign.
Risk management and backer fulfillment challenges
Some crowdfunding agencies can offer risk management, including planning realistic timelines and transparency in communication with backers. If you want a campaign that promises unique rewards for your backers, and being able to fulfill those rewards, there are crowdfunding agencies that are specialized in backer fulfillment and managing reward delivery risk.
Top 10 Crowdfunding Agencies for Hardware Startups
1. LaunchBoom
- Specialization: While Kickstarter specializes in campaigns that already have a working prototype and a solid marketing strategy, LaunchBoom is where someone can go for help in pre-launch strategy for their product, no prototype needed. They’ve raised millions for home, tech, hotel, and game products.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Lomi, an instant composting home tech product, $7.2M raised
– The Crooked Moon, a DND horror campaign game, $4M raised
- Services Offered:
– Free lessons in how to successfully launch your product campaign
– Pre-launch strategy expertise for Indiegogo and Kickstarter launches - Pricing Model: They have a few different options ranging from $4,000 to $12,000 depending on product category and level of support, founder-friendly plans available.
- Success Stats: In 2024, LaunchBoom claims a 97.83% campaign success rate for their Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects, and raising over $175 million across nearly 1,000+ campaigns.
- Unique Differentiator: They are a team of crowdfunding experts that started in crowdfunding, have first-hand experience of the process, and know the steps to a successful product launch.
- Best For: If you want to ensure a successful crowdfunding campaign for your home, tech, outdoor, hotel, or game product, where a crowdfunding expert can help you through the process.
2. Jellop
- Specialization: Jellop specializes in promotion strategies to market current Kickstarter campaigns. They help product creators by running ad campaigns on Reddit, Google, Meta, and email.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Peak Design Travel Tripod, $12.1M raised
– Roller Pro Carry-On Luggage, $12.9M raised
- Services Offered:
– Digital advertising and email marketing for Kickstarter campaigns
– Product launch analytic expertise - Pricing Model: Performance-based compensation, where they charge a starting percentage of 15% from the success of your campaign based on their marketing efforts.
- Success Stats: Jellop is Kickstarter’s first and only official advertising partner, and claims to have helped over 7,000 creators raise over $1.4B on Kickstarter.
- Unique Differentiator: Jellop helps your ongoing campaign without any minimum fees.
- Best For: Boosting a current Kickstarter campaign, getting the word out about your product through marketing strategies.
3. Funded Today
- Specialization: Similar to Jellop, Funded Today specializes in performance-driven marketing, and boosting crowdfunding for hardware startups.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Wearhaus Arc, raised an additional $200k with less than 10 days left
– FreeWavs, raised an additional $25k with 100 hours left
- Services Offered:
– Campaign and page design, video production, social media marketing
– Data analytics, ROI optimization - Pricing Model: Funded Today charges 35% of the campaign’s total earnings, with no upfront payment required.
- Success Stats: They are notorious for being selective with which projects they partner with, with only 10% of applicants being accepted.
- Unique Differentiator: Cash-back program for backers (10% return). They don’t accept payment unless your project gets funded.
- Best For: Electronics, wearables, robotics, tech accessory projects looking for early-stage or ongoing funding acceleration in Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
4. Eventys Partners
- Specialization: US-based agency specializing in product development, crowdfunding, and ecommerce marketing for new hardware products and consumer goods.
- Notable Campaigns:
– MCON, 6,813% funded, raising $1.7M
– DEUX Float 2.0, 3,001% funded, raising $450k
- Services Offered:
– Industrial design, prototyping, and engineering
– Sourcing and manufacturing
– Crowdfunding campaign strategy and digital marketing
– Amazon and ecommerce launch and management - Pricing Model: Typically charges between $70-$150 an hour, the market average for US industry product development. Campaign-specific costs (such as video production) are often quoted at $10-20k or more, depending on requirements.
- Success Stats: Several campaigns have exceeded initial goals by 2000% or more. Over 2500 hardware products developed, prototyped, or marketed.
- Unique Differentiator: Vertically-integrated approach, covering everything product development to product launch, from patent fillings, engineering, manufacturing, crowdfunding, and long-term product growth.
- Best For: Early and growth-stage hardware startups, especially those needing support in prototyping and mass production, as well as navigation of crowdfunding and online sales.
5. Agency 2.0
- Specialization: Crowdfunding marketing agency specializing in end-to-end Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns for tech startups and hardware products.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Micro Drone 3.0: Raised $3.6M with 32,367 backers
– Sonders Ebike: Top 3 funded ebike of all-time, $7.4M raised
- Services Offered:
– 200+ step dedicated campaign management
– PR and media outreach for crowdfunding
– Full-service digital and ecommerce marketing
– Post-campaign retail support - Pricing Model: Typically starts at $5,000 per project for campaign management, with additional fees for services like video production and advertising depending on scope.
- Success Stats: Known for multiple multimillion-dollar hardware launches. 500+ campaigns launched with more than 20 exceeding $1M each.
- Unique Differentiator: Their 200+ step approach covering every aspect of tech and hardware product startup such from pre-launch to post-campaign growth.
- Best For: Early and growth-stage tech products or innovative hardware products looking for standout success on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Especially valuable for teams needing comprehensive campaign direction and creative services.
6. Rainfactory
- Specialization: Data-driven crowdfunding marketing agency specializing in launching and scaling tech-forward hardware and lifestyle brands, particularly on platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Screeneo U5: Raised over $4 million on Indiegogo.
– Jibo, the family robot: Raised $3.66 million.
- Services Offered:
– Lead generation site development
– Marketing strategy on key platforms (Facebook, IG, TikTok, Google, YouTube)
– Influencer outreach and PR
– Product launch and post-campaign strategy - Pricing Model: Starts with lead generation services from about $1,000 and full campaigns often allocate 10–20% of funding goals for marketing efforts. Projects often range in the $70,000 to $200,000 bracket depending on scope.
- Success Stats: Rainfactory claims over $1 billion generated for clients overall, with year-over-year revenue growth. Over 30 campaigns raising $1M or more.
- Unique Differentiator: Methodical, data-driven approach to campaign development that tests product market fit and demand. Their advertising expertise is tech-focused, using real-time data for optimization.
- Best For: US-based hardware and lifestyle startups seeking a structured go-to-market plan. They excel with premium gadgets, fitness tech, and innovative consumer products.
7. Crowdfund Capital Advisors
- Specialization: CCA is a consulting and investment banking firm specializing in equity crowdfunding, connecting startups with investors through Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg. CF), Regulation A+, and traditional venture capital. They provide advisory services for campaign preparation, investor relations, securities compliance, and funding strategy.
- Notable Campaigns:
– The Micro 3D Printer: Raised $3.5M.
– Olive Max Hearing Aid & Earbuds: Raised $530K+
- Services Offered:
– Equity crowdfunding strategy and investor relations and communications
– Campaign preparation, marketing guidance, and product security
– Capital structure and fundraising consultation - Pricing Model: Not explicitly public but generally includes retainer fees combined with success-based fees on funds raised, typical of investment banking and crowdfunding advisory firms.
- Success Stats: CCA reports over 500 campaigns funded via equity crowdfunding under their advisory, with aggregated capital of several hundred million dollars in commitments, primarily within the U.S. startup ecosystem.
- Unique Differentiator: One of the first equity crowdfunding advisory firms with deep expertise in U.S. securities regulations. They combine legal, financial, and marketing advisory to help startups, including hardware firms, navigate complex compliance while maximizing capital raised through innovative investor channels.
- Best For: Hardware startups seeking to raise capital through equity crowdfunding and require comprehensive compliance, regulatory navigation, and investor relations support as part of a strategic fundraising plan.
8. Presslabs
- Specialization: Not a crowdfunding or hardware campaign agency, Presslabs specializes in managed WordPress hosting focused on publishers and complex website setups.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Freshome: Presslabs has supported Freshome for over eight years, providing custom infrastructure for fast page loading, caching, 100% uptime, security, and scalability to handle large growth and traffic spikes
– CultofMac.com: Experienced significant improvement in hosting stability and performance after moving to Presslabs, as they had issues with previous hosting providers.
- Services Offered:
– Managed WordPress hosting, support, and Intelligence dashboard for analytics
– Git-based development and staging environments
– CDN for media content - Pricing Model: Plans start at approximately $299 per month for publishers and $1,999+ for enterprise usage, with additional fees based on page views.
- Success Stats: Hosts over 400 WordPress sites with excellent uptime and performance; well-regarded for reliability and support.
- Unique Differentiator: Combines enterprise hosting infrastructure with deep WordPress expertise, offering superior performance and developer-focused workflows.
- Best For: Digital publishers, media companies, and enterprises needing scalable, reliable WordPress hosting. Not suitable for hardware startups or crowdfunding campaigns.
9. Command Partners
- Specialization: Digital marketing agency now focused on TikTok Shop sales and strategy, now for kitchen products. It merged with Enventys in 2016 forming Enventys Partners.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Bunch O Balloons: Nearly $1 million raised, one of the top crowdfunding campaigns actively marketed by Command Partners pre-merger.
– Alcove: Marketing and product support through Enventys Partners, successfully validating product-market fit and campaign impressions.
- Services Offered:
– Kitchen product specific product marketing and services for TikTok Shop
– TikTok Management from content to ads to influencer partnership - Pricing Model: Not publicly available but you can book a free strategy call.
- Success Stats: Hosts over 400 WordPress sites with excellent uptime and performance; well-regarded for reliability and support.
- Unique Differentiator: Command Partners claims to make your kitchen product the next viral and bestseller product on TikTok, which is the #1 sales channel for kitchen products currently.
- Best For: Kitchen products looking to optimize their TikTok shop, create and promote content related to your product, and scale revenue fast.
10. BackerKit (Launch Services)
- Specialization: Creator-centric, comprehensive crowdfunding platform designed to help campaign creators plan, launch, and optimize crowdfunding campaigns, especially in the hardware and tabletop gaming sectors.
- Notable Campaigns:
– Lay Waste Games: Ran 5 campaigns and raised over $622K on Kickstarter, with nearly 10,000 backers surveyed via BackerKit, and around 31% of backers purchasing add-ons through BackerKit’s pledge management system.
– Mantic Games: A UK-based tabletop game company that has run 5 campaigns with BackerKit, raising over $3.4 million across those campaigns. They are one of Europe’s most funded companies on Kickstarter.
- Services Offered:
– Custom teaser and launch party pages with interactive tools
– Live streaming integration (Twitch, YouTube, Moonbeam)
– Pre-launch reservation system to boost early pledges
– Polls, achievements (stretch goals), incentives for early and repeat backers
– Cross-collaboration campaigns, realtime Kickstarter data insights, and post-campaign management - Pricing Model: Offers free account creation and teaser page customization to start, with tiered pricing and specific fees based on campaign scope and size.
- Success Stats: BackerKit boasts a project success rate more than double the industry average. They have managed pledge fulfillment for roughly a quarter of all Kickstarter campaign volume in recent years and have helped creators raise tens to hundreds of millions of dollars collectively.
- Unique Differentiator: Merges campaign hosting, pre-launch audience building, pledge management, and fulfillment into one seamless experience. Their innovative Collab-Funding feature enables multiple creators to team up on campaigns for cross-promotion and shared rewards.
- Best For: Hardware startups, gaming, and creators who want an all-in-one crowdfunding solution and support from pre-launch outreach through post-campaign. Particularly strong for repeat creators building fan communities and for campaigns that want to leverage collaborative and incentivized backer engagement.
Red Flags, Scams, and How to Avoid Bad Crowdfunding Agencies
Red flag #1: Lack of Transparency and History
Avoid crowdfunding agencies that have little to no information about their business history, credentials, and information about their team. It is crucial to research the agency’s reputation through multiple independent reviews and user forums. Make sure that the campaigns featured on their website also include more recent successful product campaigns. Confirm the agency’s business registration, credentials, social media, and look through multiple detailed case studies of their successful campaigns.
Red flag #2: Vague Costs and Funding Information
Crowdfunding agencies should have clear and complete information about their campaigns, budgeting process, and how funds are distributed. Though each product is unique with their funding and budgeting needs, there shouldn’t be vague or missing information about how a company typically helps fund successful campaigns. Incomplete information and lack of transparency in your consultation can mean there might be hidden costs.
Red flag #3: Unrealistic Promises and Goals
Campaign fraud is where agencies mislead potential clients about their reach and capabilities. Look out for some signs such as a lack of, or over-exaggeration of real campaign metrics. A crowdfunding agency with no clear plan, and evasion of answering specific questions about their process – while promising you high returns with minimal risk, should be determining factors that the agency is a fraud. To avoid this, make sure they can provide real evidence of previous clients’ success stats, performance data, and actual funding spend.
Red flag #4: Over-reliance in Urgent Messaging
A common tactic for scams in crowdfunding agencies is that they will make a potential client feel urgent in their need for crowdfunding help, thus they will feel rushed and sign with an agency immediately. Another red flag is the over-exaggeration of their selective process, with coercive, emotional language such as “you won’t get another chance to talk with us” or “we took the time to speak with you”. Crowdfunding agencies should have open communication and availability.
Red flag #5: Failure to Answer Specific Questions
Crowdfunding scams and fraud rely on you having a passive and inattentive approach to researching and understanding how an agency works. It is critical to ask many details about their crowdfunding plan and how their specialization can help your own unique hardware product. If they cannot provide real data of successful performance stats, and are evasive to your questions, it is a sign of fraud. Thoroughly research the company through third-party websites, independent forums, and social media.
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