BrioBolt is a professional music, graphics and video production house that helps make better crowdfunding pitch videos. We caught up with MD, Aeron Jones, who shared five expert tips you should ensure your crowdfunding investment follows.

What is the core message?

The core message that you are a good choice for investment.  This can sometimes get lost in details that are important to your relationship with the business but not necessarily important to the pitch, taking up time at the risk of losing the interest of the viewer.  The core message is that you are a good choice for investment. Your viewer’s should be as convinced of that as you are.

You need us more than we need you

An attractive situation for most would-be investors is one in which your product is in such demand that you already have customers poised to buy every single one you make. Your personality will come across in the video, so keep your ego under control, but describing your business as one that needs investment cash in order to survive is not going to attract anything like as much investment as convincing them that this is an opportunity they should be hungry for.

Stick to the script

Presentations in meetings are a human experience and a bit of improvisation and digression is perfectly acceptable. Even if this is one of your strengths, don’t rely on it for your on-camera presentation. Once the red record-light goes on, every little pause will be magnified. It doesn’t matter if you develop your script all alone or if you work with a seasoned crowd funding pitch producer, practice it in advance, OUT LOUD with a stopwatch, to the point where you know every comma and can deliver it comfortably within the target time.

Attention span

Everyone has an opinion on this, but most (including ourselves) think 2-4 minutes is about the optimum length for your video. This should be your target, but despite the general consensus there have been many successful campaigns with longer pitch videos than this.

The most important thing is to be focused. You should have a strong, almost bullet-point presentation of the strongest parts of your pitch, and you should be able to deliver this calmly and confidently within the first 30-seconds.  You can then punctuate your video with a change in pace/music/imagery as you move into expanding on the strengths you summarised at the beginning.

Start by introducing yourself, your place in the company and something about yourself that’s relevant to the business you are pitching.  If you have built and sold several companies in the past, use this to impress the viewer right at the beginning.  If the company has an impressive pace of growth, “beyond expectations”, say so!  Seeing your personal passion and belief in the business is encouraging, just beware of getting bogged down in expressing emotional attachments that could be read as personal delusion.

When you move into expanding upon the finer points of the investment opportunity, keep people interested, both through the script and visually.  Nicely shot footage of your products and/or company locations are ideal.  Animation is a popular choice for visually reiterating key points and can work alongside live footage.  Relying entirely on animation can be risky, though, as the good-quality motion is time consuming to produce, with the cheaper animation making many pitch videos look the same.

The sum-up

Here is your opportunity for a strong finish.  The sum-up is another chance to punctuate your video, along with a change in pace/feel, and should again reprise the key strengths of your opportunity for your potential investors. Reiterate the points from your introduction, alongside any less-obvious positive side effects that achieving your investment target will have on your business.  Include something personal that reflects your enthusiasm in your business’ future – and end with a smile!

 Find out more about BrioBolt (winner of CrowdCube’s Best Video of the Year) online right here.

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If you have an air-conditioning unit in your home or office, you’ll probably find it’s always impossible to keep the temperature right and satisfy everyone.

Ambi Climate is a tiny unit that connects to your air conditioning and automatically adjusts the temperature of your home or office. It can also be controlled with a smartphone app so you know what the temperature is at home before you even get there.

The unit uses an algorithm to decide what temperature it should be in your home, monitoring the temperature and environment both inside and outside, including sunlight, temperature, humidity to come up with a comfortable climate inside.

You can also adjust the settings to fit your routine, so if you like it to be super-cool while you’re asleep, you can crank up the air conditioning so you’re comfortable while sleeping. The Ambi Climate will learn from your preferences and routine so when it comes to getting into bed, you won’t need to change anything on the unit at all.

If you plan on going on holiday, you can set the Ambi Climate to Away Mode that will keep your home at a constant temperature that saves energy, but ensures humidity is kept at comfortable levels to prevent the build up of mould or other unsavoury conditions.

Ambi Climate’s CMO Martin Kessler told E27: “Ambi Climate is addressing something that a great many people of our planet use every day — air conditioners. But fundamentally how they work hasn’t really changed for decades.

“Many of us struggle to fiddle around with our AC’s remote just to find the right settings. In fact, most of us don’t even bother anymore to change our AC’s settings because of that. Nevertheless, throughout the day and year, climate conditions change and we end up overcooling our apartment a lot.”

All super early bird units went during the Kickstarter campaign, priced at $49 each, as did all the early bird units at $79. The company was also offering limited edition units for Christmas.

The Ambi Climate will retail for $149 when it arrives on the market in June 2015.

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Although there are lots of mobile phone and gadget charges to choose from on the market, the UltraPower is something completely different, allowing you to charge your phone at least six times (12 times for the average device) and iPad 3.5 times before the charger will run out of juice.

The design is pretty smart too. The top of the charger lights up to transform into a nightlight when you shake it or tap the handles and the press of a button will show you how much charge is left inside the device.

The waterproof design is perfect for using round the pool (or more likely in this country, in the rain), although you will still need to keep your devices away from water to prevent them from being ruined forever.

The UltraPower is compatible with any smartphone, tablet or mobile gadget, providing you can charge it via USB. You won’t find high-powered devices such as tablets will charge slower either, because the device automatically adjusts the flow of power according to the device plugged in.

What makes the UltraPower so powerful is the seven Li-Ion Samsung batteries installed in the device. Most mobile chargers only have one and provide two charges at most.

The UltraPower has been developed by MicrElements, a technology company that has been innovating for two years. The company joined up with international industrial design Goingwin on the product to create a product that looks good and does the job perfectly.

The companies have produced prototypes of the UltraPower and have interest from a number of vendors, but needs to raise $15,000 to take the device to full-on production. The company was hoping to fund the product on Indiegogo throughout September and October, but a month delayed, the target for distribution is now February.

Early birds can get their hands on one UltraPower for $30 (£19). The other funding options include $140 (£90) to buy three and get one free, $250 (£160) to buy five and get two free, buy seven and get three free for $350 (£225) and finally, buy 11 get five free for $550 (£350).

UltraPower’s Indiegogo campaign is due to finish on December 13.

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Taylor Street Baristas has taken on a completely different type of crowdfunding, allowing its investors to either get cash back on the money they invest or exchange their cash equity for coupons to use in store.

They’re the first company to off a ‘coffee bond’ on Crowdcube, but the company felt it was a fitting reward for its supporters, who, more likely than not, will love a good coffee.

The company said on its campaign page: “The UK coffee market is estimated to have annual sales of over £6 billion. Branded coffee shops account for more than 40% of these sales, delivering revenue growth at a rate far above the rest of the retail sector. In 2009, one in nine UK consumers visited a coffee shop daily. Now it’s one in five, and it’s estimated that the UK will add a further 1,000 branded coffee shops by 2018.”

Therefore, it decided to launch a new type of coffee shop to satisfy those who prefer the local, independent experience rather than a large chain like Starbucks, Costa or Nero.

“The specialty coffee market is growing even faster, and the numbers of both branded coffee chains and quality artisan independents are exploding with this segment adding over 306 stores in 2013 alone. Taylor St is at the forefront of this coffee revolution in London and we now boast among the highest volumes of specialty coffee in the UK, with over 1 million cups sold last year alone,” founders Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley and CEO Richard Shaer said.

The company is looking for an investment of £1.5m, of which £458,500 has already been raised (at the time of writing). It’s offering an interest rate of eight per cent if you’re happy with getting the cashback after four years or 12 per cent if you want your returns in coupons to redeem at any of the company’s coffee shops.

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Reddit has launched its own crowdfunding platform for its moderators to raise money for campaigns they believe in, whether it’s a charity, good cause or just to make a profit.

The majority of the campaigns on Redditmade are selling various Reddit-branded and fun goods including t-shirts, pin badges and stickers, although there is a set of headphones available too.

Redit said in its launch post to moderators: “Redditmade gives you the flexibility to create almost anything you want, easily raise money, and support causes you care about. It’s also a great way for others to find awesome new products they’ll love and support other redditors while knowing their information and money will always be secure.”

Many of the campaigns are simply to promote the subreddits available on the site and moderators of each section can give members of the community the go ahead to add merchandise if they feel it fits in with the subreddit’s message.

Reddit helps with the production of the merchandise, so those who want their items showcased can simply send the artwork to Reddit and the company will fulfill the orders, making it super-secure.

Members of the Reddit community can choose to donate the profits of their product to any organisation, charity, event, or individual. They are also encouraged to sell products at cost so they don’t have to worry about who receives the profits of the campaign.

Reddit said: “We make it easy for everyone to pledge their payment, providing a secure way to raise funds and keep people accountable without charging anyone until the campaign reaches its goal and we start production.

“We hope [the [latform] will enhance your experience on reddit, create stronger subreddit communities, allow redditors to collaborate and support each other, and empower redditors to make a difference.”

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The Mous Musicase is attempting to solve problems caused by lost or tangled earphones when you throw your iPhone into your bag.

The hard iPhone cover clips onto your iDevice just like any case, but it has a secret up its sleeve: an integrated earphone holder on the back using an innovative winder to keep your earphones tangle-free.

Compatible with the iPhone 5, 5s and 6 with an iPhone 5C cover to be developed should it surpass its goal of raising £10,000, Mous Musicase is seeking £10,000 on Kickstarter to put the gadget into full production.

To express the individuality of iPhone owners, the company is offering the opportunity for backers to choose their own combination of case and winder. You can choose from a white, black, blue or Kickstarter green case and then mix it with a dark blue, pink, Musicalize gold, black or white winder.

The Mous Musicase is manufactured in Manchester, making it a 100 per cent British product.

Co-founder Josh Shires said he developed the product because he found tangled or forgotten earphones a real bane when he was at university.

To get your hands on a Mous Musicase and show your support for the innovative product, you’ll need to stump up at least £17 to get the classic black case. The Retro and Musicalize editions are available for £19, with the Kickstarter edition available for an additional £2. If you want to mix and match your case with a winder, the option costs from £24 and multiples are available if you’re happy to spend extra.

If you invest £300 and are a budding techno-geek, co-founder James will put together a business plan for your retail business. £1000 will win you a limited edition aluminium case and if you give the company £3000, you’ll be invited to a private party.

The company has also set itself a number of stretch goals, including giving every single backer a Mous Musicase if it reaches £13,000 funding, adding a new winder colour option into the mix if it raises £15,000, a free party for backers when it hits £18,000 and if it raises £23,000, the company will offer the iPhone 5c case too.

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Free and open-source crowdfunding site Tilt wants to make a mark in the world, allowing anyone to launch a crowdfunding campaign, whether they have a product to promote, service to offer or charity to support.

The company has made it clear it doesn’t think crowdfunding sites should be limited to one type of funding – it should embrace every type of campaign and make it simple for people to set up campaigns they believe wholeheartedly in.

Co-founder and CTO Khaled Hussein told Crowdsourcing.org: “We think crowdfunding is going to become an everyday thing, it’s not going to be only something you think about when you want to launch a cool new hardware product.”

Founders Hussein and CEO James Beshara wanted to make crowdfunding accessible to everyone when they launched the company two and a half years ago as a Y Combinator.

It originally started as a crowdfunding site for non-profits and charitable causes, but soon evolved into what it is today thanks to pitches from product innovators, local sports teams and even to fund birthday presents.

The main USP for the site is that you don’t need to reach a massive target to be successful. Tilt campaigns include a ’tilt’, which is the least amount of money the project needs to raise in order to meet promises made to funders and a ‘target’, which is the full amount they want to hit. They can raise beyond both their tilt and target.

A lot of the website’s success is from the technology it uses to make everything as simple as possible for those wanting to post their campaign. The team behind Tilt now comprises mostly of software engineers who are flexible and can build new features in hours, rather than days or months. These just slot into the platform, making it highly adaptable.

Hussein said: “What Tilt is about is turning ideas into reality, it’s about using collective action to get to critical mass, to gauge demand, to excite people to do something new that hasn’t happened before.

“We’re a platform that enables things to happen, we’re not a platform for collecting dues after the fact, even though we see those use cases a lot on our site. We’re [for] the early phase, where you’re still planning and want to see the feasibility of something, you want to see the demand.”

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Although 3D printing is a particularly popular subject on crowdfunding sites, many of the projects are aimed at cutting the price of 3D printers, making it more accessible to consumers.

However, 3DPandoras’ project is a completely different idea that means you can make whatever you like in full colour – and it’s aimed at professionals, or consumers with a lot of disposable income.

The 3DPandoras prosumer 3D printer uses coloured powders to print rather than thin layers of plastic, meaning you can create whatever you like in a garish array of colours.

The printers will retail at a whopping $10,000 (£6200) once the campaign is over and the company is able to mass produce the equipment, but until then, you can sponsor the project and get one for as little as $2,999 (£1850) if you’re quick off the mark and are one of the first 20 to sign up, $3,199 (£2000) for the next 20, $3,499 (£2,100) for the next 30, $3,699 (£2,285) for another 30. You can also pay $5,000 (£3000) for a specially branded printer.

Although not the first powder-based 3D printer to arrive on the market, the 3DPandora uses the four process colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black), so it theoretically will be able to print in any number of different shades – just like a normal colour printer.

The 3DPandoras is also more precise, boasting a resolution of 0.08 millimeters per layer compared to the average consumer 3D printer that creates objects at a resolution of 0.1 millimeters per layer.

The 3DPandoras should start shipping next May if the founders manage to raise the $100,000 (£62,000) target by October 10 on Kickstarter.

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Beacon is a new crowdfunding site that lets you fund news projects and have a stake in the media agenda.

The site was first set up to help journalists fund personal projects they wanted to complete, but it’s now being used by bigger outlets such as the Huffington Post and TechDirt.

The HuffPo used the funding site to raise $40,000 (£25,000) so it could pay a journalist to cover the Ferguson uprising over 12 months. Similarly, TechDirt used Beacon to raise $70,000 (£43,000) so it could cover the net neutrality debate.

Readers pay a subscription, starting at $5 (£3) a month, to the writing projects they’re interested in across a huge variety of subjects, from climate control, science and entertainment to space exploration, social issues and politics.

This subscription payment will be spread across the various projects, although Beacon says the majority of the subscription will go towards the specific project the reader expressed an interest in.

A proportion of this fee also goes into a bonus pot that is shared across the writers who get the most reader recommendations from their articles.

Beacon co-founder Dan Fletcher said: “We’re all about offering an alternative to the ad-supported content model. Ads support content, but only content that’s generally relevant to a very broad audience. There’s a premium put on page views, and as a result a premium put on content that generates pageviews.”

Whether the idea of crowdfunding the news will be a success remains to be a pretty heated debate, with some supporters saying it’ll lessen the pressure on publishers to sell ads.

However, those against the initiative say it may lower the quality of the news and allow anyone to report on any event, whether they are experienced or not.

Almost 250 writers have been using Beacon since it launched – a number that has far outstripped the 28 it launched with. Essentially, anyone can sign up to become a writer – you just need to have an idea that you’re willing to explain.

Beacon has raised over $500,000 (£310,000) to pay its writers so far, in projects ranging from a couple of hundred dollars up to $70,000 (£45,000).

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Fundraising crowdfunding website Yimby has raised a total of £1.3m since its launch in November last year.

The site, set up by fundraising website Just Giving, allows individuals to drum up sponsorship for their favourite local causes and has had 1,300 projects listed with 70 per cent of those fully funded.

The 30-day campaigns are set up to fund community projects, whether that’s improving facilities at a new school or community centre, provide medical treatment for an upstanding member of the community or supporting an athlete to take part in the Olympic Games.

JustGiving co-founder Zarine Kharas, said: “We’re the world’s fastest growing social platform for giving and, with Yimby, we’re giving people a completely new way to make a difference to their local area. I’m delighted with the take up of Yimby so far, but this is just the beginning. Together, we can make a huge difference to communities everywhere.”

The site’s name turns around the common complaint nimby, meaning ‘not in my backyard’, to yimby – ‘yes in my backyard’.

Some of the website’s most prolific projects include raising £34,000 to save the life of an Exeter mum who sought treatment for heart and lung disease pulmonary hypertension and lymphatic cancer. The target was £20,000.

Another example of projects over-funded by the community is the Marlow campaign that raised £12,287 from a target of £2,000 to install safety equipment along the River Thames after 13-year-old Kyrece Francis jumped into the river and drowned in June this year.

Just Giving set up Yimby after realising that it’s not just registered charities that should be able to raise funds via its site, but individuals that have more personal or community projects they want to see come to life.

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