Newegg announced plans for a new landing page exclusively devoted to products from the Indiegogo crowdfunding platform.
The company said in June 2016 that it would help companies that used Indiegogo with "marketing assistance, merchandizing, social exposure, order fulfillment, shipping and other logistical support." Newegg said in a press release that it's helped "approximately 20 individual entrepreneurs and small businesses"--none of which are named in the release--since then. Now it's planning to give Indiegogo users even more support via this landing page.
For anyone who isn't familiar with Indiegogo: It's a crowdfunding site where companies and individuals alike can drum up money and attention for their ideas. The difference between Indiegogo and Kickstarter, is that the former has fewer restrictions and no qualms about being used for pre-orders. (Kickstarter specifically asks for ideas that wouldn't exist without its platform; it doesn't want established companies using it to sell any products they already intend to make.)
Crowdfunding often gives hardware startups, game developers, and others the opportunity to make something they're passionate about. But it also solves only part of the problem. It's not enough to get a bunch of money and make a product--successful projects then have to figure out how to get those products to their backers, how to expand their customer base to include general consumers, and, often, how to become a business instead of a project.
Newegg's support can help with those efforts. "We like the entrepreneurial spirit of Indiegogo’s campaigners, and we’re fortunate to play a role in their success," Newegg CEO Danny Lee said in the announcement. "Crowdfunding entrepreneurs often find it challenging to build and ship products to their customers, and we’re happy to lend our support to help them as they build their businesses." The extra traffic probably doesn't hurt matters, either.
Newegg said it's considering more than 100 additional Indiegogo projects to support; 11 are expected to debut in the first quarter of 2017. The companies it's already vetted can be found on a dedicated page in its marketplace. Crowfunded hardware often makes it to retailers, but if Newegg's announcements are any indication, it seems like the company's more committed than others to bringing Indiegogo-funded products to market.
